Jigsaw Puzzle Hobby

I have reviewed the best jigsaw puzzle brands on the market and you can read my review here. But first I can say the major big brands still remain at the top of the best seller list, such as Ravensburger, Cobble Hill, Springbok, Sunsout, Ceaco, White Mountain, Buffalo, Eurographics, Galison, eeBoo, Wentworth to name a few.  

But a couple of years before COVID, new puzzles companies have started to surface and made their way into the social medias and use social media marketing influencers to increase the sales of their companies. Then the COVID crisis saw another new wave of puzzle companies desperately start up to keep up with the jigsaw puzzle demand.

I have wrestled with lights and puzzles over the years as my puzzle 'station' has changed. I have reviewed the best jigsaw puzzle lights available on the market. You can read my review article here.  

The best seller on my platform is  AFROG 4th Gen Multifunctional LED Desk Lamp with 10W Fast Wireless Charger, USB Charging Port,1800Lux Super Bright,5 Lighting Mode,7 Brightness, Touch Control, Auto Timer, 15W Office Table Lamp

I have reviewed the best jigsaw puzzle boards and tables and you can read my review here. Now table and boards are going to have to be more 'customized' to your situation just as much as your lighting will need to be. There are many tables to choose from yet they tend to be kinda pricey.  Also, so many puzzlers tend to use their kitchen table so that's likely the most go-to table.

Another popular query on this website is 'how to replace missing pieces' and yes, there's an article for that here. It has some tips and ideas for replacing your missing piece. One thing that I have observed more and more (sadly) is the brand new jigsaw puzzles in sealed bags inside the box can still have missing pieces. That's something many new puzzlers are not aware of and are shocked to hear that it is even possible.

Looking at the popular choices above, this is a good spot to add the more common favourite types of jigsaw puzzles that I have seen online regularly.

The Ravensburger Disney Villainous jigsaw puzzles are highly searched for and I have an article here about them. Besides those, the most common images tend to be very colourful and especially during COVID, the colourful Gradient images excelled. Another favourite is shaped jigsaw puzzles and Sunsout tends to capture the market for those but they are not the only company who produce them.

Cobble Hill Puzzle Company has excelled with their T.O.P. (read about that here) images among many winners in other subjects. There's a good variety of Family puzzles where the pieces are 'graduated' from small to medium to large.

Springbok jigsaw puzzles is the only company that I am aware of where Puzzlers have an ongoing list that dates back to 1964 with over 2800 titles on the list. You can see the list here which is quite impressive.

There are not many books on jigsaw puzzles on the market however what is really to be said outside of what is covered in the following two books. The most prominent two books I have read is The Jigsaw Puzzle, Piecing Together A History and Jigsaw Puzzles, An Illustrated History and Price Guide, both written by Anne D. Williams. She's got a lot of information covered there when it comes to history and pricing.  

So what I felt was missing in the market when it comes to jigsaw puzzles is that there is SO much more surrounding jigsaw puzzles if the enthusiast looks for it.  For instance, topics about jigsaw puzzle tables, lights, accessories, frames. More topics surrounding missing pieces, how to count pieces, gluing or not gluing and several other topics. I have been writing reviews on puzzles brands but I don't stop there. I try to cover as many topics around jigsaw puzzles as I possibly can.  I then decided that I many reach more enthusiasts if these topics were compiled into a book format. That became a book, titled, There's More To Jigsaw Puzzles Than Pieces, Take It From Someone Who Knows. Please note that I am not a writer/author (per say) so if you are a scholar type, this 'conversational read' may not be for you. 

There's another book above that is written by an Author titled The Puzzler. I purchased the book for review and you can read the article here. The short version is this. It's a terrific read with loads of interesting topics and stories surrounding more than a dozen different puzzle types. That includes jigsaw puzzles along with crosswords, Rubik's cube, Anagrams, Mazes, Math and Logic puzzles plus many more. Overall though, the Author has a real flare for writing so the book is quite entertaining. 

Shaped jigsaw puzzles were mentioned above.  I have had the opportunity to assemble many and only a few are shown above.   They are quite popular and there is a whole Gallery of assembled shaped jigsaw puzzle here.  I love them because they are unique and super fun. The main tip to know about shaped jigsaw puzzles is: do not start with the border because chances are pretty good you won't get it on the first try--but maybe you will.

Once again it can be noted that most people are not even aware that there are many jigsaw puzzle accessories available to enhance their jigsaw puzzle experience until they become more involved with the hobby.  I have reviewed the three accessories above and you can read the review by clicking on the links. But I will give you the short version of my opinion.

 The Grateful House Jigsaw puzzle trays are fantastic. They are very solid, smooth and durable. You can layout a 1000 piece puzzle into all the trays except the border pieces.  I usually do the border first thing so I use the lid of the trays for the border pieces while sorting. I spoke with the owner and she said the trays will be back in stock this Fall

The Puzzle Scoop is super handy. It comes with a light and the handy scoop portion is also a magnify plastic material.  AND it has a light that includes a replaceable battery.  I have not replaced the batter yet but it does have instructions on how to do that. 

The Puzzle Stand works terrific for the majority of box lids and the reason I say that is because I have not had the opportunity to use the Puzzle Stand for any abnormal size box lids. I prefer my box lid to be standing so this handy gadget is perfect on my table with the correct slant. 

There are many other jigsaw puzzle accessories available out there for you to try and you can start with this selection here. 

There's over 500 pages on this jigsaw puzzle hobby website so you may want to bookmark it now. Generally speaking there is anything and/or everything jigsaw puzzle related here. However, I also encourage you to share your comments and feedback to add your 'piece'.   CLICK HERE to contact me.

Also, chances are pretty good you are going to discover new ideas, loads of information  and some really fantastic photos from others who already have a jigsaw puzzle hobby.

There's a load of topics to be covered here and so there will be continuous "What's New" on the site. Be sure to come back often or better yet subscribe to the Newsletter so you do not miss out on any surprises!

The Ultimate Jigsaw Puzzle Log Book          There's More To Jigsaw Puzzles Than Pieces         BePuzzled Logbook