An uninspired name for a puzzle, but an accurate one. It’s a great image for a puzzle, but unfortunately it was terrible quality – even though it was mostly fun to put together.

The image itself made for a pleasant assembly, the flowers were a bit of a challenge and kept me on my toes; the barn itself was very entertaining, and the windows and roof helped break up all the red. It was a great couple of hours putting it together, even with the quality issues.

This Milton Bradley puzzle was purchased new, and right out of the box there were problems. Many of the pieces had extremely bent tabs, so much so that when the edge was assembled one of the tabs broke off completely when the piece was connected. The tab stayed in the hole of the adjoining piece, but the image had lifted and remained on the original piece…

It was quite disappointing, the quality of this puzzle. Milton Bradley joins Ceaco on my list of companies who can’t seem to regulate their quality control. Some of their puzzles have been excellent, and some – like this one – have been less than stellar.

There are always occasional problems, even with the premium puzzle companies; no manufacturing process is perfect. But companies like Ravensburger, Jumbo, Heye, and Pomegranate have managed to produce excellent puzzles almost all of the time. I know you get what you pay for, but if a puzzle company is at least consistent with their quality then I know what I’m buying. If it’s a gamble, I’m less likely to take a chance unless I’m buying used.

Thus ends my rant for the day.