Review: Vintage Baker

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviews
vintage baker
Vintage Baker by Aimee Stewart – Holdson – `1000 pieces

I’ve been wanting this image for a while now, but I’m thinking I should have waited to find it from a company whose quality I was familiar with. Terrible fit, horrible to work with, too shiny causing lots of glare – quite disappointing. 😦

Holdson Puzzles are made in New Zealand, and although I’d heard good things about the quality I found myself pretty let down by this puzzle. The finish was very shiny, the glare was hard to work around and the fit was awful – so loose that you couldn’t even pick up two pieces together. I work on a fabric covered board so it’s a little more difficult for the pieces to slide around, but these pieces managed it well enough somehow. On the positive side the chipboard was a good thickness and the image reproduction was very good.

I love the look of  this vanilla bottle; not only is it cool looking, but it also shows the detail in the artwork and the quality of the reproduction.

vintage baker 1

The handwriting in the recipe below looks like my Grama’s, although I know it isn’t. I have noticed that many older people’s writing seems almost identical. Of course schools used to teach things like penmanship and cursive writing. Sigh. I’m old.

vintage baker 2

I try not to make a final decision about new brands until I’ve worked at least 2 or 3 of their puzzles. I’d work another Holdson puzzle if we found it in a thrift store, but I’m not going to go out of my way to buy one retail. If I find one second-hand perhaps it’ll be great quality. Who knows?

Details:

  • Title:                  Vintage Baker
  • Artist:                Aimee Stewart
  • Brand:               Holdson Puzzles
  • Piece count:     1000 pieces
  • Size:                  Approx. 19 x 27 in. (49 x 69 cm)
  • Purchased:      New

Quality:

  • Board:               Very good
  • Cutting:             Good
  • Image:               Very good
  • Box:                   Average
  • Fit:                     Poor
  • Puzzle Dust:     Moderate amount
  • Piece cut:          Grid cut
  • Piece shapes:   Good variety
  • Finish:               Very shiny finish, lays flat

Overall Rating:      Fair, not recommended

 

16 thoughts on “Review: Vintage Baker”

  1. I have a puzzle with this image, and I completed it about a year ago. I have the brand down as Cobble Hill, but I don’t think that’s right. Can’t check right now, it’s in Dortmund. Anyway, I loved it! It was much larger than usual for 1000 piece puzzles, and the only quality issue I had was an extra piece 🙂

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  2. Mandy

    I love puzzles by Aimee Stewart but I haven’t done this one though, will add it to my list!!
    In Australia we get many Holdson puzzles, can’t say I’ve really noticed a problem with the quality.There not as good as some other brands but I definitely haven’t put them on my ‘do not buy’ list……..

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    1. Perhaps I got the end of the run when the die was duller. They were just so unbelievably loose it was nightmarish to work with. Still, it’s not on my do not buy list – that list is very very short and you have to really piss me off to get on that one. LOL

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  3. Penny Allenbaugh Weiss

    That is so disappointing to hear about the quality on this one. I definitely want this puzzle, but will be sure to purchase it from a different manufacturer. Thanks for the head’s up, Stacey.

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  4. Jenn

    I sooooo wish I had read this review before I (stupidly) ordered & (expensively) shipped Aimee Stewart Holdson puzzles to myself in Canada.

    Like yours, the fit for the 1st one I did (Vintage Love Letters) was AWFUL! Any section I put together, the slightest movement would cause the puzzle to crumble and I’d have to reassemble it. It was the equivalent of brittle bone syndrome but for puzzles!

    I can’t bring myself to do the other two and I regret buying these puzzles 😕

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  5. daniam321

    Looking for a replacement of this puzzle. My daughter and I completed it and she wanted it framed. We started sealing it. Once finished, she didnt realize some glue had gotten to the puzzle face. We lost image on 7-8 pieces when we pried it off the board. Any help would be appreciated.

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  6. Beth

    Just curious since this post a few years old, did you ever acquire this particular image by MasterPieces or another puzzle company and hope for a better quality puzzle and better puzzling experience?

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