There aren’t enough words in my vocabulary to describe how much I adored Save The Whales. It made for the most enjoyable puzzle assembly and to say I loved just doesn’t do it justice. This puzzle was such great fun!

This is the second of two puzzles I was sent for review from Mr. Bob Puzzles, and I am quite impressed with the quality. The pieces are thick 4.5mm wood, and the fit is not as loose as some other wooden puzzles. The pieces have a good hand feel, and the cut is deceptively challenging; it looks easy, but it most definitely isn’t. They also have been infused with essential oils, giving them a lovely, relaxing scent. The whimsy pieces fit the theme of the puzzle, and range from quite large to very small. I knew what to look for this time, and found all the pieces that spell out the Mr. Bob logo on the first try! 🙂

I did find that this puzzle had a quite a few pieces that had the image ever so slightly lifting at the edges, and relayed this information to the Mr. Bob team through emails. The 100 Icons puzzle didn’t have this issue at all, so I wanted to let them know that there was something different about Save The Whales. They believe they may have “overdosed” some of the pieces with the essential oils, and that’s what caused this problem. Easily remedied with careful application of the oils, or if the customer prefers it the puzzle could be scent free. (I for one love the added scents, and found them to be pleasant and relaxing.)

I also gave some feedback on the whimsy pieces; some tails on the sea creatures were quite thin, and to prevent breakage and image lift the suggestion was made to thicken them. I was pleasantly surprised at how eager the team was to hear suggestions and make changes to improve the quality of their puzzles. As an avid puzzler it’s nice to see that a company is striving to make the best puzzles they can; I appreciated their willingness to address the small issues that I found.

There was one more suggestion I had for the team, and that was to please put more of Robert Williams’ artwork on their puzzles. Robert is the “Bob” in Mr. Bob Puzzles, and I think his artwork is just beautiful! I was drawn to this image right away, it reminds me of the artwork of Edward Kinnally, which I also adore. It’s just my opinion, of course, but I certainly hope they consider my suggestion. 😉

There was only one in process picture, I was having too much fun to stop and take pics. To be honest, the only reason I took the picture was for a post about the progress of my assembly. The colors and the movement of the image was quite compelling, and once I got to assembling it was difficult to walk away and leave the next piece undone. It must be easy to find, don’t leave yet, just one more piece…

The bottom line for me is that this puzzle was completely engrossing, entertaining, and both beautiful and beautifully made. I had so much fun putting it together that even though I want to frame it and hang it as artwork, I took it apart. Hubby is planning to make me a custom frame, but I really want to assemble it again; there aren’t many puzzles I can say that about! 🐳

If you’re a wooden puzzle fan I absolutely recommend giving a Mr. Bob puzzle a try. They have some stunning images to choose from, and they’re well made and very entertaining. As an added bonus, depending on where you live, the exchange rate could give you a discount right off the bat – as of today the Australian dollar only costs 68 cents American!

Details:

• Title:                  Save The Whales
• Artist:                Robert Williams
• Brand:               Mr. Bob Puzzles
• Piece count:     515 pieces
• Size:                  Approx. 23 x 17 in. (54 x 43 cm)
• Purchased:      N/A, sent for review

Quality:

• Board:               4.5mm wood
• Cutting:             Excellent
• Image:               Very good, some slight image lift
• Box:                   Excellent
• Fit:                     Excellent
• Puzzle Dust:     None
• Piece cut:          Grid cut, whimsy pieces
• Piece shapes:   Very good variety
• Finish:               Slightly shiny finish, lays flat

Overall Rating:      Excellent, highly recommended

I received this product at no cost in order to facilitate this review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are truthful and 100% my own.