Party Balloons by Suzan Lind – Cobble Hill – 500 pieces

Isn’t this a great puzzle image? As soon as I saw it I knew I had to get it, it was just too beautiful to pass up! The colors and patterns made for such an entertaining assembly – I wish it were also available in 1000 pieces, that would be even more fun.

The quality of this particular puzzle wasn’t as good as Cobble Hill usually is. I know that with the pandemic and the huge increase in demand for puzzles, things have been crazy in the puzzle world with manufacturers doing their best to get puzzles out and into the hands of puzzlers as soon as they can. I have history with this brand, so I know that their quality is usually quite good; therefore, even though this puzzle had a few problems I know that it isn’t indicative of the brand’s normally excellent quality.

That said, I should tell you that this puzzle had a very loose fit; many pieces were slightly bent, and some pieces that had very thin necks (spaces in between holes) were bent almost to the point of being torn in half. Because of all the bent pieces the finished puzzle didn’t lie completely flat; making the puzzle massage at the end of assembly not nearly as satisfying as usual.

It was still fun to assemble though and the finished puzzle is gorgeous. It has been put in a box to send on to the next puzzler for them to enjoy!