Stephen King Books (?) – Unknown Brand – 1000 pieces

This puzzle from an unknown brand had terrible quality, but the collage image was still entertaining to put together. Entertaining or not though, it isn’t one that I would recommend – I just couldn’t get past the thin pieces and terrible fit and the frustration of trying to move pieces around that crumble and fall apart like they weren’t even connected.

Although I searched every inch of the box, I could find no brand name at all. It says “Jigsaw Puzzle” and “1000 pieces” and there is a grid that has letters in it but that seems to be showing that this puzzle is lettered on the back to help with sorting and assembly. There’s no title for the puzzle either, so I just went with the obvious. This seems to be a quickly made puzzle to take advantage of the increased demand during the pandemic.

The pieces are unbelievably thin, and the fit was quite loose. The image reproduction was slightly blurry in some places and the finish was quite shiny. All the pieces were ballerinas (2 prong, 2 hole) in two different shapes – one thinner that was assembled vertically, and one thicker that was placed horizontally. There was also an extra piece, and one missing; usually both problems in one puzzle are from pieces sticking in the die that is used to cut the shapes. The nicest thing I have to report about this puzzle is that it lies flat, that’s the extent of this puzzle’s virtues.

You can see in the first picture both the extra piece, and how incredibly thin the pieces of this puzzle are. The second picture is showing the first section to be assembled. I used the letters on the back to both sort and assemble this puzzle. Normally I don’t do that, but there are so many words repeated (Stephen King, obviously) and so much darkness in the image that with the frustration of the pieces and how they fit together I don’t think I would have put this puzzle together any other way.

Carrie is the only Stephen King book I’ve ever read, and to be honest I really didn’t care for it. I was a teenager at the time, perhaps that was part of it, but it just wasn’t my cup of tea. I do love the look of this book cover though. 😲

Richard Bachman is one of several nom de plumes (pen names) that Stephen King has used, so this is also a Stephen King novel. I’ve never heard of this book, but this seemed like the perfect picture to take for a puzzle posted near Halloween. Bloody and creepy!

---

I’ve learned in the past couple of years that if there is no brand name on a puzzle box that it is not worth my time. Just this week I was given a wooden puzzle for my birthday with no brand name on the box, and it was AWFUL. If the makers aren’t willing to tell you the brand name (or if there really isn’t a brand at all), it’s a hastily made puzzle without regard for quality, or your enjoyment of the assembly.

Real companies that put their name on a puzzle box are proud of their product, even if we aren’t always happy with their quality; those that don’t just aren’t worth it in my opinion. I’d rather have a Ceaco than a crap puzzle without a name.

Yep. I just said that.