Koi Fish by Ciro Marchetti – Milton Bradley (Big Ben Luxe) – 500 pieces

Absolutely gorgeous image by Ciro Marchetti, it made for such entertaining puzzling! Underwater scenes aren’t usually my thing, but my daughter wanted me to buy this one so I couldn’t disappoint her. She’s such an enabler (LOVE that about her). 😉

I had no idea when I bought this that it was a Marchetti image, there was absolutely no mention of the artist anywhere on the box. Disappointing. If I had my artwork on a puzzle I would absolutely want to see my name on the box – wouldn’t you? Luckily the poster that came in the box had the artist credited.

It’s hard to give a rating for the quality – other than the fit it was very good/excellent – but fit is SO important! Piece shapes, cut, reproduction, finish, and chipboard were all really quite good; even better than expected. But how a puzzle fits together is unbelievably essential to a good assembly experience, and the fit on this puzzle left a lot to be desired. It wasn’t just loose, it was spongy as well; even when the correct pieces were put together you still weren’t always sure because it felt almost wrong the way it fit. I guess I’m giving it a good rating. Honestly, if the fit were better it would have gotten an excellent rating and I would have also given it a highly recommended.

It’s hard to say fish have expressions on their faces, but there something about the eye on this Koi fish, it almost looks embarrassed. It actually made me laugh when I really looked at it.

Look at these gorgeous colors! Ciro Marchetti’s work reminds me of Aimee Stewart, their use of color is similar, and makes for such fun puzzles in my opinion. Stunning!

Wonky fit aside, it was a beautiful image that made for truly fun puzzling. I started it late at night and finished by 9:00 the next morning. It makes me wish I had more puzzles with his artwork here, this one was fun!