Thirteen Puzzle Companies Ranked by Overall Quality

I have added a formal review of Buffalo puzzles to the "Company Reviews" page and revised (as a result of more exposure to their puzzles) the numeric totals of a couple of others. I have broken point-ties strictly by a gut feel for which for which company's product I would likely reach for first.

That said, I do use a point-system to rank the companies, and there is still surprisingly little difference along that 35-point scale in many cases. It seems that most companies are strong in some qualities and just average or even weak in others, so the overall ranking can boil down to only one or two category "misses" on the parts of the companies. Some companies produce too many damaged pieces, some produce poor colors, or too loose a fit, etc., but whatever it is, they almost all have one or two weak areas.

I rate eight separate categories from 1-4 points each, and offer up to three possible bonus points for exceptional quality in any of the rating-categories. That means that a perfect score would be 35 points (and no company has approached that number yet). This thirteen-company ranking is based on total points (with the percentage of a perfect score also shown strictly for informational purposes}. 

More reviews and list adjustments will follow as I gain more experience with the puzzles of other companies.

Puzzle Company Ranking List:

1. White Mountain -   29 points, 83%
2. Aquarius -   28 points, 80%
3. The Jigsaw Puzzle Factory - 28 points, 80%
4. Ravensburger - 28 points, 80%
5. Cobble Hill - 27 points, 77%
6. Buffalo - 26 points, 74%
7. SunsOut -   26 points, 74%
8. Dowdle Folk Art -   26 points, 74%
9. Hogan's Harbor - 25 points, 71%
10. Eurographics - 24 points, 69%
11. Ceaco -  23 points, 66%
12. Hasbro - 23 points, 66%
13. Puzz3D (MB) - 15 points, 43%

Detailed Reviews for Each Company Ranked - Click Here


I invite your comments and/or mini-reviews on any of the puzzle companies I've ranked to this point. Just attach your thoughts below in the comments section and I will copy them to my review of the same company. Your words will appear here in the original post AND as an attachment to my review. 

Thoughts, folks?

Six Puzzle Companies Ranked by Overall Quality: White Mountain to Puzz3D

Since starting Puzzle Fanatics, I've had sufficient experience with the recent puzzles of several companies to compare the overall quality of their products. My "Company Reviews" page, in fact, now includes full reviews of puzzles from six different companies, so I've decided to post my first puzzle company ranking list. And, I'm close to feeling comfortable about reviewing a handful of other companies, so I'll continue to add to the review page and ranking list as those reviews are ready.

I use a point-system to rank the companies, and there is surprisingly little difference in poing-totals in some cases. It seems that most companies are strong in some qualities and just average in others, so it's all boils down to one or two category "misses" on their parts. I rate eight separate categories from 1-4 points each, and offer up to three possible bonus points for exceptional quality in any of the rating-categories. That means that a perfect score would be 35 points (and no company has approached that number yet). This six-company ranking is based on total points with the percentage of a perfect score also shown. Remember that more reviews and list adjustments will follow when I feel comfortable with doing initial ratings for other companies. 

Puzzle Company Ranking List:

1. White Mountain -   31 points, 89%
2. SunsOut -   31 points, 89%
3. Dowdle Folk Art -   30 points, 86%
4. Aquarius -   29 points, 83%
5. Ceaco -   24 points, 69%
6. Puzz3D (MB) -   15 points, 43%

Detailed Reviews for Each Company Ranked - Click Here

"Soccer" by Jan van Haasteren: Little Guys Everywhere

One Tiny Section of "Soccer," CEACO, 550 pieces, 16 X 24 inches (The Penalty Shot from Hell)

"Soccer" is my first experience with one of Jan van Haasteren's many puzzles. It's not that I've just become aware of the man's work, but (frankly) they are so "busy," with all those little cartoon characters running around everywhere that they just don't appeal to me that much. It took me, in fact, a long time to figure out a plan of attack on even this smaller one, but once I got into the hang of it (the secret seems to be to just take what the puzzle gives you at the moment and worry about assembling it into one coherent piece later), I enjoyed it. I can't imagine though what a 1000-piece puzzle of his would be like, and probably won't go there even though I already have three of them on my puzzle shelf.

After finishing the puzzle-frame and taking a couple of the more obvious spots on, it was time to use the various signs dispersed throughout the crowd as a way to keep making progress. Finally, some of the sign-sections started to hook into the frame, and I just placed the others in their approximate final settings.

 After I got all the signage in place, I decided to pull all the green pieces out and use the remaining ones to finish the upper half of the puzzle. Despite the sections of the crowd being as segregated by type as they are, that was not as easy for me as I expected it would be.

Then it was time to finish up the pitch itself and all the "players" running around on it, including the track that runs around the perimeter of the pitch. This would prove to be the toughest part of the puzzle for some reason. The funny thing is that, in addition to the soccer teams on the pitch, there are also a basketball team, a football team, a baseball team, a tennis match, track and field athletes, and who knows what else?

And finally it was done...but let's look at some of the detail.

The football and basketball teams

The Indians in the Stands (Politically Correct?)

A Group of Navy personnel from Some Country's Navy

Even the Zoo Animals Had a Section in the Stands (to the dismay of nearby fans?)

There is even a TV Crew in the Sky (and in the way of some fans)

Even a criminal on the pitch choking out one of his opponents (I don't like this image)

Another politically incorrect section in the stands - the Mexican Section?

This one kind of surprised me. It's funny, no doubt about that, but Mr. Van Haasteren seems to have no fear about straying into some areas of humor (ethnic costuming, and the like) that surprised me. The puzzle is only five years old, so I'm surprised that the PC Police haven't caused him a problem yet - but I hope that they never do because this is not mean-spirited humor at all - not even close, in my opinion.

I have three more Jan van Haasteren puzzles of 550 pieces and three 1000-piece ones on my To-Do shelf, and I'm sure that I'll get to some of them later on. But as much fun as this one turned out to be, they are still a little too busy to be a relaxing experience for me - and that means I'm not in a big hurry to do the next one.

CEACO 10-Puzzle Americana Collection: Puzzle No. 2

"Americana No. 2" of CEACO 10-puzzle box, 300 pieces, 15 x 11 inches

Like most of you, after I've finished a "large puzzle," and we all have our own personal definition of what constitutes a large puzzle, I slide down to a smaller, quicker one. I've found that alternating relatively quick puzzles with the more time-consuming ones, keeps me fresher and raring to get back to the next more difficult puzzle. The little 300-piecer shown above (an image I really like) was one of those change-of-pace puzzles.

A while back, I found a large 10-puzzle collection by CEACO in one of the Goodwill Stores around me, and was pleasantly surprised to find a $1.99 price on the box...twenty cents a puzzle is hard to beat. There is a puzzle poster in the box for reference when building the puzzles, and the one up above is simply marked on that poster as "2," so I don't know the artist or actual name of the puzzle. The collection includes four 500-piece puzzles, four 300-piece ones, and even two 100-piece puzzles, so I have nine more of these change-of-pace puzzles to go yet.

This is a look at the poster representation of the puzzle and the puzzle's frame. I always try to start with the frame just so that I can get a sense of the puzzle's overall size in relation to the size of individual pieces as quickly as possible. That helps me place pieces more quickly (by going more directly to the right section of the puzzle) when I reference them to the image on the box cover or poster for orientation.

With so few pieces, it was easy to work this one from any direction I chose, so I decided to go with a top-to-bottom approach. By this point, I could tell that the finished puzzle would not disappoint me.

I pretty much kept going in that direction until I came to the pond section of the puzzle. At that point, I started placing the cows, horses, and ducks into the picture. Overall, this little puzzle gave me more fun than I expected it would, and the finished image turned out to be one of my favorite American puzzles. Now, I find myself kind of looking forward to working the other nine.

Jan van Haasteren Puzzles: Goodwill Store Finds

"Tall Ship Chaos," Jumbo Puzzles, 1000 pieces, 20 x 27

I make a regular circuit of visits searching for puzzles to the three Goodwill Stores within a few miles of my house (mainly because I've got to be in two of the parking lots everyday anyway for other reasons) but I find them to be a hit-and-miss proposition. But this week has been a real puzzle bonanza for me, with the three mentioned in the previous post, and now these EIGHT Jan van Haasteren "comic puzzles."

Now comes the rub, though. I've never worked one of these before and have no idea how I'm going to react to them. But the Goodwill Store that I found these puzzles at has a one-third off discount for senior citizens every Wednesday, so who could possibly resist getting eight puzzles for a grand total of $9.02? Well, not me. The puzzles do strike me as "love them or hate them" puzzles, but there's only one way to find out for sure.

"Seashore" and "Track Meet," CEACO, 550 and 750 pieces, 24 x 18

"Soccer" and "The Fire Station," CEACO, 550 pieces each, 24 x 18

As you can see, the puzzles seem to have been purchased over a few years by one collector/puzzler. Information on the boxes indicates that the puzzles were first produced between 2011 and 2015, and during that time the CEACO company seems to have changed it's box style to the more durable one shown just above. The eight puzzles break down this way: three at 1000 pieces, two at 750 pieces, and three at 550 pieces, all in all, a pretty good haul.

"The Winter Fair," Jumbo Puzzles, 1000 pieces, 20 x 27

"The Zoo," Jumbo Puzzles, 1000 pieces, 20 x 27

"Emergency Room," CEACO, 750 Pieces, 24 x 18

So I suppose this is the beginning of a new Jan van Haasteren collection or it's the beginning of a huge disappointment. Time will tell...can't wait to find out.