A deep dive review and comparison of inaugural puzzles from a new company with those made by the oldest and largest laser-cut wooden puzzle maker in the world. (About 8000 words; 24 photos)
Well done, Bill. Of your written material today, I enjoyed the Conclusions section best. In fact, I agree with you conclusions. If I buy myself a laser-cut wooden jigsaw puzzle, I think I will try one of Victory's offerings. Of the puzzled pictured today, I best liked "Café Terrace at Night." Though I am not certain, I think your coloured-pencil repair job may have been on that puzzle's one or both of the orangey brackets extending from the yellow wall. In any case, it was fun trying to decide about that.
I can say that when they posted about their beginning venture I was quick to jump on board in buying the puzzle they said was a homage to the original Victory and the times they were created, i.e. their "The Flapper" puzzle. I found the puzzle cut intriguing and different, and their whimsies fun. But, I was not happy with the shadow effect, which perhaps is what you mean by the laser burning on the front, I'm not sure. To me it looked like pencil lines that the laser cutter was supposed to cut along, but missed by a smidge, and thus there was a shadow mirroring the cut lines, especially in the lighter colored areas. I have purchased many (like over 100 at least) of laser cut puzzles of various brands in my collection and I found it not a usual thing at all. So undesirable that I put them on my no buy list... but changed it to a caution note because their customer service communication about the issue was at least attempted. I believe they offered me a small discount on my next purchase... which I have a desire to purchase the same puzzle again in hopes that they would have fixed that issue, because I wanted that particular homage puzzle from their introduction to the puzzling world in my collection, but I wanted it to be better without the faults I had in my first puzzle. So, I may give them another chance after they've been in production and works out their kinks, we shall see.
Well done, Bill. Of your written material today, I enjoyed the Conclusions section best. In fact, I agree with you conclusions. If I buy myself a laser-cut wooden jigsaw puzzle, I think I will try one of Victory's offerings. Of the puzzled pictured today, I best liked "Café Terrace at Night." Though I am not certain, I think your coloured-pencil repair job may have been on that puzzle's one or both of the orangey brackets extending from the yellow wall. In any case, it was fun trying to decide about that.
I can say that when they posted about their beginning venture I was quick to jump on board in buying the puzzle they said was a homage to the original Victory and the times they were created, i.e. their "The Flapper" puzzle. I found the puzzle cut intriguing and different, and their whimsies fun. But, I was not happy with the shadow effect, which perhaps is what you mean by the laser burning on the front, I'm not sure. To me it looked like pencil lines that the laser cutter was supposed to cut along, but missed by a smidge, and thus there was a shadow mirroring the cut lines, especially in the lighter colored areas. I have purchased many (like over 100 at least) of laser cut puzzles of various brands in my collection and I found it not a usual thing at all. So undesirable that I put them on my no buy list... but changed it to a caution note because their customer service communication about the issue was at least attempted. I believe they offered me a small discount on my next purchase... which I have a desire to purchase the same puzzle again in hopes that they would have fixed that issue, because I wanted that particular homage puzzle from their introduction to the puzzling world in my collection, but I wanted it to be better without the faults I had in my first puzzle. So, I may give them another chance after they've been in production and works out their kinks, we shall see.