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| cat kick! |
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| guy sitting on books to put a nail into the image? |
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| couple sitting at table |
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| Eiffel tower |
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| Several interacting whimsies, book and cat related |
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| grape/wine on left, UFO and rocket man center and right |
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| Rebus: shell + fly + F = shelf life |
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| knitting |
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| that's a big pumpkin |
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| hammer and nail |
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| readers on all sides |
Hi Rebecca,
ReplyDeleteSo, I just discovered your blog. It's fantastic and so helpful. Thank you. But... I'm befuddled by something.
I'm new to wooden puzzles. I'd tried them years ago, hated them, and kept building my Heye and Ravensburger collection. But then I got stuck at a friend's house for a few days and all they had were Liberty puzzles and, well, I got hooked.
That was 3 months and 55 puzzles ago. There are still another 65 puzzles on my Liberty wish list, but I thought I'd start looking into other brands, which is how I ended up here at your blog. You have me convinced to try Mr GoGo, though I'll admit to being tempted by that MGC Butterfly puzzle. Pricey, but maybe I can justify it.
The Staves, though? I just can't wrap my head around it. You preface your blog with, "Perhaps because of my day job, I'm a tough rater. Everything 3/5 and above I consider worth the time and money."
I love Colin Thompson as much as the next girl, but by my math, this puzzle cost north of $5k. I don't know how long this took you (you seem to build them even more quickly than I do), but the same money will buy me 40+ Liberty puzzles in the 500+ pieces category.
Can one Stave provide as much enjoyment as 40 Liberty puzzles of equal size, or more than half as many Mr Gogo puzzles? Is it really that much more enjoyable?
Thanks again for providing such a great guide.
-- Puzzled in Nevada
Staves usually sell at a discount from the supposed list price, but they are by no means cheap. It would be completely reasonable to say they're just not worth it, but a really good handcut puzzle delivers haptic and mental pleasure that is just different from even the best laser-cut puzzle. A Stave is the top of the line; probably the most distinctive are the Teasers (and the Tricks, which I don't like as much) which rely on hand cutting to make them both difficult and incredibly satisfying when you get it right. I can't exactly justify them, but I do love them.
DeleteThanks for the reply.
DeleteHm. I see Stave is offering a timeshare program for $4k-$5k (depending upon size) pricing good through December 20. Tempting, but I'm not sure I want to fall in love with something so expensive -- I get a lot of pleasure from the Liberty puzzles as it is. I'd hate to have that diminished by comparison.
I've got 5 Mr Gogo puzzles sitting in an Etsy cart right now. I think I'll start there and see how it goes. I suspect I'm going to regret finding your blog.
[Completely aside, you didn't post a pic of the complete Steamin' Hot puzzle, and there's no pic of it on Stave's website either. With a 10/10 rating, I'm terribly curious to see the full image!]
For what it's worth, my advice would be: sign up for the Stave mailing list, wait for one of the regular 30% discount offers, then try a Teaser or a Treat (or a Trick if you like puzzles that have more than one solution). That will cost a bunch less and show off what Stave can do. I have used the timeshare program and probably will again, but it is indeed a lot.
DeleteFor clarity: the 30% offers are extra over the "web price" discount, which is always around.
DeleteOkay, done. And they're offering me 10% off already!
DeleteBut if this goes the route of my Heye collection, I'm going to need a divorce lawyer...
[Heye collection is here: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10157432557687719&set=a.112574752718&type=3&theater
Liberty now has it's own section, not shown in pic]
That is an impressive collection! My basement has a similar section but I don't have nearly as many as any one kind (I resell many of my LIberty puzzles) and occasional others.
DeleteThe Heye cartoon puzzles are the only ones I keep. There is no complete catalog of all the cartoon puzzles they've produced, but I've done a fair bit of research and I'd guess I have 95% of them (mostly purchased from eBay in Germany and a smaller resale site in the Netherlands).
DeleteThe Ravensburgers, FX Schmids, etc. get donated once I've built them.
As for reselling Libertys, please consider me a prospective buyer of some of the out of print ones. I'm still kicking myself for not buying the 1400 piece Map of Florence puzzle on eBay six weeks ago.