There’s a reason the Pieces of the Galaxy Puzzles were funded on day 1 of their Kickstarter campaign. These challenging puzzles are made up of uniquely shaped pieces that come together to create stunning works of art. As I wrote in my initial post about the campaign, the collection includes 8 planets, the sun, the moon, and a mystery planet.
HelloFish Creative Studios was nice enough to send me a review sample that included the Earth puzzle as well as a display stand. Earth is considered a medium planet, so it would have cost $49 on the Kickstarter campaign ($59 retail) while the display stand would be a $9.99 add-on. I’ll say that the display stand is a clutch addition for two reasons. First, once you complete your puzzle, you’ll feel such a huge sense of accomplishment that you’ll want to share it with everyone. Second, the puzzle is so gorgeous that you’ll want to display it in your home and see how the translucent acrylic pieces enhance the beauty of the piece.
My wife and I were excited to spend a Saturday night putting together this puzzle (we’re super fun, you guys) and the Earth puzzle did not disappoint. While fairly small in size, about 6.5 inches or 16.5cm diameter, the puzzle includes 130 intricately laser cut pieces. The fact that each of the pieces was very small, sometimes shaped like animals or plant-life added to the fun of the experience. I’d say it took about 2 hours to put together the Earth puzzle, which should say a lot considering the overall size of the puzzle.
The pieces are made out of blended wood as well as acrylic, which lend to a superior feel. These are not your standard cardboard pieces that will fall apart if they get wet, these pieces would stay intact even if I let my 2-year old gnaw on it for a few minutes. The artwork is directly printed at 1200 DPI (very high resolution) onto the wood after the pieces are cut, which leads to high-end pieces with very clear images. This special type of puzzle making takes about 900x longer than mainstream puzzles, but the proof is in the puzzle.
The display stand was easy to assemble and while made of fairly inexpensive materials, looks very nice when displaying our Earth puzzle. The clear plastic lets the light shine through the puzzle while on display and the stainless steel hardware gives it a more upscale look.
We’re really impressed with the Pieces of the Galaxy puzzle collection and are glad to see a Kickstarter campaign live up to the hype. The puzzles are incredibly well made, fun and challenging to put together, and beautiful to display. If you’re a fan of puzzles, you’re going to love Pieces of the Galaxy.
Head over to HelloFish Creative Studios to sign up for their mailing list to find out when they launch.
Source: The Pieces of the Galaxy: Earth puzzle was a manufacturer supplied review sample
What I Like: High-quality construction; Multiple materials; Beautiful design; Challenging to complete; Nice for display
What Needs Improvement: Nothing I can see!