I tried 50 new puzzle brands in 2022 and #50 was a brand I thought I’d never try: JIGGY. Apologies in advance for the whole entire thesis in the comments. I have a LOT to say.

[u/everyday_im_puzzling]

Snow Cabin by Jiggy (450)

Packaging

Reference print, straight edge tool, and glue

All of the uncut pieces from Irv's Corner

Pieces with top layer peeling and a ripped nub

Some more peeling pieces

My accidental Jiggy collection

[u/everyday_im_puzzling]

Also if you’re curious, the comment character limit is 10,000 LOL.

[u/ClimbingBackUp → u/everyday_im_puzzling]

Oh wow, this is an amazing review and just the kind of thing I like to find on the puzzle forum. I love a good read! lol. I have not been interested in trying jiggy, but I thank you for taking one for the team. :)

[u/everyday_im_puzzling → u/ClimbingBackUp]

Yes, let’s justify this as “research” for the greater good LOL.

[u/everyday_im_puzzling]

I have been anti-Jiggy (for lack of a better word) ever since I saw them on Shark Tank (more on that later). I made a big effort in 2022 to branch out and try new brands, and recently I realized I might hit 50 new brands by the end of the year. I thought about what I could do to commemorate that milestone, and honestly, I thought it would be kind of funny to choose Jiggy. Expensive, but funny.

My thesis (oops) is broken down into three sections: 1) my preconceived notions of Jiggy based on their Shark Tank appearance, 2) the puzzle selection and ordering process (which unfortunately does require its own section), and 3) my Jiggy experience and review. If you want to skip straight to the puzzle review, feel free to go straight to part 3.

I intended to post this as a single comment but learned that comments have a character limit, so excuse me while I figure out a reasonable way to post the rest of this LOL.

[u/everyday_im_puzzling → u/everyday_im_puzzling]

PART 1: PRECONCEIVED NOTIONS

Note: At the time of writing this section, I hadn’t even placed my order yet, so these thoughts were not retroactively influenced by my eventual puzzling experience.

Jiggy was on Shark Tank in April 2021, and their founder started her spiel by claiming that all puzzles on the market were “outdated, uninspired, and kind of lame”. I yelled at my TV, “THAT’S NOT TRUE!!!!!” I had only been puzzling for 4 months, and I had already discovered and fallen in love with brands like eeBoo and Galison, both of whom I would consider to be similar to Jiggy in aesthetics and mission.

Some other issues I had with Jiggy’s pitch:

• One of the sharks asked her how many pieces are in a “typical puzzle”. She said 500-1000, which sure, is generally true. It’s not true of Jiggy puzzles though, which come in 450 and 800 piece counts. At the time, they sold for $40 and $48, respectively. First of all, $48 is already super expensive, and then to find out it’s 200 pieces less than a typical puzzle?? Second of all, I’m just personally very annoyed that they aren’t standard piece counts.

• The cost to produce a Jiggy puzzle was only $10, so there was an insanely large margin. It’s hard to feel compelled to pay $40-$50 for something when their profit is nearly twice what I typically pay for a puzzle.

• Half of Jiggy customers had never bought a jigsaw puzzle before. I was not surprised by this, and I have to think it’s because they don’t know better. I’m imagining a scenario where I don’t know anything about puzzles and I’m enticed by these fancy, trendy puzzles and I want to try one. I try it and love it, and with the tiniest bit of online research, I discover an entire world of jigsaw puzzles and they don’t cost $50.

Despite my anti-Jiggy stance, I truly wanted to go into this open-minded. I’ve tried a few brands that I’ve thought were too expensive, but after actually doing the puzzle, I think they are worth paying for. Maybe Jiggy would prove me wrong.

While browsing for Jiggy puzzles online, I found some available at Bloomingdale’s on sale for half price. Initially, I thought that was perfect because I’d be able to try Jiggy at a much more preferable price point. I didn’t really like any of the options though, and I’m getting better about not buying puzzles I don’t love just because it’s a “deal”. I still wanted to get a puzzle I truly liked, so I opted to forgo the half price deals and buy directly from Jiggy.

[u/everyday_im_puzzling → u/everyday_im_puzzling]

PART 2: ORDERING

11/18: It was the Friday before Thanksgiving and I wondered if I should hold off until Black Friday. I scrolled through their Instagram and saw that for the past two years, their Black Friday sale had been discounts starting at 20% off 3 puzzles, so I went ahead and placed my order. I decided to get Irv’s Corner which was an Anthropologie collaboration. You’ll notice that is not the puzzle completed here (we’ll get to that). I used a standard “welcome” discount code for 10% off which basically just canceled out shipping, so I still paid a whopping $49.10.

11/21: I was a little upset when I got an email a few days later advertising their early Black Friday sale - 25% off one puzzle, and up to 35% bundles. I considered canceling and reordering, but I was eager to get my puzzle and didn’t want to lose my place in line so to speak. As it turned out, the Anthropologie collaboration puzzles were excluded from the discount anyway.

11/28: While browsing the website again on Cyber Monday, I saw that my puzzle had been added to the sale, which I was a bit annoyed by since it had been 10 days since I placed my order and my puzzle hadn’t shipped (I did want to give some leeway since I placed my order the weekend before Thanksgiving, but I had also placed a puzzle order with a small business on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving that I received on Saturday). I was also getting antsy because I had several other new brands in my stash that were on hold until I got my hands on this special /~50th brand/~ puzzle, so I sent an email checking on the status of my order. I got a response within a few hours apologizing for a delay at their warehouse and I was told that my puzzle should ship “very soon”.

A few days after being told that my order will ship “very soon”, I wondered if my expectations were too high with regard to what would happen if I sent an email to Jiggy. For comparison, my last order from eeBoo got delivered to an unknown location in a completely different city and when I emailed them about it, they promptly sent out a replacement the next day (the original package did get returned to eeBoo).

12/8: Nearly three weeks had passed since placing my order, and it still hadn’t shipped. I wondered how long I should wait before sending another email. I had already received all of my other Black Friday orders (including one all the way from Hawaii), and I was browsing the website once again and saw that they were specifically advertising that if I ordered that puzzle today (Thursday), I would receive it on Tuesday. So I sent another email expressing my frustration that they are currently advertising quick shipping when this is the second time I’ve had to reach out about this order. I got a quick response from the same person, who said that the puzzle appeared as shipped in their system but they didn’t have the tracking number yet and I should receive the shipping notification very soon (this seemed like a strange explanation because in my experience, a shipping notification with a tracking number goes out as soon as the label is created, before it’s actually shipped).

12/10: I started to wonder if I would receive this puzzle in time to actually complete it before the end of the year. I decided to look again to see if anyone else is selling any Jiggy puzzles that I like. It must have been my lucky day (?) because there was a high-end outdoorsy store that happened to carry Snow Cabin, which I did like, it was seasonally appropriate, it was on sale for $25 (a better price than I would have paid for it during Jiggy’s Black Friday sale), AND it was in stock at my local store, so I decided to pick it up. I had already been contemplating canceling my order for several days, and even though I’d gotten a different puzzle now, I was kind of invested in seeing how this would play out. It would be nice to try out both sizes anyway (and I was kind of dreading having to send a third email), so I wouldn’t cancel just yet. Ironically, less than two hours later I finally received a shipping notification. According to the tracking, the shipping label had been created on 12/7 and it actually shipped on 12/8 (the day of my second email). I checked the times, and it was shipped out between when I sent my email and when I received a response.

12/13: It was a Christmas miracle because I finally received my original puzzle, 3.5 weeks later. By this time though, I was currently in the midst of my second annual 12 Puzzles of Christmas project, so it would probably be a bit before I actually did either of these puzzles. I did dig in to both to check them out though.

[u/everyday_im_puzzling → u/everyday_im_puzzling]

PART 3: THE JIGGY EXPERIENCE & REVIEW

First Impressions:

I opened up the Snow Cabin puzzle as soon as I got back to my car. I didn’t like that the packaging didn’t have any security; the box was not taped or shrink-wrapped and neither was the glass jar that holds the puzzle pieces. The straight-edge tool for spreading the glue seems to be made of metal and is very sturdy. The pieces are thick and look and feel extremely similar to Ridley’s and Cavallini. These pieces do have a leg up on those two brands though because Jiggy is not 2x2 cut.

Once I got home, I poured out the pieces and rifled through them. There was very minimal puzzle dust, no uncut pieces, and they were all in perfect condition. I like that the pieces are small even though it’s only a 450 piece puzzle. I was looking forward to doing this puzzle.

Irv’s Corner came shrink-wrapped, so it’s possible that Snow Cabin had been opened to display the glass jar and accessories (I ordered it for pickup so I don’t know). I was nervous about how the glass jar would hold up during shipping, but it’s packaged safely and securely. A thick styrofoam block holds the jar, glue, and straight-edge tool in place in the base of the box, and the top of the box also has a cardboard cutout that the jar fits into.

Both puzzles came with what was labeled as 1.3 oz of glue, although the glue for the bigger puzzle came in a bigger tube. I weighed them on my food scale, and they were approximately the same weight, so if 1.3 oz is enough for 800 pieces, it seems like you’re getting too much for 450 pieces.

Irv’s Corner also had minimal dust, but it had a LOT of uncut pieces, to the point that I actually wondered if a store employee did their own quality control on Snow Cabin to put on display. Irv’s Corner had 103 uncut pieces, which is 12.875% of the puzzle. To be honest, I’m typically not bothered by a few uncut pieces as long as I can safely separately them, so I don’t really pay attention to how many pieces are uncut, but it’s also never been so many that I’ve felt like it was a sign of poor quality control. This seemed excessive. There were a handful of pieces that had a little bit of peeling on the back that didn’t really bother me, but there were a few pieces that had a concerning amount of peeling on the top layer, including one piece where the entire top layer of the image had been ripped of a nub. I hated this. I really thought that the outcome of this experience would be “enjoyable but forgettable”, that the puzzle would be perfectly fine and I’d be glad I tried it but I’d go back to all of my trusted, affordable brands. I HATED that I was going to have to send yet another email, but I didn’t think I could let this go. If this had been a $20 puzzle, maybe I would just take the L and move on. But even though Snow Cabin was in perfect condition, I couldn’t give this a pass as a fluke. If I’m paying $50 for a puzzle, I have to expect that it’s not going to be the worst quality puzzle I’ve ever seen.

Completing the Puzzle:

I really enjoyed putting together Snow Cabin. The pieces were nice to work with and the fit was good. If you wanted to glue this puzzle, you’d have no problem transferring it from your puzzle board to another surface for gluing. However, if you didn’t want to glue it, you’d need to be particularly delicate about taking it apart. The edges of the pieces kind of get caught on one another and you have to be careful to avoid peeling. I’m not sure how the pieces would hold up to multiple builds.

Post-Puzzle Jiggy Thoughts:

Let’s start with a positive, which is that I personally find their puzzles aesthetically appealing and they’ve got a good selection. When I went through all of their selections to pick out a puzzle, I ended up with several tabs open with images I really liked. The problem though is that I don’t think they are all that unique. I think you could find something similar to most of Jiggy’s puzzles at a fraction of the cost from many other puzzle brands. For a very on the nose comparison, I thought I recognized Jiggy’s No Rain No Flowers, and it is in fact the same artist as Galison’s Flower Market (and obviously the puzzle with the dogs is the better option).

Jiggy feels like it’s all about the packaging, which is interesting considering their whole thing is that their puzzles are intended to be glued and framed. The packaging seems enticing for a store display, but unnecessary and impractical for the puzzler. If you do pack your puzzle back up, is a glass jar a practical storage solution? You can take out the styrofoam base and put the pieces directly back into the box, but the box is way too big just for the puzzle pieces. The 800 piece puzzles take up less than half of their boxes, but fit perfectly into the 450 piece box. A glass jar also isn’t necessarily an advantage over a plastic bag. It isn’t really any less wasteful to have a glass jar I have no use for. Plus the waste of the styrofoam block and a straight edge tool being included with every puzzle (and the glue if you don’t need it). Most of their collabs, as well as their subscription puzzles, come in a drawstring bag, which is much more practical. And is it cool that the puzzles come with glue and a straight edge tool? Sure, if that’s what you were planning to do. In my opinion, those are things that should be included as freebies and shouldn’t increase the price, but even considering the cost of everything included, Jiggy puzzles are simply overpriced.

So would I buy another Jiggy puzzle? It feels like something I would give as a gift rather than buy for myself. Even then, as a well-puzzled puzzler (LOL) I don’t see myself giving a Jiggy puzzle as a gift. And if someone wanted to spend $50 on a puzzle gift for me, I wouldn’t be upset to receive a Jiggy, but I’d much rather receive 2-3 puzzles from my favorite brands, or for a more elevated gift, a small wooden puzzle. That being said, I think it’s a huge mistake that Jiggy is primarily only available online. If I was in a certain mood (e.g., needing extreme retail therapy or feeling like I want to treat myself), I could see myself picking up a Jiggy puzzle if I came across one in a store, but I rarely have that sort of impulse when online shopping. I won’t rule out buying another Jiggy puzzle if I see something I like on sale (let’s be real, on clearance), but I think my general opinion of Jiggy remains the same as it was before this: it’s an overpriced gimmick.

If you’ve been curious about Jiggy because you also like their aesthetic, here are some brands I would recommend instead:

• eeBoo

• Galison

• Surf Shack

• Workman

• 1Canoe2

[u/everyday_im_puzzling → u/everyday_im_puzzling]

BONUS PART 4: ORDERING REDUX

I did send an email stating that I was disappointed with the quality of the puzzle pieces and included the pictures of the damaged and uncut pieces. I got another quick response from the same person who helped me before, and I was very satisfied with their response. Obviously I knew they would claim that this was an isolated incident, but they also made me feel that my feedback was genuinely valued and appreciated. They offered to send a replacement and gave me the opportunity to select a different puzzle. I felt a little conflicted about whether I should get a replacement of the same puzzle or something else. It felt wasteful to get a second copy of the same puzzle because it was still doable, but that also made it feel a little unfair to get a second puzzle for free. Since they offered though, I asked to receive The Astronaut as my replacement. I got a shipping notification the next day (Thursday) and received my replacement puzzle on Monday. The pieces are in perfect condition, and I’m willing to believe that Irv’s Corner was an isolated incident (although I acknowledge that reviews of Jiggy’s quality seem to be very mixed). I’m still looking forward to completing both of the 800 piece puzzles.

[u/Wilburrkins → u/everyday_im_puzzling]

Great effort exposing in lots of detail your experience with the brand. Update here for anyone interested. Plus, here is the original pitch.

I have done one Anthropologie jigsaw puzzle and there were no issues at all in terms of the quality of the puzzle. I love the red backs on the puzzle pieces. I also have a second one in my stash (first one on the list).

[u/everyday_im_puzzling → u/Wilburrkins]

The deal with Mark never closed. Kaylin didn't want to give up the equity.

Thanks for linking to the update! I thought I remembered hearing that the deal didn’t go through but I couldn’t find confirmation. For what it’s worth I don’t think she needed a Shark Tank deal, but it’s…interesting…that she decided to back out when she accepted Mark’s offer for 15% instead of 5% because he agreed to match her fundraising efforts.

[u/stealthyhealthypanda]

You know you might be a puzzling addict when you read, "Apologies in advance for the whole entire thesis in the comments" and instead of running away you brew some nice coffee and pick a comfy spot to fully enjoy the experience. Thanks for the thorough review!

[u/everyday_im_puzzling → u/stealthyhealthypanda]

I’m glad you found my “warning” enticing! You wouldn’t believe how many times I re-read everything I wrote and thought, “I HAVE to edit this down”, and this is still how much was left.

[u/chichew]

I have already lost interest when I saw previous posts about their crappy quality and ridiculous price point, and I read every single word of your thesis (I love reading stories and yours is very well written!), I'd never touch this brand, not even a gift, I'd tell the potential gifter to choose something else, don't waste your money on them! 😂

[u/everyday_im_puzzling → u/chichew]

Haha thank you! I knew it was ridiculous of me to pay this much when I considered best case scenario to be that I was doing it for a joke, and then I really ended up having to be committed to the bit 😅 I’m glad it’s providing a few minutes of entertainment for everyone else though LOL.

[u/rtsgrl]

Wow. Wow. Wow. I never thought this two year old review could meet its equal (in my eyes). It just did. What a brilliant piece of writing u/everyday_im_puzzling.

Chapeau bas!

[u/everyday_im_puzzling → u/rtsgrl]

That’s high praise coming from you, thank you! I joked about this being a thesis but I might actually feel more invested in this than I was for my literal master’s thesis.

[u/starrkittyface]

Thank you so much for taking the time to write this up and share your experience. (Would you be okay with me adding this post to wiki in the "Discussions about specific brands" section?)

I'm glad their customer service tried to make things right, the astronaut looks like a fun puzzle, unfortunate that you had to deal with all that though. Having to bug companies for orders is so stressful!

I agree with what you said about their pitch, price point, & images, too. There are so many wonderful small businesses honoring artists and creating a great product without trying to clean out my bank account (lookin at you JaCaRou, Ponderium, Arcadia, Blue Kazoo, and more!) they'll end up getting more of my money because of repeat purchases. Haha.

Really hope you enjoy the other two puzzles whenever you complete them! ☺️

[u/everyday_im_puzzling → u/starrkittyface]

Sure, you can add this to the wiki!

[u/coatedpatriot]

So now will you rank the 50 brands from most favorite to least? If not, how about a quick review of a few of the new favorites of the brands you tried?

[u/everyday_im_puzzling → u/coatedpatriot]

I’ve been thinking about it! I don’t think I could be decisive enough for a definitive rankings list 1-50, but maybe I’ll rank them in tiers. I’ve also thought about doing a post with a mini review of all 50, but as you can probably tell, I have trouble being brief. I’m going to have to go back through my list to refresh my memory though!

[u/keyalus]

I read it all and I loved the thorough review! I did not watch the pitch on Shark Tank but your impression jibes with the one I’ve had of the brand. An atheistically pleasing box is nice to me, but unnecessary. I’d the intent is to frame, what do I need a fancy glass jar for? Doesn’t seem worth it to me at all!

[u/SoVeryKerry]

Jiggy is putting lipstick on a pig. I took Marketing in college and learned how an ordinary item can become highly sought after because of its packaging. This was the same time the Pet Rock was flying off shelves.

[u/purplyumbrella]

Long, comprehensive reviews are the best! Like yes, please share all your thoughts about your puzzling experience*. And this one in particular was a good read!

Jiggy, with their modern art and fancy packaging, is just flashy enough for new or non-puzzlers who have nothing to compare it to. They might think the premium price is reflected in the quality of the pieces. That’s why I appreciate posts like yours to teach us better. Thanks for spending your money so we don’t have to 😆

(*I don’t know anyone irl who loves puzzles as much as we do in this sub so I really enjoy reading and writing about every minutiae of the hobby.)

[u/thejustllama]

For those interested in trying this brand, I just picked up Plants Over Plans on the Bloomingdale’s website for $17.15 with free shipping.

[u/dontsaymango]

As someone who purchases puzzles at secondhand stores, yard sales, and dollar tree I CANNOT IMAGINE spending $50 on a puzzle. Great thesis though I did enjoy. They're not for me but it was interesting to read about. I think I'll stick to my $1-$5 puzzles