If you are a puzzler, there is no chance that you would have not ever heard of Ravensburger. You can love it or hate it. If you are a speed puzzler, you cannot avoid them because Ravensburger is the biggest sponsor for official speed puzzling competitions like nationals.
To me, Ravensburger is a very "neutral" brand. They don't have things that I would dislike (except their dust...) but not too many things to love either. They are average on many things. Nothing that would make me start a coffee table conversation.
I like their images. I don't love them but I like them a lot.
They have the biggest selection and variety of all kinds of puzzles.
Ravensburger is sold pretty much everywhere.
Their quality has pros and cons (about these later).
I'm not sure how to define their brand but it's definitely known!
Currently, I have at least 80 Ravensburger puzzles in my collection, you can also find these on my puzzle collection page. Most of them are 500 piece puzzles. Those are something I always buy from a store if I see one on the shelf that I haven't done yet. But it's not the image, it's not the quality, it's just because I feel the need to have them for my competition practice.
Images Under the Microscope
The ugly truth is that most puzzle brands use photo bank images. I don't believe that too many people in the puzzle community know how this works. I dislike photo bank images. Firstly, because the artist doesn't get the credit and not that much of a payment either.
I work in marketing so I'm very familiar with photo banks. Usually, a company has bought a license that allows them to download and use images in a chosen photo bank. If they download someone's image or illustration, they can use it on dozens of thousands of puzzles. What does the artist get? Probably less than one euro.
Also, the artist rarely gets any credit for their work. Some puzzle brands don't mention them anywhere in the box. Some do. That's how I learned that even big puzzle brands use photo banks. I was devastated.
Now the good news. Ravensburger seems to have really stepped up their game. Most new Ravensburger puzzles highlight the artist behind the image. And they buy licenses to their work directly which means that artists really get paid. I'm not familiar with the art field so I'm not sure what kind of payments or commissions we are talking about but surely more than some crappy cents from photo bank.
It's known that Ravensburger has even ordered new designs from artists for competitions like the final of the World Jigsaw Puzzle Championship (teams final 2023). However, we can still see also them using photo banks on some occasions. I think the sushi puzzle we saw on USA Nationals might be from a photo bank as it has been seen also elsewhere.
I don't want to say all NO for photo bank images but I do hope that brands would be more open about it. The same comes to transparency on where and how their puzzles are manufactured - for most brands this is in China. To my knowledge, Ravensburger is also an exception to this.
Ravensburger Is a Dusty Nightmare
There is one major downside to Ravensburger puzzles. Even if you are their biggest fan, I'm sure you hate their puzzle dust. Ravensburger is hands down the brand that has the most puzzle dust. I don't really mind a little bit of dust but this is too much.
Even if you have done a puzzle a few times, every time there is still dust left. When I do relaxed puzzling with a new puzzle, I try my best to shake off all the dust. I feel like my white puzzle table will eventually turn light blue.
I can see this being a real issue with those who struggle with asthma. Also, I always wonder, is this dust dangerous? And I don't mean dangerous like "we all gonna die now". Scientists have found microplastics in the human body so I wonder if all of us puzzlers will be full of puzzle dust in our retirement age (just kidding, or am I?).
Quality & Packaging Size
Do you know those short videos where the last piece is moved around to find the final empty spot? Well, these are very hard to do with Ravensburger puzzles because the finished puzzle is never silky smooth. I'm not sure if this is a good or bad thing though.
There are no false fits in the new Ravensburger puzzles. I have to give them that. It's awesome! Their cut is good and pieces come in all shapes. No funky pieces, except in their round puzzles. I know some puzzle brands who have 1000 piece puzzle with only one shape piece (two in, two out...).
You can definitely do a pickup challenge with a Ravensburger puzzle. I don't like pieces that get too stuck. Like the ones that you have to be afraid of breaking everything when you disassemble a puzzle. Ravensburger has no problem with that!
Sometimes puzzle boxes are ridiculously big. You could fit five puzzles into them. Ravensburger is not the worst on this. And they actually have new packaging sizes and designs starting this year. I like the new packaging. It's smaller. And more simple.
What the future looks like?
As the biggest puzzle company, they also have the biggest budget. I would like to see Ravensburger in the future as responsible a forerunner and trendsetter in the puzzle world. They have already done amazing things and left their footprint in the field of puzzles.
I do see Ravensburger being the main sponsor of the World Jigsaw Puzzle Federation, associations, and major speed puzzling competitions. I also hope that there will be still more space and opportunities for smaller brands to join as sponsors too. And that speed puzzling events will remain good marketing events FOR Ravensburger and don't turn into events OF Ravenburger.
I'm excited to see what puzzles will come up in WJPC 2024. Are all of them going to be unpublished ones or some old favorites?
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