Isn’t this image adorable? I had so much fun putting this puzzle together and my youngest son Cole even helped. He did not want me to “touch his dog” that he had picked out to work — the white poodle on the bottom left panel. LOL

This was one of those sketchy Chinese brands that while they have really cute images, you often wonder if the quality will be there, and you know you’ll have paper thin pieces as well. This was one advertised as “Bboldin” as the brand name, but it looks suspiciously like several other funky named brands whose box design is identical. They’re probably all made by the same brand and just labeled differently. Not sure what the intention is for that — whether it’s to be deceptive or not, but I have to say this puzzle was actually pretty good quality!

Yes, it was paper thin which I do not love, but the fit was pretty snug and it lay flat with no bumps in pieces or anything so I was pleasantly surprised by the build. I think the image is really cute and I’m not even sure which dog I like the best, but I’m leaning toward the poodle that Cole worked on and the Beagle right above him as my two favorites. They were all a lot of fun to put together though.

Like most of the cheapy Chinese brands I have done, there is a smooth, white paper back on the pieces as they are all lettered. You have the choice, of course, to ignore the letters and just figure out the image on your own which is what I did here. I can see where having the letters on the back would be helpful in cases where there are large areas of really dark pieces as it can sometimes be difficult to discern a dark brown from a black or dark navy piece for example.

I personally don’t have anything against using the letters on the back and I will admit I have utilized the letters on occasion to sort a puzzle, but then I put each section together on my own. I know some people consider that to be “cheating”, but I truly don’t believe there is a right or wrong way to puzzle. I think each puzzler should have the right to complete any puzzle they choose, any way they want. If that means lots of sorting or no sorting at all; taking advantage of the letters on the back to help sort the image into quadrants or mini sections vs spending more time figuring out where each piece goes in a really dark image with no help at all — it doesn’t matter one bit! The only thing that truly matters is having fun, relaxing, de-stressing, and enjoying the build!

I give this puzzle an A for image quality, fit and degree of fun in solving. It gets a C for being paper thin and pretty glossy which causes a lot of glare, but otherwise, totally engrossing and fun to the very end.