Master Pieces

In 1998, Master Pieces Puzzle Company, doing business for 10 years, was founded by David Rolls, a former professional baseball player.
David’s parents returned from a vacation in Alaska in 1988 with the idea of creating souvenir jigsaw puzzles of vacation destinations, events, and regional themes. David began in-depth analyses of the jigsaw puzzle market during his off-seasons.

David retired from professional baseball in 1995 and with a $50,000 loan from his parents he started his own puzzle company. Packing his truck full of puzzles, clothes, food and a sleeping bag, he began selling the first 6 puzzles titles in the fall of 1995 to gift shops, drug stores, grocery stores, parks and hotels throughout Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Nevada and California.

With a Titanic picture puzzle in his line, David’s own ship came in with the 1997 release of James Cameron’s movie, Titanic. The proceeds from the sales of Titanic puzzles lead to the expansion of MasterPieces Puzzle Company from the bed of a truck to its own office space.

In 1998 MasterPieces Puzzle Company designed a corporate identity, broadened its subject matter, hired Sales Reps and began to increase the company’s distribution by participating in tradeshows, with the company averaging 100% growth for years.