Victory Puzzles: Reviving a 100-Year-Old Puzzle Brand
It's always exciting to see new brands pop up at the Puzzle Warehouse. One exciting brand that is joining the ranks is Victory Wooden Puzzles! The brand creates laser cut wooden puzzles with a variety of images and piece cuts. I'm here to share some of the brand's history and what to expect when you purchase one of these amazing heirloom puzzles.
Most puzzlers know that our beloved cardboard jigsaw puzzles originated from the craftsmanship of hand-cut wooden puzzles. The craft of cutting the puzzle with a scroll saw, is just as much an artform as the image itself. A brand that was notorious for quality hand-cut puzzles was Victory Puzzles, from Great Britain. The brand originated in the early 1920s. At its peak, Victory created puzzles for British royalty and employed over one hundred staff. Unfortunately, as the less expensive, good quality cardboard puzzles gained popularity, many wooden puzzle makers suffered. The well-loved Victory puzzles stopped production in the late 1980s.
Moving forward to 2020, we all know what that means. For many, puzzling became the hobby of choice during quarantine. This was no different for Andrew Knowles. Andrew discovered the world of laser cut wooden puzzles. With a background in fine arts, Andrew sought out to discover more about the wooden jigsaw puzzle market. It just so happens, Victory puzzles was founded in his hometown of Bournemouth, England. With the help of his son Aidan and a few close friends and family, the 100-year-old historic puzzle brand was awoken from its slumber in 2022.
Photo of founder, Gerald Hayter
While the brand has left the scroll saw puzzle making to its history, the revived brand still wanted to create amazing wooden puzzles that were to the high standards that the original founder, Gerald Hayter, could be proud of. The original puzzles used to be made of a thick plywood. Many laser cut brands use a much thinner 3mm board and the increase in cost for a thicker board meant the puzzles would be significantly more expensive to the consumer. The decision to outsource their manufacturing, was not taken lightly. After careful consideration and research to find the best manufacturer, Victory puzzles can create reasonably priced wooden puzzles that are 5mm thick!
5mm thick pieces
When you are deciding to purchase one of these puzzles not only do you have a great variety of images to choose from, but also the cut of the puzzle. Unlike traditional cardboard piece cuts, each image from Victory has a unique cut design. The cuts can range from Whimsy, like what you see in Winter Garden Robin to more irregular pieces like in Vincent Van Gogh’s Starry Night.
A look at the whimsy pieces from the back side of the Winter Garden Robin puzzle
A look at the whimsy pieces from the back side of the Starry Night puzzle
If you are searching for a more challenging cut design, they even offer puzzles such as Meow. This tessellated puzzle design has an unusual cutting pattern, featuring just 2 shapes - a cat and a connector. Some might find it quite difficult!
The backside of the Meow puzzle showing the 2 piece types
As far as images go, you will notice that Victory uses incredible artists that showcase a wide range. As previously mentioned, they have fine art puzzles from Vincent Van Gogh such as Café Terrace at Night. This delightful puzzle contains 20 figurine shaped pieces, many of them multi-part.
A more detailed look at the Cafe' Terrace at Night pieces
If you are a lover of charming nature scenes, you may enjoy the artwork from Lucy Grossmith. Winter Garden Robin is a beautiful image with snow-covered berries, trees, and landscape. This image would be perfect for those looking for a beautiful winter scene that you can add to your holiday puzzle collection.
One of Victory’s signature images is The Flapper, Life – 1922. This image was on the cover of Life Magazine in 1922, the year Victory was founded. The artist was F.X. Leyendecker, an American artist known for his stained-glass work. This art-deco design is a fun image with a unique piece cut. The whimsy pieces include fashion designs and invention from around the same time. This image comes in either 250 or 422 pieces.
If you enjoy this style of image, La Chablisienne will also catch your eye. This artwork by Henry Le Monnier is from the same time and has stunning bold colors! This also comes in 2 sizes, 245 or 454 pieces.
No matter which artwork you choose, each Victory puzzle comes in their new Gold Box packaging. The boxes are beautifully designed and are very sturdy with a magnetic closure. The boxes are lovely for display purposes on a bookshelf, coffee table or would make a lovely gift.
Quality box and packaging
Each box also contains their signature V is for Victory puzzle piece. The Victory hand symbol was first used as a World War II campaign in 1941. While the piece that is in the packaging is a duplicate, you will find that every Victory puzzle has this puzzle piece. Victory recommends you making it the final piece of the puzzle, to celebrate the victory in solving your challenge.
V is for Victory
As I was writing this I was trying to be as informational and impartial as possible, but I must say, putting together these Victory Puzzles was an absolute joy. The unique pieces and beautiful artwork made the puzzling experience seem very special. The pieces are thick and incredibly satisfying to work with. At 250 pieces, I was worried the puzzles would be done too quickly, and that was not the case. While some images were a bit tricky, they weren’t impossible and the unique puzzle cuts gave me more puzzling time. I’d be very interested to try one of their larger piece counts in the future, like Home on the Range which is over 400 pieces.
I was able to see similarities that I’ve experienced with hand-cut wooden puzzle brands. For example, in Winter Garden Robin, I notice a lot of V knobs which I’ve seen in hand-cut puzzles. The thickness of the pieces and seeing the layers of wood also creates a beautiful, puzzling experience. Overall, I think you will be very happy if you decide to invest in one (or more) of these heirloom puzzles. I may have a couple more in my cart…
~Emilee
Lovely review!
That Home on the Range sure looks challenging. I'm looking forward to trying this brand. Great review.
Love to try the victory puzzles one day
Thanks so much for sharing. I almost enjoy the shapes or the back of the puzzles than I do the artwork itself.
