Crystal Puzzle Skull

NOTE: If you want the instructions for the skull, please email me using my blog email in my profile.

Name
Crystal Skull Puzzle

Designer
Unknown

Crystal Puzzle Skull on an LED light pedestal

Manufacturer
Manufactured by Jeruel Industrial Co Ltd and available from Play N Learn, www.play-n-learn.com at SGD$15.90. Also available from Grand Illusions. Comes in two versions, the clear one which is shown here and a black(ish) translucent one.

Type & Classification
3D assembly

Dimensions
7.cm (Height) x 5.4cm (Width) x 7.9cm (Depth).

Materials & Construction
The puzzle consist of 48 interlocking pieces made of clear hard plastic. Quality of construction is good and all the pieces fit together nicely with reasonably tight tolerances. No force required. Once assembled, the puzzle pieces are "lock" together in place by a screw rod and the whole assembly feels solid and weighty.

Overview
If my pewter Platypus is the "poor man's Berrocal", then the Crystal Puzzle Skull must surely be the "destitute man's Berrocal".

After reading Moises Reyes' review of the Skull on his blog, I just had to get myself one. And so I did. And so I spent a leisurely Sunday evening assembling the 48 pieces together to form this rather nice looking 3D jigsaw puzzle.

Very therapeutic stacking the pieces vertically one on top of another and watching the Skull slowly take shape. I didn't have to think too much (or at all) building the Skull. Its nice not to be frustrated by dead ends once in a while.

After I had finished the Skull, I even placed it on a pedestal of LED white lights (used for my Betta aquarium) to see how well the Skull would light up. Very nice, but the photo doesn't do the illuminated Skull justice tho'

Difficulty Level
Overall easy if you follow the instructions. If not, its very tough. And if you make a mistake, you will know because the pieces won't fit. However, it does take a fair bit of time to finish the assembly since stacking requires somewhat carefully handling. I also felt that the illustrations of some of the pieces in the instruction sheet could have been better. A number of pieces look similar but are really not so.

Summary
The Skull is one of many 3D jigsaw puzzles from the same manufacturer/distributor, so if you like colourful and cute objects that display well, go for it. Personally I found only the Skull and perhaps a couple of others such as the Apple or Heart appealing, but that's just me. Fellow puzzle bloggers Oli Sovary-Soos has several and Roxanne Wong has the entire collection. And good value for the money too, both from the "puzzling" perspective and quality.