Hi Puzzlers! For 22 of our Ecru puzzles, we first sold them as mystery puzzles, where we didn't even show you the picture and there was no picture on the box, but we did give a couple adjectives and piece count.
For example, our newest one is Mystery Puzzle #17 (they don't come out quite in order) that we tell you is a charming ode to fairytales, and we've revealed this example piece:
About 4 months ago, we also changed our wood box puzzles (roughly those with more than 250 pieces), to not have the image on-the-box, and instead we are hiding the box-sticker inside the box.
So now we are wondering, does that satisfy people who liked the Mystery Puzzles? Should we keep making the Mystery Puzzles?
We'd love your feedback on this topic in general - you can post your comments below (they go to a human moderator, but should show up here in a day or so).
I think Helen’s May 18 idea of having a “show image”or “not show image” option on the webpage is terrific. Seems to me that solves the issue for everybody.
My vote is to keep making the mystery puzzles. I purchase them based on difficulty (the harder the better) and like the fact I’m not choosing them because of the image. I can think of at least two mystery puzzles that I really enjoyed assembling but never would have purchased based on the image alone. Even with an image that doesn’t totally appeal to me I still will do them again because of the challenge of the puzzle. No matter what you decide to do regarding the mystery puzzles I will always enjoy your puzzles.
If you hide the picture sticker that goes on the boxtop inside the box, then the only issue is whether you show the image for people shopping on the website. It seems to me that there should be an easy way to make the webpage for the puzzle give the shopper the choice to see the image or not. Those who want to reveal the image can click on a link to show it. Those who don’t want that level of detail don’t click to see it, and presever the mystery. One product ships out the same (with the sticker in the box), and you serve both audiences.
I agree with Jennifer and Michael. We like to see the image of the puzzle, even if we don’t (usually) refer it to during the assembly. That being said, all puzzles are not created equal! We are working on one now, Jim Flora’s Tenement K, which I think would be impossible to complete with no picture! If the “mystery puzzle people” want a challenge, try this one; even if you take a preview peek, it will be very challenging (and therefore fun?) to do without looking at the picture occasionally. For our inclinations, we don’t try to do the mystery puzzles until we can at least see the picture we are trying to achieve. We will not miss them if you decide not to make them, but we also can wait a couple of months for the “reveal” to decide to tackle one, if you decide to keep producing them.
If the sales are down then that’s up to you.