Puzzle brand review - Cloudberries Small Batch

[@a_puzzling_lamb]

I hope you enjoyed this video 😁. I obviously have a lot of thoughts about this puzzle, most of them not very positive. Have you tried a puzzle from Cloudberries Small Batch line? What did you think, do you prefer the Small Batch puzzles or their normal puzzles, and what do you think about the price difference? And most importantly, whether you have tried one of these puzzles or not, do you think this is random cut? 🤔

[@Fiobo823]

I have this exact puzzle, but haven't completed it yet. I don't think the small batch part is entirely true, unless they just aren't selling any, which I doubt!!! Since they started this, they haven't released any new normal puzzles, which makes me wonder if they are going to. I hope so, since I think I prefer them. Those grey box ones, I own a lot of.

[@Fiobo823]

Apparently the poster is full size so you could complete the puzzle on top of it as a guide, should you want to! I don't like it either, if it were half the size I'd be happy. I don't like the paper bag, I'd prefer a ziplock bag, which I have bought a box of from Ikea. Some companies do give you those and I find them very useful. The paper bag just goes straight into recycling.

[@a_puzzling_lamb]

​@@Fiobo823Yes, the whole small batch thing is a little suspicious and vague 🤨. I haven't thought about the fact that they have only released Small Batch puzzles since they started to make them... I really hope that doesn't meen it's all they will make in the future 😬

[@ashleymabery7201]

Definitely not a random cut! Not only is it mirrored, but you can see that the rows are also repeating. At 36:04 in your video, if you go up 6 pieces from the one you inverted, I bet those two pieces could be swapped as well. They look identical. Beautiful image, but definitely not a random cut on that puzzle.

[@a_puzzling_lamb]

​@@ashleymabery7201Yes, for a "random cut" puzzle, a lot of the pieces sure look a lot alike 🤨😉

[@clarkkent7973]

I am excited to hear about the speed puzzling competition, and see the puzzles that you complete.

[@gailsammons6050]

I agree with everything you said. Just a lot of unnecessary annoying things that aren’t huge issues, but not expected in a premium puzzle. I don’t usually look at the image when I do puzzles, but it still makes me mad that the only images are too big and too small to be useful.

[@a_puzzling_lamb]

Yes, a lot of these issues would not be a big deal on their one, but all things together, plus the very high price is just to much for me, so I have a hard time recommending the puzzles 😔. And it really is amazing how hard it is for some brands to provide us with a correctly sizes image 😆... But I guess there are also a lot of different opinions on what that is exactly 😉

[@Fiobo823]

Yeah, watching the last part of your puzzle, it's not really random at all is it :D Random cut to me, is a Cobble Hill puzzle. I don't have an issue with the pieces being a looser fit, since I find the original fit to be so tight, that it's very difficult to break up the puzzle and pieces end up being damaged. I hate a tight fit, I really don't care about being able to pick up a completed puzzle like everyone else seems to be!!!! I totally agree about the price, they are way too expensive for what they are. I bought my puzzle in a sale, I would not pay full price for one. I suspect the higher price is because these puzzles are cut in China, which is obviously very far away :D

[@a_puzzling_lamb]

​@@Fiobo823That's interesting that you prefer a loose fit 😊. I also don't care about being able to pick up a finished puzzle, but I like the fit to be tight enough that I can pick up sections while puzzling. And as I mentioned in the video, I also really enjoy the snap when you put in a piece, and that is usually lost with a loose fit. But it's true that the fit can be so tight that the pieces are getting damaged when taking it apart, so it's a fine balance to strike 😊

[@markb933]

Hi Nana, so glad to see your video and your detailed analysis on these puzzles. We agree that these pieces are not random cut like Springbok puzzles. The price of these puzzles are in our view , to high and we won’t be purchasing them (we live in Australia so add postage too😳😱). All the very best in the first Dutch speed puzzling competition. Just enjoy the whole experience.

[@simonaceccarelli1464]

Hi Nana, thank you for this review! The piece cut looks similar to Cobble Hill puzzles, which is also called "random cut", though it's basically a ribbon cut with more extreme variations and a few odder ones. I have not done a Cloudberry yet, though I have one in my stash.

[@fellowpuzzler]

Hello Nana, it is nice to see you again. Great video as usual. My approach for dealing with a larger posters is to clip them to a piece of foam board and prop them up at a confortable viewing distance. They are often necessary with very large puzzles but I agree with you that, in this case, the poster was way too big. I think that grid cut vs random cut is a spectrum. At one end you have pure grid cut pieces where all four corners always meet and at the other end you have completely random cut pieces such as the Springbok puzzles. This one falls somewhere in between as do many other brands such as Cobble Hill. I also noticed the mirrored cut just before you mentioned it. I have seen repeated cuts rotated by 180 degrees many times but I have never seen or noticed a mirrored cut before. I will start paying more attention from now on.

[@a_puzzling_lamb]

Yes, I guess it's difficult to define what things like random cut means specifically, it's not like we have internationally recognized expresions for a lot of things when it comes to puzzling 😉. I have also seen rotated cuts before, especially in larger puzzles, but never mirrored like this. I'm actually surprised it took me so long to notice, when I was editing the video it was really, really obvious 😆

[@clarkkent7973]

The poster is designed so you can do the puzzle on top of the poster. It is exactly the same size as the puzzle.

[@fellowpuzzler]

@@clarkkent7973 That seems to be case. I own a few puzzles that came with a poster that is 1 to 1 ratio as well but I can't see myself building the puzzle on top due to the folds and uneven surface that would create. In a lot of cases however, especially with big puzzles, you also get a large poster that is not 1 to 1 but too large to be useful. That's when the foam board trick becomes useful.

[@lisa-r4w]

I went to the Cloudberries website a few months ago, but the shipping from the U.K. to the U.S. was so high i didn't order one. I haven't seen Cloudberries in any of my local stores. Those pieces looked more like just some wonky piece cuts. That puzzle was beautiful. Have fun at the Danish speed puzzling championship! Happy Puzzling, Nana!

[@a_puzzling_lamb]

Shipping can really be a pain sometimes 😔. Yes, the image was definitely the highlight of this puzzle 🤩. And thank you, I'm sure I will 😁.

[@catini108]

I agree with you! And i would call them hybrid random/grid cut. Definitely not a true random cut. And yeah, way too expensive. Puzzle prices are getting outrageous for these "boutique" branded puzzles!

[@catini108]

Yes a wonky grid cut is what i call it too

[@a_puzzling_lamb]

I can sometimes understand and forgive a high price if it's a very small, newly created brand and the quality is also great, but neither is true here. Cloudberries is a well established brand that can clearly make way cheaper puzzles than this, and the quality was nothing special 😐

[@catini108]

I did not find any of the images out of this world either!

[@Speedpuzzle-eu]

Thank you for your honest review 😊

[@paulaburtenshaw197]

i totally agree with you. thank you for the detailed review. regards from the south east coast of England.

[@Dailydoodler-888]

I like both cloudberries lines of puzzles but I love the small batch random cut. Yes they are random cut. Random cut are my favorite. I own all but the newest poppy one of the small batch, however it’s in my basket for my next purchase. The price is more than I would normally pay for a puzzle but I love them enough to pay it, as I know I will do them again.

[@a_puzzling_lamb]

That's interesting that you call these pieces random cut 😊. What are your definition of random cut? For me it's not random cut when the pieces are in a grid... We definitely need some official internationally recognized definitions of puzzle terms 😉.

[@puzzlepiece9509]

I totally agree that this puzzle is not a true random cut, randomish perhaps but not random. I did this puzzle myself a little while ago and had problems with the outside like you did. For me a true random cut would be like Eurographics World of Cameras smart cut. The small batch range is overpriced when you consider the quality. I only got the Lotus one as I really liked the design and wanted to see what this small batch was like. The other small batch ones don't appeal to me. I also never use Cloudberries posters, far too big. I'll be sticking to Cloudberries normal ones.

[@elizabethfisher4536]

I just completed the puzzle titled "Desert." I agree that the image and puzzle shapes were fun, but the loose fit was frustrating and will keep me from buying another. My puzzle appears to have been cut with the same die as yours. I didnt notice that the piece shapes were mirrored when i was working in it, but i can see it in the photo I took. Agree that this is not random cut. However, i find it very similar to MasterPieces, who also describes it as random cut.

[@a_puzzling_lamb]

Yes, the loose fit is such a shame 😔. I don't actually think I would have noticed the mirrored cut, if I hadn't filmed this puzzle. On camera it was suddenly very obvious, and then I just couldn't unsee it 😆

[@thegoodchicken1078]

My personal opinion, I agree with you, to me this is a grid so I wouldn’t describe as random cut. BTW love the lipstick colour 😊

[@a_puzzling_lamb]

I'm glad I'm not the only one that wouldn't call this random cut 😊. And thank you 😁💄

[@sharonfairchild8739]

All the Small Batch puzzles have the same cut with mirror pieces.

[@clarkkent7973]

I don't know how this is "random cut." There appear to be all the normal puzzle shapes. It is maybe not ribbon cut (like Ravensburger) where pieces are more square. With cloudberry, I like to built the puzzle on top of the poster since it exactly matches the puzzle. Personally, I would like the looser piece fit. I would pay more for these puzzle since there is more variety of piece shapes than their standard version (almost 100% two-in, two-out standard puzzle shape in their standard version)

[@a_puzzling_lamb]

Judging by these comments I'm definitely not alone in thinking that this is not random cut. I didn't buy this puzzle because it said random cut (it was mostly the image), but if someone buys this because they really love random cut, I think they can only be disappointed and feel cheated. I honestly don't understand why Cloudberries chose to call them that, they just risk getting a lot of disappointed costumers 🤔.

[@maryjaneellinger1783]

It is my understanding that the China puzzles by Cloudberry are not of a good quality compared to the Netherland puzzles

[@karensicard7304]

What exactly is a ‘small batch’? My first thought is a small box size???

[@a_puzzling_lamb]

I think they are trying to say that they don't produce very many of them, only a small "batch"... But like I said, as far as I can see, they don't say exactly how few of them they produce compared to their normal ones 🤔

[@user-qs8bf2lz6]

I agree, it's not random cut, it's ribbon cut (in straight rows and columns.) And it's even less random cut since the pieces on the two sides are mirror images! Thanks for the review.

[@clarkkent7973]

I view ribbon cut as where the corners of all the pieces meet up.

[@a_puzzling_lamb]

That's interesting 🤔😊... Would you call this cut a random cut? I guess it's difficult to define what things like random cut means specifically, it's not like we have internationally recognized expresions for a lot of things when it comes to puzzling 😉

[@bettyc.6280]

How about calling it "irregular grid cut" ? With all the reviews I've watched regarding this brand, a lot of the negative features are on my deal breaking list; therefore, I have never had any interest in building one. Love the detailed review, especially showing the placement of mirrored pieces.

[@Honey-nn2wy]

Too long. Get to the point