Harry Potter Marauder's Map Puzzle

My husband got this for me for my birthday last year at my behest as we were wanting to go on this challenge of doing some of the most challenging puzzles and apparently on some sights this is on the list, so I said yes! Let's do it! We can do it together! It will be so fun I said!...😑 lets just say as of now we haven't done any other puzzles 😂! But that's not the puzzle's fault, read on if you'd like to know why. Upon receiving it I will say it was nicely packaged, I thought the box was neat with it being a little drawer, however was slightly concerned when the picture to follow was the size of a post it note (not literally, it's slightly bigger, but just slightly), but I took that as 'ok cool, it's part of the challenge, not only do we have to put this difficult puzzle together but also figure out how to use this itty bitty picture as a reference photo'. Well since I didn't have a magnifying glass on hand and didn't feel like taking the time to order one, I used my glasses to 'enlarge' small areas one small spectacle at a time. Well once we started going it became quite clear that all the pieces were practically the same size and shape, and it was very clear we were going to have to rely on making sure the picture lined up perfectly (which includes the spaces of all the same color and no lines or words/numbers to assist, so relying on the different splotches to line up and the variant of shades of the one color), which was totally FINE becuz we wanted a difficult puzzle, and we were definitely getting what we asked for. There were times I had to switch out pieces becuz I put them in the wrong spot at first, so there was some you know 'puzzle' and error going thru piecing this pièce de rèsistance together. And a few moments that I was for sure we were shorted a piece or two, we weren't, we did receive all the pieces thank the Lord otherwise I would have cried after all that. Which it took me almost a yr to complete, but with that being said, it was more of a stop at the table and put a few pieces together here and there, until the last month I was working on it and then I definitely locked in for an hr or two at a time, which wasn't daily mind you, so for those who are hard-core puzzlers they could probably get it done in a matter of days or shoot maybe less if all you have is time and you're doing nothing else and are a puzzle master (I'm good at puzzles, but I don't have nothing but time, and my husband and I are definitely not puzzle masters, we more like to just jump into things and see how it goes, plus we like a challenge! I've done plenty of your run-of-the-mill puzzles, but my husband is not really into puzzle puzzles, so it was quite the task for us to take on lol). With all that being said, we did finish it, finally, mounted that sucker up on the wall like a dadgum trophy, framed it and all, as someone else said more for the 'we actually finished it' without throwing it away, which I refused, I had already put to much time into it, I was going to finish it. So for those looking for a challenge in puzzling, I'd say this is a great puzzle for that, it was pretty good quality imo, mine came with some minor quality issues, nothing I cared that much about, and if you're a HP fan, then it's definitely a cool puzzle to do and have, and it is fun if you like challenges. I enjoyed it when it was finished lol, and fine I did enjoy the challenge too. I did want to light it on fire at times and feed the pieces to a goat but when I was on a roll it was fun 😁! I wouldn't do it again. But I am up for the next puzzle challenge!! So it hasn't ruined me completely, maybe my husband, I don't know if he'll ever do a puzzle again, he lacks puzzle patience. Last thing I will say, is I'd have to agree with another reviewer that I was a bit surprised (slightly disappointed) that the map wasn't a bit more detailed in the sense of more information on the map, most of it was repetitive, and only some of the classes and places were listed, and maybe the "real" map was that way, I just also thought it'd be a bit more flashy I guess. Still at the end of the day I loved it, I'm proud of it, and while I wouldn't do it again, I definitely recommend it to those who are up for the challenge, and for those who are not faint of heart. Enjoy and good luck and don't give up!! Make all those who have gone before you proud!! ;) :)

Pieces are on the smaller size and some were har to tell of they fit together or not. Puzzle was challenging and took a few months off and on to complete. Picture quality is great. The details of the puzzle are easy to read.

High quality, fun, challenging puzzle. Definitely tricky, since many pieces could easily fit together, but they weren’t the right

while this is a really fun puzzle, don't start if you don't want to spend hours working on it. majority of the pieces are all the same color and the print can be very tiny. the worst thing is they don't give you a blown up image to use to work off of. so that makes it difficult.

MAJOR TIP is EMAIL “[email protected]“ for the high res. Reference photo because the one that comes with the box is ridiculously small and don’t bother to try using it lol. It literally only takes them a day to get back to you with the photo. 2ND MAJOR TIP Please use my photos as a second reference to the high res photo from Noble. It will also help you tremendously in aiding you complete this faster. It took me 3 days to finish this puzzle which is what I normally would average on a 1000pc puzzle. I understand everyone’s frustration with this puzzle but as long as you email for the high res photo it’s not too difficult. Con#2 the similar shaped pieces. So yes there’s only like 2 different shaped pieces so multiple pieces will fit in the same spot which made it more difficult in the sense that you will have to look closely and rely on whether the image matches up or not. But it’s not a kill joy, it just depends on how you want to take it. It can either be annoying or you can see it as a challenge and take up on it. Con#3 Pieces don’t snap together This was annoying because the puzzle came apart very easily. They do not hold together at all. So I definitely recommend you do this puzzle in an area where it will not be disturbed at all. If you accidentally brush on a piece it will come apart almost instantly. If you’re planning on flipping it over to glue it, definitely flip it over a section or a piece at a time lol. Pro#1 definitely a challenge if you’re looking for one. I came to do this puzzle after doing the 3000 piece hogwarts castle which took me a month to do. So this was an easier challenge because I prepped myself for it lol but it was fun. If you’re not patient, I wouldn’t recommend you do this, I definitely had my moments at times. Pro#2 premium quality images for sure The small details on the map I really appreciated. It’s what kept me going to want to finish this puzzle. The image is very crisp and clear and it all looks very stunning once finished. Any Harry Potter fan would appreciate it. Also I liked the way the pieces felt, it almost felt like a nice hard plastic instead of cardboard. To sum it up: if you have a lot patience, you like doing puzzles, and you’re a Harry Potter fan, please do go for it. Please make sure to email for the high res photo because you will have a much more difficult time without it. Also, use my photos as well, hopefully it will be helpful as a reference as well to those who need a good second or third reference. It’s a beautiful puzzle, I love the size of it and it will go right below where my hogwarts castle puzzle hangs. Here’s some tips if anyone cares for it: 1) pay attention to how the pieces fit, the right piece will fit perfectly that you can take it apart forwards and backwards without any kind of friction 2) start the edges, then the black and white frame pieces, and then the font pieces that go right underneath the black and white frame pieces. I would say they’re the easiest pieces to spot. 3) after the framework, start the middle section of the map first 4) after the middle section, do the folded lines that go down the map. Once you have all those it makes doing the puzzle a lot easier 5) definitely notice that the map on the right side will have pieces that have bold lines on the map drawing versus the left where there the map drawing is only made up of font and cursive writing. This will help a lot when sorting your pieces I hope. Good luck everyone, I hope you give this puzzle a chance :)

It came as a complete set its a awesome puzzle for a harry potter fan and love the design. Will purchase from the seller again

No dents. Fun to use.

I love Harry Potter but I am not sure about this puzzle. First the good The image is beautiful and the pieces themselves are good quality. What I mean by that is they are tight and don’t separate the layers easily when u have false fits. This is going to come into play later. I am sure it will be beautiful when it is finally finished. Now the bad This puzzle is unnecessarily hard. There are a ton of false fits because the color variation is minimal and the pieces are not very unique. The edge took me like 4 hours and this isn’t a large puzzle. I had to take a good picture of the card that came in the box that is the closest to the actual puzzle, then I can zoom in on my phone. This allows me to check the numbers and letters as well as the tiny font on the puzzle to make sure a piece is in the correct place. I had done about a quarter of the puzzle and then we moved so I had to take it apart. Unfortunately either my family that helped box it or the movement in the truck caused most of my work to break up. This was difficult to take because I had worked really hard on that. So now I have to basically start from scratch. I haven’t gotten to that point yet. I really want to do this puzzle and frame it but I am not looking forward to the entire frustrating process. That sucks because puzzles should be fun.