Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I bought this 60 piece set for my son who had previously mastered the smaller pieces puzzles. Together with this purchase, I bought another 60 piece set from another brand (Ravensburger)Ravensburger Tropical Friends - 60 Piece Puzzle. Since these are the two brands which offer the highest variety of puzzles on the market, I thought a side by side comparison would be helpful for a potential buyer. 1- Size: Ravensburger measures 14 1/4 x 10 1/3 inches while this one is 14 1/4 X 10 1/4. They both are 6 pieces on the shorter side and 10 pieces on the longer side. This one is a tiny little bit larger but that does not make a big difference. 2-Picture quality and details: Although my son is a dinosaur addict, this one looked more gloomy with darker colors to me. The details of the dinosaurs pictured are not well considered. Parasaurolophus looks OK but there is obviously something wrong with the tricerotops, stegosaurus and the other long neck plant eaters on the back. They seemed not very well proportioned. Ravensburger offers better image quality and a more attractive mix of colors. 3- Quality: They both offer very high end cardboard quality that is difficult to get bent or get damaged. They are both one sided with the other side being blue. This is good for younger children who can get puzzled when the other side has a different picture too. They have slight differences on the over all apperances: Ravensburger offers a wider selection of puzzle shapes but the melissa doug one is simple repetition of the same few shapes. To me there is no preference of one over the other. They all offer similar challanges for young minds. Ravensburger is a grained finish and the company claims this is a better anti-reflective design that offer a softer experience for the little eyes. Melissa-Doug offers a high gloss finish. I have not noticed the gloss being a problem for eyes. It is more of a personal preference like choosing a matte or glossy photo paper. Age range: Ravensburger says 4+ on the box and the Melissa-Doug says 5+ on the box. My son is around 3 years and 5 months and after working around an hour or so (with breaks) he can handle them both. But I have to say that he is too much in to the world of jigsaw puzzles with many sets in his collection. Yet again I think 4+ is a better guess for this puzzle range Price: Melissa and doug was priced at around $9 (at the time of purchase) while the ravensburger was offered at $6.37. Considering the similarities in the design, dimensions and the quality I think the ravensburger has a great price advantage, which would make it my choice if I were after one set only. My conclusion is they are both decent puzzles and challenging. But due to some negative points about the picture details, selection of colors and the price being over 30% higher than the other one I rate this puzzle 4 stars while giving the other one a 5 stars. UPDATE: I visited Melissa Doug Company website and all the 60 piece puzzles are priced at $6.99. (Free shipping over $50) So if you are interested in expanding your puzzle collection, they offer better value then everywhere else...