Djeco

In a nutschell

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A French Company with a range of games and toys, including jigsaw puzzles. Most of their products are directed to children. 

Hitory

Djeco is a family business from France. The company’s name is a reference to the small lucky lizard.

The company history starts with mother Veronique Michel Dales. Veronique founds the company’s in 1954 making her a pioneer at the time. The games of the company are attractive, smart, and fun as stated on the website of the company. The games had much success and won two game Oscars in the 1960s.  

The company makes a small stop, as the young Frederic was growing up. In 1989 the young man decides to reawaken the brand. He makes the company his area of playing and his base is the old warehouse. In the beginning, he traveled to the 4 corners of the World and brought back, to France, games that didn’t exist in the French market. His global influences are still visible in the company. The company distributes products in 60 different countries and in many famous museums around the globe. 

In 1997, he creates a new collection of games. These are educational, wooden jigsaw puzzles, wooden toys and cardboard jigsaw puzzles. The range later expands to table games. In 2007 construction kits are added. In 2011, they launch a series called “arty toys” and are stating that they keep steadily producing new and innovative games. 

Review

Range

Djeco company has a rage of games and toys. They have early childhood toys, music toys, educational games, role games, dollhouses, Wooden jigsaw puzzles and jigsaw puzzles made of cardboard.

Most of the jigsaw puzzles of the company are directed to small children, but they do have some with more pieces, which can be interesting to older children or adults. 

Their puzzles are whimsical and unique. They have interesting themes, which is mostly based in happy colours, and unique pictures from animals, mythical creatures. They also have some inspired by history or civilization. 

Their piece count is usually small, and their biggest puzzles we could discover were that of 1000 pieces. Noteworthy to mention is that they do have some puzzles that are not your typical rectangular or square puzzle. They have in their range shaped puzzles too. They are not the only company that does that, but it is always interesting to see new ideas and more choices for the consumers. 

Box

The boxes of the company are of good quality. They have on the two sides a sticker that keep the box closed. They don’t come sealed wrap. This is something that  is more  and more on the market, in order to minimize the use of plastic. 

The boxes are in all the sides colourfull, giving them a unique aesthetic, when are compared, to the other more common boxes from other companies. You could say that the company is playing even with their boxes. Noteworthy is also that they sometimes have boxes that are also unique in shape. The ones we have as seen on the pictures are somewhat elongated, and easy to store or showcase. 

On the front we can find part of the image, the number of the pieces, the title and the illustrator. As usual, there is also the comany´s logo. 

The image of the puzzle is extended, to the sides, where in some sides is the only thing that you can see. Only in one side you can see again the basic info about the puzzle. The Illustrator, the number of the pieces, and the company.  

At the back side  there is the full picture in a small scale, with the details that are on the other sides too (title, Illustrator, number of pieces etc.) as well as the dimensions of the puzzle. Lastly there are some information about the company, the quality, with the usual codes, barcodes and so. Interestingly on some puzzles the background is yet again a part of picture image, which gives an extra artistic feeling to the box. 

The puzzle

In the box there are the pieces sealed in a plastic bag. 

In a puzzle that we opened there was apart, from the pieces a small booklet containing info about the map which was the image of this specific puzzle. This booklet was in many languages, which was also the case of this specific box. Its text was clear and was quite interesting to find information, that you had puzzled. We can easily imagine children that, are hungry for knowledge to browse its pages. This was also in a higher quality paper having a glossy finish. Lastly, it seems that in all the puzzles there is a poster inside which is the enlarged, quite practical since the box is not necessarily a relevance point in making the puzzle. 

The pieces are typical grid cut. We have seen both cut and mat finish. They are relatively smooth to the touch, and they have a motive printed on the back side of them, with the name the small gecko lizard, who gave the company its name. 

The pieces seem sturdy and are up to the task. They seem to pass the test of time. They are clear printed and cut. Their colours are vibrant and bright. 

Value for Money

There are not a lot of discussions, about the company. Still, we have to bear in mind that, it is mainly targeted in children audience. As consumers, we are quite happy, with the products of the company. Glossy or mat finish, and sturdy pieces. Their price is in the middle range, and interestingly enough the puzzles with smaller amount of pieces,  cost the same as the bigger ones. That may be logical when it comes to the dimensions, since the puzzles with smaller amount of pieces tend to have bigger pieces (dimensiowise). Also, when it comes to child puzzles, it is important that they are sturdier since chances are that they would be made more times. Taking all these in account, we would say they are worth a try, and you won’t be disappointed.  

For more reviews, read our specific articles. 

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