Review: “Spaghetti Della Mama”, Heye, 9/10

Publisher: Heye (Germany), published 2001

Title:  “Spaghetti Della Mama”, Artist: Marino Degano, 1500 pieces

OUR RATING: 9/10

Another Heye tackled. Lots of fun!

Box Quality:

I’m a fan of the Heye triangular boxes. If you have a number of Heye puzzles, they store easily and attractively by placing them “end out” on a shelf, using two triangular boxes to make a square (see our Heye page here). The boxes are also different and fun and of beautiful design and quality.  You can see the front above. Below is the back.

The top on this box has the name of the puzzle and artist, Heye logo, piece count, and some figures pulled out of the design. I prefer this type of top to the current design, which has a larger portion of the puzzle image but doesn’t give the puzzle name and artist. This lid is ideal for storing your puzzles horizontally.

Inside the box there’s the bag of puzzle pieces and a very large poster of the image. The poster is a nice keepsake in its own right, and invaluable when working on the puzzle and looking at the fine detail. It’s on a very heavy glossy paper, so it holds up to repeated handling. (Unfortunately, I’d already re-shrink-wrapped this puzzle box again before writing this review, so I don’t have a photo of the poster.)

The Image:

This image is by Marino Degano, one of Heye’s long-time cartoon artists. Degano has done some brilliant puzzles, and some incredibly complex ones too, such as his Historia Comica series. “Spaghetti Della Mama” is not my favorite Degano puzzle, but it’s still quite a lot of fun.

There are lots of little figures doing crazy things in this puzzle. I also like the ‘recipe’ on the wall since it adds a new color/texture to the piece. There are quite a lot of browns and ‘pasta color’ in the image, making it challenging.

Puzzle Quality:

Heye is a no-brainer trusted quality brand for me. You can see my Heye brand comparison here for details. Suffice it to say this is a solid German company with a level of craftsmanship that’s impeccable. The puzzle pieces are thick and the image reproduction is sharp and colorful. (Click on image below for close-up.)

The puzzle cut is a standard grid, but there’s lots of variety in the pieces and the grid lines aren’t entirely straight, as you can see in the close-up below. The puzzle has a solid fit that is never confusing. You never think a piece fits where it does not.

Assembly:  

I’d rate this puzzle as fairly difficult as Heye puzzles go. Like JVH puzzles, this puzzle is filled with detail, so you need to often refer between a piece and the poster image to see where a piece goes rather than work on large areas of color and pattern. There are enough little people in the central part of the image, wearing colorful clothing, that you can figure out where they go on the poster despite the similar ‘pasta’ background. The ‘red sauce’ part of the puzzle went in first and the brown wall and brown part of the wine bottle got assembled last. I also like the green/red/white ribbon around the border since it made the border pieces really easy to see.

Above: Showing the wine glass and the border around the edge of the puzzle.

Above: Each figure in the picture is unique and fun to discover as you assemble the puzzle.

Conclusion:

“Spaghetti Della Mama” is a great cartoon puzzle and a nice size at 1500 pieces. If you’re a Heye fan, it’s worth seeking out.

Where to find:

The puzzle is currently out of print.

JJ