Costco is proving that old-fashioned pastimes haven't completely gone out of style with the release of a 60,000-piece jigsaw puzzle, which has picked up some buzz online. The 8-by-29-foot puzzle features a world map decorated with landmarks from around the globe, including 187 paintings from the Dowdle Folk Art studio, a puzzle company.
"These beautiful and vibrant paintings showcase the wonders of our magnificent world," the product's description reads. "Explore the islands of the Pacific, twinkling lights of Paris, beauty of the Taj Mahal and the majesty of America’s National Parks on your puzzling journey."
Although Costco claims that the gargantuan $600 puzzle is "the world's largest," that's not 100 percent accurate.
According to Guinness World Records, that title belongs to the United Arab Emirates, which created a 65,905.17-square-foot puzzle in 2018, celebrating the country's founding father, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.
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Costco's puzzle can't claim the title of "most pieces in a jigsaw puzzle" either, which students from the University of Ho Chi Minh City earned in 2011. Their puzzle, which depicted a lotus flower, included 551,232 pieces and measured about 76 feet long and 48 feet wide.
What makes Costco's puzzle unique is that it is the world's largest commercially available puzzle, a point that @karenpuzzles makes in a TikTok. The puzzle expert explains that Dowdle's 60,000-piece puzzle dethroned Grafika's 54,000 "Travel Around Art" piece, the previous record-holder.
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Costco superfans recently reacted to the new product on Reddit, where members were shocked by the puzzle's size and price tag.
"I don’t think I’ll be alive long enough to ever see that get finished," a Redditor wrote.
"As a puzzle lover and someone who wants to improve their geography, I want it so bad. But can’t justify that price," another Redditor commented.
If 60,000 pieces seem unreasonable, Costco also sells more manageable puzzles from Dowdle for $25 online.