Jigsaw Puzzles Australia’s Peter Begbie says virus caused demand surge
After the lockdown hit, Ballarat’s Peter Begbie sent Scott Morrison a jigsaw puzzle of the prime minister himself as a thank you. This is why.
PRIME Minister Scott Morrison did a huge service to the jigsaw puzzle industry when, in March, he told the nation his children were entertained by the games during coronavirus lockdown.
Peter Begbie, who runs Jigsaw Puzzles Australia in a shed on his 10ha property outside Ballarat, says business has boomed ever since.
“We still can’t keep up with the demand,” says Peter, one of Australia’s few jigsaw puzzle producers.
“After the Prime Minister said that I actually sent a 500-piece puzzle of a photo of him as a gift.
“He did something for us, so we wanted to let his kids put a puzzle of their father together.”
Peter and his wife Susan have run the manually-made puzzle business for the past 14 years.
Peter says while he has been a jigsaw enthusiast most of his life, lately he’s been too busy making jigsaws to complete one.
“I was never obsessed with them, it was always something more relaxing, although sometimes it can get frustrating.
“I’d keep a puzzle in the open and add a few pieces every so often when I walked past.
“It’s amazing how much you can achieve in five minutes with a fresh mind compared to labouring over it for an hour.”
Peter is a trained accountant, who worked in the health sector for Ararat then Ballarat hospitals, before starting a protea nursery in Learmonth.
“I like to do things that are a bit different,” he adds.
So in about 2005 he and Susan decided to make puzzles.
They now have six full-time staff working from his on-farm factory, surrounded by crops and grazing cattle.
The couple make thousands of puzzles a year, each individually printed and cut on cardboard.
The largest — 1000 pieces — cost $59.50, a 120-piece retails for $24.50, down to smaller sizes, such as 30 pieces and even invitation-size ones.
Most of the puzzles are individually made, featuring pets, family photos or gifts for friends, although the Begbies also make bulk, wholesale puzzles for businesses.
“Just recently we had a big yoghurt manufacturer buy 200 puzzles for staff stuck at home during coronavirus,” Peter says.
“Then they called us up again and had another 300 made for Mother’s Day.
“We also get a lot of artists and photographers wanting to sell their work on a puzzle.”
Peter says a puzzle can take 15 minutes to make — even making them on the spot for customers who arrive at the property armed with a photo.
The best puzzles are made from a high-resolution photo — no less than 2MB for a 1000-piece jigsaw.
“The photos with many defined objects are the best.
“We sometimes get photos of blue sky or lots of black images, which won’t work at all.”
2020 has not only brought COVID-19 — and a spike in sales with it — but also Australia’s first national competition, to be held in Melbourne on November 21.
While the Begbies are supplying prizes for the event, the Australian Jigsaw Puzzle Association will run the competition, with the aim being to complete a jigsaw as fast as possible — individuals or pairs are required to finish a 500-piece puzzle within three hours.
First place in the individual division will win return airfares to Europe in September 2021 to represent Australia at the World Jigsaw Puzzle Championships in Spain.
Association vice president Kim Nguyen, from Melbourne, says competition entries sold out quickly, with a current waiting list, and numbers capped at 100 because of pandemic restrictions.
“The president (D’Arne Healey from Perth) and I started the association together last year because we both wanted to compete at the world championships, and were struggling to find any competitions whatsoever in Australia,” Kim says, adding they are also working on four new state-based competitions in 2021.
“We wanted to bring the puzzle community together.
“Completing a jigsaw is a very satisfying activity, time flies and it’s an accomplishment, with an end result, which gives a hit of happiness,” she says.
Peter says the best advice for a would-be puzzle solver is to have patience and an eye for detail.
“Start on the surrounding edges and work in, looking for key objects to fill the gaps. It’s a good exercise to keep the mind active.”
And does Kim have advice for competitors?
“Yes focus, attention and patience, but because I have grown up with them it’s about practice, practice and more practice. Also I’m a very competitive person, so that helps.”
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