The last puzzle in the series from the collaboration between Neopets and Milton Bradley is that of the Jeran Knight. Representing the world of Meridell, he is sworn to defend it’s inhabitants from their enemies and keep chivalry alive. Not only is it fun to build but it makes for a nice gift for Neopet loves and addicts. Being someone who adored the site, it’s one of the few online places where everyone in the family can have fun, play games, open a shop and collect strange things. When the puzzles were first released I thought that they would be around for a while so I dragged my feet getting them. If there is one thing that I have to say about Neopet merchandise it’s this, if you see something that you like, don’t wait to buy it because chances are it won’t be there when you go back for it. Luckily I found someone that was selling all four puzzles and got them for twenty dollars including postage. K-Mart had them for $4.99 each and I thought that was too much, in the end I spent almost the same amount getting them online so I didn’t really save any money holding out for a better or lower price.

Milton Bradley Neopet 100 Piece Jeran Knight Puzzle

I had mixed feeling about this puzzle when I was building it; the lack of any background design made it a little more challenging to build but when you were done building it, the image looks pretty plain. With the Blumaroo Lab Ray and Scorchio Scientist puzzles there were intricate designs in the background; this made it a little harder to build than something that had a plain background but it also gave you some points of reference to work from. One thing that really confuses you is the way that the knight is standing, he’s on his feet but bent backwards so you have to constantly remind yourself of that when you are building it. Like most puzzles, the best way to start this one out is with the border. The tree branch runs horizontally from one side to the other so that can help you out if you are having trouble. It took me about fifteen minutes to complete this one, about the same time that it took for the others in the series.

Before you start you will want to make sure that you have enough space to work on; the finished size is 10 x 13 but you will need more than that much space for pieces and building smaller sections in the puzzle. The box is sealed the whole way around the bottom so you have to make sure that you cut through all four sides of the box to open it. Don’t just start ripping at it or you will destroy it. There’s no insert card to work from so you have to use the front of the box as your guide. The colors are nice and rich and the glossy sheen to the top parts of the pieces really give it a nice finished appearance. If I were designing this I would have added something to the background to make it look a little more like Meridell or even Neopia. The backs of the pieces are flat and it’s pressed well so the pieces fit in tightly and there’s no puckering or wavy sections. I’ve seen some puzzles for kids that are absolutely horrendous; they fit in loosely, come away from each other and when you are done building it there are bumps or lumps to it.

Lupe or Jeran? That was the question that perplexed me for a while; after comparing the different species at the Neopets website I was no closer to getting a solid answer. The packing slip that came with the puzzles listed this as “Jeran Knight” so that’s what I went with when I asked to have this added to the database [thanks Suzanne!] The ears lead me to think that this is a Lupe but the face makes me lean towards saying that it looks an awful lot like the Jeran, especially the Jeran Plushies. When I emailed Neopets about this I got no reply but I can’t slight them about it; it’s not something that they’ll be able to just answer in a heartbeat. The puzzle is no longer made so they will have to go through their older product lists to give me an answer. I was really lucky to find someone at eBay that had all four puzzles for sale; even though I ended up paying the same amount that I would have if I would have picked them up at K-Mart when I originally saw them, at least I have all four.

My ultimate goal for these puzzles was to have them mounted and framed; thankfully someone emailed me to tell me about a site that carries the larger post sized plastic frames. I’ve already built the puzzles and used masking tape on the backs of them to secure them. This one does look a little plain compared to the others so I will have to play around with where it’s positioned with the other three in the frame. For the most part this puzzle looks great now that I’ve used the tape on the back of it; another alternative to using tape is puzzle glue but I’ve never had much luck with it and I didn’t want to end up ruining this one. If you are going to try to find these puzzles do yourself a favor and look in the clearance section of places like Wal-Mart, Target and K-Mart first. You never know when they are going to get shoved somewhere and forgotten about only to get turfed to the clearance section long after every other store has sold out of them. The selling price on these was from $2.99 to $4.99 depending on the store and area but I wouldn’t pay much more than that for them unless you only needed one to complete the series.

The Bottom Line

If these were still on the market chances are I would buy it even though I’m not that big a fan of the species. There’s been some talk on Neopet fan boards that there are new puzzles coming out including some that link up to others via open ended pieces on the borders. I am hoping that they’ll add new characters to the puzzles; lately I’ve grown really fond of Grundo’s and some of the other space characters. This one hundred piece puzzle has a suggested age range of five and older and most of that is due to the puzzle pieces and the fact that they can be swallowed if chewed on. They are larger than most standard sized puzzle pieces so kids can build this without getting frustrated. I would have loved it if the background had a bit more detail to it but hey, I just write the reviews. If you are a Neopet fanatic or know someone that it, keep your eyes peeled for this puzzle as well as the rest of the characters in the series.


As always, thanks for the read!

~^V^~ Freak ~^V^~

© 2006 Freak369


Other Neopet product reviews ...

Neopets Online • Neopets Official Magazine
Hasbro Neopets Deluxe World Meridell Game
Hasbro Neopets Deluxe World Faerie Land Game
Thinkway Interactive Neopet Talking Shoyru Plushie
Thinkway Interactive Neopet Talking Uni Plushie
Hasbro Playskool Neopet Mutant Kacheek Interactive Game
Hasbro Interactive Krawk Island Pocket Neopet
General Mills Neopets Islandberry Crunch Cereal

Milton Bradley Neopet Puzzles
Blumaroo Lab Ray
Scorchio Scientist
Aisha Princess

Neopet Collectible Figurines
Chomby, Scorchio, Uni
Shoyru, Grundo, Aisha

And the editorials ...
Neopets: The Scams, Hacks, Cheats & Darkside of Neopia
The Dark Side of Neopets: Pant Devil, Dr. Sloth, Boo Brothers, Esophagor & Tax Beast!
The Neopets Primer: Getting Stared On That First Million!
The Neopet Primer II: Making The Second Million!
So You Want To Get Rich At Neopets? Quests, Quests & More Quests!
Spoil Your Neopet! Get Them Their Very Own Petpet!





Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): see review
Type of Toy: Puzzle
Age Range of Child: Whole Family