Melissa & Doug Dinosaur Chunky Puzzle

by Melissa & Doug

Product Features

• Colorful, chunky pieces
• Great quality and value
• Full-color pictures under each piece
• Pieces can also be used for pretend play
• Recommended Age Rating is 2 Years and up

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 0.9 x 10.8 x 11.8 inches ; 1.1 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000MP20BU
• Item model number: 3747
• Manufacturer recommended age: 24 months - 5 years
• Batteries: 3747 Lithium ion batteries required.
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,185 in Toys & Games (See Top 100 in Toys & Games)
  • #64 in Toys & Games > Preschool > Pre-Kindergarten Toys > Puzzles
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

These innovative puzzles feature thick, chunky pieces that fit neatly into the puzzle board, and can also stand up to be used for pretend play! Full-color pictures under pieces! Age 2+

Product Description

This innovative puzzle features thick, chunky pieces that fit neatly into the puzzle board, and can also stand up to be used for pretend play. Remove each dinosaur piece to reveal a full-color picture underneath. Includes 7 dinosaur pieces. Measures 12" x 11" x 1".

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Paint Chips Off Easily; Pieces are MDF, Not Wood, December 21, 2009

By 

goonius (a room in a house on a street in a city just like any other.) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

= Durability:1.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Melissa & Doug Dinosaur Chunky Puzzle (Toy)

This is from all external appearances a great little puzzle. It's certainly a great concept for a 'first' puzzle, with it's bright fun aesthetically-appealing dinosaurs and easy-match puzzle board. It is certainly educational, and when I bought it I felt pretty good about my kids playing with it.

We own the older style - painted 'wooden' pieces. When I think wooden, I think solid wood, which is what these pieces appear to be. They have a nice heavy feel to them, and when thoroughly coated in paint, considering the false advertising, you'd really have no reason to expect otherwise.

Enter time and a little rough tossing around of the puzzle pieces, and as the paint begins to chip away - the dinosaur puzzle was the worst of the three chunky puzzles we own in terms of rapid paint loss. As the paint wears away, it becomes apparent that these puzzle pieces are nothing but pressed paper-like sawdust material. When revealed beneath the chipped-off paint, this dry, dusty substance easily flakes off where it can get into little mouths and become part of the general household dust.

Okay, so Melissa and Doug fudged a little on their description, which was prominently displayed on the packaging for our puzzle. What might have been wood once upon a time is now thinly pressed layers of sawdust and resin, but it was wood in a previous life, and that still counts, right? It's intentionally deceptive marketing, but does any of that really matter in the practical sense?

I think it does.

Medium density fiberboard (MDF) is nasty stuff. Containing a higher resin-to-wood ration than any other pressed wood product, MDF emits VOCs for at least a few months after manufacture and emits urea formaldehyde for the duration of its life. I doubt there have been any studies on using pressed wood for a child's toy that may be mouthed and is nonetheless handled frequently and in close proximity to their faces during day-to-day play. There have been studies suggesting urea formaldehyde is a suspected carcinogen; others show that incidences of leukemia and lymphoma increase through prolonged exposure of VOCs in the indoor environment.

Bottom line, most MDF is not something you want in your home in any form, and it's probably not the best thing to make a child's toy out of. There are ways to manufacture MDF which use resins that do not contain formaldehyde which are supposed to be environmentally friendly. I contacted Melissa and Doug to find out if they use these formaldehyde-free resins in their MDF. They've got really friendly customer service, but no one available could provide me with that information. I was told they'd get back to me. I'm still waiting.

In the meantime, I think I'll just stick with the old adage: You get what you pay for.

I think the important part is knowing what you're getting when you decide to purchase it and not being led falsely into believing you're paying for superior materials when you're really just buying a few adorable cubes or formaldehyde-imbued garbage coated thickly in conveniently concealing paint. Had this been disclosed in the description, I'd have no gripe with this puzzle. I also would not have purchased it to begin with.

There are solid wood (and somewhat safer plywood) puzzles out there - though not ones with dinosaurs that I've been able to find, which is a shame, because I no longer want my kids playing with this puzzle.

A higher quality puzzle costs anywhere from 2 to 3 times as much as a Melissa and Doug 'wooden' puzzle (sometimes more), but most have the added bonus of not being made in China; a small detail of Melissa and Doug's toys that has always sent a red flag of sorts up for me.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Meh..., March 5, 2009

By 

Cynthia Delaney (Denton, TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Durability:1.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:3.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:3.0 out of 5 stars 

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Melissa & Doug Dinosaur Chunky Puzzle (Toy)

This product is ok as long as your kid is extremely gentle with toys. My son isn't, and the puzzle reflects that - lots of the edges/paint have chipped off. Good for calm children!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars not as good quality as earlier puzzles, February 22, 2009

By 

gypsy-spirit mother "poet, waitress, picture ... (Oklahoma City, OK) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

= Durability:4.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:4.0 out of 5 stars 

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Melissa & Doug Dinosaur Chunky Puzzle (Toy)

When my daughter was a baby, we bought her the jungle animals puzzle and loved, loved it. They were painted all the way around and so smooth. These, however, have the color on the front only and have rough, chipboard-like sides exposed. I was sad, I have to admit. But, it's still cute.