I have been considering for some time the possibility of starting a service to replace missing pieces in old puzzles. Educa's Lost Piece Service is useful, but when the puzzle is 8 years old, replacements are not available anymore. The Jigsaw Doctor is a great alternative, and the people that have used the service are happy with the work, but...
What if it was possible to replace a missing piece in an old puzzle with a matching original piece?
I have my lot of assembled incomplete puzzles. Perhaps some people might need a piece from my puzzle to complete their incomplete copy. Surely other users have another incomplete puzzle that they might be willing to offer for replacements.
With time, it is possible to build a repository of puzzles available from many different users.
Can it be done?
I got input from visitors and customers, and I went back and forth without making up my mind until I recently completed 4 copies in a row of the 3000, Ravensburger, Oriental Folk Scene. It has helped me learn about puzzles and about the limitations of a lost piece replacement service.
First of all, the same puzzle may have been manufactured at different times of the same year using...