John Walczak, 48, rediscovered his love for puzzles after he and his wife, Kyle, moved to Carmel in 2018.
On April 10, he set a Guinness World Record for the world’s largest collection of jigsaw puzzles, amassing 2,022 of them stored in the basement of his Carmel home.
The Walczaks relocated to Carmel after living in Fishers for 18 years. Soon, John Walczak came across a puzzle – a translucent rendering of Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas – and started assembling it. It is now framed in the couple’s front room above the standing puzzle table where they are working on their 1,000th puzzle – a 5,000-piece Ravensburger called “Bizarre Town” by Colin Thompson.
“It’s a nice de-stressor,” John Walczak said. “In the evenings, instead of sitting in front of the TV, I can listen to music or put on a podcast and let my brain figure this out.”
The couple started collecting puzzles in 2019. John Walczak keeps meticulous spreadsheets of each puzzle he and his wife own, where it was purchased and when each one was completed, including a picture.
“I found one on sale. Then we saw another one that looked interesting. And before we finished that one, we would buy a few more to have ready and then it snowballed,” John Walczak said. “Then we started to wonder how many we had and if there was a record.”
In mid-2023 they looked up the record – then 1,400 – and saw that their collection of 1,200 wasn’t too far behind. They quickly acquired 600 more from garage sales, estate sales, thrift stores and trades.
“We decided to take it to the next level with 2,000. We just started buying as much as we could. By the time we counted everything we had 2,022,” John Walczak said.
To achieve the record, the Walczaks had to label each puzzle with a number, line them up and record the entire collection, then document each puzzle with a picture and provide the corresponding time stamp from the recording.
“It took me two weeks to upload all the photos, videos and documentation,” John Walczak said.
They asked a neighbor, then-candidate and now-Mayor Sue Finkam, to be their witness.
“We just emailed her. She came over with her husband on a Saturday and we gave her a tour of the collection,” John Walczak said.
The Walczaks plan to gradually sell or trade the puzzles. They particularly enjoy puzzle swaps at local libraries.
“Once I do a puzzle, I’m ready to move on,” John Walczak said.
John Walczak has no plans to grow his collection to keep the record.
“If anyone else beats me, more power to them,” he said. “I don’t want to go through that again.”
As for strategies, the Walczaks use a standing table and start with the edges of a puzzle and sort by color. From there, John and Kyle Walczak differ on their approach.
“If I’m not trying to go fast there are some puzzles I will sort by shape,” John Walczak said. “Sometimes you’re in the middle of a puzzle and know it can only be this shape of a piece.”
As members of the USA Jigsaw Puzzle Association, the Walczaks enjoy attending conventions and competing. The group started in 2020 and provides members with access to events and product information as well as traveling puzzles – members ship puzzles to each other around the U.S.
John Walczak said his personal best is completing a 500-piece puzzle in less than an hour, but his average is 1.5 to 3 hours per puzzle.
“There was only one puzzle I started and never finished,” he said. “It was a Star Wars puzzle from a cheaper brand with a large area with 200 pieces of nothing but white and the pieces seemed to fit no matter what I did.”
The couple doesn’t collect a particular theme, but Charles Wysocki is one of their favorite artists. His puzzles depict Americana themes, and they favor Ravensburger puzzles for the quality.
“We have everything from cartoons to landscapes, and I love color-gradient puzzles,” Kyle Walczak said.
The biggest puzzle in their collection is a 60,000-piece puzzle by Eric Dowdle, “What a Wonderful World,” measuring 29 feet long and 8 feet wide. It took 10 months to complete.
“The smallest puzzle we have ever done, by size, was one called UK 1929 Postal Union Congress Stamp,” John Walczak said. “It was made of titanium and had to be put together with tweezers.”
Eleven wire shelving units in the Walczak’s basement hold the collection. One shelf holds antique puzzles, and another the has puzzles they are ready to sell or trade.
Learn more about the Walczak’s world record at bit.ly/3JBCaHg.
Meet John Walczak
Record: Largest collection of jigsaw puzzles
Total puzzles: 2,022
Achieved: Dec. 9, 2023
Started collection: 2019
Oldest puzzle: 1941
Largest puzzle: 60,000 pieces
Smallest puzzle: 39 pieces
