Invention solves puzzling problem

Man's Puzzle Packer lets jigsaw fans go mobile

Darrell Clothier was tired of the clutter.

Every time his wife put together a jigsaw puzzle, she put the table out of commission. It was sacred puzzle territory; nothing else could happen there for fear of losing precious pieces or mixing up carefully sorted piles.

This had been a problem since the dawn of jigsaw-puzzle time, Clothier realized, and it was high time someone did something about it.

So the Puzzle Packer was born.

Clothier, a lifelong inventor and skilled woodworker, fiddled with the design for a year before he was satisfied.

"You can put it away and not do anything with it, and it'll never change. You just set it up," he said. "It's just a hell of a nice thing for anybody to have who does jigsaw puzzles."

The finished product boasts a sturdy poplar frame with a Plexiglas lid. A metal clasp holds the lid in place; when the lid is off, the clasp serves as a leg to prop the Puzzle Packer at an angle.

Green felt lines the bottom of the shallow box. This is where a puzzler puts pieces together. Once placed, the pieces stay where they are.

The pieces that haven't been fitted yet have their places, too. Two felt-covered boards lie on top of the base. They can be removed completely and slid into grooves on the sides of the frame.

Mary Witbrod, a partner in Imagination Station, a toy store with Kalispell and Whitefish locations, loves these pull-out boards.

"There's nothing else where you can sort the pieces by themselves," she said. "Wi th this, you have several areas where you can keep them separate and pile them all up in that little box. You haven't lost all that work."

There are other products like Clothier's on the market. They all roll or fold up, though, which can destroy that careful separation.

Besides, Clothier said, none of those other products are made from hardwood.

"You put those too close to a heater and they'll burn," he said. "The only way this'll burn is if your house burns down."

Clothier made his first Puzzle Packer last November. That first product went to his wife for Christmas.

He next made one for his daughter, also an avid puzzler. Her complaint, Clothier said, was being unable to take puzzles with her.

A Puzzle Packer from Dad solved that problem.

"I told her she could take it camping if she wanted," he said. "If you go fishing, you can sit in the boat and work on the damn jigsaw puzzle."

When his wife and daughter raved about the Puzzle Packer, Clothier knew he was really on to something.

He began advertising his product on cable TV and on the Internet shortly before Christmas 2005. A couple of months later, he got local toy stores to sell Puzzle Packers.

They are available in two sizes. A small Puzzle Packer is 18 inches by 24 inches and sells for $95. The larger one is 24 by 34 inches and costs $125. Clothier also charges a $25 shipping fee for long-distance customers.

"The only bad comment on it wasn't a bad comment," he said. "The lady thought it was too much money, but you'll find that no matter what price you have.

"They're not cheap. But they're just like a chair - they last forever."

Clothier estimates he's sold about 100 Puzzle Packers so far. Those orders have been easy to accommodate, but he's afraid of what might happen if his idea becomes even more popular.

"I think it's going to be a pretty wild thing once it takes off," he said. "I think it will take off. There's not much doubt in my mind.

"If it's any good, to sell it is no problem. I don't know what will happen. I do know this much - the people that bought the damn thing really like it.

"It scares me," he added. "It could be so big that I can't handle it."

If, for example, a company ordered 500 or 1,000 Puzzle Packers, Clothier believes he could fill the order. He just wouldn't be able to do it as quickly as he'd like.

"If I really was wheelin' and dealin', and if I had all my tools set back up, we could probably turn out 50 a day," he said.

Right now, Clothier and two others put the Puzzle Packers together. Handling large orders would require more people.

"I don't want to have it done overseas, and I'm too old to start a factory, really," said Clothier, who will turn 82 in September. "If I wanted to, I could take it down to California or Mexico and have them build exactly the same thing for about a third of the cost."

He'd rather hire 10 or 15 locals to do the work, though.

"For the valley, it would be great," he said, "and it could be done."

The Puzzle Packer isn't the only thing on Clothier's plate. He also owns Spruce Park, a recreational-vehicle park east of Kalispell.

He's prepared, though, for his product to take off. Clothier has turned the park over to his daughter and granddaughter's families so he can focus on the Puzzle Packer.

"Let them do that," he said, "and I'll just take this on. I know I can do it. There's no limit to the amount that can be done with it."

For more information about the Puzzle Packer, call 752-6326.

Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or by e-mail at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com