2,022 jigsaw puzzles later, Carmel man owns Guinness World Record

It all started with the completion of one puzzle five years ago.

John and Kyle Walczak didn’t know it at the time, but they were just getting started when they put the final pieces together of an acrylic Nightmare Before Christmas-themed jigsaw puzzle.

Those 456 puzzle pieces sparked something inside the husband and wife. One Guinness World Record later and the basement of their Carmel home is filled with thousands of jigsaw puzzles.

The cardboard puzzle boxes are neatly stacked floor to ceiling on 11 shelves. The puzzles range in brand and theme, from animals to movies to sports to landscapes.

Their smallest puzzle was a 36 piecer, with the largest being a 60,000-piece map of the world that took 10 months to solve.

“It's the little dopamine hit every time you place a piece,” Kyle Walczak said of what turned the couple’s hobby into a passion.

Late last year, they had collected so many puzzles they began researching what the world record was. The Walczaks were only about 200 puzzles short of the record, with about 1,200 in their collection at the time.

They spent the next few months tracking down puzzles from Goodwill and estate sales to build up their collection. The goal was to reach at least 2,000 puzzles. Then began the rigorous work of labeling and uploading photo and video proof of the collection to send to Guinness.

“We took the week after Thanksgiving off work and basically worked on it every day,” Kyle Walczak said. “Then it took him more than two weeks to upload everything to their website.”

The couple enlisted the help of their neighbor and Carmel Mayor Sue Finkam to serve as witnesses to the collection. To thank her for the assistance, John Walczak ordered a custom puzzle with the mayor’s campaign slogan.

Finally, the collection was validated, and as of Dec. 9, 2023, John Walczak holds the Guinness World Record for the largest collection of jigsaw puzzles. The collection included 2,022 puzzles but has grown in the couple’s basement since.

“You buy two or three to have as backups because you like doing puzzles then next thing you know, you have 2,000 backups,” John Walczak said.

Puzzle collection spans decades

The Walczaks’ collection includes modern and vintage puzzles, most of which were previously used. The cheapest in the collection submitted to Guinness was purchased for $1 with the most expensive at $36.

The oldest, from 1941, was purchased at an estate sale in Kokomo. It’s called Silvery Nights and when put together it shows a wintery scene with snow and a cabin.

“I put it together and it's missing a piece," John Walczak said. “Such a bummer."

For John, after breaking the record for the largest collection, his next goal is to complete all of the puzzles.

“It'll take me years or decades, but I want to try,” he said.

The couple already has a dedicated puzzle table in the front of their home. They’ve also got a tool that magnifies pieces and allows them to scoop groups of puzzle pieces. John Walczak is currently working a 5,000-piece puzzle called Bizarre Town described as a “weird, whacky world” with hidden objects.

For the Walczaks, putting together puzzles allows them to de-stress and work their minds in a way that’s different from other activities. John Walczak has tips for anyone looking to get into the hobby.

"Find one with an image you like,” he said. “Start off with something smaller, maybe with 300 or 500 pieces. There's a puzzle for everything and everyone.”

Contact Jake Allen at jake.allen@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter @Jake_Allen19.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Carmel man awarded Guinness World Record for collection of puzzles