Late Booking! (Falcon Release – Exclusive – Limited Edition) – 10710 – Number 8 (of 12) – 1000 pieces – Original – rare puzzle

Late Booking – Falcon Puzzle Club issue number 8

This puzzle is special. Not just any Falcon deluxe puzzle, but number 8 of the Falcon Puzzle Club – an exclusive series that was never available in regular stores.

What exactly is Falcon de luxe?

Falcon de Luxe is a British puzzle brand with a long history. The brand was founded in 1976 by Harry Jondorf and Peter Adby and quickly grew into a respected puzzle brand in the United Kingdom. In 1996, Falcon was acquired by the Dutch company Hausemann & Hötte, which later continued as Jumbo. The Falcon de Luxe premium series was first introduced in the 1970s and is recognizable by the distinctive blue cardboard on the back of the pieces and the unique printing and cutting techniques.

So Jumbo and Falcon are the same company – Falcon is the British branch, specifically aimed at the English-speaking market. Falcon de luxe is owned by the Dutch puzzle company Jumbo and specializes in nostalgic and atmospheric images with a typical British touch. The box therefore always bears the Falcon logo – but behind the scenes, it is simply Jumbo quality.

The Falcon Puzzle Club

At a certain point, Falcon launched an exclusive subscription: the Falcon Puzzle Club. Members received special Limited Edition puzzles by mail that were not available in stores anywhere. Each issue had its own club number – from No. 1 to No. 8. The print run per issue was strictly limited, which automatically makes these puzzles rare.

Late Booking is club number 8 – the last puzzle Falcon released through this club. That makes it the conclusion of a unique and now historic series.

The illustration

The drawing is by Graham Thompson, one of Falcon de luxe's ​​regular illustrators. Thompson was known for his busy, humorous British scenes – full of recognizable characters, funny details, and a distinctly British sense of humor. On Late Booking, you see a group of "Cheepo Tours" vacationers arriving at a mountain hotel – and clearly not happy with what they see. As always with Thompson: the longer you look, the more you see.

It is noteworthy that the same illustration was later also released as a regular Falcon puzzle, number 10073 – available for purchase in stores. The Puzzle Club version (10710) is the original, exclusive first edition, making it the rarer of the two.

Why rare?

This puzzle is difficult to find for several reasons. It was never sold through normal retail channels. The print run was limited to the club membership at the time. And because it was the club's final release—the culmination of the entire series—it is particularly sought after by collectors who want the complete set. Anyone who comes across it is in luck.

The link with Wasgij

The illustration on Late Booking is not just a drawing by Graham Thompson. The image on the box is actually from Wasgij Original number 5, also titled Late Booking.

With a Wasgij, you don't place what you see on the box, but rather what the characters on the box see. The box image is therefore the "trigger"—the puzzle itself shows the reaction or consequence. The name Wasgij is simply "jigsaw" spelled backwards.

The Falcon Puzzle Club took that box image from Wasgij Original 5 and released it as a regular jigsaw puzzle—without the Wasgij concept, but with the same drawing by Graham Thompson. So with the Falcon Club version, you simply put together the scene you see on the box, whereas the Wasgij version has you guess what the characters in that same scene are seeing.

That makes Late Booking (10710) extra special: it is both the last Falcon Puzzle Club release and based on one of the early classics from the Wasgij Original series. The perfect conclusion to a historic series.

The complete Falcon Puzzle Club series (NO.1 to NO.12)

The Falcon Puzzle Club consisted of 12 exclusive editions. Each club number is separate from the item number on the box – that 60277 or 10710 is simply the internal Falcon item number, just as every product has its own number. The club number (NO.1 through NO.12) is NOT listed separately on the box and indicates which edition in the series it was.

A striking detail: most Falcon Puzzle Club editions are based on box images from Wasgij Original puzzles. Falcon used the illustration from the Wasgij box as a regular jigsaw puzzle—the same drawing, but without the Wasgij concept. This also explains why Graham Thompson is so dominant in this series: he was the regular illustrator of the early Wasgij puzzles.

This is what is known so far:

Certificate of Authenticity – proof of rarity

The Sunday Driver (NO.1) came with an official Certificate of Authenticity of Falcon in the box. This certificate confirms that that edition had a strict print run of exactly 1000 copies, exclusively for members of the Falcon Puzzle Club. It is likely that all editions in this series had the same limited print run. If your copy of Late Booking still contains the original certificate, that makes the puzzle even more valuable as a collector's item.