Lakefront: Milwaukee, Wisconsin

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlesLeave a comment
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Lakefront: Milwaukee, WI by Hannah Jablonski – HANmade Milwaukee – 500 pieces

This was an interesting puzzle mom got in a swap with another puzzler from her facebook puzzle enthusiasts group who lives nearby. We love having words to assemble, and the image is so unique and fun!

HANmade Milwaukee is a small company that produces souvenirs and gifts that are Milwaukee and Wisconsin themed. They don’t have a large catalog of puzzles, but we found their quality to be quite good and enjoyed assembling this puzzle. The pieces were a nice thickness with an excellent variety of shapes, and fit together very well. The image reproduction was clear and crisp, the random cut kept us on our toes, and the overall first impression was very good.

We’ve been having a tough time lately finding enough smaller piece count puzzles to do together on our visit day, so we were happy to find this one farther back in the stacks of puzzles to be done. I enjoy map puzzles and knew we’d have a good time with this one – I was right! (That doesn’t happen as often as I’d like to believe) It’s always so interesting to try out new companies and see how they compare; we were completely entertained with this puzzle and impressed with the quality. 👍

Whistler

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment
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Whistler – Butzi Kids – 60 pieces

I’m always excited at the opportunity to try new companies and see what their puzzles are like. For the most part the new companies I’ve never heard of are makers of puzzles for children, and Butzi Games is one of them.

My first thought when looking at this puzzle was that it’s an interesting image choice for kids. It’s not your usual subject matter and made me wonder about the company. After doing a little research I found that the company was founded by a mom with a child who loves puzzles; she wanted to find puzzles that celebrated their hometown of Vancouver, and Whistler, their favorite place to ski. When she couldn’t find any puzzles like that she decided to make them herself and Butzi Kids was born.

The quality of this puzzle was pretty good with thick pieces that fit together very well. The chipboard is a little bendable though as the finished puzzle didn’t lie completely flat. That may be the result of Florida humidity or many, many assemblies; so I wouldn’t make a final judgement on quality until I’ve seen and assembled one that was brand new.

Cute puzzle, good quality, interesting subject matter, and a fun assembly – what more could you ask for?