Month: July 2017

Review: Neuschwanstein Castle

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviewsLeave a comment
This post is sponsored by Puzzle Warehouse. 
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Neuschwanstein Castle – Masterpieces (Masters of Photography) – 500 pieces

Neuschwanstein Castle was a quick, fun puzzle that had better quality than I thought it would. I honestly don’t understand the fascination with this castle, there are so many puzzles of it from so many different companies! It’s an interesting looking castle in a beautiful setting, I guess because it makes for a pretty picture? Whatever the reason, it does make a lovely image and it was an enjoyable puzzle to assemble.

This puzzle is part of the Masterpieces Space Savers collection. Small boxes approximately half the size of a regular 500 piece box designed to put a lot of puzzle fun in a little box for a little price. The puzzles are either $4.99 or $5.99 at Puzzle Warehouse, which is a great price for a 500 piece puzzle if you ask me. I was impressed with the quality of this puzzle, and I’m looking forward to working on a couple other space saver Masters of Photography puzzles that I have to review. I’m hoping they’re all nice quality like this one. Click the link above to see all the space saver puzzles available from Puzzle Warehouse.

I was surprised by the pieces of this puzzle, they seemed very nice and not what I expected from the space savers box. I assumed (incorrectly) that the pieces would be thin; they were thicker than expected and fit together very well. The puzzle was random cut and had a nice matte finish that didn’t cause glare.

My only issue was the obvious piece cut in the finished puzzle. It makes it a little more difficult to see the details of the picture through all the piece shapes, but doesn’t really detract from the enjoyment of the assembly. I’m reserving judgement until I complete more of this series for comparison.

The space saver boxes are all one piece with a top that flips up. Not ideal for keeping the puzzle after you’ve assembled it; it would be too easy to lose a piece. I would recommend using a zip top plastic bag to store the pieces in the box after it’s been assembled. Also, because the box is smaller the image of the puzzle is smaller – it could be difficult if you need to reference the picture on a puzzle with more detail. On the plus side, these small boxes are perfect for travel.  Throw it in your suitcase for a vacation or just a weekend away and you’ve just packed some quality family time. 🙂

I enjoyed Neuschwanstein Castle even though it isn’t an image I would normally choose. It’s a good quality puzzle that was an entertaining assembly, definitely recommended.👍

 

I received this product at no charge to facilitate this review, all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

 

 

Super Mario Bros. Wii

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment
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Super Mario Bros. Wii – USAopoly – 550 pieces

Here’s an adorable puzzle for all the video game lovers out there. Mom and I had a great time assembling it with the help of my oldest son (who LOVES video games). Another new puzzle company to try too, which I always love. Who knew there were so many different companies out there producing jigsaw puzzles? I sure didn’t!

So, USAopoly, not bad! The pieces were thinner than premium puzzles but extremely sturdy, they fit together well and there was a nice variety of piece shapes. The image reproduction was very good with bright colors and no fuzziness, and there was no image lift on any of the pieces. Pretty darn good all the way around if you ask me.

We worked this puzzle from the bottom up, which is not how we usually do it but the layers of the image just made it so easy. It was a quick assembly with 3 people working on it, and we all enjoyed ourselves very much. My son, who doesn’t usually get involved with my puzzling just had to sit down and work on this one – he just can’t walk past Super Mario Bros. and not stop and see what’s going on. 🙂 When we were finished he wanted to take the puzzle to do again at home and have me glue when he’s assembled it all by himself.

This puzzle reminded my mother and me of playing Super Mario Bros. when I was pregnant with my daughter (over a quarter of a century ago 😮 ). Mom and I would sit and play it together a lot. When my daughter was born and very colicky, she was soothed by the music of the game. She heard it so often when she was in my belly that it was familiar and calming for her! I no longer had much time to sit and play Super Mario Bros., but I could turn the game on and let the background music play to keep her relaxed. This puzzle reminded me of that time so long ago.

All in all an excellent thrift store purchase and a good quality, entertaining puzzle – for 3 generations of my family!

Ice Age Dawn of the Dinosaurs

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment
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Ice Age Dawn of the Dinosaurs – Mega Puzzles – 100 pieces

Cute puzzle – thrift store purchase – and all of the pieces were there. That’s always a plus. 🙂

I haven’t really given any “bad” reviews on kids puzzles before that I can remember, but this one wasn’t great. As you can see the completed puzzle doesn’t lie flat and the pieces were extremely thin. I haven’t really gotten any Mega Puzzles that have been this lacking before, and I’m hoping this was a fluke. I haven’t done any adult puzzles from this company so I don’t have much to compare it to.

Puzzles don’t always have to be cream of the crop quality-wise (I’d love it if they were though 😉 ). I was having a bad day and resting in bed – and even though the quality is less than optimal it was an enjoyable distraction for a few minutes. The image is cute and any kid who is a fan of the Ice Age movies will enjoy this puzzle.

Review: Vineyard Visit

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviewsLeave a comment
This post is sponsored by Puzzle Warehouse. 
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Vineyard Visit by Art Poulin – Masterpieces (Town & Country) – 300 pieces

Vineyard Visit was a quick puzzle I put together while waiting for a new order of puzzles to be delivered to my house. I didn’t want to start a larger piece count puzzle because I knew I’d want to start one of the new puzzles that was on it’s way. This was the perfect solution! With only 300 pieces I would definitely be done with it before the delivery person arrived, and I could still work on a fun puzzle while I was waiting. 😎

I’ve always been happy with the Masterpieces puzzles I’ve done. Click the link to see all the Masterpieces puzzles available at Puzzle Warehouse. This was the first EZ grip large piece puzzle from this manufacturer I’ve assembled, and I was pleasantly surprised at the thickness of the pieces and how well they fit together. There were a good variety of piece shapes and excellent image reproduction. The finish on the pieces was a bit shiny, but there isn’t much dark area on the puzzle so it wasn’t a problem. All around a very good quality puzzle!

The box is made of sturdy cardboard and is 8 inches square (20 cm). All four sides show a small image of the artwork and have the brand name; 3 sides have the name of the puzzle and series along with piece count. On the bottom of the box is a picture of the artist and a small biography along with pictures of other puzzles in the series. A nice box for collectors that could be shelved either vertically or horizontally.

Art Poulin is an award winning Folk/Americana artist whose simple but pleasing landscapes and countrysides make for excellent puzzling; and his Town & Country series offers plenty of great scenes to choose from. Click here to see other puzzles by this artist available at Puzzle Warehouse.

I didn’t always want to work 300 piece puzzles, but have changed my mind since working on the world’s largest puzzle. I began working large sections that took weeks to complete, so working a 300 piece puzzle I could finish in one day seemed like the best thing ever! I still enjoy working smaller piece count puzzles, because pretty much all puzzles are fun if you ask me. 🙂

Vineyard Visit was an excellent quality puzzle by Masterpieces that made for a fun, fast assembly. Definitely recommended! 👍

 

I received this product at no charge in return for an honest review. All opinions expressed are truthful and 100% my own.

 

 

Antique World Map

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles2 Comments
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Antique World Map – Ravensburger (Wood Finish) – 1000 pieces

I thought this wood finish would be cool when I ordered it. It wasn’t cool.  It was AWESOME!

I had probably assembled about 20 pieces of the edge when I texted my mom and told her I wanted every single wood finish puzzle that Ravensburger has. I absolutely love the way the pieces look and feel. Especially on this antique map, it gives it something extra and it looks amazing! I can’t stop running my fingers over the puzzle, it’s something special. Either that, or I really need to get out of the house more. Maybe a little of both? 😊

This wasn’t a easy puzzle, the entire map is very muted with very little bright color and lots of shades of brown. It took me 4 days to complete,  though some days I wasn’t able to work on it much. Still it was moderately difficult, but I would definitely recommend it! This is a gorgeous puzzle when complete and would be beautiful framed.

I love the look of antique map puzzles, I think most of them are beautiful and always exclaim over them when I’m puzzle shopping or browsing. But for some reason this is the first one I’ve actually purchased and assembled! Mom did find a 4000 piece Educa map at the thrift store, but I haven’t gotten to it yet. None of them look easy, but I just find them stunning to look at; I’m proud of myself for finally ordering and assembling one. 🙂

If you’re not intimidated by the difficulty of this puzzle I highly recommend it! The texture of the pieces is fabulous and the finished product is definitely frame-worthy!