Troll Hair Puzzle

On October 21, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles1 Comment

This was a weird little puzzle. I like the shaped edge, but I’m stumped regarding the reason that one of the trolls has hair. I suppose it could be to make the puzzle more attractive to young children, but in my opinion it obscures the shape of the piece and it isn’t easy to fit into the puzzle. I’m probably just being a cranky old lady, right? You kids get off my lawn!! 👵

Otherwise this is a cute kid’s puzzle that only took a few minutes to assemble. I haven’t seen the movie, so I don’t know who is who in this image, but I think they’re cute. The pieces are moderately thick and sturdy and fit together very well. There are a few spots where the tabs are sticking up a bit from the puzzle, but I think that’s due to it being a thrift store puzzle that’s been loved rather than from the manufacturing.

I’m enjoying all these kid’s puzzles even if it only takes a few minutes to assemble. It’s interesting to me the broad range of quality that kids puzzles have, not to mention so many manufacturers! I’m always intrigued when we find a new manufacturer and I love to check out their quality.

This was a well-made, cute, simple puzzle….that needs a hairbrush! 😉

Review: It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

On October 20, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviews, Thrift Store Puzzles2 Comments

It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown by Charles Schulz – USAopoly – 500 pieces

Super fun! The first Halloween puzzle I’ve done this season, and I enjoyed it very much. I’ve come around to shaped puzzles, I never really wanted to do them before. Now that I’ve got quite a few under my belt, I appreciate the nice change of pace that they offer. Their shapes make them very interesting to assemble.

I didn’t start with the edge of this one, although I normally try to find all the edges of shaped puzzles to see how much I can assemble. I started with Linus and Sally, they were the easiest to pick out. Then I worked on Snoopy’s silhouette and the moon. The pumpkins were easier than I thought they’d be! I enjoyed the challenge of this one, it wasn’t too easy. I had a great time with the entire puzzle; easy parts were quick and satisfying, challenging parts kept me entertained and focused.

I love the fall and Halloween. I don’t have too many Halloween puzzles, but I’m enjoying the ones I do have. Here’s hoping the thrift stores have some more after the holiday! 😉

Details:

Title: It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
Artist: Charles Schulz
Brand: USAopoly
Piece count: 500 pieces
Size: Approx. 19 x 19 in. (48 x 48 cm)
Purchased: Used, thrift store

Quality:

Board: Thin but sturdy
Cutting: Good – fully separated, some hanging paper
Image: Very good
Box: Collectible tin
Fit: Normal/Average
Puzzle Dust: None
Piece cut: Random
Piece shapes: Very good variety
Finish: Shiny finish, lays flat

Overall Rating: Good, recommended

Colorful Animal World Map

On October 19, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

This was a fun 100 piece puzzle that had a little bit of challenge to it. There’s lots of ocean and it wasn’t always easy to see what piece goes next. It doesn’t lay completely flat as you can see in the picture above, but it is a thrift store purchase so perhaps it was well loved before donation. Still, it is a very good quality kid’s puzzle that also glows in the dark! Check it out….

It doesn’t just glow in the dark, it glows in 3 different colors; red (hardest to see), green, and blue. I’m not always able to get a good glow picture, so I was pleased that this one turned out so well showing all 3 colors. How cool is that? Very!

I enjoyed putting this one together, I like it when a kid’s puzzle has a little bit of challenge to it. I think that’s good for kids too, if all their puzzles are too easy they get bored. It feels like a little more of an accomplishment if you had to work at it a little bit. Of course, that’s just my own personal puzzle addict’s opinion. 😉

Galaxies

On October 18, 2017October 18, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles2 Comments

This is our first Japanese manufactured puzzle! The quality is excellent, and the subject matter was very interesting as well. Had a great time assembling it, the very last part was a teensy bit tedious, but overall I loved this puzzle. 🙂

The pieces are quite thick and fit together extremely well. It’s hard to comment on the image reproduction as the entire puzzle was very dark, but it was very clear with no fuzziness at all. There are a nice variety of piece shapes too. Excellent quality all around, and I’d love to find more Epoch puzzles to assemble. Isn’t it amazing that these days it’s not too terribly difficult to find puzzles from all over the world? It’s so much fun for me to try all these companies from across the globe!

Most of the lighter sections of this puzzle glow in the dark, and I must say that it’s the strongest and nicest glow I’ve ever seen on a puzzle. It was amazingly bright and clear, but unfortunately it didn’t photograph well at all, and I wasn’t able to get a good picture of the glow. 😦

As you can see from the picture, there were lots of words to assemble, be still my heart! There were explanations of different types of galaxies, superclusters of galaxies, the anatomy of a galaxy, explanations of light travel time, etc. Educational and fun at the same time.

Mom helped a bit with this puzzle, and we had a good time working together, as usual. When I got to the end, though, I was working alone. The dark pieces around the edge of the galaxy shown slowed me down a bit and it was a little difficult at the end. Still, I enjoyed it very much. 👍

Review: The Music Castle

On October 17, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviews2 Comments

The Music Castle by Colin Thompson – Ravensburger – 500 pieces

I’m trying out a new review format here. What do you think? Love it? Hate it? Let me know in the comments or email using the contact me page above. 🙂

As usual, this Colin Thompson puzzle by Ravensburger was wonderful to assemble! I love his artwork and have done several of his cupboards and boxes. I love the little details but at times, for me, they can be a little too busy. It all depends on my mood; sometimes I’m all about an intricate, detailed image, and sometimes I crave simplicity and straightforward colorful images. This one had a little bit of both, the perfect happy medium!

The sky was the easiest place to start with the streak of pink and all the turrets, and from there I worked on the moat and piano keys. The rest of the puzzle seemed to fall into place quickly, and was a joy to assemble. And for you Colin Thompson fans, never fear – there are plenty of little pink people hanging around this castle; they’re singing and playing instruments, or just hanging out. 😉

I don’t always order puzzles new since my puzzle “dealer” keeps me supplied with almost unlimited thrift store purchases; but I saw this puzzle while online window shopping and had to get it. It was as much fun as I’d hoped, and just the right amount of challenging.

Details: