Month: December 2017

Review: Christmas Ornaments

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviewsLeave a comment
This post is sponsored by Puzzle Warehouse.
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Christmas Ornaments – Cobble Hill Puzzles – 1000 pieces

Christmas Ornaments was quite the challenge, but still fun – and gorgeous! A perfect holiday decoration if you’re someone who likes to glue and frame puzzles. If you’re not, it would be a great puzzle for the family to work on during a Christmas get together, it’s a wonderful challenge! 🎄

I’ve always enjoyed Cobble Hill Puzzles, their puzzles are very well made and they have a wonderful catalog to choose from – excellent collages too! The fit on this puzzle was quite loose, but otherwise it was good quality. The image reproduction is lovely, and the pieces themselves are a good thickness and very sturdy. The cut is random and has an good variety of piece shapes. Overall a very good quality puzzle, I only wish the fit was a little more snug.

This assembly took me several days, a bit longer than usual. Once the edge was completed I pulled what I could find of the Santa ornament and assembled that. The rest of that first day was basically me sitting down to try and fit a few pieces together and staring at the puzzle and the pieces trying to figure out where to go from there. I’m not usually so indecisive, but this one had me stumped for a while. There are so many strings of beads and many similar ornaments that I wasn’t sure what the best way to attack it would be. Luckily the second day I had come up with a plan and things started moving a bit more quickly. It wasn’t easy, but it was a fun challenge. All you need is patience, and a good plan for sorting!

I chose this puzzle to review (a bit of a shocker, because I’m not really of a fan of Christmas puzzles). It’s not your typical Christmas image and it’s also a collage of sorts; both of these are a plus in my book. There are pages and pages of Christmas puzzles to choose from at Puzzle Warehouse, there’s sure to be something to please just about everyone. They’ve got everything from collages to nativities, and all manner of interesting puzzles in between. If I could find a Christmas puzzle I really liked, they MUST have an excellent variety to choose from. 😉

Details:

  • Title:                  Christmas Ornaments
  • Artist:                Cobble Hill Puzzles
  • Brand:               Cobble Hill Puzzles
  • Piece count:     1000 pieces
  • Size:                  Approx. 27 x 19 in. (68 x 49 cm)
  • Purchased:      n/a

Quality:

  • Board:               Very good
  • Cutting:             Very good
  • Image:               Very good
  • Box:                   Average
  • Fit:                     A bit loose
  • Puzzle Dust:     Moderate amount
  • Piece cut:          Random cut
  • Piece shapes:   Good variety
  • Finish:               Matte finish, lays flat

Overall Rating:      Very good, recommended

 

I received this product at no cost in order to facilitate this review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are truthful and 100% my own.

Humpty Dumpty

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles3 Comments
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Humpty Dumpty – Milton Bradley – 60 pieces

This gorgeous puzzle was excellent quality and it has the most stunning colors! The pieces are thick and incredibly sturdy and fit together very well. It’s a really well made children’s puzzle from the late 90’s – if you can find one cheaply I would definitely recommend it for a little one in your life.

We don’t come across many Milton Bradley puzzles anymore. I remember when I was young and doing puzzles with my grandma she didn’t have much variety to choose from as far as brands go. Most of the puzzles she assembled (from what my aging brain can remember) were Big Ben puzzles from Milton Bradley. There wasn’t much variety in the images either, most were photographic puzzles of landscapes, cabins, lighthouses, etc. I wonder what she’d think of all the different brands I’ve tried and all the different types of artwork. I’m sad she isn’t here to try out all these wooden puzzles and brands from across the globe, but it also makes me appreciate that I have my mom to share them with. ❤

With the internet and our ability to shop puzzles from around the world we have so many more brands and images available to us now – I take it for granted most of the time, and I really shouldn’t. It’s amazing that I can get online and browse through puzzles from Germany, Japan, England, Australia, Holland, Turkey, France and too many more to name! I can “talk” to other puzzlers from around the world, translate any webpage to English with a click of the mouse, and order puzzles for myself from almost anywhere on the planet – amazing! We are truly blessed to have so much available to us and it barely fazes us anymore; we don’t really stop to think how awesome it is and how wonderfully lucky we are. I try to remember that when I’m feeling whiny.

I’m not sure how a children’s puzzle started me off on this tangent, but oh well. My brain takes me on wild adventures sometimes, and I’m not always able to trace them back to the starting point.  Oh yeah – Milton Bradley! Miss you Gram, love you mom. 💗

 

Darling Doe

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment
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Darling Doe by Charlie Zabarte – Andrews + Blaine – 500 pieces

Another puzzle with only ballerinas – good thing this had interesting artwork too or it might not have been completed! The artwork is quite nice, and perfect for puzzling. It was a thrift store purchase, and even though it’s missing 2 pieces we still got our money’s worth.

Mom and I assembled this puzzle together on one of our visit/puzzle days – so much fun! Andrews + Blaine puzzles seem to be hit or miss quality-wise. The pieces were a good thickness and fit together well. But I really don’t care for puzzles with only one shape piece, it’s boring and makes the assembly more difficult. Although if the image is a good one I’ll put up with it; sometimes if the image makes for a fun assembly I barely even notice that all the pieces are the same. Andrews + Blaine have some beautiful images to choose from, I wish all their puzzles had a good variety of shapes as well.

Luckily the image of this puzzle was a good one, and we didn’t have too much trouble with large areas of the same color/pattern. It was definitely better that mom and I worked it together – she’s my favorite puzzle partner and many puzzles I wouldn’t want to do alone I have no problem doing with her. We’re an awesome puzzle posse! 🙂

Review: Canned Veggies

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviews1 Comment
This post is sponsored by Puzzle Warehouse.
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Canned Veggies – Springbok – 500 pieces

Canned Veggies makes me think of fall up north, canning fruits and vegetables with mom. There was a lot of peeling, cutting, and whining going on. (I didn’t always have a great time, especially when we were canning foods I don’t like) 🙂

This is another tight fitting Springbok puzzle. I’m not much of a fan of the super tight fit, but this wasn’t too bad, at least the sides aren’t curling up! Springbok puzzles are very good quality, and my preference for a slightly looser fit doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate that quality. The pieces are very thick, and fit together very snugly. The image reproduction on this puzzle was bright and crisp, and would be quite suitable for framing – it would be perfect in the kitchen! With the tighter fit, you most likely wouldn’t have to glue the puzzle, just frame it as is. Click to see all Springbok puzzles currently in stock at Puzzle Warehouse. They have some beautiful images, including Off the Vine – a gorgeous collage of wine labels – beautiful! (And I don’t even like wine 😐 )

I enjoyed this assembly, although I wasn’t prepared for the challenge of it. It looks pretty straightforward, but the darker areas made me slow down and I had to concentrate more. That’s probably a good thing though! I think this puzzle may end up framed and in my mother’s kitchen, she loves the look of it; and it reminds me of her. ❤

Details:

  • Title:                  Canned Veggies
  • Artist:                Allied Products
  • Brand:               Springbok
  • Piece count:     500 pieces
  • Size:                  Approx. 18 x 24 in. (46 x 60 cm)
  • Purchased:      n/a

Quality:

  • Board:               Very good
  • Cutting:             Very good
  • Image:               Very good
  • Box:                   Average
  • Fit:                     Good, very tight
  • Puzzle Dust:     Moderate amount
  • Piece cut:          Random cut
  • Piece shapes:   Good variety
  • Finish:               Slightly shiny finish, lays flat

Overall Rating:      Very good, recommended

 

I received this product at no cost in order to facilitate this review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are truthful and 100% my own.

Escape from Alcatraz

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment
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Escape From Alcatraz by Albert Lorenz – MasterPieces (Mythic Mazes) – 1000 pieces

I’d never heard of these Mythic Mazes puzzles, but it was a lot of fun! There are apparently more, including Escape from Merlin’s Dungeon and Escape from the Haunted House. It looks like they’re definitely out of print, so we’ll just have to hope that we are able to find more in the local thrift stores.

MasterPieces quality can sometimes be hit or miss, this one was very interesting. The thickness of the pieces, the fit, and the image reproduction were excellent but there was no variety in the piece shapes. They were all ballerinas. Sigh. It doesn’t make much sense to me, but then again I have no actual knowledge of what goes into manufacturing a jigsaw puzzle. Still, it’s a bit disappointing; the quality was very good otherwise.

You can’t see it well in the picture, but there are plenty of words to assemble, which I love. And even though there’s no variety in the piece shapes the good news was that there were almost no pieces that were just one color. There was plenty of shading and writing so that there weren’t large areas of one color. It made working with just the one piece shape a little more palatable for me.

The bright colors, interesting maps, and the actual information regarding the real life escape from Alcatraz made this puzzle even more fun. I enjoyed it very much, and would love to do the others in the series if we’re able to find them. Thumbs up for the Mythic Mazes! 👍