Author: Stacey at myjigsawjournal

Irons in the Fire

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles10 Comments

Irons in the Fire – Bepuzzled – 135 pieces

Normally “mystery” puzzles aren’t my thing. Not because I don’t care for the mystery aspect of it, but because almost every single one I’ve ever done or looked at has had terrible quality. This was a thrift store purchase though, and for some reason I was willing to take a chance on it this time.

It’s a good thing too, because this is the best quality puzzle from this brand that I’ve ever seen. The pieces were thick (like, Ravensburger thick) and fit together well, if slightly loosely. It’s a double-sided puzzle, so one side is shinier and feels a little more stiff; but that is how double-sided puzzles are, no matter the brand. Overall, the quality was impressive.

**I’m going to say that I’ve done a few Bepuzzled puzzles before, and my impression is that overall the quality is underwhelming, and at times REALLY bad. My opinion is only for this puzzle, not the brand.**

Here’s the mystery…. Four business partners are golfing; Howie, Will, Flip, and Duff. Someone has been selling company secrets and a private detective has been hired by Howie to find out who. Howie gets attacked and kidnapped after the round of golf, and what is found is the following picture. (There’s much more info to the story, but this is the gist of it)

I’m giving the solution below, so stop reading here if you have this puzzle and don’t want any spoilers.

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What the police found was everything in disarray, but four clubs laid out neatly in a row next to his open cell phone. The 3, 5, 4, and 7 irons in a row – using the number/letter combinations on the phone – spell out who was stealing company secrets and who arranged to have Howie taken.

Flip.

Still Life – Fast Moving

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles4 Comments

Still Life-Fast Moving by Salvador Dali – Ravensburger – 300 pieces

Oh man this was so much fun, it was done in one sitting! I should have taken a break, I should have taken several breaks – because I paid for my insistence on staying seated for that long – but it was worth it. I love puzzles. 💛

This was a fantastic puzzle to do after the horrid mandala by Page Publications; this was like eating fresh fruit after having to lick garbage – it tastes like nectar from the gods. Sorry for the gross imagery, but honestly the difference between the two was equally as great. Ravensburger quality – especially with the smaller piece counts – is excellent!

This is actually the first image by Salvador Dali that I’ve done and I enjoyed it very much. Famous art doesn’t always make for the most entertaining puzzles (for me anyways), and I haven’t seen one of Dali’s works from a good brand that I wanted to assemble until now. Eternal thanks to my friend and fellow puzzle blogger Nicola from Puzzler1909 for sending this in our puzzle swap – it was lovely!

Started with the bedspread/tablecloth, it was the most difficult part, and sometimes I like to get the hard parts out of the way at the beginning.

Loved this section, it’s so crisp and clear it looks almost like a photograph – fantastic!

Review: Mandala Delight

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles9 Comments

Mandala Delight – Page Publications – 500 pieces

I pride myself on not making snap judgements about a brand after only working one of their puzzles. That ends now. Sssssnap! This brand is TERRIBLE, please do not waste any of your precious puzzle budget on any Page Publications puzzles.

Trying new brands always gets me excited, in the back of my brain I’m always hoping for a great quality puzzle that would add to the list of brands I can confidently buy any puzzle from. This was such a colossal disappointment – there aren’t enough words in the English language to tell you exactly how much.

Let me list the problems….

  • Extremely thin pieces
  • Flimsy chipboard that is easily bent and split
  • Fuzzy backing with a ton of puzzle dust
  • Too shiny finish that creates glare
  • No variety in shape at all, every piece fits everywhere
  • Horrid, extremely loose and spongy fit – even worse than Norman Rockwell
  • Doesn’t lay flat -not even close

My regular readers know that I normally try to find something positive about every puzzle. That just isn’t possible with this one; there’s nothing here that’s good in my opinion.

There have been quite a few new brands pop up in the last two years to take advantage of the increased demand for puzzles during the pandemic. This one is new, and from the looks of the puzzle I just assembled Page Publications doesn’t seem to be at all concerned about the quality of their product.

Look at how this puzzle lays; the fit is so bad that the pieces don’t really connect and lay flat together. Absolutely atrocious.

As with the Norman Rockwell puzzle, I got a bee in my bonnet about finishing this even with the ghastly quality. Perhaps it’s because I knew I would be giving it an awful review, and wanted to show you a finished puzzle. Perhaps it’s because Stacey is stubborn as a mule. Mostly, it’s just because my weird brain is in charge; sometimes I have to finish and I’m not sure why.

Please, if you love jigsaw puzzles do NOT purchase any of this brand. Ever. If you come across people handing out free Page Publications puzzles – eyes forward and keep walking, while chanting LIFE IS TOO SHORT FOR CRAPPY PUZZLES!

We deserve better. So much better.

Details:

  • Title:                  Mandala Delight
  • Artist:                Unknown
  • Brand:               Page Publications
  • Piece count:     500 pieces
  • Size:                  Approx. 20 x 25 in. (51 x 64 cm)
  • Purchased:      New

Quality:

  • Board:               Poor
  • Cutting:             Poor
  • Image:               Fair
  • Box:                   Average
  • Fit:                     Poor
  • Puzzle Dust:     Large amount
  • Piece cut:          Grid cut
  • Piece shapes:   No variety, pieces fit everywhere
  • Finish:               Shiny finish, does not lay flat

Overall Rating:      Very poor quality, not recommended

Happy New Year Puzzle Giveaway

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling, Miscellaneous33 Comments

Fantasy Palace by Ciro Marchetti – Wentworth – 500 pieces

It’s been quite a while since I held a puzzle giveaway, so I’m starting 2022 by giving away some puzzle joy in the form of this beautiful, gently used 500 piece wooden puzzle from Wentworth. It’s a gorgeous image isn’t it? It could be yours!

It’s been nearly four years since I assembled this puzzle (you can click here to check out my original post) and there always seem to be new ones to do, so it’s only been assembled once. It was truly a pleasure to put together, and I’m feeling the need to share the wealth by sending it on to someone else who will enjoy it at least as much as I did.

To enter, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post (if you need something to say, I’d love to hear if you have any puzzle goals for 2022). Each comment will be given a number and I will use a random number generator to determine the winner one week from today; Wednesday, January 19, 2022. This giveaway is open to all puzzle lovers, no matter where in the world you live.

Good luck everyone, and here’s to another year of happy puzzling!

1950s

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles8 Comments

1950s – Re-marks – 1000 pieces

Remarks is using a new chipboard, I don’t really like it much, even though it’s sturdier than the old kind. I was worried that when I lifted my board up to lean against the wall to take a picture that the new backing would make it slide off the board – luckily it didn’t. They are using a new finish too, and it’s quite shiny. I’m not sure how I feel about the new stuff; first impression is that I’m not a fan.

The fit was loose-ish, the board is sturdy but with the backing feels almost sharp (if that makes sense), there were a good variety of shapes, and image reproduction was good. Some areas seemed fuzzy, but I believe that was the reference material and not the reproduction’s fault. Overall it’s good quality, but honestly I prefer the old Re-marks puzzles.

I’ve got a few more of their puzzles here, and I may have to decide if this is a “White Mountain” situation where I deal with lesser or annoying quality problems to be able to assemble their great collages. If you asked me right at this moment I honestly couldn’t answer whether or not it’s worth it. We’ll have to wait and see how I feel after the others are assembled.

I had these as a child, vinyl stick-on geometric shapes that you could rearrange to make tons of different images. As I was putting this puzzle together I didn’t look much at the box or poster, and I couldn’t figure out what the black background with the bright colors were – finally had to take a peek to see what it was. It was really fun to put together this section.

See how different the Trix rabbit looked in the 1950s!

This section made me laugh, I can’t think of any program where the family gathers in front of the tv anymore. And look at the television itself! I remember these, big console tvs with record player and radio in them. We had one that you lifted the lid and the record player was in the top – we thought it was very cool. Ah, the old days. If you didn’t know I was old before – well, you certainly know now.