Category: Jigsaw Puzzles

Review: Paris Opera House

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviews1 Comment
This post is sponsored by Puzzle Warehouse.
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Paris Opera House – Masterpieces (Masters of Photography) – 500 pieces

An absolutely beautiful puzzle that I was scared of, to be honest. It looked like it was going to be too difficult to be fun – of course I was wrong. As usual. 🙂

This gorgeous puzzle is part of the Masterpieces Space Savers collection – 500 piece puzzles in smaller boxes for a smaller price. I had it in my mind that because the box is smaller and has a flip up top that the puzzle wouldn’t be very good quality, I mean how good can a puzzle that costs $5.99 be? As it turns out, pretty darn good. 🙂 Click the link above to see all the Space Savers available at Puzzle Warehouse.

The pieces were a good thickness and fit together very well; I never thought a piece went where it didn’t belong. The image reproduction as you can see is excellent and the finished image is flat and seamless. The piece shape isn’t obvious partially because the image itself is quite busy and also because of the fit. The only issue I had with this puzzle is that the finish is a bit shiny which can cause glare, and you may have to be careful when working under lights.

This is the second Space Saver that I’ve done and I’m very impressed with the quality. I definitely recommend them – they’re the perfect size to throw in your suitcase when you’re off for a weekend away. Don’t want the kids to sit and stare at their phones or the television? Pack a puzzle! It’s pretty hard to walk past a partially assembled puzzle, you can see exactly where that piece should go and you’ll just sit for a few minutes and work on it too. It’s a great activity for one person or the whole family.

Photography puzzles aren’t usually what I like to assemble, or at least I used to think so. Looking at all of the photography puzzles available at Puzzle Warehouse there are so many I would love to do! They have puzzles of just about everything – pets, food, landmarks, nature, architecture, people, landscapes and so much more. My poor wallet, this wishlist is getting out of hand!

I’m really enjoying these reviews because I’m assembling puzzles I normally wouldn’t have chosen for myself and enjoying them immensely! I know what I like as far as puzzles go, but just because the picture isn’t something that jumps out at me doesn’t mean I won’t enjoy it. Because honestly, so far, there hasn’t been one puzzle that I haven’t enjoyed. 🙂

I enjoyed this one even though I was scared of it! Unfortunately this puzzle is no longer available at Puzzle Warehouse but there are plenty of puzzles from Masterpieces to choose from; or click the links above to look at the Space Savers collection and the photography puzzles available. Masterpieces space saver puzzles are definitely recommended. 👍

 

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

 

Chocolate Memorabilia

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment
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Chocolate Memorabilia – Great American Puzzle Factory – 550 pieces

This puzzle was as nice to assemble as chocolate is to eat! Great thrift store find from the Great American Puzzle Factory, all pieces present and accounted for. 🙂

Another new-to-us company and we were impressed! The pieces are on the thin side, but are sturdy and feel good in your hand. The fit was very nice with random cut pieces, and the image reproduction was good with a shiny finish that can cause glare. Very nice puzzle that has found a new home with us. Hopefully we find more puzzles from this company at the thrift stores so we can compare the quality and see if it holds up.

Mom and I started the puzzle together and got about 50-60% done before I had to go home. We worked primarily on the words, there are so many! By the time all the words were complete the puzzle itself was about 50% complete. She finished it on her own the same evening, it was too much fun to leave it alone! I love puzzles like that. ❤

I enjoy trying out new companies, and seeing all the cool puzzles mom finds at the thrift stores. Perhaps there will come a day when we stop finding new companies to try out, but with so many countries in the world and so many manufacturers, I doubt it! 😁

 

 

 

Amazing African Wildlife

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment
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Amazing African Wildlife – Dalmatian Press – 101 pieces

A very nice kid’s puzzle from another new-to-me company, Dalmatian Press. I liked it very much, it’s nice to have a shaped kid’s puzzle now and then. Seems like we’ve found quite a few of them lately. 🙂

Dalmatian Press – pretty good quality. The pieces are on the thin side, but relatively sturdy and they fit together very well. The image reproduction was sharp with beautiful colors – nice quality for a kid’s puzzle.

It doesn’t look like it, but this puzzle was more difficult than it looks. Either that or these bleeping hot flashes are continuing to boil my brain cells. 😐 It took a little longer than normal for me to assemble this one, but in the end I finally got there – even though I felt like an idiot having a hard time with a 101 piece puzzle!

The Racehorse

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlesLeave a comment
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The Racehorse – Ravensburger (What If #8) – 1000 pieces

The picture on the box shows Jim Luckless buying himself a racehorse, the puzzle shows what happened after that. What if his horse had a very special talent, what if things took an unexpected turn? As usual with these type of puzzles I don’t show the entire finished image, I don’t want to spoil anyone else’s fun figuring out what happened to poor Jim. 😉

Ravensburger puzzle, with it’s usual excellent quality. It’s so nice to “come home” to my favorite puzzle company after working with other brands. They’re just such wonderful quality and I always enjoy working with them.

Geoff Tristam’s artwork is excellent and I love his sense of humor. Oh sorry, he’s from the United Kingdom so I should say I love his sense of humour! 😉 I also enjoy the bio on the back of the box which is always accompanied by a picture of Mr. Tristam with accessories related to the puzzle – on this box he’s next to a beautiful horse. A lot of work goes into these puzzles and it’s very much appreciated.

If you haven’t tried a What If puzzle, give it a shot. They’re fun and the right amount of challenging; I highly recommend it!

 

What Word is That?

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles2 Comments
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What Word is That? – Buffalo Games – 252 pieces

This puzzle was SO MUCH FUN! It’s an older puzzle from Buffalo Games that mom found in a thrift store. And even though someone’s child or pet chewed on one of the pieces it was still an excellent find!

This puzzle has you join words or letters with their definitions. Some could be tricky – the letters especially. Which letter is the most used in written English? What is the 3rd most used word in spoken English? It was a blast and we loved every minute of it! The best part was that you could also assemble the puzzle using just the pictures, so even if you aren’t the most loquacious raconteur you could still put the puzzle together while learning some new vocabulary. 😉

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Do you know these words??

I’ve looked it up and they also made What Movie is That?, What TV Show is That?, Who Said That? and others. I bet they’d be just as fun. Here’s hoping we make another thrift store discovery like this one!

This puzzle had the typical Buffalo quality, nice thick pieces that fit together well and feel good in your hand. The background picture of what I’m assuming is the Library of Congress makes for a gorgeous puzzle that brightened our afternoon. 🙂

An awesome puzzle and a very entertaining assembly – if you can find one of these puzzles, go for it!