The Frozen Difference

On May 12, 2017May 18, 2023 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

This puzzle is called The Frozen Difference because the image on the box top and the image on the puzzle are different. There are nine small differences between the two, and there is a small poster of the puzzle in the box with the differences circled. How many more times do you think I can use a form of the word different differently?

As you can see by the picture, the pieces are somewhat warped and do not lay flat. I have never seen that in an adult Ravensburger puzzle, however I haven’t done any children’s puzzles from them and can’t say if it is typical or not. I believe from knowing the excellent quality that Ravensburger produces that the issue with this particular puzzle lies in the fact that it was a thrift store purchase and was most likely used plenty and/or perhaps not reboxed or stored properly. (This is Florida after all, and you wouldn’t believe the things that can become warped in the heat. Plastic, cardboard, minds, ideas, etc.)

I will admit that I have not seen Frozen. My kids are adults now and I don’t have to sit through their movies any more. I know the sisters are Anna and Elsa, I know the snowman is Olaf, I know the song Let It Go is burned into the brains of parents with young children, and I know that I’m thankful that I don’t have young children. 😉

The thickness of the pieces, especially compared to other children’s puzzles, is excellent! They feel sturdy in your hand, and the linen finish is top notch as well. There is a nice variety of piece shapes and they fit together well in spite of the slight warping. The quality overall is excellent, and I will always recommend Ravensburger puzzles. They’re top of the line in my book!

Ravensburger has been and continues to be my favorite jigsaw puzzle manufacturer. This puzzle has issues, but I cannot say for certain if it was a manufacturing problem, or just because the puzzle was purchased secondhand and was loved and used a lot.

Hearts of Gold

On May 11, 2017May 18, 2023 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlesLeave a comment

I’m not sure what it is about this image I love so much, but I do love it and the assembly was quick and just challenging enough. Excellent, excellent puzzle!

I really was wanting to get these new puzzles that I ordered, and as soon as it got here I stopped the puzzle I was working on to get going on this one. Started and finished it in one day, even though I had a horrible day with pain and couldn’t sit or stand for very long. I was also watching my grandpuppies that day, which is tiring, whew!

Sometimes a puzzle just grabs me and I want to keep going until it’s finished no matter what – not interested in food breaks, or puppy play time breaks or anything really; it’s almost an imposition when life breaks in and demands my attention. Most puzzles aren’t like that for me. But it’s quite fun when it does happen, because that means the puzzle is such a great image or the assembly is so entertaining that I literally don’t want to stop.

This puzzle was one of those, and it was great! Heye puzzle, so great quality, but I will say that the piece fit was quite loose on this one. If I tried to scoot some pieces over a little bit so they would fit properly I ran the risk of them all crumpling up and coming apart. I haven’t had a Heye puzzle that was quite that loose before, and I’m hoping it was just the end of a run or something. Still great image quality, piece shape and thickness. They’re not as thick as a Ravensburger or Jumbo piece, but they’re extremely sturdy.

Also you cannot tell from the picture, but the puzzle had metallic stamping on it, so there were shiny gold dots and gold framing around the heart, etc. Very cool looking! Who doesn’t love sparkles and shine? They truly are hearts of gold!

Ludicrous Lighthouse

On May 10, 2017May 18, 2023 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlesLeave a comment

This lighthouse is so much bigger than I thought it would be! To be honest I never even looked at the size when I ordered it; I just saw Colin Thompson and Ravensburger and ordered it without another thought. It’s over 3 feet tall! 38 inches x 25 3/4 inches. It’s pretty awesome though, no matter how tall it is. 🙂

Excellent Ravensburger quality, fun shaped puzzle, and Colin Thompson’s artwork = a happy, happy puzzler! I’m not a shaped puzzle aficionado, this is technically only the 2nd one I’ve completed, but I enjoyed this one very much. I did like that the sides going up the lighthouse were pretty much straight so I could at least pull out some of the edge pieces and keep to my puzzling routine, even if just a little bit. This puzzle has “specially shaped pieces” as well, which might be called whimsies. There aren’t many of them, but enough to be fun and make for some interestingly shaped pieces that surround them.

There are so many things to discover in this puzzle that it may take several observations to find them all! The usual Colin Thompson humor, worlds within worlds, and plenty of little pink people throughout. This is a puzzle that I’ll definitely be doing again – it was loads of fun!

If you’re a shaped puzzle fan or if you love Colin Thompson’s artwork, this puzzle is an excellent one! Make sure you’ve got a big enough board though, it’s pretty darn tall!

High Jinks on the High Seas!

On May 8, 2017May 18, 2023 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

This puzzle is adorable and a very cool thrift store find! Very nice quality for a Springbok puzzle from the 80’s – and all the pieces were there. Bonus!

I really love the artwork by Ulli Schneider, cartoon puzzles are up there in my favorites and I like the characters very much. I wanted to say “her characters” but realized that I don’t know if the name Ulli is male or female. I’m not sure why I assumed the artist was female. Interesting, I hope that doesn’t make me a sexist!

The piece cut is very random as you can see and it was extremely entertaining to assemble. The characters were quite fun to put together; the ship and sails were daunting at first, but as usual we worked it out. Mom and I got it done relatively quickly working together – we are an awesome puzzle team. Wonder Twin Powers………. activate! (Silly cartoon from the late 70’s – The Wonder Twins)

Springbok is a company we prefer to purchase only from thrift stores; sometimes the pieces have a LOT of hanging paper on the back and fit together way too tightly for our taste. But to each his own, everyone has their own opinions on what constitutes a good puzzle – and every single one of them is correct! The quality on this puzzle was very good, it’s from the 80’s and has held up pretty well.

How is it that the 80’s were 30 years ago? I cannot possibly be that old! Oh wait, I just quoted a tv cartoon from the 70’s, I AM that old. 😐

Emergency Room

On May 7, 2017May 18, 2023 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles1 Comment

Would you believe this is only the 2nd 2000 piece puzzle I’ve ever assembled? It’s true! My only other 2000 piece was the World of Books by Ravensburger. Then I decided why not kick it up a notch and try a puzzle 20 times bigger than that? I’m off my rocker, I know, but in an adorable way. 🙂

I have to be honest, I was intimidated by this puzzle once I had the edge assembled. I thought, “where in the world do I begin?”, and “this is going to be difficult!”. The image is packed full of people and trees and shrubs and there’s so much going on! There is a lot going on that’s for sure; it’s a Loup puzzle, there’s always plenty of stuff going on! I even considered putting it back in the box and leaving it for another time. That’s how much I was almost dreading this puzzle. I thought to myself that it was too overcrowded and it wouldn’t be a very enjoyable assembly and that perhaps I’d be in a better mood to do it at some other time.

It sounds ridiculous that a person who just finished the world’s largest jigsaw puzzle would be intimidated by this 2000 piece thing. But I was, then I decided to just jump in and start doing something, it didn’t matter where I started I just had to begin. So I started out small and assembled the buildings on either side of the hospital itself. That wasn’t bad at all, so then I pulled and assembled the roofs, and it just went on from there. Trees, pavement, ambulances, they all got done in time and it turns out I was completely wrong to be intimidated and I enjoyed this puzzle so much!

This was my first puzzle by Jean-Jacques Loup, and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. It became less and less intimidating with each piece I added. Even though there was a LOT going on I was still able to pull out small sections to assemble without having to refer to the poster constantly, I appreciated that. This puzzle was a bit naughty with some nudity and adult humor, but I found it amusing (cause I may be an adult, but I refuse to grow up) I was glad to see it wasn’t only female nudity, there was a naked man trying to escape from the psychiatric ward. 😉 Thumbs up for equality!

I have a few other Loup puzzles by Heye yet to assemble, and I think after this one I won’t be so intimidated by them. I can’t wait to assemble them actually!