Category: Jigsaw Puzzles

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

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.

Rainbow Rain

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles4 Comments

Rainbow Rain by Jen Cameron – MicroPuzzles – 150 pieces

I absolutely ADORE this image, it’s so fun and colorful. It didn’t make for the easiest assembly, but if it were too simple it wouldn’t be entertaining at all.

I had to take it in the puzzle room to finish it though. The lighting is bad in the bathroom, and hubby kept putting pieces in the wrong spots. I think, perhaps, he needs some new glasses. Either that or he’s just not the puzzle guru that his wife is. 😎

The Nineteenth Amendment

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles7 Comments

The Nineteenth Amendment – Cobble Hill – 1000 pieces

This was an amazing puzzle to assemble, and the minute I was finished I wanted to take it apart and assemble it all over again. Before I started the box was put away along with the poster that comes with it; I knew I wanted the assembly experience to last longer. So many words to assemble – it was so much fun!

Cobble Hill puzzles have always been very good quality, and this one was no different. I love the linen textured paper, the random cut of the pieces, and the beautiful image reproduction. The fit is usually quite good as well, the fit on this one was excellent. Overall just a wonderful puzzle with a great image that made for an extremely entertaining assembly.

Not interested in women’s rights or information about the American suffrage movement? You should probably stop reading here. It was a fun, great-quality puzzle. If that’s all you wanted to know, have a nice day. The rest of this post is not really puzzle related, it’s about the the suffragettes and what they did and said.

Did you know that for two and half years “The Silent Sentinels” (shown above) picketed in front of the White House for the suffrage movement? Nearly 2,000 women took their turns picketing – they were actually the very first group to ever picket the White House. Many of them were harrassed, arrested, and unjustly treated by both local and federal authorities – including force feeding, torture, and physical abuse.

Here’s another little tidbit for you….did you know that the last state to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment was Mississippi? Did you know that happened in 1984? Sixty-five years after it was passed by Congress. What the actual hell Mississippi? Sigh.

Susan B. Anthony is probably the best known suffragette, and she was the first female citizen to be depicted on a U.S. coin. There were thirteen women whose images were shown in this puzzle, it was difficult choosing which ones to show close up. I choose Susan B. Anthony because she is the most well known – and because this is a great quote.

Although many black women worked alongside white women in the movement, they were definitely not treated as equals. Frances Watkins Harper was one who called them out on their racism, and was not afraid to be confrontational. This quote, from a speech she gave at the 1866 National Women’s Rights Convention, called out white women for their lack of female solidarity across the racial divide. Black men were granted the right to vote by the fifteenth amendment, but black women – even in the suffragette movement – were largely ignored and dismissed and effectively banned from voting until the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

This quote from Lucy Stone speaks volumes, and still rings very true today – more than 125 years after her death. Although it seems to me that if the women of today knew and truly understood what those who came before went through so that we could enjoy all of the freedoms we have – they wouldn’t behave as if some tiny slight was stomping on their freedom when they don’t get their way.

Just a random opinion from an old lady who remembers that in my own lifetime women in the US weren’t allowed to have credit cards in their own name and could be fired for becoming pregnant – or for not sleeping with the boss.

Button, Button

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles6 Comments

Button, Button – Springbok (Hallmark) – 500+ pieces

This puzzle scared me a bit, it seemed as though it would be super difficult; it wasn’t easy, that’s true, but it was really fun too! This is an old Springbok, from back when they were a division of Hallmark Cards. From what I can find this is from about the mid 1970s.

The very random cut of the pieces adds to the challenge, but the fit was excellent. I can lift the whole thing up with one hand and nothing comes apart. Unfortunately because it’s octagonal it isn’t conducive to getting the traditional Stacey-loves-standing-them-up picture. Bummer.

There is a bunch of information on the back of the box about buttons. Which, I know, doesn’t sound all that interesting – but it really was! I took my normal amount of pictures of the puzzle, then I read all the information and had to take different pictures to show you the cool buttons I learned about. All off the buttons in this image are from the collection of Marie Bertholet Smith, who was an interior designer, art director, antique store owner, and who also worked at Hallmark for a number of years.

Wanna see some really awesome buttons?

This is an example of a “stud button”, which were sometimes large, hand-painted, and porcelain. They were called studs because of their post-like fasteners and were made to fasten cuffs, to button men’s vests and ladies shirtwaists, and to insert into the lapel. Look at the detail!

When I was putting this particular button together it made me think of how much time and care must have gone into making this one single button. Back in the day everything was constructed with such care; these days we melt blobs of plastic and pour them into molds for cheap, crappy things that constantly break.

See those spherical buttons in the center of the picture? Those are called “paperweight buttons” because of their resemblance to glass desk paperweights. They were most often made by glassblowers forming a mold of glass over a small ceramic object. Imagine the time it must have taken!

This is called a “garter button”, and they were used on fancy garters in the 1920s. They were faces painted on stretched silk or cotton. I love these! There were several examples of them in the image, but I chose this one because it had the ribbon headband.

It’s such a bummer there were two missing pieces, but for a 45 year old puzzle, that’s to be expected I suppose. It was still so much fun to put together, and learning about so many different kinds of buttons was almost as entertaining as the puzzle!

This old Springbok really makes me think of my Grama. In the days before the internet our only source of good quality puzzles was the Hallmark store. It was about 18 miles away from where we lived, and they only had one or two small shelves at the back of the store that had puzzles. I can remember exactly where in the store they were, all these years later. We had such fun walking to the back and wondering what kinds of puzzles would be there; and then finding just the right one or two to take home with us. Springbok puzzles will always remind me of her. 💖