Review: Yarn Shop

On August 1, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviewsLeave a comment

Yarn Shop by Kim Jacobs – Milton Bradley – 500 pieces

Mom loves this image, but it’s just not my pile of pieces (cup of tea, as it were). It’s too pastel, and there’s too much going on. It’s pretty, but it just wasn’t fun for me to assemble.

The quality was good; the pieces are a good thickness with a nice variety of piece shapes. The image reproduction seems a bit fuzzy, but that could be the artwork itself. The fit seemed a bit mushy to me, it wasn’t always clear if the correct piece was chosen because sometimes a piece seemed to fit but really didn’t. I don’t always have the right words, so I’ve chosen “mushy”.

You can see in the above pictures that there was a lot of patterned background, almost none of the pieces had a solid color with no pattern. Perhaps if it were more brightly colored it wouldn’t have been such a chore, but in my opinion the color palette added to the difficulty. I seriously disliked the entire assembly, but that was more about my taste than the quality of the puzzle.

Of course, it could be that I just wasn’t in the right mood for this image. You never can tell these days; old age is setting in (I’m a few months away from 50), and there are plenty of “You kids get off my lawn!” moods that my family has to endure. 👵

If you’re in the right mood, and this image is one that tickles your fancy, I say go for it. The quality is good and if you like the artwork you should enjoy the puzzle.

Details:

Title: Yarn Shop
Artist: Kim Jacobs
Brand: Milton Bradley
Piece count: 500 pieces
Size: Approx. 18 x 24 in. (46 x 61 cm)
Purchased: New

Quality:

Board: Very good
Cutting: Good
Image: Good
Box: Average
Fit: Good, slightly mushy
Puzzle Dust: Moderate amount
Piece cut: Grid cut
Piece shapes: Good variety
Finish: Slightly shiny finish, lays flat

Overall Rating: Good, recommended

Review: Snowfolks

On July 5, 2018July 5, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviews, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

Snowfolks by Bill Bell – Springbok – 60 pieces

This is a cute, wintry puzzle for my Christmas in July here on the blog. Unfortunately it had one of the tightest fits I’ve ever worked with, it was quite difficult to assemble – not because of the image, but because it took so much effort to connect the pieces.

Springbok puzzles usually have a tight fit, some much tighter than others; I’m not a fan of having to have upper body strength to complete a puzzle. Sometimes when working with a super tight fit my thumb starts to hurt from pushing so hard to put the pieces together! Springbok has some excellent, fun to assemble images though, and so I sometimes take a chance and hope that the fit isn’t too snug. You can see above that the finished puzzle doesn’t lie flat, it curls up along the edges because of the fit – this made it difficult to get a good picture.

Other than the fit this puzzle was good quality; good variety of piece shapes, thick pieces, and excellent image reproduction. I love the image – it’s very cute, and great for a kids puzzle.

Below are a couple of my favorite “folks”….

All the different snowfolks were adorable, but these were my favorites. The first one is perfect for Christmas in July, and the fisherman and the golfer are just plain cute. There’s also a hockey player, clown, gardener, firefighter, and many others. So fun!

This puzzle is recommended, with the warning that the fit on the puzzle I assembled was extremely tight. Perhaps not all of these puzzles will be this snug, but be forewarned.

Details:

Title: Snowfolks
Artist: Bill Bell
Brand: Springbokk
Piece count: 60 pieces
Size: Approx. 14 x 19 in. (35 x 48 cm)
Purchased: Used, thrift store

Quality:

Board: Very good
Cutting: Very good
Image: Excellent
Box: Average
Fit: Poor, much too tight
Puzzle Dust: Small amount
Piece cut: Grid cut
Piece shapes: Good variety
Finish: Slightly shiny finish, doesn’t lie flat

Overall Rating: Good, recommended (beware the rigid fit)

Review: Pattern 3

On June 23, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviews1 Comment

Pattern 3 by Patchwork – Milton Bradley – 300 pieces

I absolutely love these puzzles by Patchwork; as soon as I finish one I’m wishing I had another one to do. The patterns and colors make for the most entertaining puzzling experience – and the quality is pretty darn good too!

These patterns would be phenomenal in a larger piece count as well, they really are quite fun to assemble – at least they are for me. I know not everyone has the same taste in puzzle images, if we did think of how boring puzzle shopping would be! These are definitely my cup of tea though; a collage of bright, beautiful colors and interesting patterns – along with great quality.

I’m still on the lookout for Pattern 1, I’m sure I’ll come across it one of these days. I’ll be pretty darned excited when I do – because these puzzles make me very happy!

Details:

Title: Pattern 3
Artist: Patchwork
Brand: Milton Bradley
Piece count: 300 pieces
Size: Approx. 18 x 24 in. (46 x 61 cm)
Purchased: New

Quality:

Board: Very good
Cutting: Very good
Image: Excellent
Box: Brick style box with plastic lid
Fit: Excellent
Puzzle Dust: Small amount
Piece cut: Grid cut
Piece shapes: Good variety
Finish: Matte finish, lays flat

Overall Rating: Very good, highly recommended

Review: Rooster Express

On June 19, 2018February 5, 2020 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviews, Thrift Store Puzzles4 Comments

Rooster Express by Charles Wysocki – Milton Bradley – 300 pieces

I love a Wysocki image that isn’t the norm, ones that maybe only have one house instead of many; or ones that feature something different, like this rooster. This puzzle is the perfect example of that.

Most puzzles by Charles Wysocki we’ve done are produced by Buffalo Games, every once in a while I come across one from another manufacturer. This beauty is made by Milton Bradley. The quality is very good; with thick pieces, excellent image reproduction, and a beautiful fit. It was a joy to assemble!

I assembled it a little differently than usual, I started from the top and put together the sky, buildings, and fields. Then I went to the bottom and assembled the road, wagon, and rooster. After that all that was left was the grass, which didn’t take much time at all. It was over too quickly! It was more fun than I thought it would be, those are my favorite types of puzzles. 🙂

Details:

Title: Rooster Express
Artist: Charles Wysocki
Brand: Milton Bradley
Piece count: 300 pieces
Size: Approx. 18 x 24 in. (46 x 61 cm)
Purchased: Used, thrift store

Quality:

Board: Excellent
Cutting: Very good
Image: Excellent
Box: Average
Fit: Very good
Puzzle Dust: Small amount
Piece cut: Grid cut
Piece shapes: Good variety
Finish: Slightly shiny finish, lays flat

Overall Rating: Very good, recommended

Review: 59 National Parks – Wilderness & Wonder

On June 10, 2018June 10, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviews2 Comments

59 National Parks – Wilderness & Wonder – True South Puzzle Co. – 500 pieces

This is a brand new company for me, mom found it at a thrift store in Texas. It’s a really cool collage and I was impressed with the quality. It was a fun puzzle and if you find one from this company I definitely recommend you give it a try!

True South Puzzle Company is based in Nashville, Tennessee and was created to combine a love of jigsaws, the South, and local and regional artists. Their catalog is quite interesting with some collages, map, scenic images, posters, and more. The pieces were quite thick with a random cut that produces a very good variety of piece sizes and shapes. The fit was somewhat loose, but not too much so. The image reproduction is excellent with bright colors and crisp lines; the finish is a bit shinier than I like, it causes glare even with lighter colored pieces under artificial lights. The piece shape is quite obvious in the finished image, which isn’t ideal if you plan on displaying it, but doesn’t diminish my enjoyment of the assembly. Overall I was very impressed with the quality.

I started with the emblem in the center of the puzzle, and from there I started assembling words. Each of the 59 posters have words so there were plenty to work with. There are lots of shades of browns, yellows, and oranges which made the assembly a bit more difficult than I thought it would be. Each of the posters is it’s own little 9-12 piece puzzle, but finding the right pieces wasn’t always easy. It was a fun challenge.

True South puzzles are a bit on the pricey side, but that’s normal for smaller puzzle companies. If they’re a bit much for your wallet, perhaps you can find one at a thrift store like we did. If you see one, I recommend giving it a try; this one was a lot of fun!

Details: