Review: Best Friends

On December 13, 2019December 13, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviews3 Comments

Best Friends is a gorgeous puzzle with amazing quality, and I enjoyed every difficult minute of the assembly! I wanted to experience the quality itself and how the pieces went together so I put the image away and assembled this one blind. It was a fantastic puzzle, an entertaining assembly, and is most highly recommended.

Starz Puzzles is a newer puzzle company that I’ve written about before on My Jigsaw Journal, asking for my reader’s input on the brand in general and the uniquely shaped pieces. Fortunately I was asked to assemble and review one of their puzzles so I can now personally speak about the brand and it’s quality. I’ve worked with quite a few brands of wooden puzzles, and this brand was extremely interesting to assemble with wonderful all-around quality. Their star shaped pieces make for an engaging assembly, and their process of printing directly onto the wood makes for crisp and vibrant colors. The puzzles are also spill-proof according to the packaging, but I love puzzles too much to have tested that out. Because they print directly onto the wood they are also able to re-print over the artwork, which I find intriguing. What a novel concept!

Most Starz puzzles come in a custom wooden box made from solid Ash hardwood with pinned hinges; this puzzle came to me in their new sleeve packaging, which I think is a great idea. It’s fantastic for storing puzzles, quite thin compared to a regular puzzle box, but very sturdy. The sleeve packaging is only available for their x-small, small, and medium sizes, the heirloom boxes are available for all sizes except the x-small. Their website doesn’t currently show the sleeve packaging, but they are working on updating it and their puzzles sold on Amazon do have the sleeve packing available.

Best Friends 5

The puzzle comes assembled and laying flat in the sleeve. It wasn’t as easy as dumping out pieces on the table and starting assembly; the fit was tight enough that I had to disassemble it piece by piece, and this was my only criticism for the packaging. Most puzzlers are raring to go when they open a new puzzle, and having to take the puzzle apart could be annoying for some. I didn’t find it too annoying, but it’s worth pointing out.

This was a puzzle with star cluster silhouettes (whimsies), shown on the left, and they certainly made the assembly interesting! Once I wrapped my brain around how the pieces went together I came across the actual stars and that upped the difficulty level; it was definitely a challenge but I really did love it. Their signature star shaped piece is on the right, with extremely thick 1/4″ maple wood.

Best Friends 2

Dean Russo’s images have been on quite a few puzzles, but this is the first artwork of his that I have put together. It was such a fantastic image of colors and patterns and adorable canine faces – love, love, loved it! 💗 All those patterns and colors made for a more difficult but extremely gratifying assembly.

Most of the comments on my previous post about these puzzle were about the price – Starz Puzzles are on the more expensive side of wooden puzzles – this 158 piece puzzle in the sleeve packaging is $119.00. The bottom line is every puzzle isn’t for everyone; just like the Christian puzzles I reviewed earlier this year, they’re made for a specific consumer. Not everyone has the inclination or ability to buy these puzzles, but many people are so inclined and this review could assist them in making a purchase decision.

My bottom line is that these puzzles are excellent quality and I enjoyed both the artwork and working with their uniquely shaped pieces. I may not currently be able to afford these puzzles, but I adored working with this one and thought it was beautiful and beautifully made. Definitely recommended! 👍

Details:

Title: Best Friends
Artist: Dean Russo
Brand: Starz Puzzles
Piece count: 158 pieces
Size: Approx. 11 x 8 in. (28 x 20 cm)
Purchased: N/A, sent for review

Quality:

Board: Excellent, 1/4″ Maple wood
Cutting: Excellent
Image: Excellent
Box: Sleeve packaging, excellent for storage
Fit: Excellent
Puzzle Dust: None
Piece cut: Unique star shaped pieces
Piece shapes: Very good variety with silhouettes
Finish: Slightly shiny finish, lays flat, spill-proof

Overall Rating: Excellent, most highly recommended

I received this product at no cost in order to facilitate this review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are truthful and 100% my own.

Review & Giveaway: Browsing & Butterflies on 5th Avenue

On December 9, 2019March 15, 2020 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviews12 Comments

Browsing & Butterflies on 5th Avenue is part of the new Art Gallery puzzle collection from TCG Toys’ Sure-Lox brand. I was happily surprised at the quality of this puzzle, and enjoyed it much more than anticipated. This is the first puzzle I’ve assembled with artwork by Charles Fazzino, and I loved the 3D Pop Art style – it made for a wonderfully entertaining assembly!

Sure-Lox puzzles haven’t also been on the nice list here at My Jigsaw Journal, but in the past few months I’ve assembled a couple of their puzzles in the newer packaging and was pleasantly surprised by the good quality. The chipboard is thicker, the fit is exceptional, and the image reproduction is excellent. It’s rare that a puzzle company makes significant improvement to their quality, but Sure-Lox seems to have done it. 5th Avenue makes the third Sure-Lox puzzle from the newer line that I’ve assembled, and they have all been very good quality. Well done Sure-Lox!

I was so impressed by the thicker pieces that I decided to compare them to Ravensburger to see how it held up …

5th Avenue 3

The Ravensburger piece is on the top, and you can see that the chipboard of the Sure-Lox puzzle is almost the same thickness. It may not be as well compressed, but all in all I was thoroughly impressed. The pieces feel good in your hand, and the fit is excellent. You can lift and hold up the finished puzzle with no problem at all. I picked mine up and handed it to my son (who wasn’t too keen on being photographed, but oh well)….

5th Avenue 4

Pretty darn nice fit if you ask me. Perhaps it could even be framed without having to use glue – not too shabby! Wonderful quality all around, and I am well and truly impressed by the new Sure-Lox line of puzzles.

The only criticism I have is that there is only one piece shape. With an image like this it isn’t too much of a problem, most of the puzzle is busy and the only large area of color is the sky. Luckily it’s broken up by quite a few butterflies, but there are a few sections where it can be somewhat tedious. But honestly, I was almost done with the assembly by then, and I was so excited to be finishing that I didn’t find it overly tiresome. Many puzzle companies are using just the one piece shape these days, and I find that I’m slowly getting used to it even if my preference is a puzzle with a variety of piece shapes.

The artwork is incredibly detailed and interesting, and the New York cityscape made for a fun assembly. I think I may be a new Charles Fazzino fan, and will definitely be looking for some more puzzles of his art. 🎨

Rockefeller Center

New York Public Library

Overall I was very happy with the quality of this puzzle – the image kept me entertained and smiling, and it’s one that is definitely recommended – instead of thumbs I’m giving it two Lady Liberties with their torches way up! 🗽🗽

Details:

Title: Browsing & Butterflies on 5th Avenue
Artist: Charles Fazzino
Brand: Sure-Lox
Piece count: 2000 pieces
Size: Approx. 39 x 27 in. (99 x 69 cm)
Purchased: N/A, sent for review

Quality:

Board: Very good
Cutting: Very good
Image: Excellent
Box: Good
Fit: Excellent
Puzzle Dust: Moderate amount
Piece cut: Grid cut
Piece shapes: No variety, only one shape
Finish: Slightly shiny finish, lays flat

Overall Rating: Very good, highly recommended

*I’m going to do something I’ve never done before. Since this is the season of giving I’d like to lift someone’s spirits for the holidays; I wanted to give away my very gently used, autographed copy of Browsing & Butterflies on 5th Avenue to one of my readers. Since many of my readers are thrift store shopping puzzlers, I was sure they wouldn’t mind a secondhand puzzle. I when I contacted the company to inform them of my intent to hold a giveaway, they graciously offered to send a brand new autographed puzzle to the winner instead!

If you’d like this puzzle, signed by the artist, please leave a comment on this post to be entered in the giveaway. I will use a random number generator to decide on the winner, and will post the results one week from today – December 16, 2019. Good luck!

I received this product at no cost in order to facilitate this review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are truthful and 100% my own.

Review: Dog Stamps Quilt

On November 29, 2019November 29, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviews2 Comments

Dog Stamps Quilt – hmmm, a collage with dogs, I wonder if I liked it? It won’t be much of a spoiler for me to tell you I adored it! It had everything going for it before I even opened the box, and luckily once it was opened the quality was just as good as the artwork.

Bits and Pieces is a brand I normally only buy second hand because of some very bad experiences with their puzzles. When I saw this image though, and the fact that it was only 300 pieces, I had to throw caution to the wind and give it a try. And I’m very glad I did! The pieces were very thick, with an excellent variety of shapes that fit together very well. The offset, almost wavy grid cut made for some fascinating piece shapes that sometimes seemed almost geometric, and the interesting way they fit together made for an absorbing and entertaining puzzle.

Dog Stamps 1

These adorable puppies jumped right out at me when I was sorting; first of all, their little faces look like they’re about to get into a lot of mischief, and secondly the background is a beautiful shade of blue that stood out in a sea of brown and tan pieces. Their faces and expressions are just too cute!

Dog Stamps 2

This little guy had such sad, sweet eyes. I had to take a close-up picture of this stamp; it’s just too sweet to pass up, and I think it would make a great puzzle image on it’s own.

Overall I was quite impressed with the quality of this puzzle. I find that many 300 piece puzzles with large pieces have thick chipboard that is quite sturdy, even if the larger piece count puzzles from the same brand aren’t as thick. Bits and Pieces is a brand I don’t usually endorse, but in this piece count I have no reservations in giving this puzzle a thumbs up. It’s great quality and an excellent image, and if the artwork makes you smile it is definitely recommended. Two doggie paws way up! 🐾

Details:

Title: Dog Stamps Quilt
Artist: Barbara Behr
Brand: Bits and Pieces
Piece count: 300 pieces
Size: Approx. 18 x 24 in. (46 x 61 cm)
Purchased: New

Quality:

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

Overall Rating: Very good, highly recommended

Review: Save The Whales

On November 20, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviews2 Comments

There aren’t enough words in my vocabulary to describe how much I adored Save The Whales. It made for the most enjoyable puzzle assembly and to say I loved just doesn’t do it justice. This puzzle was such great fun!

This is the second of two puzzles I was sent for review from Mr. Bob Puzzles, and I am quite impressed with the quality. The pieces are thick 4.5mm wood, and the fit is not as loose as some other wooden puzzles. The pieces have a good hand feel, and the cut is deceptively challenging; it looks easy, but it most definitely isn’t. They also have been infused with essential oils, giving them a lovely, relaxing scent. The whimsy pieces fit the theme of the puzzle, and range from quite large to very small. I knew what to look for this time, and found all the pieces that spell out the Mr. Bob logo on the first try! 🙂

Save The Whales whimsies

I did find that this puzzle had a quite a few pieces that had the image ever so slightly lifting at the edges, and relayed this information to the Mr. Bob team through emails. The 100 Icons puzzle didn’t have this issue at all, so I wanted to let them know that there was something different about Save The Whales. They believe they may have “overdosed” some of the pieces with the essential oils, and that’s what caused this problem. Easily remedied with careful application of the oils, or if the customer prefers it the puzzle could be scent free. (I for one love the added scents, and found them to be pleasant and relaxing.)

I also gave some feedback on the whimsy pieces; some tails on the sea creatures were quite thin, and to prevent breakage and image lift the suggestion was made to thicken them. I was pleasantly surprised at how eager the team was to hear suggestions and make changes to improve the quality of their puzzles. As an avid puzzler it’s nice to see that a company is striving to make the best puzzles they can; I appreciated their willingness to address the small issues that I found.

There was one more suggestion I had for the team, and that was to please put more of Robert Williams’ artwork on their puzzles. Robert is the “Bob” in Mr. Bob Puzzles, and I think his artwork is just beautiful! I was drawn to this image right away, it reminds me of the artwork of Edward Kinnally, which I also adore. It’s just my opinion, of course, but I certainly hope they consider my suggestion. 😉

There was only one in process picture, I was having too much fun to stop and take pics. To be honest, the only reason I took the picture was for a post about the progress of my assembly. The colors and the movement of the image was quite compelling, and once I got to assembling it was difficult to walk away and leave the next piece undone. It must be easy to find, don’t leave yet, just one more piece…

Whales IP

The bottom line for me is that this puzzle was completely engrossing, entertaining, and both beautiful and beautifully made. I had so much fun putting it together that even though I want to frame it and hang it as artwork, I took it apart. Hubby is planning to make me a custom frame, but I really want to assemble it again; there aren’t many puzzles I can say that about! 🐳

If you’re a wooden puzzle fan I absolutely recommend giving a Mr. Bob puzzle a try. They have some stunning images to choose from, and they’re well made and very entertaining. As an added bonus, depending on where you live, the exchange rate could give you a discount right off the bat – as of today the Australian dollar only costs 68 cents American!

Details:

Title: Save The Whales
Artist: Robert Williams
Brand: Mr. Bob Puzzles
Piece count: 515 pieces
Size: Approx. 23 x 17 in. (54 x 43 cm)
Purchased: N/A, sent for review

Quality:

Board: 4.5mm wood
Cutting: Excellent
Image: Very good, some slight image lift
Box: Excellent
Fit: Excellent
Puzzle Dust: None
Piece cut: Grid cut, whimsy pieces
Piece shapes: Very good variety
Finish: Slightly shiny finish, lays flat

Overall Rating: Excellent, highly recommended

I received this product at no cost in order to facilitate this review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are truthful and 100% my own.

Review: 100 Aussie Icons

On November 11, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviews5 Comments

100 Aussie Icons is a fantastic image, and made for a wonderfully interesting puzzle. This is one of two wooden puzzles sent to me for review, and I had an absolutely great time with the assembly. I’m so looking forward to the next one!

Mr. Bob Puzzles is an Australian puzzle company that has switched over from producing cardboard puzzles to making wooden ones. They primarily focus on the artwork of Australian artists, and are trying to avoid the well-worn path of puzzle images; I think that pitfall has been avoided, their catalog is full of interesting and not seen before images to choose from. The quality is excellent, with thick wooden pieces that feel good in your hands, and a cut that looks easy, but offers more of a challenge than you think.

There’s one thing I can’t show you with a picture – the smell. Mr. Bob Puzzles uses aromatherapy essential oils to give their wooden puzzles a wonderful smell. I can’t tell you what it is, because I have no idea the exact scent; all I can tell you is they smell amazing! Mr. Bob Puzzles believes in the health benefits of puzzling (there are 10 health benefits listed on the back of their boxes), and they are adding aromatherapy oils to their puzzles to enhance the assembly experience and add to the health benefits. It’s something I’d never heard of before, but I think it’s great and the scent in my puzzle room was truly lovely.

The first picture is after one day’s assembly. The second is when it is almost complete, all that’s left is the sky. The cut is seeming a simple one, with regular “puzzle” shaped pieces, but it’s quite deceptive. There are many straight edges on the inside of the puzzle, and it makes for a much more challenging assembly than I thought. I loved the added difficulty and it went together much more slowly than a 500 piece puzzle usually does for me. In my book that’s a plus!

Aussie Icons whimsies

According to the box, all Mr. Bob puzzles have Australia themed whimsy pieces, I love the kangaroo inside the shape of the country – very cool. Of course my favorite has to be the Sydney Opera House with my initials inside! 😍 I’m not sure if that’s something they do for everyone, but I loved it.

Aussie Icons 3

I’m sure a good Aussie could tell you exactly who all these people are. I was almost positive that the flag bearer was Ian Thorpe (Olympic swimmer), but of course I was wrong; he’s one of the surf lifesavers. Other than that I have to confess to being an uninformed American who had no idea who the rest of these people were until Mr. Bob sent me a legend with most of the icons. I would suggest that perhaps there be a page on their website with a legend of them all so that we could see the ones we missed. This image is one of their bestsellers, and I’m sure a list would be appreciated by those of us who aren’t up to date on our Australian history.

Also, you can see in the top right of the picture that Mr. Bob has put his logo into the puzzle, very clever!

The artwork is so detailed and full of interesting people and things and it made for a most entertaining assembly. The puzzle is quite large, about the size of the average 1000 piece cardboard puzzle, and I found the large pieces are quite nice to work with. I was impressed with the quality of this puzzle, and it is most definitely recommended. I will add that I was equally impressed with their very quick shipping – this puzzle was at my door 5 days after it left Australia. Amazing!

Details:

Title: 100 Aussie Icons
Artist: Jim Tsinganos
Brand: Mr. Bob Puzzles
Piece count: 515 pieces
Size: Approx. 23 x 17 in. (54 x 43 cm)
Purchased: N/A, sent for review

Quality:

Board: 4.5mm wood
Cutting: Excellent
Image: Excellent
Box: Excellent
Fit: Excellent
Puzzle Dust: None
Piece cut: Grid cut, whimsy pieces
Piece shapes: Very good variety
Finish: Slightly shiny finish, lays flat

Overall Rating: Excellent, highly recommended

I received this product at no cost in order to facilitate this review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are truthful and 100% my own.

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I received this product at no cost in order to facilitate this review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are truthful and 100% my own.

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I received this product at no cost in order to facilitate this review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are truthful and 100% my own.

Share this:

I received this product at no cost in order to facilitate this review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are truthful and 100% my own.

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