Review: Rooster Express

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviews, Thrift Store Puzzles4 Comments
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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

 

 

Rosso Angelo

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlesLeave a comment
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Rosso Angelo by Ross Fiorentino – Artifact Puzzles – 228 pieces

This puzzle was really fun to assemble, and not nearly as difficult as I thought it might be. I was worried that the darker places would be tedious and very hard to complete, but thankfully I was wrong. It was a wonderful assembly all around. 🙂

Artifact Puzzles are having a sale at the moment, while supplies last, and I just couldn’t resist 50% off! I bought this and another puzzle because I knew if it were “while supplies last” that the puzzles would eventually be out of stock and gone. And at these great sale prices how on earth could I resist? They’re still having that sale, if you are so inclined there are still quite a few beautiful puzzles to choose from. (If I had unlimited funds I would get every single one of them!)

Once I started working on this puzzle, it was difficult to stop. I started with the mandolin (or whatever the instrument is), and from there went up the angel’s arm and into the wings. One section led to another and it went very quickly. For some reason the angel’s nose is located in the center of the circular end of a mandolin shaped whimsy piece. It looks odd, and my eye jumps to that section every time I look at the picture. To me, it almost looks like a clown nose.

The whimsies for this puzzle are all “angelic” There are several cherubs and mandolins, along with a harp, a violin, and one piece shaped like Italy. This image is from the Italian Renaissance after all, so the piece shaped like Italy is a perfect fit.

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I’m currently working on the other puzzle I bought from this sale, it’s a secondary one I’ve been working on for well over a week now. I only put in a piece or two here and there, it isn’t the primary puzzle that I’m working on.  It’s going to take a while, it’s much more difficult than I bargained for and will take plenty of patience. I don’t mind though, to me time spent puzzling is never wasted – it’s always worthwhile. Especially with a wooden puzzle! 😉