Mansfield Air Spectacular

On March 13, 2020March 13, 2020 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles2 Comments

I had a fantastic time with this puzzle; it was great fun to assemble, the image by Charles Wysocki was excellent, and it had the usual outstanding Buffalo quality – it was one of those all around wonderful puzzles. Though it was a bit more challenging that I’d assumed; that sky took much more time than I thought. Yikes!

There have been many, many Buffalo puzzles that I’ve assembled, and I can’t recall ever having a major quality issue with any of them. The pieces are thick, fit together well, and there are a very good variety of piece shapes. The image reproduction is stellar, and in general they are an excellent quality puzzle that I never have any hesitation in purchasing.

Mansfield 2

The stands where the people sat were great fun to do, so many arms, legs, etc. I found it to be quite enjoyable, and a bit more difficult if you don’t look at the box.

Mansfield 1

Love that all the pilots were women! Once I started sorting pieces and saw that the faces were all female I said out loud (to no one) “Props to the ladies!”. 👩‍✈️💪 Yes indeed, I talk to myself and my puzzles while I’m assembling them; I am not ashamed to admit it.

I’m enjoying Buffalo puzzles in the larger piece counts much more than I used to, and even find them soothing for some reason that I can’t quite put into words. They’re wonderful quality and have a large and varied catalog of images to choose from. If you haven’t tried a Buffalo puzzle before, give them a go – they even have these fun zig-zag shaped pieces that no one else does – sometimes it makes it easier, and sometimes it does not.

Mansfield Air Spectacular was a great time in a small box. Puzzles Rock! 😎

Window Shoppers

On March 2, 2020March 2, 2020 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles6 Comments

There’s something really compelling about this image, but putting it into words seems to be a bit difficult for me at the moment. I can’t exactly explain why, but seeing this image took my breath away, and I just had to have it. Good thing too, because the assembly was completely entertaining!

The colors are so beautiful, the quality was excellent, and all-around this was a wonderful puzzle.

Shoppers 1

I love this lady and her manservant, looking at it makes me smile. She’s carrying the tiniest of boxes, and he can barely see over the stack he’s loaded up with. 🙂

Shoppers 2

In this group of ladies I would absolutely be the one in jeans. I wanted to be the cute girl in pretty skirts, but it never seemed to work out that way.

Shoppers 3

This section was quite entertaining to assemble. The colors of the glass windows stood out, as did the bricks. It was the right amount of challenging, and for other reasons I can’t explain putting together these buildings was great fun.

I seem to have a limited vocabulary this morning, and can’t explain why I enjoyed this puzzle so much. All I know is that I loved putting it together.

Perhaps that’s all I really need to know. 🙂

Review: Vintage Posters (Paris)

On March 1, 2020June 15, 2026 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviews2 Comments

Doesn’t this look like a great time? It was! I absolutely loved it, even though it seemed like it would be quite difficult I found it had the perfect amount of challenge, and wonderful quality.

Puzzler1909 (a fellow puzzle blogger) and I conducted an international puzzle swap so we could work brands that are difficult to get in our home countries. I sent an Artifact wooden puzzle and a Galison; and I received this D-Toys, a Grafika, and a bonus Art Puzzle. (It was one I really wanted, but was missing pieces, so I chose another puzzle. She sent it anyway, knowing how much I like the artist – how sweet was that?)

D-Toys can be purchased in the US, but this image was nowhere to be found at any of my usual puzzle dealers. I’ve found that some of their puzzles aren’t the best to work with, but if you get the “high quality” ones they’re absolutely lovely. The pieces are a good thickness with a nice fit and excellent hand feel, and they are altogether very very nice to work with. This puzzle was hands down the best quality D-Toys puzzle I’ve ever assembled. 🙂

There was a big party in Paris, four years after the Eiffel Tower was built, this is a poster advertising it and I think it’s gorgeous! Although I’m not sure what all the boxes on the left side are showing…

Will the party be so amazing that it blows you away? Is there a tornado coming? It’s very silly, but seriously, what is happening here?

Theater, clowns and music, this was one big bash wasn’t it? Apparently they knew how to throw at party back in the 19th century. 😉

I know this is meant to show that there will be acrobats at the Eiffel Tower, but to me it just looks as though they’re tossing women off head first! All kidding aside, you can see the excellent fit in all of these close up images – it was fantastic, and wonderful to work with.

This puzzle was a joy to assemble, and although I was a little nervous when I opened the box and started sorting it wasn’t nearly as difficult as I thought it would be. I was wondering if assembling words would be more difficult with a language I don’t speak or read, but it turns out it was no problem at all. (Although it might be a challenge with a language whose characters/alphabet are different than English) The quality, the fit, the image – they all made for a fantastic assembly and a really good time. Many, many thanks to Nicola at Puzzler1909 for swapping puzzles with me – I am so looking forward to assembling the other two!

If you can find this puzzle and the image appeals to you, it is very highly recommended! 👍🗼

Details:

Title: Vintage Posters (Paris)
Artist: Unknown
Brand: D-Toys
Piece count: 1000 pieces
Size: Approx. 27 x 19 in. (68 x 47 cm)
Purchased: Used

Quality:

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

Overall Rating: Excellent, highly recommended

Vintage Tin Toys In Progress

On February 26, 2020February 26, 2020 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlesLeave a comment

Vintage Tin Toys IP — Vintage Tin Toys by Lewis T. Johnson – Milton Bradley – 1000 pieces

I didn’t actually start assembling this puzzle until yesterday, it was been sitting on my board waiting to be sorted for more than a day. Finally got my lazy butt in gear and started working on it!

It’s much more difficult than I thought it would be, but I find that I’m not at all frustrated with it. Finding the right shape or the right color is still relaxing and peaceful, even if the rate of assembly is a little slower than normal. My daughter chose an awesome puzzle for me, she’s the sweetest❣

My one frustration with this puzzle is that the image on the front of the box is, of course, covered in one area by a banner with information that could have been put elsewhere. There is an image of the artwork on the back of the box with no obstructions, but it’s smaller than the image on the front! So annoying! Seriously, do they think that’s something we puzzlers are looking for?

My eyesight is declining as I get older, and a smaller image isn’t what I’m looking for. If you can’t give me an unobstructed view of the artwork on the front of the box, give me a poster to work from. I realize that it may cost you a few more cents in production, but trust me, you’ll make the consumers very happy and more inclined to purchase your product. Duh! Is this really something you need to be told?!

Sorry for the rant guys, guess I just needed to get that off my chest.

Happy puzzling today! 😎🧩

Bedtime Stories

On February 24, 2020February 24, 2020 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles4 Comments

Bedtime Stories was so much fun, the bright and colorful covers made for a truly entertaining assembly. There were a few books I’d never heard of, although to be fair it’s been a long, long, time since my children were young enough to read books like these.

It was a great quality puzzle too, which makes an entertaining image even more fun to put together. The pieces were a good thickness with an excellent fit, and the image reproduction was bright and colorful. The only drawback was a little bit of a shiny finish which sometimes made the darker pieces hard to see with the glare.

Bedtime 1

The Tom Sawyer cover was a little challenging to put together, but I adore the look of it; I’ve never seen that cover before. The Alice in Wonderful cover was lovely, and I think this puzzle would be fantastic in a larger piece count – 1500 or 2000 pieces would be extremely entertaining!

Bedtime 2

These are books I remember from my childhood, though I admit that James and the Giant Peach wasn’t on my radar until I had kids of my own. I LOVED Pippi Longstocking books when I was young – she was bold and brash and didn’t care what anyone thought, and I wanted to be just like her. In many ways I think I’ve succeeded; bold is a word that’s been used more than a few times to describe me, and I honestly don’t give a bleep what anyone thinks of me – just like Pippi! 🙂

The Jungle Book was my absolute favorite movie, though I didn’t read the book until I was a bit older. Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel was a book I hadn’t thought about in years and years, but I remember it very fondly. I loved it as a child, and just looking at the cover makes me smile. Anyone else remember Mike Mulligan and his steam shovel named Mary Anne and the problem they dug themselves into?

I have such good memories of books and time spent reading from when I was a child; I was a voracious reader with an imagination that was capable of many, many flights of fancy. I’ve raised three children who also love to read, and that makes me unbelievably happy and proud. 📚