Church by Joseph Burgess – Milton Bradley – 1000 pieces
This is another of the premium Milton Bradley puzzles that we’ve found. Previously I assembled Train Station, Eden Central by Thelma Winter and enjoyed it very much. Click the link above to see that post. I was thrilled that mom was able to find another puzzle from this series, but a little bummed that it’s missing one piece. Oh well, it was still a lot of fun to assemble!
This was the first puzzle with artwork by Joseph Burgess that I’ve assembled, and I have to say his artwork is beautiful and makes for an excellent puzzle; I’d love to work more of his puzzles. I’ve looked through the puzzles with his artwork available at Puzzle Warehouse, and I recognize several that I’ve noticed before and had already added to my online wishlist (and the wishlist I keep in my head 🙂 )
The quality of these premium puzzles is excellent, and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed assembling them. The images are gorgeous and make for great puzzles; the pieces feel almost soft, fit together very well, and have a beautiful matte finish. The series has 3 puzzles each from several artists including Royce McClure and Dominic Davison. I’m hoping we find more of them, I love the quality and the pictures are attractive and calming and make me happy while I’m puzzling them.
Great Americans by James Mellett – White Mountain – 1000 pieces
It’s a complete coincidence that this was the puzzle that ended up being the one for review today – but a good thing. After the weekend we’ve had dealing with Hurricane Irma, and then the anniversary of 9-11 it seems like we need something uplifting. So it’s a good day to remember some of the great Americans that have helped to make this country a better place to live. ❤
Great Americans was an entertaining puzzle to assemble, and to be honest it led me to an internet search for the meanings and differences between collage and montage. Long story, and to be honest I don’t know that I fully grasp the difference. So whether you call this a montage or a collage I have no idea. Whichever it is though, I had a good time assembling it. 🙂
White Mountain Puzzles have some of the best collages in the industry in my opinion and I always enjoy assembling them. They’re hard for me to walk away from because one section or person always leads to assembling the adjoining one. They have an excellent catalog with collages for many tastes, along with fine art, educational puzzles and much more. Check out all of their puzzles available now at Puzzle Warehouse by clicking the link above.
They have larger pieces than most companies and their 1000 piece puzzles are quite large at 24 x 30 inches (61 x 76 cm) so be sure your work space is roomy enough before you start. There was a medium amount of puzzle dust in the bag, but all the pieces were separated with no damage. The pieces are a good thickness with a good variety of piece shapes and fit together very well. The image reproduction is bright and colorful with a matte finish to prevent glare. The name of the puzzle, manufacturer, piece count and a portion of the image is on all 4 sides.
This isn’t the typical collage that I like to assemble. I prefer the actual pictures or products rather than drawings. Although it’s not my taste it was still fun to assemble. It was an interesting puzzle and the assembly sucked me in; I found it hard to stop working at times. There are so many people to assemble and identify, it’s an extra little workout for your brain! You’ll find politicians, athletes, entertainers, authors, captains of industry, and many more. How many will you recognize?
The artwork is by James Mellett, whose collection of puzzles are amazingly detailed, informative, and very interesting. The amount of work that must go into each image he creates is impressive! His subjects include pop culture, sports, maps, and celebrities. And if you have any trouble recognizing anyone or anything in his puzzles, they have a page on the White Mountain website with the keys to his puzzles. Although they haven’t yet put up a key for this puzzle. 😐 Click to see all the James Mellett puzzles available at Puzzle Warehouse right now.
Great Americans was an entertaining assembly that had me guessing on a few people I wasn’t sure of. It was fun to work the puzzle while trying to identify everyone shown – I knew most of them but not all. (I’m hoping they put up the puzzle key soon!) It’s a great puzzle if you enjoy pop culture, history, collages, America, or even just a great image. Recommended 👍
I received this product at no cost to facilitate this review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are truthful and 100% my own.
Chat Noir by Steinlen – Eurographics – 1000 pieces
This is an interesting image, but in my opinion it isn’t ideal for puzzling. There’s too much flat color, and with a random cut it was extremely difficult to find the proper piece. We’ve found that sometimes the “coolest looking” puzzle isn’t one you’d want to assemble; that was definitely the case here.
Mom did the majority of this one, I helped when I could; but it was a bear! Boy were we ever happy when we finally finished it. And I don’t think I’ve ever said this about a puzzle – I’m glad a piece was missing. I truly am. There was something very satisfying about putting this bleeping puzzle in the trash once we had conquered it. 😈
Best Places in the World by Lewis T. Johnson – White Mountain – 1000 pieces
Collage puzzles make me so happy! 🙂 Best Places in the World went together quickly, but wasn’t so easy as to be boring. Just the right amount of challenge in my opinion.
The new White Mountain puzzles have just come out in the past couple of weeks, and so many of them are out of stock already! It’s easy to see why they’re so popular, images that are fun, nostalgic, bright, and many other adjectives my coffee-deprived brain can’t think of. More have been ordered I’m sure, and will be back in stock hopefully very soon. They are very good quality puzzles with an excellent catalog and the best collages around. Click here to see all the puzzles from White Mountain currently available at Puzzle Warehouse.
As usual for a White Mountain 1000 piece the finished puzzle is 24 x 30 inches (61 x 76 cm) so make sure you have a large enough work space. The pieces were undamaged and separated and there was little to no dust in the bag. The pieces were thick and sturdy, with a variety of piece shapes, and fit together well. The image reproduction was very nice with beautiful, bright colors and a slightly shiny finish. I did have a small issue with image lift occurring because I placed a piece incorrectly; when I lifted it out the image layer came up a bit. This only happened on a couple of pieces, and was mostly my fault for placing it in the wrong spot – but it’s worth mentioning.
This image is not one that I would normally purchase. While it is a collage, it doesn’t jump out as something that I would HAVE to have. Of course, as usual, I was completely wrong in my assumption and I had an awesome time assembling it. It was hard for me to walk away from it, I didn’t want to stop! You would think I would learn, but that doesn’t seem to be the case; on the plus side, that means I get to be surprised a lot by how much fun these puzzles are. 😉
Lewis T. Johnson is the artist, and his artwork has been made into many a gorgeous puzzle. He does beautiful collages and much more. Click the link to see all the puzzles from this artist available now at Puzzle Warehouse. Sea Turtle World looks like a fun challenge, and check out all the travel themed collages he’s done – they look like great fun!
Best Places in the World is a beautiful collage that makes for an excellent puzzle. If you’re a travel buff or know someone who is, this would make a great gift. Highly recommended! 👍👍
I received this product at no cost in return for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are truthful and 100% my own.
This assembly was definitely a family affair – fitting for all the family movies in this puzzle. My sister-in-law, 2 nieces, a nephew (in-law) and myself all worked on this puzzle. Whew!
I sent this puzzle to my sister-in-law as a hostess gift of sorts. My husband and I, along with his two brothers were going to be staying with her for a few days. As a gift for being so brave in putting up with all of us I sent her two puzzles – for a few reasons. One, she enjoys puzzles; and two, it’s nice to have a puzzle sitting out in the house, especially when you have guests. Also, I may have wanted to make sure that I wouldn’t have to go 5 whole days without working on a puzzle. 😇
It’s hard not to stop and look at a puzzle in progress, and you end up adding a piece or two if you can. Before you know it people are sitting and working on it together and having a great time. That’s exactly what happened here. This puzzle sat out for a couple of days and several family members stopped to look and to help assemble it. It takes a bit of pressure off of the host feeling that the guests need to be entertained, we were entertaining ourselves with the puzzle! 🙂
The image here was perfect for a puzzle many people were assembling, it wasn’t too difficult to pick out the pieces for one section to work on. So while one person was assembling A Bug’s Life, someone else was working on Monsters Inc. We all had a great time working on it and were pretty proud of ourselves when we finished it. Excellent Ravensburger quality, with an image both kids and adults could enjoy. Great puzzle!
My Jigsaw Journal 