General Store by Michael Matherly – FX Schmid – 300 pieces
I found this at mom’s house while going through her things. I liked the artwork very much, and at 300 pieces knew it wouldn’t take long to assemble. How bummed was I when I figured out there were missing pieces? Not terribly, but still it was disappointing.
FX Schmid has excellent quality; thick pieces, nice fit, and gorgeous image reproduction. We only find this brand at the thrift stores, so I’m not sure if they’re even still being produced. This particular puzzle seemed quite old, though the box was still in pretty good shape.
I enjoyed this assembly very much, but I was a little upset that the adorable dog on the front porch was missing! 😥
This one was hard! It’s only 300 pieces, but the image made it very difficult. I knew that going in, but I love the colors and thought it would be entertaining to assemble – it was.
I started with the purple, then the yellow peppers and the ties at the top. After that it was mostly just reds and greens, and I had to pay close attention. It was a lot of fun, even if I had to exercise my brain a bit. (It’s good for us older people to keep our brains sharp, and I do my best 👵)
Photographic images aren’t ones I usually go for, but this one was so bright and pretty, I couldn’t resist it.
Prairie Wind Flowers by Charles Wysocki – Buffalo – 300 pieces
I was pleasantly surprised by this puzzle, it was a thrift store buy from mom’s house, and the box indicated that there was a missing piece. Normally that annoys me, but I decided to assemble it anyway – and there were no missing pieces. Awesome!
It went together very quickly, and the wonderfully thick pieces were a joy. The fit was exceptional and all in all it was a lovely puzzle. I’m not sure how much I would have enjoyed it as a 1000 piece puzzle, but I’ve learned that you never can tell about those things; at least I can’t.
This was my favorite part, I love the dog sitting in the basket waiting for a ride. Hey guys, doesn’t anybody want to take me anywhere? I promise I’ll be good!
I started sorting my next puzzle, a 2000 piece Big Ben right after I completed this, and the pieces were tiny in comparison – both in size and thickness. Perhaps it wouldn’t seem so bad if I hadn’t just finished this one. 😉
Flower Cart by Patrice Procopio – Sure-Lox – 300 pieces
I was very surprised by the quality of this puzzle – thick pieces and a great fit, very nice image reproduction as well. I’ve never had a Sure-Lox puzzle with such nice quality. Of course, as far as I’m concerned I’d only work these 300 piecers from them.
You’ll be shocked to hear that I bought this new, I paid retail! I was desperate to find some interesting 300 piece puzzles, saw these new looking Sure-Lox boxes and decided to give this one a try. If I get a bee in my bonnet to buy more puzzles, I may go back to Tuesday Morning and get another of these 300 piece puzzles and see if the quality is similar.
Even though I don’t always love flowers in a puzzle, I very much enjoyed this one. It was also the first image from this artist that I’ve assembled; and even though it looks as though it would be quite difficult with the art style, I found it to be just the right amount of challenging and not at all frustrating. The colors were beautiful!
This brand has always been on my naughty list, but this 300 piece puzzle was much better quality than I’ve ever had from Sure-Lox. I would definitely recommend this puzzle, but specifically only this puzzle and not the brand in general.
Details:
Title:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Flower Cart
Artist:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Patrice Procopio
Brand:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Sure-Lox
Piece count:Â Â Â 300 pieces
Size:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Approx. 26 x 18 in. (65 x 46 cm)
Purchased:Â Â Â New
Quality:
Board:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Very good
Cutting:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Good
Image:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Very good
Box:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Average
Fit:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Very good
Puzzle Dust:Â Â Â Small amount
Piece cut:Â Â Â Â Â Grid cut
Piece shapes:Â Â Good variety
Finish:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Slightly shiny finish, lays flat
When you see a puzzle called “Love”, you don’t normally expect a Wysocki, or at least I don’t. This one though is a great scene, with more people than you normally see in one of his images.
I had a great time with this puzzle, and it went together pretty fast. A turn of the century tennis club with a lot of lounging around going on. The foreground was a little harder than the background, but it wasn’t too bad. The background and sky definitely looks like a typical Wysocki, and assembling those parts was almost soothing; I’ve put together quite a few Wysocki images and it was comforting to assemble.
Buffalo puzzles are very good quality, and their 300 piece puzzles are my favorite of all their piece counts. There’s something about the boxy pieces that isn’t as pleasing to work with when they’re smaller. Just my own opinion of course, many people love the larger piece count Buffalo puzzles. There’s nothing wrong with them, I just have to be in the right mood to work on a 1000 piece or higher.
I love this flag “We Are Oblivious To Sanity” – I think I’d like to get that put on a t-shirt for myself. Sanity is overrated if you ask me. 🙃
