100 Aussie Icons

100 Aussie Icons by Jim Tsinganos – Mr. Bob Puzzles – 40 pieces

While getting posts ready for when I’d be out of commission I realized I needed a few more completed puzzles, so I took this one off the shelf and put it together quickly – while I was finishing a cup of coffee. Truly a one coffee puzzle!

I put together this same image for a review over 3.5 years ago (as a much larger 515 piece puzzle), you can see it here if you’re interested. I remember having to ask Mr. Bob who all the icons were, being an uninformed American I had absolutely no clue. It’s a great image by Jim Tsinganos, and really fun to put together – whether it’s over 500 pieces or only 40.

These are the whimsy pieces. For my friend Kazza and any Aussie readers out there I made sure to put the country the right way up this time. My apologies for getting it wrong previously. I didn’t even think about it, just turned all the pieces over so you could see the extra lines in the figures and didn’t for one moment think about making sure it was right side up! So sorry guys, please forgive an aging Yank – it won’t happen again.

Bliss & Flowers in a Bad Vase

Bliss & Flowers in a Bad Vase by Jim Tsinganos – Mr. Bob Puzzles – 40 pieces

This beauty has been sitting in the drafts folder for quite a long time – even before I took my break. Mr. Bob sent this to me to review but asked me to wait to post until the launch of the entire line of acrylic puzzles was ready to go. It looks as if they’ve decided not to continue with this type of puzzle, so I’m posting about it anyway and just not doing a formal review of it.

This is a double-sided acrylic puzzle, twice the puzzle – twice the fun! I didn’t photograph the whimsy pieces for some reason that I cannot remember, but you can see some of them in the puzzle. The assembly was more difficult than anticipated, but still super entertaining.

If memory serves me correctly, Mr. Bob Puzzles started working on this new line of puzzles before the pandemic. Once that happened acrylic became both difficult to obtain and much more expensive. Many businesses were using it as shields for their workers, and it became very hard to get and too costly.

It’s a shame, it’s a great idea (just my opinion). You can put two different images inside and there won’t be any image lift – ever. Plus you wouldn’t have to worry about pieces breaking. But alas, these puzzles aren’t in production or available for purchase on their site. What a bummer. 😢


This is the last of the puzzles assembled in the last year or so. From now on all the puzzles I post will be from THIS year and I will definitely remember the assemblies – promise.

Noongar Six Seasons Collage

Noongar Six Seasons Collage by Kevin Bynder – Mr. Bob Puzzles – 40 pieces

Absolutely my kind of image – the colors and patterns make for such an interesting image – much more fun for me than a cottage, landscape, or kittens. And it’s always so nice to work with a beautifully made wooden puzzle, even if it’s only a small one like this that doesn’t take much time at all to assemble.

This image is based on the Noongar people of Australia and their six seasons of the year whose time frame is defined by changes to the environment and the movements of the people to different habitats depending on the seasons. It’s a beautiful representation of the seasons – at least I think so. I’m a little disappointed in myself that I didn’t get this image in a larger size. It’s absolutely stunning artwork!

I’m not sure what the kettle is doing in this set of whimsies, but I don’t always have the depth of information I would like about these things. That’s ok though, it was a fun little puzzle to assemble – that’s what matters.

Parisian Charm

Parisian Charm by David Maclean – Wentworth – 40 pieces

I took the picture at the wrong angle on a truly bad day, I’m sorry for the shine. By the time I checked the image it was already taken apart and put away and I just wasn’t feeling up to putting it together again even though it was only 40 pieces.

This is what it’s supposed to look like….

Normally this isn’t really my kind of image, but at only 40 pieces pretty much any artwork is worth a shot in my book. It’s pretty, don’t get me wrong, it just doesn’t really excite. Just my personal opinion; we can’t all like the same things.

Very Parisian whimsies too!

Focus

Focus by Karen Bloomfield – Mr. Bob Puzzles – 40 pieces

My first mini puzzle from Mr. Bob – I liked it very much! I chose this one specifically because it looked as though it would be a challenge. It was.

It was the usual well made wooden puzzle from Mr. Bob Puzzles, with beautiful reproduction. Normally an image like this isn’t my pile of pieces, but being stuck in bed and only able to do small puzzles made me desire something a bit more demanding than the regular mini wooden puzzle. This one fit the bill perfectly.

As always there is a whimsy of Australia, plus some other fun shapes as well. Seeing all the great whimsy pieces is the best part of opening a new wooden puzzle – at least it is for me.