Old World Map Calendar – Buffalo Games – 520 (+160) pieces
This puzzle is a very interesting concept; it’s a calendar within a puzzle, and you are supposed to be able to reassemble it every month. Cool idea, but not at all practical in my opinion.
I like vintage map puzzles, I find they can be intimidating and tough to put together, but I love the look of them and enjoy the challenge. This map was no exception, with beautiful colors and an interesting background.
The fit is extremely tight so that you can hang the finished puzzle with no glue or taping needed to keep it together. There are basically only 2 different shapes of pieces; this is so all the pieces can be interchangeable when you need to reconfigure the calendar each month. This is where the it becomes impractical; any puzzle made from cardboard isn’t going to be able to withstand multiple disassembling and reassembling – especially when the fit is so tight.
You can see below that the tabs are lifting and the image is coming off, and in some places the image is actually torn off. Perhaps a plastic puzzle would be a better way to go with this idea. With cardboard, no matter how sturdy it is, it will start to come apart after many assemblies.
I assembled it for this month, June. The 10th is a family birthday, the 17th is Father’s Day, and the full moon this month is on the 28th. The extra 160 pieces are for the major holidays, and extra days and spaces.
It was fun to put this together, and while I like the idea and the finished puzzle it just isn’t at all reasonable for a cardboard puzzle. Still it was an excellent thrift store find and I’m glad it was all there and I was able to try it out.
59 National Parks – Wilderness & Wonder – True South Puzzle Co. – 500 pieces
This is a brand new company for me, mom found it at a thrift store in Texas. It’s a really cool collage and I was impressed with the quality. It was a fun puzzle and if you find one from this company I definitely recommend you give it a try!
True South Puzzle Company is based in Nashville, Tennessee and was created to combine a love of jigsaws, the South, and local and regional artists. Their catalog is quite interesting with some collages, map, scenic images, posters, and more. The pieces were quite thick with a random cut that produces a very good variety of piece sizes and shapes. The fit was somewhat loose, but not too much so. The image reproduction is excellent with bright colors and crisp lines; the finish is a bit shinier than I like, it causes glare even with lighter colored pieces under artificial lights. The piece shape is quite obvious in the finished image, which isn’t ideal if you plan on displaying it, but doesn’t diminish my enjoyment of the assembly. Overall I was very impressed with the quality.
I started with the emblem in the center of the puzzle, and from there I started assembling words. Each of the 59 posters have words so there were plenty to work with. There are lots of shades of browns, yellows, and oranges which made the assembly a bit more difficult than I thought it would be. Each of the posters is it’s own little 9-12 piece puzzle, but finding the right pieces wasn’t always easy. It was a fun challenge.
True South puzzles are a bit on the pricey side, but that’s normal for smaller puzzle companies. If they’re a bit much for your wallet, perhaps you can find one at a thrift store like we did. If you see one, I recommend giving it a try; this one was a lot of fun!
Birds (Alternate Solution) by Jane Tattersfield – Liberty Puzzles – 509 pieces
How cool is this? This is Birds, the same puzzle I posted about yesterday, and it looks amazing! On the Liberty website it shows the alternate solution to the puzzle, and I was hoping when I received the box it would at least come with a picture of the second assembly to help me put it together. No such luck – but I got it done anyway. 😎
I had to study the picture online to get started, and once I figured out how it was going to work I didn’t need the picture as much (at least for the feathers). Parts of the puzzle stayed put, and the pieces that were pulled out to form the new shape were laid next to the edges; they are connected to each other, but not to the original shape of the puzzle. Once I found the pieces that were to be flipped backwards, it wasn’t too difficult to figure out where the feathered pieces were coming from and where they were going.
I’m not sure why certain pieces were turned backwards, but I do see that the pieces near the owl’s head form the eyes and beak of the bird. It does make for any interesting image, doesn’t it? The flipped pieces also helped me find the right pieces to pull and where they were going. You’ve got to hand it to the designer of this puzzle, it’s a pretty remarkable composition. To design the pieces to make a perfect square when assembled one way, and to make a shaped bird in flight when assembled another – not to mention all the whimsies. Astounding!
Birds by Jane Tattersfield – Liberty Puzzles – 509 pieces
Birds (Alternate Solution) by Jane Tattersfield – Liberty Puzzles – 509 pieces
The bottom of the bird was more difficult than the feathers and took a little more time and thought. But with the picture as my guide and a bit of determination I was able to get it all put together. I was pretty proud of myself when I finished the regular assembly, but that was nothing compared to how excited I was when I finished the shaped assembly!
Liberty Puzzles are my favorite of all the wooden puzzle companies that I’ve tried. Their craftsmanship is exceptional, they have more whimsies than any other company, and the intricacy of their cuts is absolutely without equal. The pieces feel great in your hand, and there’s nothing like hearing them plunk into place when you’ve found the right spot. They’re not cheap, but I think they’re fairly priced (much more reasonably than many wooden puzzle companies) and completely worth it.
I bought myself this puzzle as a gift, and I’m looking forward to having another excuse to buy myself a present. Father’s Day is coming up this month, perhaps I need to get myself something. Without us moms there wouldn’t be fathers, right? 😇
Birds by Jane Tattersfield – Liberty Puzzles – 509 pieces
Stunning, gorgeous, beautiful, colorful, intricate – there are endless adjective possibilities to describe this puzzle, but I’m going with amazingly awesome! This was by far the most entertaining puzzle that I’ve assembled this year.
Liberty Puzzles are excellent quality, and they’re my favorite of all the wooden puzzle companies that I’ve tried. They have more whimsies than other companies, and the cut is extremely detailed and intricate; the pieces are works of art within the artwork! The puzzles are made from 1/4″ plywood and are a joy to handle and assemble. I’m pretty particular about the puzzles I choose to purchase new, but I would literally do ANY puzzle, ANY image from Liberty – every puzzle they have is exceptionally well made, and the cut of the pieces would make any image an entertaining assembly.
Intricate whimsies – so many birds!
As you can see the whimsy pieces are extremely detailed, they’re all hand-drawn and beautifully made. The image is reproduced with amazing color and expertly adhered to the wood. These puzzles are made to be assembled and enjoyed over and over again.
It’s definitely an extravagance to spend so much on one puzzle, but I’ve decided that I’m worth it – they make me very happy. Most of the puzzles I assemble are the regular cardboard variety, but I allow myself to splurge on a wooden puzzle now and then; I also like to give them as gifts. Mother’s Day and my 30th wedding anniversary were a day apart this year, so I decided to get myself this puzzle as a reward for having and raising 3 children, and putting up with their father for 30 years. 😉
The colors of the birds are so beautiful, and they all work together to make a gorgeous puzzle. Even up close the colors and patterns make it difficult to see the piece shapes, so it isn’t one of those wooden puzzles where the outlines of the pieces overshadow the image. That’s part of the reason I chose this puzzle, the colorful image hides the lines that are more prominent in wooden puzzles, especially with lighter colors. I don’t consider it a flaw; it doesn’t diminish my enjoyment of the assembly, it’s just the nature of a laser cut wooden puzzle.
The edge pieces definitely weren’t easy to pick out; I found some of them, but not all. I did my best to assemble some of the edge and then decided to just start working the puzzle. I started with the yellow bird, it’s the lightest and the pieces were the easiest to find. The bright green bird at the top was next, and then the two birds with speckled coloring. The big blue owl was next, and from then it was filling in and assembling each of the smaller birds and flowers. It’s not an easy puzzle by any means, but I enjoyed the challenge of it.
The best part of this puzzle (besides it’s beauty) is that there is an alternate solution, one that is even more challenging that the traditional assembly. Once I finished assembly number one I was looking forward to attempting the second solution, but came down with a virus and spent the next four days in bed with no puzzling going on at all. Yesterday I was finally recovered enough to get back to it and I conquered the second assembly. Stay tuned, tomorrow’s post will feature this same puzzle looking very, very different!
First Trip to the Beauty Shop by Norman Rockwell – Kappa Books Publishers – 500 pieces
I did it! I actually finished the worst quality puzzle I’ve ever worked with. Sometimes for some reason I can’t explain I just have to finish a puzzle even if it’s horrible to work with and frustrating as hell. This was one of the those puzzles – I have no explanation for my stubbornness, I just had to finish it!
Kappa Books Publishers mainly deal with books, and I would encourage them to stick to publishing. This puzzle was terrible quality; the pieces were the thinnest I’ve ever worked with, and the fit was absolutely horrible with pieces seeming to fit everywhere. When the pieces were “connected” properly you could just pull everything apart with very little effort – even when the entire puzzle was complete I could pull gently on both sides and it would separate. Even the box was terrible quality; you had to cut it to open it, and once you did the bottom section just fell apart. It was made of extremely thin cardboard and the corners weren’t taped or held together in any way – once I lifted the lid it all just fell open.
The only good thing about this puzzle was the image reproduction. It seemed very true to the original and was adhered well to the chipboard. I’m sorry to say those are all my positives.
This was my favorite section of the puzzle to assemble, there’s just something innocent and adorable about it. I think the image itself is part of the reason I stubbornly refused to abandon this puzzle; I just wanted to see it complete.
I wasn’t planning on completing the dark blue sections at the top and the bottom, but by the time I was finished with the image itself it seemed a shame to give up. And I knew if I separated the pieces by shape it wouldn’t be too difficult. I was right, it wasn’t that bad; and I surprised myself by not needing hubby’s help to do it. I am pretty proud of myself for finishing it!
Please, if you love jigsaw puzzles, do not buy any manufactured by Kappa Books Publishers. The quality is terrible, and you deserve better.
Details:
Title: First Trip to the Beauty Shop
Artist: Norman Rockwell
Brand: Kappa Books Publishers
Piece count: 500 pieces
Size: Approx. 18 x 11 in. (46 x 28 cm)
Purchased: Thrift store, unopened
Quality:
Board: Poor
Cutting: Fair
Image: Good
Box: Thin, flimsy, very small
Fit: Poor; extremely loose, pieces seem to fit everywhere
My Jigsaw Journal 