Tag: Big Ben Puzzles

Cardinal Glass

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

Cardinal Glass by Cynthie Fisher – Big Ben (Luxe) – 500 pieces

This puzzle had an extremely loose fit which made this frustrating and difficult to work with. I liked the image, but all that green was a b*tch to deal with as well as the crappy fit.

Big Ben puzzles have been hit and miss in the quality department for me; sometimes I’m amazed at the good quality and sometimes I want to stomp on the pieces while screaming and throwing a tantrum like a two year old. Hit or miss.

For me, puzzle brands whose quality isn’t something you can be sure of are brands that I no longer buy new. I refuse to pay retail for a puzzle with quality that may contribute to my regression to an angry toddler. Big Ben is one of those brands I usually only get second hand at the thrift store.

If the price is only a few dollars it doesn’t frustrate me as much because I know going in that the pieces may not be all there or it may not be the best quality. That’s my twisted logic anyway.

Teal Lake

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles7 Comments

Teal Lake by Andy Russell – Milton Bradley (Big Ben) – 500 pieces

I love the image of this puzzle, and I liked that even though it was only 500 pieces it was still a bit challenging. It made for some fun puzzling!

This is a thrift store puzzle, and other than quite a loose fit it was pretty good quality. The image reproduction is lovely, there are a good variety of shapes and the chipboard was a nice thickness. The finish is matte and feels soft to the touch; the loose fitting pieces made for some frustrating moments trying to move pieces around, but otherwise I was happy with it.

Cardinal Glass In Progress

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling4 Comments

Cardinal Glass by Cynthie Fisher – Big Ben (Luxe) – 500 pieces

I’m farther along in this puzzle than the picture shows, but I took this to send to my daughter while she was at work and it was too sweet not to share with you all.

My parent’s furbaby, shown above, has been coming to my house every day along with my daughter’s little pupper – I’ve recently become doggy day care for the family. This little guy usually likes to sit behind me in my puzzling chair, but I was really hurting that day and needed my whole chair. He looked so sad though and I’m a big ol’ softie; and since he’s so small I just plopped him up on the puzzle table so he could be close to me without messing with my hip and back. Ain’t he a cutie pie? 🐶🐾

The puzzle I’m working on isn’t great quality, and it’s been frustrating me a bit so I’ve put up the poster to help me out and perhaps get me to the finish line faster. I don’t want to give up on it, but I also want to get it over with. You’ve been there before, right?

Teal Lake In Progress…

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling, Thrift Store Puzzles2 Comments

Teal Lake by Andy Russell – Milton Bradley (Big Ben) – 500 pieces

Although I started this puzzle yesterday afternoon, every time I sat down to work on it later in the day someone or something interrupted. It was just one of those days apparently.

This was a thrift store purchase, and other than a slightly loose fit I’ve been quite happy with the quality so far. The finish is matte so there hasn’t been any glare issues under the lights, and the hand feel is soft and very nice.

Andy Russell is a new artist for me, and his work reminds me a bit of Eric Dowdle; the rounded but almost symmetrical and precise shapes made me think of his artwork immediately when I saw it. It will be interesting to see if this is as difficult as I sometimes find puzzles with a Dowdle image.

Koi Fish

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles10 Comments

Koi Fish by Ciro Marchetti – Milton Bradley (Big Ben Luxe) – 500 pieces

Absolutely gorgeous image by Ciro Marchetti, it made for such entertaining puzzling! Underwater scenes aren’t usually my thing, but my daughter wanted me to buy this one so I couldn’t disappoint her. She’s such an enabler (LOVE that about her). 😉

I had no idea when I bought this that it was a Marchetti image, there was absolutely no mention of the artist anywhere on the box. Disappointing. If I had my artwork on a puzzle I would absolutely want to see my name on the box – wouldn’t you? Luckily the poster that came in the box had the artist credited.

It’s hard to give a rating for the quality – other than the fit it was very good/excellent – but fit is SO important! Piece shapes, cut, reproduction, finish, and chipboard were all really quite good; even better than expected. But how a puzzle fits together is unbelievably essential to a good assembly experience, and the fit on this puzzle left a lot to be desired. It wasn’t just loose, it was spongy as well; even when the correct pieces were put together you still weren’t always sure because it felt almost wrong the way it fit. I guess I’m giving it a good rating. Honestly, if the fit were better it would have gotten an excellent rating and I would have also given it a highly recommended.

It’s hard to say fish have expressions on their faces, but there something about the eye on this Koi fish, it almost looks embarrassed. It actually made me laugh when I really looked at it.

Look at these gorgeous colors! Ciro Marchetti’s work reminds me of Aimee Stewart, their use of color is similar, and makes for such fun puzzles in my opinion. Stunning!

Wonky fit aside, it was a beautiful image that made for truly fun puzzling. I started it late at night and finished by 9:00 the next morning. It makes me wish I had more puzzles with his artwork here, this one was fun!