Tag: Buffalo Games

Hummingbirds and Fuschia

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment
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Hummingbirds and Fuschia by James Hautman – Buffalo – 300 pieces

I have to be honest, I was a little scared of this one. There’s so much green! Even the hummingbirds are green! But it seems I should have given myself more credit, I didn’t find it as difficult as I’d assumed it would be, and the finished image is beautiful. 😍

Buffalo 300 and 500 piece puzzles are my favorite size, I find their cut on 1000 piece puzzles to be too much the same size and I just prefer the smaller piece counts from this brand. (I’m not even sure if it’s the size, there’s just something about them I’m not a huge fan of.) This 300 piece puzzle was excellent quality; piece thickness, shape variety, fit, and image reproduction were wonderful.

Obviously I started with all of the not green colors; pink, red, and white. There weren’t as many of those pieces as I’d hoped and they went together very quickly. All that was left was green. Many shades of green. Luckily there were many things within the green to work with – blades of grass, hanging stems, feathers, etc. There weren’t many plain colored pieces, and even the ones that had only color usually had shades or fading to assist in the assembly. It went together more easily than I thought it would and it was quite an enjoyable puzzle – much more than I’d hoped.

This was a thrift store puzzle and doesn’t look like it’s being produced anymore. It’s a pity; it really was great fun and I highly recommend it if you can find it for a reasonable price. 🌺

Old World Map Calendar

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

 

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

Review: Root Beer Break at the Butterfields

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviewsLeave a comment
This post is sponsored by Puzzle Warehouse.
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Root Beer Break at the Butterfields by Charles Wysocki – Buffalo Games – 300 pieces

This was such an interesting experiment for me – I was sent this puzzle to review, but I had previously assembled it. I purposely didn’t look at my post from last year until after I completed the puzzle; I didn’t want to know what I thought before, I wanted to assemble it fresh. So how did this puzzle do the second time around?

Root Beer Break at the Butterfields was an excellent, entertaining puzzle that I loved both times I assembled it. The image is different than the usual Wysocki, with a single building at the beach, and it’s a 300 large piece puzzle which I absolutely adore.

Buffalo puzzles are very good quality, and their 300 and 500 piece puzzles are my favorite sizes. The larger pieces are easier to handle, and fit together a little more snugly than their 1000 piece puzzles. They don’t have the signature Buffalo zig zag pieces, but the variety of shapes is still very good and the fit and image reproduction is great. Click the link above to see all the Buffalo puzzles currently available at Puzzle Warehouse, they have some gorgeous puzzles ranging from 300 to 2000 pieces!

The pieces were very easy to sort and easy to assemble. The sky was the most challenging section, but there were plenty of clouds and color changes to help in finding the correct piece. The bright colors of the kites on the fence were fun to find and assemble and helped break up the fence and the sand. All around this was a quick, entertaining puzzle that was just as much fun the second time around!

*If you want to see what I thought the first time, click here.

Details:

  • Title:                  Root Beer Break at the Butterfields
  • Artist:                Charles Wysocki
  • Brand:               Buffalo
  • Piece count:     300 pieces
  • Size:                  Approx. 21 x 15 in. (54 x 38 cm)
  • Purchased:      N/A, sent for review

Quality:

  • Board:               Excellent
  • Cutting:             Excellent
  • Image:               Excellent
  • Box:                   Average
  • Fit:                     Very good
  • Puzzle Dust:     Small amount
  • Piece cut:          Grid cut
  • Piece shapes:   Very good variety
  • Finish:               Slightly shiny finish, lays flat

Overall Rating:      Excellent, highly recommended

 

I received this product at no cost in order to facilitate this review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are truthful and 100% my own.

Fawn and Flowers

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles2 Comments
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Fawn and Flowers by James Hautman – Buffalo – 300 pieces

I assembled this puzzle while I was working on yesterday’s review, Ruby Red – I needed a win in the middle of all those black pieces! This  image was pretty, only 300 pieces, and exactly what I needed. 🙂

Buffalo 300 piece puzzles are great quality, with nice, thick pieces that feel good in your hands. They fit together extremely well and have lovely images to choose from. I’m not always in the mood for larger piece Buffalo puzzles, but I’m always happy to put together a 300 piece – they’re perfect for a quick, fun assembly.

Wildlife, nature and landscapes aren’t my usual choices; I prefer collages and bright colors for the most part. But purchasing puzzles at thrift stores has been quite the learning experience for me, puzzles I wouldn’t necessarily choose for myself I assemble because they’re available. I end up loving almost every one of them, and am usually surprised at how fun they are! I suppose it shows my age that I’m still surprised by this. 👵

Give a different image a try, you might end up loving it❣

Springtime Beauty

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles2 Comments
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Springtime Beauty by Kim Norlien – Buffalo – 300 pieces

Mom and I assembled this together on our puzzle/visit day; we’ve been doing more 300 and 500 piece puzzles lately because they’re easier for me. The colors of the flowers caught my eye, and I love the expression on the faces of the birds.

Buffalo 300 piece puzzles are about perfect for me, I like the larger size of the pieces compared to their 1000 piece puzzles. For some reason the pieces of their 1000 piece puzzles seem too small and symmetrical to me – not always, but sometimes. There are times when I have to be in the right mood to do a certain puzzle or work with certain piece shapes. I never claimed to be rational. 😎

The quality of Buffalo puzzles is very good, although I’ve found that the fit can sometimes be loose. The pieces are thick and the image reproduction is sharp and detailed. The fit of this puzzle though was quite good, I find their smaller piece counts seem to fit a little more snugly. Perhaps it’s just me, because I like the smaller puzzles more; it’s all a matter of perception isn’t it?

This image is more difficult than it looks, but still fun to put together. The birdhouse and birds were easy enough to pick out, but there are many flowers and lots of tree bark. We had a good time assembling it, with lots of laughing and teasing. It’s so much more fun for me to puzzle with mom, and I try not to take for granted spending time with her. She rocks!

If this image speaks to you, I definitely recommend it. It’s beautiful and well made and was great fun to assemble. 🐦