The Fire Station

On February 27, 2020February 27, 2020 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles6 Comments

It’s been years since I’ve assembled a puzzle with an image by Jan van Haasteren, and I remember why – I don’t really like such crowded, busy images. But this one being a gift, and only 550 pieces made it a little easier for me to handle. Still, it was no walk in the park!

Fire Station 1

There are several things that you’re supposed to be able to find in every JVH image, but I confess that I was only able to find the shark fin and the hands. Even though I scoured the image from top to bottom and side to side I wasn’t able to find the self-portrait of the artist, or Sinterklaas (Santa) – they were nowhere to be found! Ah well, it does make you pay attention to the artwork and gives you an appreciation for the hours and hours of work that must have gone into it. They’re unbelievably detailed!

Fire Station 2

My youngest son came in the room as I was finishing the puzzle, and pointed to this section, he said “I don’t think you could do that in real life, you would hurt your back!” I completely agree. It’s one of those things that when you’re younger looks like it would be fun, but now, at my age, it looks like it would be terrifying!

Fire Station 3

These two men in the firetruck have the right idea if you ask me, there’s no way I’d want to be a firefighter! They’re fantastic, brave people and I have all the respect in the world for them, it just isn’t a job that I could do. I can’t image the heat they have to deal with in fighting fires, it would be way too intense for me! I’d be happy to be able to drive them around though, as long as I could stay in the truck once we got there. 😉

This was a fun assembly, and I was pretty proud to get it finished – it was quite difficult!

Pixar Posters

On February 2, 2020February 1, 2020 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles7 Comments

I know, it’s a Ceaco, what in the world am I doing assembling a Ceaco so soon after the Christmas debacle? It was a gift, and I love the image, so why not? I can’t very well have a bonfire and torch all the Ceaco puzzles I have here…..although…….🤔.

The fit was terrible, it was very loose and even moving three connected pieces was pretty hard to do. On the plus side the pieces were a workable thickness and the image reproduction was very good. Again, this is one of those times where the image overcame the quality and I enjoyed myself anyway. It’s a collage, there are lots of words, and each of the posters is bright and fun. I had a great time with it, despite it’s issues.

*I tried to be impartial and just judge the puzzle on it’s own merits, and I think I was, but I’m still a little perturbed at the brand in general and so I may have been specifically on the lookout for any problems.*

These were my two favorite sections to assemble, though pretty much all of them were fun. I loved the movie Brave – Girls rule! – and it was the first section I put together; all that red hair was the most logical place to start after putting together all the words and titles. Coco was much more entertaining to assemble than I thought, and although I haven’t seen the movie I found myself enjoying it very much. My son tells me I should see it and that it was an excellent movie that I will love; he and I have VERY different tastes in movies, so I’m not so sure about his recommendation. 😉

My kids are older now and so I haven’t seen many of the newer Disney-Pixar movies. Of all the movies shown here I have seen just over half of them, nine out of seventeen. There was a time not so long ago that when a new movie came out on DVD (or VHS) that we would all take a trip to the store and get ourselves a copy; then we’d go home and watch it together that evening – or sometimes we couldn’t wait and we watched it in the afternoon. I have great memories of watching Disney movies with my kids, and so perhaps I haven’t watched the newer ones because my kids are all adults, off living their own lives, and not always available to watch movies with mom.

Pixar Posters 3

This is the last section I put together, only because everything is blue, and most of the pieces just looked blue – even the teeth! It was still good fun though, especially because at the end of the puzzle when the pieces are dwindling down to nothing it gets more and more exciting. You’re almost there, and every piece you find gets you that much closer to the end, and you’re finding each one faster and faster – almost more quickly than you can put them into the puzzle!

As many puzzles as I’ve done, the end is still as exciting to me as it ever was. Getting down to the last few pieces is entertaining, full of anticipation, fast-moving, thrilling, dramatic, and always fun. I hope it never gets old.

My Free Puzzle

On January 12, 2020 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling10 Comments

BOX.indd

This is the update of the 12 Nightmare Christmas Puzzles advent calendar set – I got my free puzzle, and it’s shown above. To say I am underwhelmed doesn’t cover it, I’m a little disgusted too.

First of all, I don’t care for the image; it’s a little dark (the actual box image seems darker) and it’s just not my cup of tea. Secondly, the set was 1200 pieces, and I get a 300 piece puzzle to make up for the horrible experience I had? I realize that I returned the puzzle to the store for a refund, and therefore don’t really need a 1200 piece puzzle as recompense, but seriously? An ugly 300 piece puzzle is supposed to smooth everything over?

I am done with Ceaco. I will no longer purchase any of their puzzles, no matter how beautiful or interesting the image is – not even if they end up with exclusive rights to all future Aimee Stewart images. (Please Aimee, don’t do that to me. You’re my favorite puzzle artist!)

One person no longer buying their puzzles is just a drop in the ocean, and I’m sure it won’t even be a blip on their bottom line. But it doesn’t matter, not to me. There are plenty of puzzle companies with excellent customer service who I’d much rather spend my hard earned money on.

You’ll still see Ceaco puzzles here on My Jigsaw Journal for a while, I’ve received some as gifts and there are still boxes and boxes of puzzles at mom’s house to go through. She was constantly at the thrift stores finding puzzles for us and I’m certain there are quite a few Ceacos there to be assembled too.

I may relent at some point, but right now I seriously doubt it. I’m still pretty pissed about the whole thing.

It’s All Good

On January 7, 2020January 7, 2020 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles12 Comments

Another sleepless night, another puzzle finished more quickly than it should be. I’m not complaining mind you, I relish the time at night when the house is silent and I’m left with my puzzle and my only thoughts are which piece fits here, and where does this pattern go. No one needs anything from me in the middle of the night, and I’m free to puzzle with no interruptions.

This is the second puzzle from a trio of images by Thaneeya McArdle that I’ve assembled. The first one was so enjoyable that I immediately had to return to the store and pick up the other two. It’s been a while since the first one was put together, but I distinctly remember that it was missing a piece. Guess what? Yep, you guessed it, another missing piece!

All Good 1

I’m not one who immediately assumes it’s the company’s fault, in fact I’m certain most missing pieces are the fault of the consumer. This is very odd though, it seems unlikely that I would lose a piece from each of these puzzles (although it very well may be what happened). Perhaps it’s purposeful; do you really believe “It’s All Good”, even with a missing piece? Can you remain calm and happy with an incomplete puzzle? 😉

That may be a bit too existential for Ceaco though, and most likely the missing piece stowed away on my sleeve to another room. It’s most likely hiding under a pillow, near the baseboards, or in the pantry, etc. The possibilities are endless!

Other than the small problem of an errant puzzle piece possibly hiding somewhere in my house, the quality was pretty good for a Ceaco; there were the odd pieces still connected, a slightly bent piece or two, and a LOT of puzzle dust. But overall it was good quality and the assembly was entirely captivating. The image is so bright and interesting that it totally sucked me in and had me completely engrossed. Isn’t that what a good puzzle is supposed to do?

I’d better finish the third puzzle soon, any bets on whether or not there’ll be a piece missing? I’m going to say the third time will be the charm and it will be complete – here’s hoping!

12 Days of Christmas Puzzles Day 12 Merry Christmas!

On December 25, 2019December 25, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles2 Comments

Yes, the comedy of errors continues, another missing piece. I find that I can’t even work up any anger about this one, it’s just been too much. Four puzzles with a piece missing, and one puzzle missing entirely and substituted with another. Sigh. And it doesn’t end there….

12 Days - 12 -1

We also have two extra pieces today in addition to the missing one. So potentially another consumer could have my missing piece, and I could have someone else’s edge pieces. It’s all just too ridiculous for words. A set of 12 puzzles that has so many problems, and that it would end up in the hands of a jigsaw puzzle blogger is just insanity.

The lack of quality control for this batch of puzzles is beyond horrid. I’ve always found that special editions made by Ceaco are much better quality than their “regular” puzzles, but this set is definitely NOT one of those. Missing pieces, missing puzzles, extra pieces – it’s all just been completely outrageous.

Back to the drawing board Ceaco, you blew it on this one. Do Better! We puzzlers deserve the best quality you can give us, and if this is your best then I am done with your brand and I will encourage others to be done with your brand as well.

I just don’t have the energy to rant and rave about this any more. Perhaps if I ever hear from Ceaco, or if there are problems returning it I might talk about this some more, but not today. It’s Christmas.

Merry Christmas to all my readers who celebrate the holiday, and to all those who don’t let me take the time today to express my thanks and appreciation to everyone who reads my silly little puzzle blog. I appreciate every view, every like, and every comment; and I want to express my gratitude to each and every reader for stopping by. I wish you all holiday blessings, and peaceful happy puzzling. 💖🧩