Tag: Collage

Clue

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles3 Comments

Clue – Spin Master – 1000 pieces

I enjoyed this assembly, but was underwhelmed with the quality of the puzzle itself. The image is a wonderful collage of cards and pieces from the game and made for a fun afternoon of puzzling; but I was hoping with all the hype surrounding these board game puzzles that they’d be great quality. Perhaps managing my expectations would have been a good idea before I started.

In general, the quality was fair/good; I was hoping for better. The chipboard was quite thin, but relatively sturdy although there were still plenty of bent tabs. The image reproduction was very good, but with a shiny finish that made for a somewhat difficult time underneath the artificial lights in my puzzle room. There were a very good variety of piece shapes and the fit was somewhat loose.

I liked that it looked as though this were a picture of an actual board game, with the crease in the middle where it gets folded to fit into the box.

LOVE the doily in the corner and the pistol too. It was a fun image to put together, and not as difficult as I thought it would be; it was finished the same day I started.

If nothing else this puzzle had me watching the movie Clue again, it’s a family favorite and most of us can toss out quite a few quotes when the moment is right. Tim Curry, Madeline Kahn, Aileen Brennan and the entire lineup is just about as perfect a cast as you can get in my opinion. Hubby, my youngest son and I watched it together the night before I started the assembly and we all had a great time.

The images of the characters in the game just didn’t seem right to me; Miss Scarlet is supposed to look like Lesley Ann Warren, and Mr. Green should look like Michael McKean. I know the game came first, but the characters to me will always be the actors from the movie. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration if I told you I’ve seen it at least twenty times. (When I said the movie is a family favorite I wasn’t kidding 😊) It’s probably been at least 25 years or more since I’ve played the actual game, but I’ve seen the movie much more often – so those are the characters I think of when you say their names.

Animal Tales In Progress…

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling2 Comments

Animal Tales – Re-marks – 1000 pieces

Once I finally got myself going on this one, it seems to be coming together quickly. The bright colors and interesting images on each of the covers makes it relatively easy and very entertaining to assemble.

I’ve been in a mood the past few days and haven’t done as much puzzling as I normally would, but I’m trying to get myself out of that head space. Hopefully it won’t take too long and I’ll be back to my normal self soon.

If today goes as well as yesterday this puzzle should be finished before I go to bed tonight; if not, it will definitely be done by tomorrow.

Marvel Comics Presents

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles4 Comments

Marvel Comics Presents – Buffalo – 500 pieces

If you’re wondering whether or not my son picked out this puzzle for me – he did. Of course he did. It was much more challenging than I’d assumed it would be, but it wasn’t too terribly difficult. There was a LOT of red and blue and figuring out which panel they belonged to isn’t as easy as you might think.

The usual good quality Buffalo puzzle, although the fit seemed a little more loose than usual. Otherwise I have no complaints about it at all.

This is a visual representation of what is happening in my menopausal brain when the hormones hit – She-Hulk wants to punch someone. Preferably a man. Not for any particular reason, just existing…or speaking…or breathing. You ladies know how it is. 😇

I love all these nonsense words for when a punch or kick is landed. Btam! Beeyok! Throk! Ftok! Does it remind anyone else of the old Batman tv show from the 60s? (I know, I know – Batman is a DC character, not Marvel – don’t come for me) I remember when they were punching the bad guys that there would be a Kapow! or a Zlonk! or some other ridiculous words on the screen. The tv show was off the air by the time I was born, but I distinctly remember watching it in reruns.

Since I don’t read comic books, this is not the image I think of when you say The Incredible Hulk. The image I have is of Lou Ferrigno from the late 70s tv show. My sisters and I always used to make fun of the fact that he got so much bigger, all except for his waist – his pants never came apart and there was always plenty of fabric to cover the man bits. Ah well, suspension of disbelief was required then I suppose; something I wasn’t usually able to achieve. I’m too logical, and that BS didn’t really work for me.

All in all this was a good quality puzzle with a fun image to assemble. I can’t really ask for much more!

Fun Fair Food

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles4 Comments

Fun Fair Food by Lars Stewart – Buffalo – 300 pieces

What a great image for puzzling! It’s not too simple, but not too difficult, and at only 300 pieces it’s perfect for when you’re wanting a quick puzzle to complete. Of course I adored this – it’s a colorful collage of food – what’s not to enjoy?

A quick check of the blog tells me that this was my first puzzle with an image by Lars Stewart, Aimee’s husband. He obviously has learned some things from her about color choices, don’t you think? They’re bright and beautiful, and it made for an extremely entertaining assembly.

This was a great first puzzle back after our 10 day vacation; and I loved every piece. 💙

How fitting it’s also the first puzzle posted after our second 10 day trip to Michigan, I’m so glad to be home!

Ice Cream Bars

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles2 Comments

Ice Cream Bars by Charlie Girard – White Mountain – 1000 pieces

Here’s another puzzle that I was very much looking forward to, but it had very disappointing quality. It’s been a while since I’ve done a White Mountain puzzle, and they can be hit or miss – this one was a miss, unfortunately. I wanted to enjoy this, and I did – just not as much as I’d hoped. Oh well.

The image reproduction on this was was quite blurry in some places, and there were quite a few pieces not cut all the way through. The fit was good, not as tight as some WM puzzles can be, but good. The chipboard was a good thickness, and the finish was a bit shiny, but not too much so; it was mainly the reproduction that caused me so much trouble.

So let’s look at some of these ice cream bars and wrappers up close…

Apparently sex sells, even ice cream bars.

I wanted to show the difference in clarity – the Dairy Queen cup is quite clear and the surrounding wrappers were quite muddled and blurry up close – I’m not sure I was able to capture it in the picture though. Perhaps the artist used actual vintage wrappers or pictures of them and they’re just what they looked like. I can’t be sure, but it was frustrating to have some of the image be so blurry in places.

Six Klondike bars for $1.49? Wow. Just wow. And you can also see in this picture that the words are quite clear and the image of the boy and the ice cream bars is fuzzy and indistinct.

The overall quality of this puzzle was quite a letdown; I was hoping for an entertaining collage with good quality that I could just relax and enjoy – this puzzle wasn’t it. ☹