Review: Ah-Ha to Zig-Zag

On May 4, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviewsLeave a comment

This post is sponsored by Puzzle Warehouse.

Ah-Ha to Zig-Zag by Maira Kalman – Mudpuppy – 300 pieces

Ah-Ha to Zig-Zag is a fantastic collage that I had the best time assembling! It’s quite a different image – it’s based on the illustrated book featuring 31 interesting objects from the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. I couldn’t resist it, you know how much I love a collage!

This is my first puzzle from Mudpuppy, and I liked the quality very much. The pieces are a good thickness, and they are made from extremely sturdy board that does not bend or flake easily – no puzzle dust at all! The fit and image reproduction is very good as well, and overall I was impressed with the quality. I do wish that there was more variety in the piece shape, as all the pieces are what I call “ballerinas” (2 prong/2 hole standard puzzle shape). It’s not too much of a problem when you have a colorful interesting image like this one, but can be difficult when the image has large areas of color like the sky or water. Click the link above to see all of their puzzles currently in stock at Puzzle Warehouse.

I’ve been doing a lot of 300 and 500 piece puzzles lately, and have come to enjoy them very much. They’re a great palate cleanser after a larger puzzle, or just fun on their own when you don’t have the time or space for a puzzle of 1000 pieces or more. If you normally only work 1000 piece or larger puzzles, I recommend giving a smaller one a try every once in a while. They’re great fun, and can give you a boost of confidence – I finished that puzzle so fast, I must be becoming a puzzle master! 😎

Collages are my favorite type of puzzle images, it’s like having many mini puzzles to assemble. Even if I only have a few minutes to puzzle I can still find and assemble a small section and feel as though I’ve accomplished something. Click here to see all the interesting collages from many different companies available at Puzzle Warehouse – there are so many to choose from that there’s something for everyone.

This puzzle was a joy from start to finish. The border of the image made the edge pieces easy to find, but it wasn’t too thick which can sometimes make it very challenging to assemble. The blocks of color helped with the sorting as well, and even though it was a relatively easy assembly I was never bored. Mudpuppy puzzles are a little on the pricey side, but the quality is very good and they have many unique images that you won’t find with other companies. And aren’t we worth it? I think we are! 😉

Details:

Title: Ah-Ha to Zig-Zag
Artist: Maira Kalman
Brand: Mudpuppy
Piece count: 300 pieces
Size: Approx. 14 x 18 in. (35 x 45 cm)
Purchased: N/A, sent for review

Quality:

Board: Very good
Cutting: Very good
Image: Excellent
Box: Excellent, hinged metal tin
Fit: Very good
Puzzle Dust: None
Piece cut: Grid cut
Piece shapes: All one shape, 2 prong/2 hole
Finish: Slightly shiny finish, lays flat

Overall Rating: Very good, 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.

Songbird Symphony

On April 14, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

This isn’t the typical image that I prefer, but mom assembled it first and even though it’s missing a couple of pieces she recommended that I put it together too. She thought I would really enjoy it, and she was right. (She usually is – it’s annoying sometimes!) There’s just something about collages that push all the right buttons for me, they’re the perfect type of puzzle for my weird little brain and I absolutely love them!

Photographic images are not my favorite, they’re pretty far down on the list of preferences. But as usual I enjoyed this one in spite of myself. Each section was like it’s own little mini puzzle and I got lost in it, only concentrating on the next piece or the next color and found myself relaxing and de-stressing. It was a wonderful distraction in a very trying and busy week.

Springbok puzzles can sometimes fit a little too tightly for my taste, but this one wasn’t too bad. The pieces were thick, and didn’t have the fuzzy edges that you sometimes find on the backs. It’s a beautiful puzzle with very good quality and I found it the perfect puzzle at the perfect time for me. Thrift store puzzles make me so happy! 💗

Potato Chips

On April 4, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

I have to confess that mom did this puzzle by herself. Since I don’t post puzzles I haven’t done or at least helped with she then took apart the entire lower right corner and had me put it back together so I could post this. She’s the best!

It’s a beautiful finished puzzle, but the image reproduction seemed quite blurry/fuzzy. I find that a little more often with collages like this for some reason. Perhaps it’s how the picture is taken, I don’t know for sure; but this image seemed particularly fuzzy. It looks great once it’s finished though, doesn’t it?

I’m not really a potato chip enthusiast or anything, but I’ve not even heard of most of these brands – have you? Yo Ho, Red Dot, Zapps, Green Mountain? Perhaps they’re regional brands and I just haven’t traveled enough. I’m ok with that though, I’m definitely a homebody. I’d rather stay home and relax and puzzle; I’ll keep the home fires burning for everyone else who loves to travel – someone’s gotta do it. 🙂

Holland

On March 28, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlesLeave a comment

I love collages, they’re my favorite type of puzzle. This one took me almost an entire week, not because it was too difficult but because I’m just having a hard time puzzling these days. I may have to start posting every other day, my backlog of puzzles ready to post is dwindling fast! 😦

I find that collages are the easiest puzzles to assemble; even if you don’t have a lot of time you can grab the pieces for a small section and put them together. When I’m only able to sit for only a few minutes I can still complete a small portion of the puzzle and still get a small sense of satisfaction for my little victory.

This puzzle was pretty good quality; it’s a random cut, so the assembly was interesting and kept me on my toes which is always a good thing in my book. The pieces are a good thickness and fit together well but were a little loose for my taste. The image reproduction was very good and the overall image is beautiful and interesting.

The picture doesn’t do this puzzle justice, it’s bright and colorful and was pretty fun to assemble. Re-marks has some excellent collages to choose from, I believe this one was a Barnes and Noble exclusive we got during the January bogo sale. It’s dangerous for me to go puzzle shopping in a brick and mortar store, there are too many fantabulous puzzles to choose from, and I end up not choosing between puzzles and just buying all the ones I want. 😮

Stuffed Animal Collection

On March 25, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

IMG_E4370 — Stuffed Animal Collection by Susan Rosenthal – Milton Bradley – 300 pieces

I didn’t enjoy this puzzle as much as I thought I would. The bears don’t seem very cute to me and the fit was pretty loose. Perhaps this puzzle was assembled many times – I’ve never had a large piece MB puzzle that fit this loosely.

The pieces were thick, but the image reproduction seemed a bit blurry. It’s difficult when you’ve got stuffed animals because they’re actually fluffy, but the pieces seemed a little more fuzzy than furry. Overall I wasn’t a fan of image, so that also plays into how I feel about the puzzle in general.

Whether it was the loose fit or the image I just wasn’t feeling this one and didn’t have as much fun as I’d hoped. As I sit here now typing up this post I’m struggling for things to say, either good or bad. I didn’t care for this puzzle, but in general Milton Bradley puzzles are very good quality – especially their 300 piece EZ grip puzzles.

Like this image? I say if you find this puzzle and it looks like fun, go for it! Everyone’s puzzle preferences are so different; the characteristics that I think make a good puzzle could be the one thing that you really can’t stand. The thing you love could be the one thing I can’t tolerate, but luckily there are so many brands and so many images that there’s always something for everyone.