The Puzzle that Broke the Ice – Wentworth – 40 pieces
I did it! I think. Okay, I’m 97.5 percent sure that I did it! You can see why this puzzle reminded me of Winter Aspen – so much snow and trees. *shudder* It truly was the most challenging Wentworth puzzle that I’ve ever assembled, and it was only 40 pieces! Can you imagine getting any of the larger versions? This also comes in 252 and 510 pieces. I’m not sure if more pieces would make it easier or more difficult, but I definitely won’t be finding out.
I started by turning all the pieces upside down to sort them by shapes, it’s easier if you don’t see the image and just look at the specific shape.
After the sorting the real work begins. Obviously. A close look at the image on the box showed the irregular edge, and that there would be the top of stars and tree trunks along the edge. I started with the darkest and thickest trunk in the image on the far left. From there it was trial and error and a LOT of squinting to be certain each piece I added matched up with all the tree trunks and branches.
It was difficult as there was snow obscuring some parts of certain trees, but as I said I’m 97.5 percent sure I put this one together properly. 😎
One more holiday puzzle down! I’m pretty proud of myself for finishing this one and not putting it off any longer, I was truly dreading it (because I had tried before to assemble it and failed – my brain is being cooked from the inside by hot flashes and isn’t as sharp as it used to be). But as difficult as it was, it was still pretty awesome, completely absorbing, and looks very festive!
Wentworth has some extremely difficult holiday images like this one with repetitive shaped pieces and they all have fabulous names like The Puzzle that Burnt the Turkey, and The Puzzle that Ruined Christmas. The silly names make me laugh, but these little puzzles are no joke! They’re the typical excellent quality that the “regular” puzzles are, and even if they take me a little bit more brain power I really do enjoy the added challenge. I’m giving this one a difficulty rating of four out of five ice cubes. 😉
I wanted to start the month with a completed puzzle on the first day – so this was assembled December 1st. I’ve been saving this puzzle since very early in the year; mom bought it for 69 cents at the thrift store, and although it was cute I thought it should be saved until the holiday season.
This is my kind of holiday puzzle, I love images that aren’t the typical Christmas themes. I think that’s why I don’t care for Christmas puzzles much, they all seem to look alike to me and I prefer to assemble images that are different and interesting. Just my opinion of course. 🙂
It wasn’t the best quality, the fit was slightly loose and there quite a bit of image lift, but both of those things could be because it was purchased secondhand. It may have been well loved and assembled many times – you never can tell. Still, I don’t expect perfection from any puzzle, let alone one from the local Goodwill store.
If you look closely, you’ll see that all the snowflakes are made up of Minions, how adorable is that?
This puzzle makes me think of mom, knowing she bought it specifically for my “adopted” grandson who loves puzzles more than anything. Whenever she found a kids puzzle she would always buy it for him, especially if they were boy-themed or something a young boy would enjoy. She always brought them to me to assemble first because 1) we needed to be sure whether or not it was complete before it was passed on to the kiddo, and 2) because I love putting together kids puzzles perhaps more than the kids do. 😎
I’ll be giving this to my “grandson” soon, so he’ll be able to enjoy it for this holiday season. It’s the last puzzle mom was able to buy for him; he’s too young to appreciate the significance of that, but I’m not. Miss you momma. 💝
Browsing & Butterflies on 5th Avenue by Charles Fazzino – Sure-Lox – 2000 pieces
Browsing & Butterflies on 5th Avenue is part of the new Art Gallery puzzle collection from TCG Toys’ Sure-Lox brand. I was happily surprised at the quality of this puzzle, and enjoyed it much more than anticipated. This is the first puzzle I’ve assembled with artwork by Charles Fazzino, and I loved the 3D Pop Art style – it made for a wonderfully entertaining assembly!
Sure-Lox puzzles haven’t also been on the nice list here at My Jigsaw Journal, but in the past few months I’ve assembled a couple of their puzzles in the newer packaging and was pleasantly surprised by the good quality. The chipboard is thicker, the fit is exceptional, and the image reproduction is excellent. It’s rare that a puzzle company makes significant improvement to their quality, but Sure-Lox seems to have done it. 5th Avenue makes the third Sure-Lox puzzle from the newer line that I’ve assembled, and they have all been very good quality. Well done Sure-Lox!
I was so impressed by the thicker pieces that I decided to compare them to Ravensburger to see how it held up …
The Ravensburger piece is on the top, and you can see that the chipboard of the Sure-Lox puzzle is almost the same thickness. It may not be as well compressed, but all in all I was thoroughly impressed. The pieces feel good in your hand, and the fit is excellent. You can lift and hold up the finished puzzle with no problem at all. I picked mine up and handed it to my son (who wasn’t too keen on being photographed, but oh well)….
Pretty darn nice fit if you ask me. Perhaps it could even be framed without having to use glue – not too shabby! Wonderful quality all around, and I am well and truly impressed by the new Sure-Lox line of puzzles.
The only criticism I have is that there is only one piece shape. With an image like this it isn’t too much of a problem, most of the puzzle is busy and the only large area of color is the sky. Luckily it’s broken up by quite a few butterflies, but there are a few sections where it can be somewhat tedious. But honestly, I was almost done with the assembly by then, and I was so excited to be finishing that I didn’t find it overly tiresome. Many puzzle companies are using just the one piece shape these days, and I find that I’m slowly getting used to it even if my preference is a puzzle with a variety of piece shapes.
The artwork is incredibly detailed and interesting, and the New York cityscape made for a fun assembly. I think I may be a new Charles Fazzino fan, and will definitely be looking for some more puzzles of his art. 🎨
Rockefeller Center
New York Public Library
Overall I was very happy with the quality of this puzzle – the image kept me entertained and smiling, and it’s one that is definitely recommended – instead of thumbs I’m giving it two Lady Liberties with their torches way up! 🗽🗽
Details:
Title: Browsing & Butterflies on 5th Avenue
Artist: Charles Fazzino
Brand: Sure-Lox
Piece count: 2000 pieces
Size: Approx. 39 x 27 in. (99 x 69 cm)
Purchased: N/A, sent for review
Quality:
Board: Very good
Cutting: Very good
Image: Excellent
Box: Good
Fit: Excellent
Puzzle Dust: Moderate amount
Piece cut: Grid cut
Piece shapes: No variety, only one shape
Finish: Slightly shiny finish, lays flat
Overall Rating: Very good, highly recommended
*I’m going to do something I’ve never done before. Since this is the season of giving I’d like to lift someone’s spirits for the holidays; I wanted to give away my very gently used, autographed copy of Browsing & Butterflies on 5th Avenue to one of my readers. Since many of my readers are thrift store shopping puzzlers, I was sure they wouldn’t mind a secondhand puzzle. I when I contacted the company to inform them of my intent to hold a giveaway, they graciously offered to send a brand new autographed puzzle to the winner instead!
If you’d like this puzzle, signed by the artist, please leave a comment on this post to be entered in the giveaway. I will use a random number generator to decide on the winner, and will post the results one week from today – December 16, 2019. Good luck!
I received this product at no cost in order to facilitate this review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are truthful and 100% my own.
This 300 piece puzzle was great fun, more difficult and time consuming than expected, but still entertaining and beautiful to look at.
When my daughter found the Doug the Pug puzzles, she also brought me this and another 300 piece collage of dogs. She really is an enabler, and she’s quite good at it too! Do I have an awesome daughter or what!? I’ve only got the dog collage left, and my supply of smaller piece count puzzles is dwindling quite low. I may have to send her out on a puzzle finding mission very soon, she seems to know what puzzles I’ll enjoy even better than I do. 😎
Buffalo does a good job with their 300 piece puzzles, these were all excellent quality. The pieces are thick, the images are gorgeous and sharp, and the fit is very, very good. The colors on this puzzle are amazing and make for some delicious looking popsicles. They look absolutely luscious.
It makes me hungry for some frozen treats, we old ladies with hot flashes love frosty treats! When my inner child is playing with matches I’d love to dive headfirst into the freezer and cover myself with anything that would cool me down – but it’s nice to eat popsicles too I suppose.
Perhaps I need to get out more; I’ve never seen popsicles with kiwi or oranges in them! The colors are beautiful, and it looks like they would taste lovely. Mmmm. 🍧
London In Snow by Richard Macneil – Wentworth – 40 pieces
It’s my first Christmas puzzle of the season, completed the day after Thanksgiving. Not because I was in any rush to do Christmas puzzles, which regular readers know are definitely NOT my thing; but because I’ve been in a slump lately and need to get some puzzles done and ready to post. Luckily I had 4 Wentworth micro puzzles here, and they’re not only going to be part of the holiday season here on My Jigsaw Journal, but they’re going to save me with some quick and easy completions. 🙂
Wentworth Wooden Puzzles are beautifully made with excellent quality, and I absolutely adore their micro puzzles. They are tiny little puzzles (30-40 pieces) that are easy to carry and quick to put together when you’re in need of a puzzle fix. All PADS sufferers know that feeling when all you want to do is be left alone for 10 minutes so you can get your hands on some puzzle pieces and be swept up in which piece fits here and where does that color go – it’s puzzle bliss. We are all in search of a few minutes of meditation with a puzzle, and these micro puzzles are the perfect thing for it!
This image is perfect for a micro puzzle, because it looks like it would be quite difficult in a larger piece count. The top half is all shades of white and grey, and the bottom is a sea of reds and yellows. I don’t know that it would be one I’d choose to assemble if it were anything larger than a 300 piece cardboard puzzle. That said, it’s truly beautiful artwork by Richard Macneil, and it made for a excellent micro assembly.
My favorite here is the whimsy of the Queen, the extra detail that Wentworth adds to their whimsies makes all the difference; you know exactly who that is with all the added lines, it’s lovely!
All Grinchy-ness aside, I enjoyed this assembly, as I do for all Wentworth puzzles. It has beautiful artwork, is well crafted, and gave me a few minutes of uninterrupted puzzle time that ended with a completed puzzle. Heavenly!
*There is one coming up that I’m dreading a little bit though, it’s a micro puzzle – one of their extra difficult ones with tessellating pieces – that I’ve attempted to assemble before and had to give up on. It brings back memories of Winter Aspen – YIKES! I’m determined to master it though; but I’m not sure if I want to save it until last or just do it and get it over with. Whichever one I choose, wish me luck!
My Jigsaw Journal 