Rainbow World by Michael Searle – MasterPieces – 300 pieces
This image is quite an assault on the senses (my son picked it out), but the puzzle was excellent quality and I enjoyed the assembly very much – in spite of the eyeball blistering artwork. 😲
This was the best quality MasterPieces puzzle that I can remember assembling. The pieces were quite thick with a very good variety of shapes, the fit was excellent, the reproduction is bright and crisp – overall just a great quality puzzle and I was duly impressed.
The fit was so impressive that I even got one of my favorite types of pictures….you guessed it!
I was so confident in the fit that I took this picture first, before making sure I had a good “normal” picture for the post. If I’m not mistaken I have never been able to take one of these pictures with a MasterPieces puzzle before – this puzzle really impressed me!
Also, this is a glow in the dark puzzle. I’m not always a fan of these types of puzzles, only because of the tactile feeling of the pieces. They can feel grainy, almost like there is sand glued to the puzzle, and this one did as well. I can usually deal with it, as most GITD puzzles are smaller piece counts; but I’m not a fan of the way it feels in my hands.
Grainy feeling or not, I got a FANTASTIC glow in the dark picture!
My frame of mind was NOT in the right place when I was assembling this puzzle; usually collages make me happy – this one just wasn’t entertaining. There were so many faces, so many pieces with just an eye or an ear, and I found myself having to check the poster frequently to see where things went. It isn’t how I normally puzzle, and unfortunately I just didn’t enjoy this one as much as I’d hoped to.
It was fun at the beginning, once the border was completed I put together all the words – love that part! 💖
After the words were done it got more tedious and annoying for me. I just wasn’t in the right headspace I suppose, normally these types of puzzles are great fun. In the 70s my family and I watched plenty of these tv shows together, they all hold memories for me so I was really looking forward to this assembly. Apparently I just chose to assemble it at the wrong time, it wasn’t anyone’s fault but my own.
Luckily, near the end hubby came in the puzzle room to talk to me and after telling him how frustrating the puzzle was he decided he was going to help me finish. He helped with the final 70 or 80 pieces. Of course that’s his M.O. (modus operandi); there’s nothing he loves more than coming to my rescue. So, I tell him that this puzzle is frustrating me and he rides in on his white horse – and saves me from a tedious assembly.
It was nice working together with him, I don’t usually have anyone sitting side by side with me to puzzle anymore.💕
Unlike most the other puzzles with tv shows from a particular decade I can tell you that I know every single show in this image, and have seen at the very least one episode of each program. Back in the day there were only three major networks in the States, so there wasn’t a lot to choose from; no streaming services, no cable television with a thousand different channels, no DVDs or VHS tapes of movies to watch at home. There was the television…that’s it! And the shows in this puzzle were all very popular, so my family watched most of them on a regular basis.
M*A*S*H was a family favorite back in the 70s and 80s, we all watched it together – back when the whole family sat together to see a tv program. My oldest son and I still watch it on a streaming service when he wants to spend time with me; we usually work on a jigsaw puzzle together and enjoy Hawkeye and Trapper or BJ making mischief and tugging on our heartstrings.
The Carol Burnett Show was another favorite of mine – me being the comedy nerd that I am. The scene shown above from Went With the Wind where she comes down the staircase dressed in the draperies complete with the curtain rod was one of the funniest scenes in the history of television (if you ask me). I can still remember laughing hysterically when I saw it for the first time, and remember how long they had to wait for the audience to stop laughing so they could continue with the sketch. Carol Burnett just turned 90 years old – what a comedy treasure she is. 🤗
I wish I could tell you how much I enjoyed this puzzle, but I really didn’t – it just wasn’t the right image, or the right time – or both.
Don’t be dissuaded by me though, it’s a very good quality puzzle with an excellent fit, it even stands up on it’s edge (forgot to get a picture of that before I disassembled it). If you’re looking for a well made collage of tv shows from the 1970s, look no further.
Night Owls Study Group by Karen Burke – MasterPieces – 300 pieces
Is this not an adorable image? My son and I loved all the nerd/geek references – being a professed and proud professional puzzle geek myself I am part of that community. Nerds rock!
This puzzle had a rather odd fit that I’m having trouble finding the words to describe. It almost seemed loose when you connected some pieces together, but it is not a loose fit at all. The fit felt “off”, is the best way I can describe it. The pieces didn’t lay flat either, which is not a problem I can ever recall having with a MasterPieces puzzle.
It was like this all over the puzzle – almost like they were warped. Very odd indeed. And then, for a puzzle with and odd fit that feels loose but isn’t and whose pieces did not lay flat…check this out!
I’m telling ya, this was one of the most bizarre fitting puzzles I’ve ever done – and believe me I’ve done a LOT of puzzles!
Father & Son by Karen Burke – MasterPieces – 300 pieces
What a great image, it’s so adorable I don’t even have words to tell you how much I loved it. And with those handsome Boston Terriers is it any wonder that I couldn’t pass this one up? That little guy looks almost exactly like my sweet boy Buddy. 🐶💗
This was the best quality Masterpieces puzzle I’ve done in quite a while; fantastic fit, beautiful and crisp reproduction, and a great variety of shapes with a very nice cut. Usually there’s one thing or another I find with this brand, a loose fit or maybe the occasional problem with the image or cut. This time there wasn’t anything for me to complain about at all – and I love that!
I prefer to spend my time telling you all about great puzzles instead of being disappointed by less impressive ones. It’s more fun to let you all know which ones are awesome – and of course they’re also much more entertaining to assemble.
It was wonderful to put this beauty together – from the first piece to the very last – and I am definitely recommending this one if you can find it. Happy puzzling my friends. 🧩
Strangely I enjoyed this 60s puzzle much more than the 80s Shows, which is weird – the 80s was my era. Oh well, I’m certainly not complaining about enjoying a puzzle. My frame of mind was most of the problem with the 80s puzzle, I think I was in a better place emotionally when I assembled this one. It was great fun!
Very good quality for MasterPieces, and the fit was excellent. You could pick up a whole section of 20 pieces or more without anything falling apart! Great random cut too, which I enjoy (most of the time). Sometimes MasterPieces puzzles are ribbon or grid cut, and sometimes they’re random – both are fine with me. It’s nice to have a change of pace once in a while though, and this one was quite enjoyable.
Lost In Space – I loved this show as a kid! The scheming doctor always fascinated me, why couldn’t everyone else see that he was always only thinking of himself? Danger Will Robinson! Danger!
I was surprised to see these two images; when Walter Cronkite announced the death of a president, and his widow, daughter and others. Neither of these was a tv show – but it was a pivotal moment in the 60s, to be sure.
These were the only two shows that we didn’t recognize; between myself, hubby and my dad we knew all the rest of them. Can anyone help us out? I know it’s Bill Bixby on the right, but have no idea what the show is. And the one on the left has me completely stumped, no idea who the actresses are at all. Are there any other oldsters out there who can give us a clue?
My Jigsaw Journal 