Walt Disney World

On October 7, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

I had high hopes for this puzzle, but it was a letdown. I was thinking there’d be better quality from the Disney company. 😐 This was the first puzzle I’ve done from them, so I’m interested to find another to compare it with. Perhaps this was one that got by quality control?

I like the image, but the pieces were very thin and easily bent and did not fit together well in some places. The image reproduction was blurry and fuzzy in some places, but crisp and clear in others. There was image lift on several pieces, and lots of hanging paper on the back of many pieces as well. In addition to the quality issues, some fool donated this to a thrift store with 6 missing pieces! Annoying!

On the positive side, the colors were bright and beautiful and there was a nice variety of piece shapes. It was fun to count the number of Disney movies, short films, and tv shows represented – there were a lot! Even if there were pieces missing and it had less than optimal quality, I still enjoyed the image itself.

Alphabet

On September 28, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

Time for another guest post. 🙂

*Black belt thrift store puzzle shopper here* (that’s my mom)

I find it nearly impossible to leave an unusual puzzle behind in the thrift store. Therefore, this puzzle came home with me, even though the package was in rough shape. This was from a company I had never done before, and for only 69 cents I more than got my money’s worth from it. A search for Hambly Studios, Inc. yielded a website for a maker of scrapbooking materials, rather than puzzles.

That said, I had a great time with the puzzle. It kept an old lady entertained and off the streets until well into the night. (Actually, till 1:00 AM, when I finally surrendered and went to bed.) Truth be told, I would have finished it if hubby had not come in and reminded me I had to get up early for church!

The fit was very loose, with just a slight jostle dislodging 4 or 5 pieces at a time. It was still a LOT OF FUN. Unfortunately it was missing 4 pieces. It would have been a keeper otherwise, in spite of the loose fit – I enjoyed it that much and would have done this puzzle again.

The packaging left a lot to be desired, as it was a clear plastic container; much like the throwaway packaging on a lot of items we buy these days. The advantage was that it was easy to see the quality of the pieces without having to open the container. Still, it was very flimsy and that may be how 4 pieces escaped.

All in all I enjoyed this puzzle very much, despite it’s quirks and missing pieces. It is still sitting on my board, as I can’t quite bring myself to throw it away just yet. Maybe tonight. When another puzzle calls my name and I need a place to work on it.

Doc McStuffins

On September 27, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

This puzzle was lots of fun! Mom and I assembled it together and we both found it very interesting. There are 3 puzzles in one box, 3 different sizes of pieces; you can assemble them one at a time, or do them all and make a panoramic puzzle.

The piece counts are 24, 48, and 63 pieces. They were a good thickness, sturdy, and fit together nicely. It’s a shame there was a piece missing because this was a very nice puzzle; Cardinal does a good job with kid’s puzzles in my opinion.

I liked the irregular border on these puzzles and that the different piece sizes make it an excellent puzzle to work on with someone else. If you’ve got a child who likes Doc McStuffins, I would definitely recommend this puzzle. 🙂

Celestial Map Puzzle Ball

On September 23, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles4 Comments

This was only the second 3D puzzle that I’ve assembled, and it was a bit of a letdown. There were 4 missing pieces, 1 piece completely broken in half, and many pieces that were bent and damaged. 😦

Mom and I were hoping to enjoy this assembly as much as the first puzzle ball that we did, but the condition of this puzzle was terrible. Wherever it’s previous home, it was not well loved – in fact, someone was extremely rough with it. It looks as if whoever took it apart before was not careful or gentle, perhaps they didn’t enjoy the assembly. Whatever the reason, they damaged it and lost pieces. Why not just throw it away?

Although this puzzle was a bit of a disappointment, it was still fun to spend time with mom assembling it. That’s the most fun thing about puzzling for me I think, sharing it with loved ones. I enjoy the solitude of working on a puzzle alone, trying to concentrate only on what I’m doing and finding the next piece. But even more enjoyable is working a puzzle with someone, talking and laughing and spending time together. It’s 10,000 times better than staring at the tv, scrolling through things on your phone, or clicking through web pages on the computer!

Church

On September 14, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

This is another of the premium Milton Bradley puzzles that we’ve found. Previously I assembled Train Station, Eden Central by Thelma Winter and enjoyed it very much. Click the link above to see that post. I was thrilled that mom was able to find another puzzle from this series, but a little bummed that it’s missing one piece. Oh well, it was still a lot of fun to assemble!

This was the first puzzle with artwork by Joseph Burgess that I’ve assembled, and I have to say his artwork is beautiful and makes for an excellent puzzle; I’d love to work more of his puzzles. I’ve looked through the puzzles with his artwork available at Puzzle Warehouse, and I recognize several that I’ve noticed before and had already added to my online wishlist (and the wishlist I keep in my head 🙂 )

The quality of these premium puzzles is excellent, and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed assembling them. The images are gorgeous and make for great puzzles; the pieces feel almost soft, fit together very well, and have a beautiful matte finish. The series has 3 puzzles each from several artists including Royce McClure and Dominic Davison. I’m hoping we find more of them, I love the quality and the pictures are attractive and calming and make me happy while I’m puzzling them.