Viva Le Vinyl by Aimee Stewart – Ravensburger – 500 pieces
This bright, entertaining image was great fun to assemble and went together even more quickly than I thought it would. Aimee Stewart’s use of colors makes putting together her puzzles, for me, an absolute joy!
It doesn’t look like it from the picture, but there are a lot of words to assemble. All the background, everything all the records and paraphernalia are sitting on are concert tickets, record covers, notebook pages, etc. Words, words, and more words! You know how much I love that. 🙂
To be honest, this image scared me a little bit, and I put off assembling it for quite a while. I love the artwork of Aimee Stewart so much, but all the black of the vinyl records had me thinking this might not be as fun to assemble as her other images have been for me. As dumb as it sounds, I didn’t want to have a less than awesome experience with one of her puzzles! I shouldn’t have worried, it was great fun and went together so quickly because I couldn’t seem to keep myself from adding just one more piece or finishing just one more section. I loved it!
Rainbow Marbles by Julie Seabrook – Galison – 500 pieces
I am a fan of color blend puzzles like this image; unfortunately, this one was a bit disappointing for me. When mom brought her recent thrift store purchases for me to look at and I saw this one I was so excited to start assembling it. I love the image! Galison puzzles, sadly, have just the one piece shape – what I call ballerinas (2 prongs, 2 holes). The lack of variety made this puzzle more difficult and less entertaining for me. And I wanted so much to like it! 😕
Many people are only concerned with the image itself, and the puzzle doesn’t need to have premium quality to entertain. I am sometimes the same way; if the image is fun for me I can overlook quality issues that might drive me crazy with an image that, for me, is less entertaining. Rainbow Marbles is perhaps the exception that proves the rule – although I love the artwork on this puzzle, it was still a disappointing assembly for me because of the piece shape. That said, I am still recommending it for others who might only be looking for a great image.
Galison puzzles have good quality board that is thick, and the pieces fit together well. The image reproduction is excellent, with sharp focus and no blurring or fuzziness and a slightly shiny finish. I don’t normally comment on boxes unless they are exceptional in my opinion, but the box with this puzzle was extremely sturdy and well made. The lack of variety in piece shape may be problem for some, but if the image is one that you like it may not be a concern for you.
All reviews are just opinions. I try to at least be as objective as I can, and even though a puzzle image or quality may not be my taste, I try to give a detailed accounting of those things that I feel other puzzlers may want to know. We can’t all love the same puzzles for the same reasons. If variety in piece shape isn’t as big a deal for you and you love this image, I’m confident in recommending this puzzle. It’s got good quality, and it really is a beautiful picture!
Details:
Title: Rainbow Marbles
Artist: Julie Seabrook
Brand: Galison
Piece count: 500 pieces
Size: Approx. 20 x 20 in. (51 x 51 cm)
Purchased: Used, thrift store
Quality:
Board: Very good
Cutting: Good
Image: Excellent
Box: Sturdy
Fit: Very good
Puzzle Dust: Moderate amount
Piece cut: Grid cut
Piece shapes: Poor, no variety
Finish: Slightly shiny finish, lays flat
Overall Rating: Good, recommended
Rainbow Marbles was assembled in August, but got lost temporarily due to my old lady brain or medication fog. Usually once I finish a puzzle and take pictures I do three things; 1) the image is put onto the completed puzzles page for that month, 2) I start a new blog post page and put all pictures there also with a few notes about the assembly (and puzzle info if I’m writing a review), and 3) I add the pieces and puzzle to the running total for the year.
I’ve usually got 2 weeks worth of puzzles already completed and waiting to be written up and posted, so I didn’t really notice that I messed up one of those steps. When I thought I was starting a new blog post page, I clicked the wrong button and started a whole new page for the site (like one of the monthly completed puzzles pages). Since puzzles normally don’t get published right away it was saved as a draft, but not with all the other post drafts of other puzzles.
It wasn’t until last week when I was starting to write up new site pages for brand reviews that I noticed this little guy hanging out in the site pages drafts where he wasn’t supposed to be! How could I have missed this for 2 months? And if I hadn’t decided to start writing reviews of puzzle brands how long would it have been before I found this little guy? Heaven only knows!
I thought this puzzle would be pretty easy. Once again, I thought wrong. This puzzle, which I have named “What, No Chocolate!?” is another from the 8-in-1 multipack called Sweet & Salty. I was going to name it something mysterious and weird, but when it came time to think of something my mind went blank! It isn’t an enigmatic name, but it makes me smile, and it’s a little more creative than just “Fruit”. 😉
This particular puzzle looks so inviting and fun to assemble on the box, and it was! Although it was more of a challenge than I anticipated it was still great fun. The bright colors of the fruits helped in the sorting, but it wasn’t as quick and easy as I thought it would be. I was going to start with the blackberries, but once the puzzle was sorted I changed my mind and started with the cut orange. I had to just go with my gut and assemble it as it played out, not with a set strategy. It’s a great image, and looks amazing once complete!
Ceaco puzzles have a great selection of images to choose from, although sometimes I find the quality to be lacking. The quality of these puzzles has been better than I expected, especially from a multipack. The fit is excellent, the images are beautifully reproduced, and the pieces are a good thickness. Sometimes the chipboard is fanning on the backs of the pieces, and there are some that aren’t cut all the way through; overall though, the quality is good. Click the link above to see their puzzles currently in stock at Puzzle Warehouse.
Puzzle Warehouse has so many puzzles to choose from, in so many different categories! If you’re a fan of food & drink puzzles, click the link to see the pages and pages of awesome choices. They have so many interesting collages of different foods that I’ve added several to my wishlist (which is getting way out of hand). There’s a gorgeous 2000 piece Springbok called Tin of Treats that looks like so much fun – with some of the same chocolates from a puzzle I completed last year called Chocolate Artistry. Gorgeous!
I’m having a great time with these food puzzles and have started assembling another from this box. It’s more difficult than all the others so far, and it may take me a while to get it done – but it’s going to look so cool when it’s finished! What, No Chocolate!? was a fun challenge and it’s definitely recommended. This Sweet & Salty box has been very entertaining so far!
Details:
Title: What, No Chocolate!?
Artist: iStock
Brand: Ceaco
Piece count: 500 pieces
Size: Approx. 14 x 18 in. (36 x 46 cm)
Purchased: N/A, sent for review
Quality:
Board: Good
Cutting: Good
Image: Very good
Box: Average, 8 puzzles in 1 box
Fit: Excellent
Puzzle Dust: Moderate amount
Piece cut: Grid cut
Piece shapes: Good variety
Finish: Slightly shiny finish, lays flat
Overall Rating: 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.
Chocolate Sensation by Ali Mocabee – Springbok – 400 pieces
With my favorite candy holiday coming up in just a couple of weeks, what better time to assemble some candy puzzles? Chocolate Sensation is the first family puzzle from Springbok that I’ve put together – it was very entertaining, and quite unusual too!
I’ve put together family puzzles from several different manufacturers, and find them engaging and fun to assemble. If you’re not familiar with a family puzzle, they have small, medium, and large pieces in the same box so that the whole family can work together to assemble the puzzle. I enjoy them very much even though I’m working solo most of the time. Puzzle Warehouse has family puzzles from many different companies, with many images to choose from; Click here to see all the family puzzles currently in stock.
For the most part, family puzzles are set up the same way; with all the large pieces on one side, medium pieces in the middle, and smallest on the other edge. I found it interesting that this puzzle was set up completely differently; the largest pieces were on the outside (the entire edge), with the pieces getting smaller towards the center. I don’t have a preference for how family puzzles are set up, I just found it curious that this is the first time I’ve seen this. Although if the family is supposed to work together on the assembly, perhaps this isn’t the best configuration. Most people assemble puzzles starting with the edge, so once the edge and the first inside row are completed the kids would be done; all that would be left is for the adults to continue working towards the center. Just my opinion, of course.
Springbok puzzles are good quality, with thick pieces that fit together very well (if at times too tightly for my taste), and beautiful image reproduction. The random cut keeps you on your toes, and the interesting shapes mean you never get bored. Their catalog is varied with everything from Americana to sweets and holidays; piece counts start at 36 pieces for their Alzheimer’s puzzles to 2000 pieces for the very brave! Check out all the Springbok puzzles available at Puzzle Warehouse, you’re sure to find something interesting and beautiful.
The assembly wasn’t as difficult as I was thinking it would be, and it went together pretty quickly. The M & M’s weren’t as much of a challenge as I thought they’d be, and the chocolate non-pareils were much more challenging than I assumed! It was an extremely tight fit (which I’m not a fan of), so much so that I was able to take my usual standing-on-it’s-edge picture…
Overall, I enjoyed Chocolate Sensation and had fun working with the 3 different sizes of pieces. The image is bright and colorful, and has me looking forward to the day AFTER Halloween, when all the candy is 50% off! 🙂
Details:
Title: Chocolate Sensation
Artist: Ali Mocabee
Brand: Springbok
Piece count: 400 pieces
Size: Approx. 21 x 27 in. (53 x 69 cm)
Purchased: N/A, sent for review
Quality:
Board: Very good
Cutting: Very good
Image: Very good
Box: Average
Fit: Good, extremely tight
Puzzle Dust: Moderate amount
Piece cut: Random cut
Piece shapes: Very good variety
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.
Cow Parade was a wonderfully entertaining puzzle that made me happy with each piece that I put into it. The collage aspect made it so much fun for me, and the interesting artwork on the cows was beautiful (and sometimes very funny).
Cobble Hill Puzzles are very well made, and I find their quality to be very good. The pieces are a good thickness, with an excellent variety of shapes that fit together well. The image reproduction is excellent, with bright, beautiful colors and crisp lines. The finish is linen-covered, which has a great feel in your hands. Even their boxes are covered with linen and have a luxurious feel to them. Click the link above to see at the Cobble Hill Puzzles currently available at Puzzle Warehouse, they have an excellent catalog of puzzles to choose from. (check out Red from their rainbow collection of collages in 7 different colors – I want them all!)
The fit can sometimes be loose, making it difficult to move smaller sections around, but I don’t find it to be too much so. The piece shapes can be very prominent in the finished image, which is not optimal if you wish to display it; but I find that it doesn’t make the assembly any less fun. Most times, applying glue to a puzzle can lessen the appearance of the piece shapes.
This puzzle is a collection of some of the cows designed and decorated by artists all over the globe for CowParade, the world’s largest and most successful public art event. Over $20 million dollars has been raised by charitable organizations all over the world by the auctioning of the cows. Wow!
It was such great fun, I enjoyed learning about the charity/art installation, and I loved assembling every single cow. They all were beautiful in their own way, but these are my favorites…
Jacques Moosteau, he made me laugh out loud! The writing is so small that it’s difficult to see the information for each of the cows; the title, artist, and city of display was listed near each one.
This gorgeous head of hair is worn by Woodstock, he’s got quite the outfit on, and I love the rose colored glasses!
This interesting beauty is Homage to Picowso’s African Period, perfection!
This one was so much fun to assemble, the bike made it larger and a bit more challenging than his other friends. He is Lait Triporteur, which I found means basically Milk Scooter (a triporteur is the name for the 3-wheeled cargo bike shown). I learned a new word in addition to having a great time!
I specifically chose this puzzle to review, because I’d had my eye on it for a while; it was on my wish list at Puzzle Warehouse for quite some time – it just looked like so much fun. I was hoping that it would be, and I was absolutely right! I love to find puzzles like this for review, ones I think will be entertaining and well made that give me the chance to let others know about them.
Cow Parade was a great quality puzzle that was extremely entertaining to assemble. I found it to be about medium difficulty, there aren’t as many plain white pieces as you’d think. I absolutely loved it – and it’s highly recommended. Moo! 🐄
Details:
Title: Cow Parade
Artist: Cow Parade Holdings
Brand: Cobble Hill
Piece count: 1000 pieces
Size: Approx. 27 x 19 in. (68 x 49 cm)
Purchased: N/A, sent for review
Quality:
Board: Very good
Cutting: Very good
Image: Excellent
Box: Good, sturdy
Fit: Good, slightly loose
Puzzle Dust: Moderate amount
Piece cut: Random cut
Piece shapes: Very good variety
Finish: Matte finish, lays flat
Overall Rating: Very good, highly 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.
My Jigsaw Journal 