Tag: Review

Review: Albuquerque Balloons

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviewsLeave a comment
This post is sponsored by Puzzle Warehouse.
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Albuquerque Balloons – Masterpieces (Masters of Photography) – 500 pieces

Albuquerque Balloons went together very quickly and was easier to do than I imagined. The last of the space saver puzzles for review. To my surprise it was a fun assembly and the image was excellent for puzzling, just enough challenge, but not too easy.

I can report after having done 3 space saver puzzles that the quality is quite good. The pieces are thick and feel good in your hand; they fit together well with a random cut that makes for an interesting assembly. They have a slightly shiny finish which can cause glare, but otherwise the image reproduction is beautiful. Two out of the three puzzles I assembled had obvious piece shapes showing in the finished puzzle; and while it isn’t ideal, it doesn’t really detract from enjoyment of the assembly.  Click here to see all the space saver puzzles available at Puzzle Warehouse.

I’ve been pretty impressed with the Masterpieces puzzles I’ve done lately, the quality is quite good. They have a nice catalog to choose from and their puzzles are extremely reasonably priced – which is good for a tightwad like me! Check out all their puzzles available at Puzzle Warehouse by clicking the link above – all Masterpieces puzzles are on sale at Puzzle Warehouse now through August 15, 2017 – 25% off, no coupon required!

I have actively been avoiding all hot air balloon puzzles for quite some time; it just seems so overdone – every company seems to have one or more puzzles of hot air balloons. I hate following the crowd and doing a thing just because other people are doing it – I’m a bit of a rebel. Turns out, I’m a rebel without a cause – at least where balloon puzzles are concerned! I enjoyed the puzzle in spite of myself and found that it was a superb image for puzzling. Will I ever learn? Maybe, maybe not. 🙂

Albuquerque Balloons is no longer available at Puzzle Warehouse, but you can find space savers and Masterpieces puzzles by clicking the links above. Or you can check out the pages and pages of hot air balloon puzzles – there are so many beautiful puzzles to choose from – the wishlist is still growing!!

 

I received this product at no charge in return for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are truthful and 100% my own.

Review: Five Cent Piece

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviewsLeave a comment
This post is sponsored by Puzzle Warehouse. 
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Five Cent Piece by David Behrens – Sunsout – 1000 pieces

Five Cent Piece is a beautiful puzzle from Sunsout that I enjoyed very much! The fit was looser than normal for a Sunsout puzzle, but that’s in the positive category for me. The artwork is stunning and makes for an excellent puzzle.

Sunsout puzzles are of very good quality in my opinion. The pieces are thick and sturdy and feel good in your hands. They use a random cut, which gives a wide variety of piece shapes and makes for a more interesting assembly. I prefer a grid (or ribbon) cut, but I also enjoy the random cut every now and then; it’s nice to change things up and work a random cut puzzle just to keep your brain limber! Normally a rectangular Sunsout puzzle has quite a tight fit, this puzzle was a bit looser and I enjoyed that very much. The image reproduction was excellent with a slightly shiny finish which can cause glare under lights. Click the link above to see all the Sunsout puzzles available at Puzzle Warehouse.

The finished puzzle is 23 x 28 inches (58 x 71 cm), a bit larger than the average 1000 piece puzzle, and would be beautiful framed. Sunsout boxes are large and square and have the name of the puzzle, artist, and manufacturer along with piece count on all four sides – easy to shelve either vertically or horizontally.

The artwork by David Behrens is beautiful, emotional, and moving and also makes for excellent puzzling; his art has been made into many jigsaw puzzles. Click the link above to see all puzzles available from this artist at Puzzle Warehouse. I especially like Flags of Our Fathers. Gorgeous!

Five Cent Piece was about medium difficulty, with just the right amount of challenge to make for a fun puzzling experience. The assembly was never tedious and it was fun to watch each piece turn into part of a beautiful piece of art. Thumbs up! 👍

 

I received this product at no charge in return for an honest review. All opinions are truthful and 100% my own.

 

Review: Horse of Iron

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviewsLeave a comment
This post is sponsored by Puzzle Warehouse.
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Horse of Iron by Werner Willis – Sunsout – 1000 pieces

This is quite an impressive puzzle – when I look at the picture the word “majestic” comes to mind. It’s hard to tell from the picture but the train is 3 feet long! (Side note: this is probably the best picture I’ve ever taken of any puzzle – yay me!)

Sunsout puzzles are good quality. The pieces are thick, and they fit together well. Their rectangular/square puzzles have a much tighter fit than the shaped puzzles; I prefer the looser fit of their shaped puzzles, but that’s just me. The image reproduction is very good, they work with many wonderful artists, and they have an excellent catalog that includes a great selection of shaped puzzles. As an added bonus they are an environmentally friendly company that uses recycled board and soy-based inks.

I’ve only recently started working shaped puzzles, and I’m really enjoying them. Sunsout has an excellent array of shaped puzzles, and several other manufacturers make them as well. Click here to see all the shaped puzzles available at Puzzle Warehouse, they’ve got something for everyone. Give a shaped puzzle a try, they’re fun and a good workout for your brain!

I was able to pull all the edge pieces for this puzzle and start there; usually it isn’t easy to find all the edges of a shaped puzzle, but this one has a white border that was easy to spot. This puzzle has a LOT of edge – more than 250 pieces! By the time the border was assembled I had the puzzle 1/4 done. 🙂

The bottom section was about medium difficulty and fun to assemble. The top section was much more challenging – still fun, but I had to take more breaks because it overwhelmed me at times. It doesn’t look like it would be that difficult, but believe me it was. I had about 100 pieces left when mom and dad stopped by and she helped me finish it up. It’s a gorgeous puzzle that definitely makes a statement. The finished puzzle is 36 x 24 inches (91 x 60 cm) it’s quite impressive!

The artwork by Werner Willis is amazingly detailed and beautiful; this was my first puzzle of his and I’d love to find more. I enjoyed Horse of Iron very much, it was a challenge but I certainly was proud of it when I was done!

I’m sorry to say it’s no longer available at Puzzle Warehouse, but I’ve certainly been inspired to work more shaped puzzles, and have even added a few train puzzles to the ridiculously long wish list – including another shaped puzzle with trains and an interesting retro collage from White Mountain called Travel by Train. All aboard!

 

I received this product at no charge in return for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are truthful and 100% my own.

Review: Spot It Winter Wonderland

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Game Reviews2 Comments
This post is sponsored by Puzzle Warehouse. 

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Spot It Winter Wonderland is the most fun game! I wasn’t sure about it when I first saw it, I’m not sure what I thought. Whatever it was, I was completely wrong!

It’s extremely easy to learn and play, and is wonderfully entertaining for kids and adults alike. Definitely adults because my mother and I have been playing it a LOT and having the best time. So it’s fun for kids, and just as fun for “adults” (I don’t consider myself an adult really, I’m a grown up – but in my mind I’m still a fun-loving kid 😉 )

The game is simple, there are 6 images on each card (for this edition they are winter symbols – mittens, hockey stick, snowflake, etc.) There is one, and only one matching symbol between any two cards. Whichever version of the game you choose to play the object is to find the matching symbol between one of your cards and the face up card. Mom and I play by dealing 10 cards to each player (less if you have more than 3 players) and turning over the top card of the remaining deck. Find a matching symbol on your card, call it out and put your card on top of the center card. The winner is the first person to run out of cards.

Sound too easy? Sound boring? It isn’t! When the pressure is on and speed is important it isn’t easy at all! When someone calls out their match your brain tells you to look for that symbol instead of just looking for any match; and the symbols can be different sizes, so if you’re looking for the purple hat it may be very small or very large…

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There are instructions included for 5 different ways to play, or you could even make up your own version of the game. Puzzle Warehouse has many different editions of Spot It to choose from; animals, shapes, numbers, sports, several licensed Disney editions, and even larger editions for parties including one with a timer. Click here to see all the matching/memory games available at Puzzle Warehouse.

The tin is small, about 3 inches in diameter, so it’s the perfect travel size. I keep it in my purse so it’s always available for a quick game. We use the lid of the tin to keep the card pile from sliding all over, so we can play just about anywhere. They even make a waterproof version for playing poolside! It’s great for a quick game for any reason – waiting for food in a restaurant, to decide who gets to take out the trash, etc. – it’s fast and fun and I end up laughing every single time we play. Also, for other grown ups out there, it would be an excellent game to play while enjoying adult beverages. 😉

Most of the Spot It games aren’t available for online purchase at Puzzle Warehouse due to a vendor agreement, but there are several ways to order it. You can call Puzzle Warehouse toll free at 866-539-4278, you can order through their catalog (click here to request a free catalog), or if you’re lucky enough to live near their brick and mortar store you can buy it in store while puzzle shopping. 😎 Also, if you live near their store in St. Louis would you like to be my new best friend???

 

I received this product at no charge in return for an honest review, all thoughts and opinions are truthful and 100% my own.

Review: Paris Opera House

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviews1 Comment
This post is sponsored by Puzzle Warehouse.
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Paris Opera House – Masterpieces (Masters of Photography) – 500 pieces

An absolutely beautiful puzzle that I was scared of, to be honest. It looked like it was going to be too difficult to be fun – of course I was wrong. As usual. 🙂

This gorgeous puzzle is part of the Masterpieces Space Savers collection – 500 piece puzzles in smaller boxes for a smaller price. I had it in my mind that because the box is smaller and has a flip up top that the puzzle wouldn’t be very good quality, I mean how good can a puzzle that costs $5.99 be? As it turns out, pretty darn good. 🙂 Click the link above to see all the Space Savers available at Puzzle Warehouse.

The pieces were a good thickness and fit together very well; I never thought a piece went where it didn’t belong. The image reproduction as you can see is excellent and the finished image is flat and seamless. The piece shape isn’t obvious partially because the image itself is quite busy and also because of the fit. The only issue I had with this puzzle is that the finish is a bit shiny which can cause glare, and you may have to be careful when working under lights.

This is the second Space Saver that I’ve done and I’m very impressed with the quality. I definitely recommend them – they’re the perfect size to throw in your suitcase when you’re off for a weekend away. Don’t want the kids to sit and stare at their phones or the television? Pack a puzzle! It’s pretty hard to walk past a partially assembled puzzle, you can see exactly where that piece should go and you’ll just sit for a few minutes and work on it too. It’s a great activity for one person or the whole family.

Photography puzzles aren’t usually what I like to assemble, or at least I used to think so. Looking at all of the photography puzzles available at Puzzle Warehouse there are so many I would love to do! They have puzzles of just about everything – pets, food, landmarks, nature, architecture, people, landscapes and so much more. My poor wallet, this wishlist is getting out of hand!

I’m really enjoying these reviews because I’m assembling puzzles I normally wouldn’t have chosen for myself and enjoying them immensely! I know what I like as far as puzzles go, but just because the picture isn’t something that jumps out at me doesn’t mean I won’t enjoy it. Because honestly, so far, there hasn’t been one puzzle that I haven’t enjoyed. 🙂

I enjoyed this one even though I was scared of it! Unfortunately this puzzle is no longer available at Puzzle Warehouse but there are plenty of puzzles from Masterpieces to choose from; or click the links above to look at the Space Savers collection and the photography puzzles available. Masterpieces space saver puzzles are definitely recommended. 👍

 

I received this product at no charge in return for an honest review, all opinions are truthful and 100% my own.