Tag: Shaped Puzzles

A Christmas Story Leg Lamp

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlesLeave a comment
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A Christmas Story Leg Lamp – USAopoly – 500 pieces

During one of my sleepless nights I was of course looking at puzzles online – you’re shocked aren’t you? Of course you are, I’m so level-headed I would never go on a late-night puzzle shopping extravaganza! 😇 I saw on Puzzle Warehouse that this puzzle was discontinued, they have a few left but I didn’t want to miss out so …. surprise! I ordered it!

I had so much fun assembling this puzzle, I smiled all day. We love A Christmas Story at our house, and especially love watching it on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day when the marathon is on tv. Pretty much the whole family says the dialog along with the movie and we all laugh and have a great time; it’s one of only a few movies that everyone in the family enjoys. Of course I had to get a leg lamp puzzle!

The assembly was quick and fun and I highly recommend this puzzle. The white border helped identify edge pieces so it was easy to start there and work inwards; that’s not always easy to do with a shaped puzzle. Not a lot of sorting necessary either – it was just a pleasure to assemble.

USAopoly has some great pop culture puzzles; and their quality isn’t bad either. There are a nice variety of piece shapes, the pieces are on the thin side but they are sturdy and fit together very well. The image reproduction is good, with a shiny finish, and they have some very fun images to choose from.

It’s pretty tall, 3 feet high (91cm) so make sure you’ve got a big enough work space. After I let mom assemble it I’m going to glue it and turn it into a Christmas decoration. Wouldn’t it be great to drive down the street during the holidays and see leg lamps or leg lamp puzzles in people’s windows? It’s putting a smile on my face right now. 😁

I know, I’m weird – but weird is awesome, and I embrace it!

If you would like to make an awesome window piece for your holiday decorations this year (or just think this would be a fun puzzle) you can find it at Puzzle Warehouse by clicking here. (I don’t get anything if you click or buy from them, they’re just my favorite puzzle store) They even have another leg lamp puzzle from a different company that’s double-sided, it has scenes from the movie on the back of it, 600 pieces. Too much fun – and it’s a major award! 😉

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: Santa’s Highway

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviewsLeave a comment
This post is sponsored by Puzzle Warehouse. 
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Santa’s Highway by Jim Todd – Sunsout – 1000 pieces

Santa’s Highway is a great shaped puzzle from Sunsout. It was so much fun that it went together more quickly than normal for a 1000 piece puzzle. Another puzzle for Christmas in July! 🎅🤶

While I’m not a big fan of the way Sunsout rectangular puzzles fit together, their shaped puzzles are altogether different. The fit of their rectangular puzzles is very tight and you have to work at putting two pieces together – really press down on them. The shaped puzzles they produce fit together differently and I enjoy the fit much more. Sunsout has an excellent catalog of shaped puzzles, click the link above to see Sunsout puzzles available at Puzzle Warehouse.

Sunsout quality is very good in my opinion. The pieces are thick and sturdy and fit together well with a random cut that gives you a wide variety of piece shapes. The image reproduction is excellent with a slightly shiny finish that can cause glare under lights. Their boxes are large and square with the name of the puzzle, artist, and manufacturer along with the piece count on all four sides – making it easy to shelve either vertically or horizontally.

The finished puzzle is 27 x 32 in. (68 x 81 cm) which is an impressive size! It’s one thing to read the number and have an idea in your head of how big it is, and it’s another thing to actually see it. It definitely makes a statement, and would look amazing framed – or even better, glued and mounted on foam backing that is cut to fit the shape. It would make more of a statement in it’s highway sign shape I think. This puzzle is part of The Highway Series by Jim Todd – gorgeous puzzles shaped like highway signs with scenes from along the route; they’d make a great wall hanging for a car enthusiast or frequent traveler! Click the link above to see all the Highway Series puzzles and others from this artist available at Puzzle Warehouse.

Santa’s Highway went together quickly as it was easy to pull out sections to assemble. Unlike rectangular puzzles it isn’t as easy to start a shaped puzzle with the edge. I started with the cactus and reindeer flying across the moon, then moved on to the map and pictures. One after another each section went into place quickly because it was so much fun to assemble that I couldn’t leave it alone! Also, I loved how the edge looks beveled; it makes the puzzle even more striking and distinctive. I had a great time with it and am now looking at getting Lincoln Highway from this series to assemble next – it has gorgeous scenes from Historic Pennsylvania Highway 30. Another one added to my wish list, which is getting quite large! 😉

This puzzle was a wonderfully entertaining assembly and I enjoyed it from start to finish! If you enjoy Christmas or shaped puzzles, or even want to give shaped puzzles a try I highly recommend Santa’s Highway. Two thumbs way up! 👍🎄👍

 

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

 

Ludicrous Lighthouse

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlesLeave a comment
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Ludicrous Lighthouse by Colin Thompson – Ravensburger – 995 pieces

This lighthouse is so much bigger than I thought it would be! To be honest I never even looked at the size when I ordered it; I just saw Colin Thompson and Ravensburger and ordered it without another thought. It’s over 3 feet tall! 38 inches x 25 3/4 inches. It’s pretty awesome though, no matter how tall it is. 🙂

Excellent Ravensburger quality, fun shaped puzzle, and Colin Thompson’s artwork = a happy, happy puzzler! I’m not a shaped puzzle aficionado, this is technically only the 2nd one I’ve completed, but I enjoyed this one very much. I did like that the sides going up the lighthouse were pretty much straight so I could at least pull out some of the edge pieces and keep to my puzzling routine, even if just a little bit. This puzzle has “specially shaped pieces” as well, which might be called whimsies. There aren’t many of them, but enough to be fun and make for some interestingly shaped pieces that surround them.

There are so many things to discover in this puzzle that it may take several observations to find them all! The usual Colin Thompson humor, worlds within worlds, and plenty of little pink people throughout. This is a puzzle that I’ll definitely be doing again – it was loads of fun!

If you’re a shaped puzzle fan or if you love Colin Thompson’s artwork, this puzzle is an excellent one! Make sure you’ve got a big enough board though, it’s pretty darn tall!