Tag: Springbok

Review: Canned Veggies

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviews1 Comment
This post is sponsored by Puzzle Warehouse.
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Canned Veggies – Springbok – 500 pieces

Canned Veggies makes me think of fall up north, canning fruits and vegetables with mom. There was a lot of peeling, cutting, and whining going on. (I didn’t always have a great time, especially when we were canning foods I don’t like) 🙂

This is another tight fitting Springbok puzzle. I’m not much of a fan of the super tight fit, but this wasn’t too bad, at least the sides aren’t curling up! Springbok puzzles are very good quality, and my preference for a slightly looser fit doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate that quality. The pieces are very thick, and fit together very snugly. The image reproduction on this puzzle was bright and crisp, and would be quite suitable for framing – it would be perfect in the kitchen! With the tighter fit, you most likely wouldn’t have to glue the puzzle, just frame it as is. Click to see all Springbok puzzles currently in stock at Puzzle Warehouse. They have some beautiful images, including Off the Vine – a gorgeous collage of wine labels – beautiful! (And I don’t even like wine 😐 )

I enjoyed this assembly, although I wasn’t prepared for the challenge of it. It looks pretty straightforward, but the darker areas made me slow down and I had to concentrate more. That’s probably a good thing though! I think this puzzle may end up framed and in my mother’s kitchen, she loves the look of it; and it reminds me of her. ❤

Details:

  • Title:                  Canned Veggies
  • Artist:                Allied Products
  • Brand:               Springbok
  • Piece count:     500 pieces
  • Size:                  Approx. 18 x 24 in. (46 x 60 cm)
  • Purchased:      n/a

Quality:

  • Board:               Very good
  • Cutting:             Very good
  • Image:               Very good
  • Box:                   Average
  • Fit:                     Good, very tight
  • Puzzle Dust:     Moderate amount
  • Piece cut:          Random cut
  • Piece shapes:   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.

Song of the Unicorn

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles4 Comments
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Song of the Unicorn – Springbok – 500 pieces

I had this one in my puzzle room for at least a month before I finally decided to do it. When it was time to decide on the next puzzle to be assembled I would sometimes pass it over immediately, and sometimes I would open the box, stare at the pieces, and promptly put it away. Many times I have to be in the right mood to attempt a certain puzzle, and that was definitely true with this one – I think the border kept scaring me off. 😉

Unfortunately this was one of those Springbok puzzles that is EXTREMELY tight fitting. You can see in the picture above that the fit is so tight that the edges of the puzzle are curling upwards. Ugh. I really dislike puzzles that fit this way, it makes me question if I’m placing a piece correctly if I have to shove it into place. We’ve had plenty of Springbok puzzles that don’t fit this way, I wonder what the reason is for the fluctuations in the way they fit together.

I really like the artwork, but unfortunately the name of the artist was nowhere to be found on the box. I tried looking it up online, without success. I usually like to credit the artist, but my sleuthing skills seem to be lacking at the moment. If you know the artist, feel free to let me know in the comments. Thanks!

This is a “vintage” puzzle from approximately 1982. That makes me feel pretty old! I was just starting high school in the early 80’s – am I vintage? Classic? Antique?

Review: Purses! Purses! Purses!

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviews, Thrift Store Puzzles1 Comment
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Purses! Purses! Purses! – Springbok – 2000 pieces

This puzzle image is excellent and it made me want to get to assembling it immediately – the bright colors, fun backgrounds, a collage – yes please!

This was a thrift store purchase, and although the box was slightly banged up and dented, all pieces were present and accounted for. This giant of a puzzle almost filled my entire 4 ft x 3 ft puzzle board. You never can tell in pictures, unless there’s something to give perspective; this is a HUGE puzzle!

This puzzle was loads of fun and even though it took me a few days I loved every bit of it. It was easy to separate out pieces of background colors and patterns and work on a section at a time. I love when I can just grab a bunch of pieces and assemble them without any assistance from the image on the box or a poster. It’s just me and my brain figuring out what goes where; it’s very satisfying for me. The pieces fit together tightly, but not the super tight fit that some Springbok’s have – I didn’t have to smash them together with my thumb (which is a bonus in my book).

If you’re a fan of purses or collages, this puzzle is for you! The bright colors and the interesting purses will keep you entertained – but be forewarned – this beauty requires a very large work space. 🙂

Details:

  • Title:                  Purses! Purses! Purses!
  • Artist:                Allied Products Corp.
  • Brand:               Springbok
  • Piece count:     2000 pieces
  • Size:                  Approx. 34 x 43 in. (86 x 109 cm)
  • Purchased:      Used, thrift store

Quality:

  • Board:               Excellent
  • Cutting:             Very good
  • Image:               Very good
  • Box:                   Good, a little thin for such a large puzzle
  • Fit:                     Tight, not in the extreme like some Springboks
  • Puzzle Dust:     Small amount
  • Piece cut:          Random cut
  • Piece shapes:   Very good variety
  • Finish:               Somewhat shiny finish, lays flat

Overall Rating:      Very good,  recommended

 

Review: Spirit of Coca Cola

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviewsLeave a comment
This post is sponsored by Puzzle Warehouse.
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Spirit of Coca Cola by Pamela Renfroe – Springbok – 1000 pieces

Spirit of Coca Cola was a fun but quite challenging puzzle. I like the image, it makes me think of my dad who always has and always will drink Coca Cola!

Springbok puzzles are good quality with nice thick pieces that fit together very snugly and excellent image reproduction. I’m not sure if you would call the cut random or semi-random, but it did make for an interesting assembly. If you read this blog regularly you know I’m not a fan of the super tight fit, but many people are; to each his own. It does make it easy to assemble a smaller section and then pick it up and move it – that’s one good thing about a very tight fit. There’s always a positive to be found, so I always try to find it. 🙂 Springbok has a varied catalog; there are so many interesting puzzles to choose from – nature, animals, sweets, holidays, and many others including more Coca Cola images! Click the link above to see all the puzzles from Springbok available at Puzzle Warehouse.

There was a fair amount of puzzle dust in the bag, but the pieces were all separated and undamaged; the fit was tight and required some effort to connect pieces. The image reproduction was beautiful with a slightly shiny finish. It was a bit difficult to work the darker areas of the puzzle for me, my puzzle area only has artificial lights so there was glare to deal with. The finished puzzle is on the large side for 1000 pieces 24 x 30 inches (61 x 76 cm) so be sure you have a large enough work space. The box has the name of the puzzle, manufacturer and piece count along with a small image on 3 sides so that you could store it vertically or horizontally.

The assembly was relatively easy at first, the bottom half of the puzzle was easy to pick out pieces to assemble the plane, all the people and signs, etc. Once the building and everything below it was complete the challenge was turned up a notch! There is a fair amount of blue sky to put together and an even larger amount of tree line. This section was more time consuming and slightly tedious for me; the trees were more difficult than the sky and took the most time. This wasn’t my favorite assembly, but it wasn’t too bad and I sure was proud when I finished it. 🙂

The artwork by Pamela Renfroe feels retro/nostalgic and makes me think of “simpler times”. I love the feeling of family in this image, and it made me look through the vintage puzzles at Puzzle Warehouse and add several of them to my ever growing, insanely long wish list. 😮 There are a bunch of wonderful collage puzzles that I would love to get my hands on!

Spirit of Coca Cola is no longer available at Puzzle Warehouse, but don’t worry, Coca Cola is a popular theme for puzzles and there are a surprising number of them to choose from. Click here to see all the Coca Cola puzzles available from Puzzle Warehouse from several different puzzle manufacturers. I especially love Santa’s Coca Cola Christmas – such beautiful artwork! The Coca Cola puzzles make me smile and some of them definitely seem like a fun challenge to take on!

 

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

 

Merry Christmas Everyone!

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment
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Merry Christmas Everyone! by Charles Schulz- Springbok – 100 pieces

Adorable kid’s puzzle from the thrift store. Puzzles for my Christmas in July here on the blog seem to be falling in my lap. There are plenty of Christmas puzzles in the thrift stores lately, though I’m definitely not complaining.

This is a Springbok puzzle which has good quality with very thick pieces and nice image reproduction, the fit is what I’m not a fan of. Springbok puzzles usually have an extremely tight fit, so much so that you have to really press down to connect the pieces. This puzzle was so tightly fit that the finished puzzle curled up at the edges! I prefer a fit that doesn’t require upper body strength; to me, if I have to work that hard to connect two pieces it makes me question if they actually fit together. But that is my personal opinion, it’s really just a matter of taste. A lot of people prefer the tighter fit, isn’t it great that we’re all so different and there’s a puzzle out there for everyone? 🙂

This was a quick assembly that mom and I did after she finished showing me her latest finds from the thrift stores. We both enjoy putting together the kid’s puzzles – first we have to make sure all the pieces are there before I pass them along to my grandson. And second, we have both refused to grow up – so even though she’s in her 70’s and I’m in my late 40’s we are still little kids at heart who can still have a good time putting together a kid’s puzzle. 😎

Peppermint Patty was always my favorite of the Peanuts gang, because she had freckles and was a tomboy, just like me! I prefer hanging out indoors these days and there isn’t any running around since I was injured, but I’ve still got my freckles. 😉