Tag: Sure Lox

Rainbow Pets

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles4 Comments

Rainbow Pets by Myrna – Sure Lox/TCG – 500 pieces

Adorable as this image is, it wasn’t entertaining to assemble. Thin pieces, somewhat loose fit, shiny finish – it just wasn’t good quality and not the image I was looking to assemble. (My youngest son picked it out for me, and I assembled it to make him happy, ’cause I try to be a good mom.) The nicest thing I can tell you about this puzzle is that it wasn’t horrible quality, I’ve done way worse.

The odd thing about this puzzle was the fit. It seemed quite loose at the beginning when not many pieces were assembled, but the more the were added it seemed to get better. That sounds stupid, I know; almost all puzzles get better as more pieces are added – but this was very different. The edges seemed to barely connect and would come apart if disturbed by an accidental touch; if a small section was put together it was almost impossible to pick up and move without great care. But once you had a large section assembled it seemed to be an excellent fit. It was bizarre.

If I had wanted to (I didn’t) I almost could have taken a picture of it standing up when it was completed. It wasn’t great, almost crumbling, but it did stand up on it’s end – though not for long enough to actually get a picture before it fell apart.

Anyone know for sure what animal this is? I don’t. Gerbil? Hamster? Guinea Pig? Other?

If you like the look of this puzzle I have bad news for you, this puzzle is definitely not recommended.

Rainbow Pets In Progress…

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling8 Comments

Studio Pets? by Myrna – Sure Lox/TCG – 500 pieces

Oh man, I wish I could tell you this adorable image is fun to assemble, but that would be lying; and we NEVER lie about jigsaw puzzles here. It’s obviously not finished yet, but I can’t wait to complete it so it can go bye bye; the quality is subpar and the assembly hasn’t been much fun.

After finishing a Ravensburger, to jump to one of this quality is such a let down. It is going slowly because it isn’t very enjoyable and I keep stopping to do something else. Sometimes I do that to make an entertaining puzzle last longer but that is not the case here; I keep stopping because this puzzle is just…ugh. Sigh. It’s not horrible, I’ve assembled much worse quality puzzles, it’s just not the right puzzle for right now I guess.

Usually I’m an advocate for not assembling puzzles that aren’t entertaining; “life is too short for crappy puzzles” – that’s my motto. But this is more about making my son happy, because he rarely asks for anything at all. Even when he should absolutely ask for help, he doesn’t – he doesn’t want to be a burden or take away time from whatever you’re doing. So, when he asks me to put together a puzzle because he likes it, I cannot seem to resist because he actually asked for something. Mom wants to grant his request, how could I not?

My son has been trying to get me to assemble this puzzle for quite a while, and I finally gave in. This time it’s gonna get done so that I can get it OUT OF HERE! I’m either going to stop letting him pick out puzzles to purchase or be more firm about his choices. When he picks up a horrible image like that god-awful unicorn or puzzles from companies that aren’t the best quality – like this one – I have to say no way!

There is no title that I can find anywhere on the box, the only way to find it was looking it up online. Annoying. And this puzzle is already annoying me with it’s shiny finish and thin pieces. I’m annoyed. Can you tell?

Story of the Lion

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles6 Comments

Story of the Lion by Amanda Michele – Sure Lox – 300 pieces

This puzzle is absolutely beautiful, but was not fun to assemble at all. It’s such a disappointment though, I really wanted to enjoy this one!

Sure Lox is much better than it used to be, with thicker pieces and a better fit: not these special editions though, it was NOT fun to work with. Adding whimsy pieces to cardboard puzzles never works the way people would hope – when things don’t connect they are constantly shifting all around and you are perpetually moving them back to where they go. It can be unbelievably frustrating – and it was.

In addition, this puzzle doesn’t lay flat – the whimsy pieces especially. As they don’t connect to anything they stick up out of the puzzle in places. Extremely annoying.

There are 75 whimsies out of 300 pieces, that’s a lot. And in this instance it isn’t a compliment. Some were huge, some small as the average puzzle piece. I found it a bit too much. Theater, if you will. Look at us, we can make fun shapes out of cardboard! Did it make for an entertaining puzzle? Nope.

Some of the pieces you can see come in different sizes, those I stacked up to be able to take the picture without using my entire board. The only one that’s image-side up is the shape of Africa; if it were turned around it would look like a bizzarro-world African continent.

Unfortunately this puzzle was not enjoyable, and I wouldn’t recommend it. Even at only 300 pieces it was difficult and cumbersome – and for me it was just annoying.