Down on the Boardwalk

On January 11, 2024January 3, 2024 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles4 Comments

Down on the Boardwalk by Charles Fazzino – TCG – 300 pieces

The riotous color in this image was very enjoyable and went quite quickly once it was started. I’ve done a few Charles Fazzino images and they’ve always been interesting and entertaining to put together. Normally artwork with so many things packed tightly together isn’t quite my cup of tea (think Jan van Haasteren), but this one has enough breaks with the ocean and sky that it wasn’t too difficult.

The quality was much better than expected for a TCG puzzle; they are hit and miss in the quality department for me – usually more misses than hits unfortunately. But this puzzle had great reproduction, good cut, and an excellent fit.

Everything was bright and fun with lots of people, places, and things to see. Love the Rainforest Cafe!

The whole puzzle was just all around fun. I’ve never been to Atlantic City, but this boardwalk puzzle makes it look like fun.

…Boardwalk In Progress…

On November 29, 2023November 29, 2023 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling, Thrift Store Puzzles9 Comments

Down on the Boardwalk by Charles Fazzino – TCG – 300 pieces

I know, it’s a terrible picture – apologies. I’m working on a time crunch this morning, that’s my excuse. Usually I’m in the puzzle room first thing, but today was an anomaly and I didn’t get in here until about 7:40 this morning. Just enough time to snap a picture of what got assembled yesterday and type up a quick post about it.

It’s been quite a while since there’s been a puzzle image by Charles Fazzino on my board, and I’m not sure why because it’s been quite an entertaining assembly so far. Perhaps where I’ve been shopping there haven’t been many of his images to choose from? Not exactly sure. But this puzzle has good quality; thick pieces, bright reproduction, and a good fit – you could almost forget that there’s only one piece shape. Almost.

On a completely separate note, I’m watching over my grandpuppy Manny today. He’s in terrible pain, but the emergency vet wasn’t able to find what is wrong with him. If you’re of the praying type, send up a quick prayer that at the very least he isn’t in too much pain for now, it’s heartbreaking to hear him cry. 😭

Rainbow Pets

On October 9, 2023October 9, 2023 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 August 30, 2023August 29, 2023 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?

Butterflies

On April 30, 2022April 27, 2022 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles4 Comments

Butterflies by Anne Geddes – TCG – 300 pieces

The image is what drew me to this one, who could resist adorable sleeping babies? It was lots of fun, and didn’t take long at all.

TCG isn’t a brand I normally purchase; but the fact that it was only 300 pieces, an image that I liked, and was on sale were probably the deciding factors. The quality was fair; chipboard was nice and thick, and the image reproduction was excellent (other than the shiny finish). The fit wasn’t great, however, and it doesn’t lay flat.

Although this puzzle had a great image it reinforced why this isn’t a brand that I normally buy. Fit is paramount, and when a puzzle has a bad fit and doesn’t lay flat there aren’t many factors that can make up for it – at least for me, that is.