Who Said That?

On November 4, 2019November 3, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles4 Comments

What a fascinating and fun jigsaw puzzle! It was almost as much fun sorting this one as it was assembling it. I loved reading all the quotes – many I knew, and many I’d never heard before. If you can find one of these puzzles I would highly recommend giving it a try; it’s not easy, but the challenge is oh so much fun.

In my previous in progress post regarding this puzzle I mistakenly said that this was a Buffalo puzzle, in fact it’s by Crystal Lines. It was made in Australia, a great product sent to us from Down Under. This particular puzzle is 25 years old, produced in 1994. I highly doubt it’s still being manufactured, but you might be able to find it in your local thrift store if you’re very lucky.

There were 240 portraits and 240 quotes to match up. Every portrait piece fits with every quote piece, you have to be careful. The portraits all overlapped with the pieces above or below them (or both), and they were helpful in making sure you matched them up properly. You don’t need to know them all to assemble this puzzle, but knowing some of them helps to get you started. There were quite a few quotes from movies that were easy to match up with the actors who said them: “Frankly my dear I don’t give a damn” can only be one person, find the portrait of Clark Gable and you’re on your way.

There were philosophers, artists, entertainers, businessmen and women, writers, poets, and public figures just to name a few. From Socrates to Robin Williams the quotes were thought provoking, funny, a little shocking, and hilarious. Reading through them all was so entertaining! 😎

I knew more than I thought I would, and there also were a few that I thought I knew for sure and was completely wrong. Oh well, I don’t usually get a perfect score on anything.

Here are a few of my favorite quotes – mostly silly and very true….

Who 1 Who 2 Who 3 Who 4

The quality of this puzzle was stellar, and the pieces were quite large. At 504 pieces this puzzle measured approximately 38 x 24 inches, about the size of the average 2000 piece puzzle! The pieces are very thick and fit together quite tightly. The portraits were very well done and I could tell who most of them were without reading the names (the ones I was familiar with, anyway).

If you are lucky enough to come across this puzzle, I suggest you give it a try. It isn’t easy, but boy howdy is it fun! 🙂

Trick or Treat 2

On October 30, 2019October 30, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles4 Comments

I found this puzzle at mom’s, it’s a thrift store find and I really like the image! The box was pretty beat up, and I was worried that it would be missing pieces, but luckily they were all present and accounted for. I love how colorful it is, and it was a lot more fun to assemble than I expected.

The random cut was pretty fun to work with, but the fit was mushy. You could put two pieces together and they felt and looked as though they fit, but they absolutely did not. With this kind of fit you can’t rely on feel, you have to pay close attention and sometimes I even had to turn the pieces over to be certain. That’s what I call a mushy fit, and I am most definitely NOT a fan.

Mushy fit aside though, it was still pretty entertaining for my first holiday puzzle of the month.

Tomorrow is the big day – I love Halloween!

👻Boo!👻

Penguins

On October 28, 2019October 27, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

Unfortunately for me this is the last puzzle from the box of 20 that mom and I found at a local thrift store. I’ve had such a great time putting these together that I’m a little sad that they’re all done.

I consider myself educated and intelligent, but I have to tell you I was surprised to learn from this puzzle that there are penguins native to Africa. I may have heard that before, but I obviously didn’t process or retain it. To me the continent of Africa brings to mind deserts, jungles, safaris, and heat. Penguins in Africa? How awesome!

Penguins 1

I have to get myself to the thrift stores to see what other treasures I can find. My black belt thrift store shopping puzzle dealer isn’t around anymore to keep me swimming in interesting and beautiful puzzles – it’s time I started supplying myself. It’s worth a little pain to get myself out of the house and searching for some fun and unique puzzles.

Trains

On October 25, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles2 Comments

It’s hard to see in this picture, but this puzzle is missing a piece. Can you spot where it is?

When I started assembling each one from this big box of kids puzzles, every one I grabbed was complete, and I had high hopes that every one would be all there. Unfortunately my wish wasn’t granted and I had to send three of them to the recycling bin, including this one.

I assembled this puzzle with the educational side up, I usually do. I find them much more interesting and I love seeing what there is to learn about the subject of the puzzle.

Trains 1

I enjoyed the explanation of how a steam engine works, and it was interesting to see how trains have changed over the years. Just because this puzzle is only 24 pieces and geared towards children doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy it or even learn something from it.

I really need to get my butt out of the house and get to the thrift store. Who knows what other wonderful treasures are waiting there for me to find?

Animal Planet

On October 19, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles4 Comments

This is a “Family Puzzle”, it has 3 different sizes of pieces so that the entire family can help assemble it. To be honest I’ve never assembled one with the family, I’ve always done them either alone or with mom. I’m such a puzzle fanatic that I enjoy puzzles for all ages, and a family puzzle has all of them in one box – perfect!

Majestic Puzzles is a new brand for me, and I was impressed with the quality. The pieces were thick and fit together very well. It’s randomly cut so there are a nice variety of shapes and it made for an interesting and challenging assembly. The image reproduction is beautiful with clean lines and bright colors and no blurring or fuzziness. All in all it’s a great quality puzzle.

I sorted the pieces by shape and then assembled it the same way, starting with the largest pieces. Animal Planet 1

It’s odd to have all the kids pieces around the edge. Most of the family puzzles I’ve worked have them all on one side. If you truly want the family to work together it seems more ideal to have big pieces on the left (for example), medium pieces in the middle and smallest pieces on the right. If the whole family tried to work on this one it would be difficult for those working on the smaller pieces to connect them to anything until the kids had finished the outside.

Animal Planet 2

I sorted by size, but obviously I didn’t get all the pieces in their correct piles, there are a few holes. Sometimes it’s difficult to tell the difference between a smaller medium sized piece and a larger small piece. (I hope that made sense) 😉

I enjoyed this puzzle much more than I anticipated, the image was challenging and beautiful – a lovely combination. Jungle scenes aren’t usually images I would choose, but the different piece sizes made it more interesting and the beautiful reproduction and great fit made it quite fun. If you come across a family puzzle by Majestic I would definitely recommend giving it a try.