I really like this image of fancy cocktails. it was fun until I got to the all-black pieces – then it got really slow.
Cocktails, 2018-10-10
Month: November 2018
More shopping
On Saturday I enjoyed myself so much looking for puzzles that I went back for more on Sunday.
My First Larger Puzzles
Although I’ve been puzzling for as long as I can remember (I was born in 1968), I only started photographing puzzles occasionally in the mid 90s. Unfortunately, I didn’t think to date the pictures. Below is the first 5000-piece puzzle I ever completed, Park by Ravensburger. Not the easiest picture, but I got almost all my puzzles from flea markets at the time, so I did whatever I happened to get. I don’t have it anymore, but apparently, if I did, I could make a nice profit out of it. Someone wanted 85 € for one over on Rare Puzzles. According to the same source the puzzle was produced in 1985.
I also found pictures of another 5000-piece puzzle that I got for my birthday, although I don’t remember what year it was, but it will have been in the mid- to late 90s.
There was even a picture of me working on this puzzle, on the floor in my bathrobe 🙂
I also remember my first 3000-piece puzzle quite well, but I don’t have a picture of it. I found this one online:
According to this the puzzle was produced in 1986. I completed it in the late 80s. I also remember spilling coke on some of the pieces causing them to swell, but I still managed to finish. Since then I try to keep my drinks away from my puzzles 🙂
Palm Beach, 2018-11-18
Tactic is a Finnish games manufacturer that also does puzzles. The quality is excellent, the cardboard is thick and pieces only fit where they belong. Unfortunately, I usually find the images quite boring, or too difficult, so that this is only my second Tactic puzzle. It’s too bad really, I would love to support a domestic brand. I feel they are probably better at other kinds of games, but it’s especially annoying when it’s just the images, everything else is fine!
UPDATE: Newer Tactic puzzles are sometimes very bad quality.
I bought this used, and I could see right away there was some damage. The picture had separated from the cardboard in two pieces.
I did the sky first, then on with the sand. So far, the puzzle was really easy.
The vegetation was the hardest part, but even that was not really hard.
Here’s a closeup of the damaged section. Someone must have spilt a drink on this one, and the damage was quite bad. You have to use force to get the pieces into place, and when I take it apart it’s going to make the damage worse.
Apart from the damage, it was quite enjoyable, but I think this puzzle has come to the end of its life cycle.
Shopping
Today I went to several different flea markets (some are like garage sales, some more like thrift stores) and managed to pick up 9 puzzles. I used to buy almost all my puzzles like this because I couldn’t often afford new puzzles. I got quite bored with Alpine landscapes. Then, for a long time, I bought only new puzzles, with exactly the motives I wanted. (This, in turn, resulted in my eventually having enough of old maps, but more about that later.) Anyway, now and then IÂ like to pick up some puzzles that I would probably never work on otherwise. Today’s haul:
The 500-piece beach is a Tactic-puzzle. Tactic is a Finnish manufacturer, and the quality is good, but I usually find the images boring. This is only my second Tactic puzzle.
Next to it is a German puzzle, the manufacturer is called Spiel Spass (“Game Fun”), and this is the first puzzle I’ve had from them ( I always thought they only make children’s puzzles). It’s a triptych, with 500+1000+500 pieces, and it’s still factory sealed! It’s called Poppy Meadow.
The Schmidt puzzle is also factory sealed. The quality will, of course, be great, but it will not be easy…
I’ve done a Ravensburger Colosseum, and here’s a Clementoni version. A few clouds in that sky would not go amiss…
I almost left the Educa with Sagrada Familia, it’s going to be difficult.
Variant is another Dutch brand, and I know it’s not going to be good. I’ve tried it before, but I can’t remember a particular puzzle. What I do remember is that the quality was not good. Still, nice image.
Finally, more Alpine views from Ravensburger. The box looks like it’s been through the wars, I’ll be amazed if all the pieces are there. This was the cheapest, 0,50 €, with the most expensive (the 3000 piece Clementoni) costing 3,50 €. Not bad!
Oktoberfest, 2018-11-16
Another Heye cartoon puzzle. I did the sky first, but after that started putting small areas together all over.
A roller coaster (obscured by the glare in the first picture).
A Ferris Wheel.
Large amounts of beer.
Traditional gingerbread hearts.
Visiting Scotsman.
Unfortunately, I managed to lose a piece. Maybe it will turn up, but it wasn’t in any of the usual places.
Puzzle Mashup Art
A few days ago, a friend sent me this link with an amazing story about an artist called Tim Klein, who combines identically cut puzzles to make new images. Here are even more images on Tim Klein’s own page. The combined puzzles are for sale, although many are sold out. The train-horse is my favourite.
In the story above, Tim Klein credits Mel Andringa with the idea, and he was apparently the first artist to use this technique. Googling Mel Andringa brought up some more great images, like this:
I am definitely going to try this one day, but I think it might be much more difficult than you might imagine combining images in an entertaining way. Which is why these guys are artists, I guess 🙂
Bike Art: Freedom Deluxe, 2018-10-23
My first puzzle from the Bike Art series. Honestly, I may have preferred it without the bike, just columns in different colours 🙂 Abstract art makes great puzzles, unless there are large areas with just one colour.
The Triangular Boxes By Heye
Many of Heye’s puzzles with cartoon themes come in triangular boxes. I know a lot of people love these boxes, but I have to say I’ve always found them quite impractical.
I have very limited space, and I could never find a good way to stack triangular boxes. Some of the puzzles always end up behind the others. I understand that different size puzzles must have different size boxes, but even puzzles with the same piece count have different boxes depending on when the puzzle was produced. For example, the boxes for 1000-piece puzzles used to be taller and “slimmer”. This, of course, makes the stacking problem worse.
I finally had enough of the boxes, and went out and bought some plastic storage boxes. Now, when I buy a puzzle in a triangular box, I cut out the image on the box, and also a piece where the name and size of the puzzle is. Then I put the pieces into the plastic box.
I realize this must seem like vandalism to many, but I need to able to store puzzles efficiently. This way, I can fit up to 20 puzzles on top of one bookshelf.
All of these puzzles also come with a poster (which I put in the box), but especially with the smaller puzzles I prefer to work with the image that was on the original box. The poster for 1000-piece puzzles is almost as big as the puzzle itself. I may come to appreciate this with age and failing eyesight, but for now, I prefer a much smaller image. For some larger puzzles, I sometimes consult the poster, but mostly I use the image from the box for them as well.
A tablet stand works well for an image cut from the box.
Despite all this, I really love Heye’s cartoon-themed puzzles, whether they come in triangular or regular boxes. I probably have more of them than any other type of puzzle.
The Pig In Art, In Progress
So, I was back in Dortmund this weekend for the top game between Dortmund and Bayern, and this was one time when a game really lived up to the hype. After going behind twice, we eventually triumphed 3-2 and extended our lead at the top of the table. Whew! Anyway, I also got a bit of puzzling done.
During my previous visit, I had already started working on a 4000 piece Heye Puzzle called the Pig in Art, by the artist Ryba. The image shows famous works of art through the ages, but with a lot of pigs involved. The puzzle came in two bags, and I did not mix them.
Here I had to leave, but I’ll be back at the end of the month.
Puzzler1909 