An old Schmidt puzzle, probably from the ’80s (the box says West Germany, so should be from before German reunification, October 3rd, 1990). Even though the image is conventional, it was still a very enjoyable puzzle, and the quality was fantastic. Unfortunately, old puzzles are usually better quality than contemporary ones of the same brand, and that’s definitely the case here. The images tend to be a bit boring, but the superior quality more than makes up for that.
Judging from the musty smell, this had spent quite some time sitting in a basement, but all the pieces are still there, after all this time.
Bavarian Farmhouse, Schmidt, 1000 pieces. Completed on August 23rd, 2019.
Vintage travel collage with one piece missing (bottom edge). I don’t have many MasterPieces puzzles, this is the second with the wrong number of pieces – one puzzle had an extra piece. In this case, I’m fairly confident that the piece wasn’t there to begin with because I noticed it was missing early on. It’s an edge piece, and especially the blue is pretty distinctive. Otherwise, it’s a great puzzle!
Safe Travels, MasterPieces, 1000 pieces. Completed on August 22nd, 2019.
I usually puzzle alone, but I had some help from friends with this one.
Finished. This was my first Bluebird Puzzle, and overall my impressions are positive. The brand is based in France, and this puzzle was produced in Turkey. The pieces were much smaller than usual, this 3000 piece puzzle is the same size as a 2000-piece Ravensburger or Heye. There was a good mix of piece shapes, and I don’t think the two-tabs-opposite type was even a majority. The fit was also good (pieces only fit where they belong), but tighter than with Ravensburger or Heye. I enjoyed it, there was this satisfying little sound when I pressed a piece into place, but some probably prefer a looser fit. It did come apart pretty easily.
I wasn’t 100% happy with the image (more on that below), but especially with the low price (less than 20 EUR), it was well worth it. Oh, and the box is no bigger than it needs to be to hold the pieces – I always love that 🙂
Library Adventures in Reading by Alixandra Mullins, Bluebird Puzzle, 3000 pieces. Completed on August 19th, 2019.
I like the book-birds (butterflies?)
Gardening with starlight and a knight.
Love the ice bear, but not happy with the mirror-image titles in the background.
This house was my favourite mini-image.
So, there were a couple of things with the image I wasn’t happy with. The same books appeared multiple times, and some of the time the books in the background were seen as through a mirror. I presume this is due to sloppy photoshopping.
There’s been some discussion in the Jigsaw Puzzle Enthusiasts FB group lately about increased use of Photoshop (or equivalent software), and not everyone is happy about it. It’s been pointed out that there are suddenly a lot of Parisian street scenes from Ravensburger, with only small differences. Sometimes the exact same elements are repeated. Personally, I thought I didn’t have a problem with this until now, but I think I now have to revise my position a bit. There were some horrible examples in the group, including a flower that ends abruptly (not by Ravensburger).
I still think it’s fine as long as it is done well (it is in the Ravensburger puzzles), and it’s not too noticeable. Based on this experience, I think it becomes noticeable to me when text is repeated, which is why I didn’t like having the same books in the background. Obviously, it’s cheaper to do a small section of background and then just repeat that than making a larger, more varied background, but clearly, this can go too far. I would love to hear what you think!
I finished the first half of the puzzle, and I’m very happy with the way the pieces fit. It’s a bit tighter than most brands, but not too much. You have to push a bit, but there’s no danger of placing a piece wrong.
A closer look at the image is a bit disappointing, though. Below some titles appear as a mirror image, and some books appear multiple times. Feels a bit sloppy.
(Btw, we did win yesterday, 5-1, in case anyone was wondering 😀 )
I bought this used online based on just the photo, and I was surprised to see that the image is of Venice, it made me think of India first. The artist, Chayan Khoi, is Iranian.
I really like the image, it’s dreamlike and unique, but I expected the pink part to be difficult. Actually, I did the entire puzzle in one sitting, took me about two hours, and it was easy from start to finish. I really enjoyed this.
Colorful Venice by Chayan Khoi, Ravensburger, 500 pieces. Completed on August 13th, 2019.
I’m trying out a new brand, Bluebird Puzzle. The puzzle is made in Turkey, but Bluebird Puzzle is based in France. Ideally, I prefer to try a smaller puzzle first, but I really liked this image, so I ended up getting it. The puzzles are quite affordable. The pieces came in two bags of 1500 pieces, and I’m not mixing them.
The pieces are extremely small. Below on the left is a piece from a 500-piece Ravensburger, in the middle a 1000 piece Heye and on the left one from this puzzle. The finished puzzle is the size of a normal 2000 piece puzzle.
I spread out the pieces and found many were connected. They were, however, all properly cut through, and separated very easily.
I knew I would like this puzzle, but even I was surprised how much! I’m definitely keeping this to do again someday.
The quality of the pieces as such was fine, but even with this image pieces sometimes would fit where they don’t belong. It wasn’t a problem here, but I wouldn’t buy a Dino puzzle with large areas of the same colour. There was also a decent mix of piece shapes, although the large majority were of the two-tabs-opposite type
[Movie Posters], Dino, 2000 pieces. Completed on August 12th, 2019.There are 34 posters of 33 movies (there are two posters for the same movie, with different titles), and I’ve seen 17 of the 33. The movies were released between 1931 (Little Caesar) and 1957 (Short Cut to Hell), and most of them arefilm noir from the ’40s. For three of the movies (Out of the Past, The Asphalt Jungle and Gun Crazy) I actually happen to have the DVDs in Dortmund, and I was inspired to rewatch them!
Gun Crazy and Deadly is the Female are actually two titles for the same movie. Gun Crazy seems to be the original title, and this poster also represents the film much better. At no time does Peggy Cummins appear in the kind of glamorous gown seen on the right. In fact, when she first appears she’s in cowboy gear, and as the movie turns into a Bonnie and Clyde situation (with a reluctant Clyde), she dresses accordingly, as you can see on the left. Deadly is the Female seems to be a very strange rebranding.
Here’s another bit of false marketing. The Asphalt Jungle was released in 1950, and Marilyn Monroe had a small part in it. It’s a heist movie, and there are some wives and girlfriends in the background, and this is where Marilyn comes in. In the 113 minute movie, Marilyn has about 6 minutes of screen time (yes, I actually timed it). I don’t think this poster is from the original run, Marilyn wasn’t a big star in 1950, but someone decided to cash in on her popularity later. Whoever went to see this a Marilyn Monroe movie is sure to have felt cheated.
The rest of the posters are in English, but this is a French poster for Singapore.
Most of the women on the posters look serious, passionate or terrified, but Gilda is happy!
The movies are a good blend of masterpieces (like Casablanca) and pulpier fare, like Pickup. I’ve not seen the movie, but the poster certainly looks like there is some sleazy slut-shaming to be expected (According to IMBD, a younger woman marries an older man and then plots to kill him.)
So much going on in the city that never sleeps – this would have been a great puzzle on its own.
One thing that I missed with this collage is my favourite film noir actress, Barbara Stanwyck. Amazing that they managed to miss her with so many great movies!
This was one of those many, many puzzles that turned out to be a lot harder than I expected. The salsa in the middle was especially difficult, but the rest wasn’t easy either.
Salsas, Ravensburger, 1000 pieces. Completed on January 25th, 2018.
I’ve stared on a movie poster collage by Czech brand Dino. I’ve only done one Dino puzzle before, and that was about 10 years ago. I wasn’t happy with the quality, but I decided to give it another go. The problem I had was pieces fitting where they don’t belong, but I don’t think that’s going to be a problem with this image. There is no title on the box.
It took me almost two days to spread out the pieces and turn them right side up – it’s my least favourite part of the process and I was feeling lazy.
The puzzle itself is progressing well, though, and I’m really enjoying it.
Puzzler1909 