Rant Review: Welcome to Spooky Town 500 Piece Jigsaw Puzzle (Mudpuppy/Galison, art by Stephanie Birdsong)

I chose another cute Halloween-themed Galison puzzle to serve as a palette cleanser between 1,000 piecers, and I enjoyed this one even more than the last one! The art is vibrant and very cute. The themed colors for each zone made for a very easy puzzling experience, as it became a series of mini puzzles tied together by the road. I nearly completed this in one sitting, but I made myself stop and wait until the next day to complete the final third so I wouldn't blow through it too quickly. I like the art enough that I was tempted to keep it intact for framing later to put with some of my Halloween stuff, but I'd rather have it available to put together again next year!

The quality is typical of Galison, with their usual thin, sturdy pieces with white backing. There was little dust, and I had no false fits. Pieces fit together snugly, and the completed puzzle passed the lift test! In my experience, Galison is one of the most reliable brands out there. 

Rant Review: The Simpsons: Cast of Thousands 1,000 Piece Jigsaw Puzzle (OP Puzzles)

I don't know how this puzzle came and went a couple of years ago without my knowledge, but as soon as I found out it existed, I had to have it! I saw an earlier iteration made by another company years ago, but at the time, I had just finished a giant photomosaic Simpsons puzzle, and the mental scarring from that ordeal left me less than enthusiastic about immediately diving into another sea of yellow. I didn't do puzzles as often in those days, so quite some time passed before I thought about that puzzle again. By that time, it had gone out of production, and the secondary market prices were well on the other side of ridiculous. I've always kept an eye out for one at a reasonable price since then. This one has now ceased production as well, but recently enough that I was still able to find a sealed one for just a bit more than MSRP. 

There's not much sorting you can do with a puzzle like this, so I separated the edge pieces and the interior solid yellow pieces, then just grabbed a random piece and got to work. There's obviously a hell of a lot going on in this image, and while someone like me with an encyclopedic knowledge of the characters has an advantage, it's not as big as you may think. Recognizing the characters from whatever bit of them is on a certain piece doesn't make it any easier to locate their position within the chaotic image, after all! I don't normally use a reference poster, but one would have been very helpful in this case. So naturally, OP did not include one! It was slow going at first, but once I was able to sit down and spend a couple of hours placing pieces in the area where they belonged, then slowly building out those little sections, progress sped up considerably. In a change from most puzzles, the border was the last thing I finished, as I had left all those solid yellow pieces for last.

The image itself is a dream for a Simpsons lover, with so many characters to find among the crowd. Some of the characters are a bit off-model compared to how we're used to seeing them, skewing toward portrayals from early in the show's life. (Hans Moleman's skin tone is a good example. He was only that dark in his first couple of appearances.) A few guest stars who appeared as themselves are present, most notably Stephen Hawking and Matt Groening. (You could say that Groening technically appears twice if you count his design from the 138th episode spectacular!) And of course, no assemblage of Simpsons characters would be complete without the Inanimate Carbon Rod! In Rod we trust! 

OP is a brand that is new to me, and they have a few other puzzles of interest to me. (You'll be seeing one of them soon!) The quality is decent. Pieces fit together well, and false fits were very uncommon. (It certainly helped that the only places where a false fit would even be feasible were along the solid yellow borders.) There was a moderate amount of dust, certainly nothing like what you get with a modern Springbok. The pieces have a matte texture that I like, though that may not be the best match for such a colorful, animation-based image. There were no missing pieces, though several were slightly bent right out of the box. The puzzle would crumble when I tried to move sections of more than two or three pieces. I had to use sheets of paper to disassemble and stack it into the box in sections so I can easily reassemble it for framing later on.

This is one of those puzzles that I was rather sad to be done with. I have the itch to do another Simpsons puzzle-- OP also made a Treehouse of Horror-themed one that is very appropriate for the season-- but there simply don't seem to be many to choose from. I do still have that photomosaic one from all those years ago, but I don't want to do another Simpsons puzzle quite that badly! 

Rant Review: Vintage Halloween 500 Piece Jigsaw Puzzle (Cavallini & Co.)

 This is another first, as I've had my eye on Cavallini puzzles for some time now. I couldn't resist this one with its vintage Halloween art, so I sprung for it, even though it costs more than I like to spend on a 500 piece puzzle. Cavallini are known for eschewing the traditional box in favor of a canister. This has a nice matte finish, and it really stands out among a sea of puzzle boxes. The pieces are contained within a thin muslin bag, so there is no waste with this packaging. (Unless you trash the canister or bag, you monster!) The pieces are thin and sturdy, though there was one with a "peg" part that was splitting. False fits weren't pervasive, but they did happen, especially among the plain orange pieces. Still, there weren't a ton of these, so it wasn't a big issue. Pieces fit together with a satisfying snap, and the completed puzzle passed the lift test! There was no puzzle dust. A poster displaying the full image is included to aid in assembly. Once disassembled, the puzzle fits neatly back into the canister with no issues. 

I quite enjoyed this one! The art is very appealing, and the feel of the pieces is very nice. I appreciate the slightly premium presentation, even though I still feel it doesn't quite justify the price. I'd feel okay paying what I did for a 1,000 piece puzzle, but it feels about $5 too much for a 500 piecer. Still, I expect this will be one I do annually in the run-up to Halloween, so I'll definitely get my money's worth out of it eventually! I look forward to doing more Cavallini & Co. puzzles, but I'll be waiting for a sale to buy my next one.

Rant Review: Frederick the Literate 250 Piece Wooden Jigsaw Puzzle (Buffalo, art by Charles Wysocki)

This is my first wooden puzzle, aside from the simple ones I did when I was a toddler, that is. I'd been wanting to do a wooden puzzle for awhile now, and had been eyeing several at various online stores. This one was randomly 53% off a few days ago, and I couldn't resist ordering it. Packaged in a wooden box, its presentation is a few notches above a typical cardboard puzzle. Obviously it's thin, cheap wood, but I'm not expecting top-tier handcrafted finery for $15. The drawer has a puzzle piece-shaped handle, and there is a drawstring bag included to hold the pieces. I typically enjoy funky puzzle piece shapes, so this was right up my alley! Some are random shapes, and some are shaped like animals. It's undoubtedly an easy puzzle, but an enjoyable build all the same. It's small and fun enough that I can see pulling it out here and there when I'm just in the mood for a puzzle but don't feel like tackling a massive one. 

On the QC front, I came across a surprisingly large splinter while removing pieces from the drawer. I didn't get a pic of it, unfortunately; I said something brilliant like "What the hell?!?" and set it aside, at which point it promptly vanished. I'm sure I'll rediscover it while walking to the kitchen or something any day now. Anyway, the pieces are obviously sturdy, and cut well. Some of the fits are rather tight, and can take some finessing to get in place, especially if you're locking more than two together at once. With my big meaty man hands, finesse is not one of my chief attributes, so pieces were accidentally knocked apart on several occasions before tidily fitting together while I was building this thing. Thankfully, I was well-prepared with a varied arsenal of colorful language, and that kept things flowing smoothly. The print is nice and clear, with sharp lines and vibrant colors. It's a cute image with a couple of surprisingly creepy touches lurking within its brush strokes. I like it enough that I'm tempted to hang it on the wall, but then I wouldn't be able to build it again, so that's out for now. 

Overall, I really enjoyed this puzzle! I can easily see myself doing more wooden puzzles in the future if the price is right. Oh, and I nearly forgot to mention one of the big positive aspects of a wooden puzzle: There is no puzzle dust! (Though you might get splinters.)

 

Halloween Season 1,000 Piece Jigsaw Puzzle (White Mountain, art by Lewis T. Johnson)

This is the second puzzle I got during last week's visit to TJ Maxx. It had been on my wishlist, and finding it there for $9 cheaper than MSRP was quite a nice score! (The thrift stores here are terrible, so I have to take my wins where I can get 'em!) I've only done one White Mountain puzzle previously, and liked the brand well enough based on that experience. This puzzle did nothing to blemish my opinion of them. There was little dust, the pieces were thick and sturdy, and they fit well together. False fits were certainly possible, but the design generally made it very easy to avoid them. The collage is fun to look at, and putting it together revealed plenty of details I'd missed from viewing the box, as many of the of the best puzzles do. My favorite bits are some of the most obvious ones, however, such as the Aurora Universal Monster models and the vintage greeting card art. I really like the often funky piece shapes, too. I can easily see this puzzle becoming a favorite that I rebuild annually during the lead-up to Halloween! I have a few Xmas-themed White Mountain puzzles in my to-do stack, and based on my experiences with the two I've put together, I'm looking forward to assembling them in a couple of months!

Rant Review: Family Game Night 1,000 Piece Jigsaw Puzzle (MasterPieces)

 

This brand is a staple of Ollie's, so I've done a few of their puzzles. Their collages may seem a bit lazy to some, but I tend to like them because of the vintage art. This one was a must-buy the moment I saw Mr. T! MasterPieces' quality varies a bit from one puzzle to another, and unfortunately, this one came up rather short. I've enjoyed their random cut puzzles more in the past, but most have had the standard grid cut found here. The pieces are tiny, making the puzzle a bit more challenging that it might appear. The fit was quite loose, and false fits were very common. Fortunately, the colorful design generally made it easy to tell whether or not any given pair of pieces belonged together. There was a piece missing, unfortunately. This is the second time I've gotten a new puzzle with at least one missing piece, and both times, it's been this brand. I'll be avoiding MasterPieces in the future unless I see one with an image that is just irresistible, or find another of their better quality random cut puzzles. The overall quality is very reasonable for a puzzle you can get new for $5, but missing pieces get on my damn nerves, and it's becoming a theme with this brand. 

Rant Review: Spooky Mansion 500 Piece Jigsaw Puzzle (Galison, Art by Katherina Castano)

After completing one of the worst (from a QC standpoint) puzzles I've ever done, I wanted to do something quick and easy as a palette cleanser, and this cute little Halloween-themed puzzle I picked for $8 at TJ Maxx fit the bill. Apparently Galison releases a bunch of these cute, cheap Halloween and Autumn-themed puzzles every year, but as I almost never go to TJM, I had never seen any until this year. Wish I'd known sooner! I was thinking this was my first Galison, but after checking, it turns out that one of the puzzles I got at Ollie's last year was also one of theirs. Unlike that one, this puzzle has a standard grid cut. I don't have a strong preference either way, so that was fine with me, since it was at a similar level of quality. The pieces are thin and sturdy, with white paper backing. Dust was practically non-existent. The pieces have a pretty snug fit, and I had no false fits. Assembling this puzzle was easy and breezy, and exactly what I needed after dealing with a puzzle that seemed to hate me. I'll have to keep an eye out for Galison puzzles in the future, and I will most certainly make a point to swing by TJM more often to check their seasonal section! Hopefully some Xmas and winter-themed Galisons will show up there soon, or if I'm very lucky, a restock of some of the Halloween ones I missed. 

Rant Review: Comic Book Heaven 1,000 Piece Jigsaw Puzzle (Springbok, Art by Ed Wargo)

 

I ran across this last week on clearance for $4.97. It was a no-brainer at that price, especially since I quite liked the art. I remembered old Springbok puzzles as quite good when I was a kid, but I hadn't done any of their newer ones. Springbok's quality control is definitely not what it used to be, if this puzzle is any indication.

This puzzle had the worst cut I've ever seen, by a wide margin. The bottom edge of every piece was ragged, and just did not feel good in-hand. Dozens of pieces were still clinging together in twos and threes, capped off by an entire corner chunk of eight pieces. The cutter used on this one was in dire need of retirement! Dust is normally not a big deal for me, as I simply cut the tip of a corner off the bag and shake it over the trash, which gets rid of the bulk of it, but there was a ridiculous amount of it here. Even after doing my normal dust removal ritual, what dust remained was more than I normally get from an entire puzzle of most other brands. The tops of several pieces have white spots where part of them had been torn away along the edges. (A side effect of that antediluvian cutter, no doubt!) An unreasonable amount of force was necessary to connect each piece. I remember them being harder to connect than other puzzles when I was a kid, but not to this degree. No reference poster was included, though this was not a problem for me personally, as I rarely use them anyway.

On the positive side, I like the art, as mentioned previously. I also enjoyed the funky shapes used for the pieces, though this did occasionally lead to some pieces not actually snapping together until another adjacent piece was added to connect them. I know some find that frustrating, but it kept things a bit more interesting for me. I didn't encounter any false fits. Pieces stay tightly together once assembled, which should be expected given how much force was required to connect them in the first place. This has the unfortunate side effect of causing damage to some pieces during disassembly, however.

Given that I paid so little for this puzzle, I'm not about to get all bent out of shape over the poor quality, but it didn't do much to make me want another modern Springbok puzzle. Cutter blades obviously dull with usage, but quality control exists to keep things like this from getting shipped to customers. Back in the day, getting a Springbok puzzle in this condition would have been unthinkable. If I see another cheap one that I like the look of, though, I may give them another shot. Surely I can't get two that are this bad, right?

Rant Review: World of Dracula 1,000 Piece Jigsaw Puzzle (Laurence King, Art by Adam Simpson)

I started doing puzzles regularly again early last year, and it finally occurred to me to start reviewing them here. I've had my eye on this puzzle for some time now, and this past weekend turned out to finally be its time to emerge from its cardboard coffin and strut its stuff across my puzzle board. I really enjoyed this one! It was definitely on the easy side; the only somewhat challenging bits were the large expanse of gray near the bottom and the sky at the top. The art tells the entire story of Dracula as your gaze roams the puzzle. The included poster explains what is happening in each scene for those who haven't read the novel, or just need a refresher. (Though it did get the date wrong when referring to the Bela Lugosi film.) I really liked the texture of the pieces, the fit was good, and there was no dust! There were some false fits, but it was generally very easy to tell if two pieces didn't actually belong together. My only gripe is that some pieces were damaged slightly when separated, an unfortunate side effect of how snug the fit is. I just had to exercise a bit more care than usual when separating pieces. A very nice puzzling experience overall, and I will definitely be doing more puzzles from this series in the near future!

 

The Simpsons Tapped Out: The Final Day

Many of us were shocked when EA revealed the imminent closure of the beloved Tapped Out mobile game back in September. Well, today's the day. After 13 years, The Simpsons Tapped Out is shutting down. So many plans for that new land they freed up a few months ago that I didn't get around to. I kinda lost the motivation to put all that work into it since I knew it would all be flushed down the digital crapper, so here's my town as it stands on the final day. Yeah, it's tiny and tough to make out details. Here it is, all the same, along with a few of my favorite job animations. I know this is just a silly mobile game, but it's been a part of my life for well over a decade. It'll be weird to no longer be able to visit my Springfield and tinker with it. Excelsior, Tapped Out! Hopefully we won't have too long of a wait for another Simpsons game to hopefully fill some of the void.

 

Rant Review: Kindle Colorsoft- Soft on Color, Hard on the Wallet

I reckon my wallet better learn to like it rough, as I've been having a blast with this thing! Like many, I've been interested to see how it stacks up against the Kobo Libra Color, which I tried out (and returned) in early September. Sure, the color screen is based on the same tech, but with the modifications the Kindle team has made, there was a good chance its performance might be a bit better. Comparisons around the web show the KLC and the Colorsoft trading wins depending on the specific color image displayed. The smooth, muted shades of color offered by the aptly-named Colorsoft are pleasing to the eye, and more than adequate for most tasks. Vivid mode boosts the color saturation at the expense of some detail in dark areas; which mode is better depends entirely on personal preference. I've found the standard mode best more often than not. The color is obviously not going to compete with that of a decent tablet, but if you want a color ereader, the Colorsoft does the job admirably. However, most of my time will still be spent reading black text on a white-ish background, and that experience was a bit too compromised for my liking on the Kobo Libra Color. So, how does the addition of color affect the Colorsoft's actual reading experience?

Pretty damn well, thankfully. The first thing you're likely to notice (after that gorgeous startup screen) is how dark the screen is compared to a standard B&W ereader. This is due to the color overlay, and while the darker tone isn't ideal, that's what the light is for. The color layer doesn't taint the standard B&W reading experience much to my eyes; whereas the KLC had a bad "screen door effect" that was like having a layer of static between my eyes and the screen, the Colorsoft has a more gentle graininess that actually looks pretty good to my eyes. It's not as clean as the Paperwhite or basic model, but it looks more like actual paper, oddly enough. Text is still very sharp, and the contrast suffers surprisingly little. Like I said, this was my number one concern, and I am very pleasantly surprised at how the Kindle team pulled this off!

In the few days the Colorsoft has been available, there's been a great deal of discourse about the lighting, specifically how most models have a darker yellow-ish tint to the lower bit of the screen. Some aren't bothered by this, and some absolutely hate it. I can just perceive it on mine; had I not been specifically looking for it, I might not ever have noticed it! Either I won the device lottery, or else my eyes just aren't as sensitive to such things as others' are. The auto light sensor works pretty well, especially after doing a bit of calibration.

 

 

As pretty much a modified 12th-gen Paperwhite, the Colorsoft benefits from the massive speed boost of that model. It's a hair slower on page turns, and color pages are a bit slower than that, but still well within a comfortable range. The device is a bit faster than the 11th-gen devices are after the speed boost they received from the most recent software update. Books download and open instantly, and typing, menu navigation, and even browsing the Kindle store are a breeze! Ghosting is kept to a minimum, and while the page refreshes much more frequently when reading in color, I didn't find that distracting. This will never be my device of choice for reading comics as long as I have a big tablet with an OLED screen sitting at the ready on my nightstand, but it performs the task more than adequately.

A few cool, random tidbits: In addition to the color startup screen mentioned previously, there are some nice new screensavers, some of them appealing enough to make me reconsider setting my book cover as the lock screen image. The Amazon logo on the back has a nice iridescent finish, and while that's not as nice as the metal casing it should have had, it's a nice touch that adds some visual interest to the otherwise dull design. It's also worth noting that, while most cases for the 11th-gen PW do not fit the new models, if you have one of those gel cases, it just might do the trick. It's a tight fit, but it'll offer the device some protection while we wait for more case options from third parties! The device charges quickly, and it works with the 2021 model wireless charger. Battery life seems quite good so far, but obviously, it's too early to judge long-term performance on that front. Based on any Kindle not called the Oasis, I don't anticipate any problems.

On the less positive front, the screen is the usual fingerprint magnet. The bezels, in particular, drive me up the wall with how fast they get all smudgy. It's easy enough to apply some washi tape to the bezels to eliminate that, as well as personalizing your device. The lack of buttons are a sore spot for many, and I dearly wish they had built some into the side in the style of the 4th-gen Kindle. It is what it is, though. The Colorsoft also lacks the stylus support offered by the Kobo Libra Color. This is not a drawback for me, but it's something to consider if you desire that feature. In the "likely a glitch" department, there appears to be no universal dark mode. You can apply it to the books you're reading, but menus will display as normal. PDF files added via USB also display in B&W, not color. PDFs sent via the Send to Kindle app work just fine. I expect both of these issues to be fixed with an update.

The option to download your purchased books via a USB connection has been disabled on the new devices. Many of us like to download the books we purchase from Amazon to make our own backups, so this is an issue for many Kindle owners. It's unclear at this point whether or not this is intentional or an oversight, but be aware of the issue if you typically download your purchased books. Sideloading books onto your Kindle still works normally.

As much as I like the Colorsoft, it feels overpriced. A metal casing, a la the Oasis or the Voyage, would have helped sell it better as a premium device. Taking advantage of the trade-in program certainly helped, but when you get right down to it, Amazon is offering a device that lacks a few features of its competitors in this space, and charging us more for the privilege. True, they are delivering a mostly-superior experience, and many of us are already ensconced in the Amazon ecosystem, but that price tag is a whopper. Personally, I've wanted a color Kindle for years, and my trade-in knocked the price down to a much more comfortable level. Don't be afraid to take your time and let more of us early adopters help work out the kinks for you, and wait for a sale if you're on the fence. These things aren't going anywhere. Color has erupted into the Kindle line, and I'm excited to watch this technology develop and improve in the years to come! Keep scrolling for many more photos and comparison pics!