Rant Review: Music in Montreal 1,000 Piece Jigsaw Puzzle (Eeboo, art by Caroline Bonne Müller)

Eeboo is new-to-me brand. They've been on my radar for awhile, and seem like a good company I would like to support. I grabbed this on sale a couple of months ago, and decided to use it to commence my winter and holiday-themed puzzles! I quite like the scene depicted here, though I do worry for the trumpet player's lips. Those mouthpieces are awfully cold in this sort of weather! The art style is nice and colorful, and the overall vibe is festive and inviting. The difficulty is about average, perhaps a bit easier. After completing the border-- I think it's worth pointing out that this is only the third time I've pulled every edge piece during my initial sort, which was quite nice-- I started putting the musicians together. This was pretty easy, and once they were done, the rest filled in rather quickly. Based on the art alone, this puzzle was a hit!

Unfortunately, the quality was subpar. Many pieces were damaged, with bent and/or splitting pegs. It's pretty normal to run across a few such pieces, but there were dozens of damaged pieces, and this was a brand new puzzle. I'm also not a fan of the super glossy finish. The back also has a coating to increase sturdiness. I've heard Eeboo's pieces described as having a greasy feel before, which seemed an odd description to me, but I now see what they meant. I don't hold this against Eeboo, however, as what sort of finish you like is purely a matter of preference. The fit was good, with few false fits, and completed sections held together well. There was practically no dust! 

A poster the size of the box is included, and while I rarely use these, it's always a nice inclusion. There is also a QR code for an artist-selected playlist, though I can't personally attest to its quality. (It requires a Spotify account, and I wasn't inclined to sign up just for this.) It's a neat inclusion, nevertheless! I have two more Eeboo puzzles, and I'll be getting to them eventually. I'm hoping that the QC issues I experienced with this one were just a bit of bad luck.

Rant Review: Forsythia 500 Piece Jigsaw Puzzle (Bonjour! Buffalo Games, art by Bente Schlick)

I saw this in a Reddit post a couple of weeks ago, and immediately had to have it! As luck would have it, I was able to find and order one on sale for $6 within minutes. (It's still on sale as I type this! Go get it!) The art is beautiful, most definitely frame-worthy! It took significantly longer to assemble than I expected, as all the foliage wound up as little blobs of color on each puzzle piece. I knew going in that the flowers and grasses would be the most difficult part of the puzzle by a wide margin, but it was a good bit harder than I anticipated. This is easily the longest it's ever taken me to put together a 500 piecer, but the end result is well-worth it! I'll be keeping an eye out for other puzzles featuring Schlick's art in the future.

The quality is pretty much as expected from Buffalo, with thin, sturdy pieces that fit together well. I had no trouble with false fits, and there was little dust. The only QC issue I encountered was an assortment of uncut pieces, maybe a dozen or so altogether, that were still hanging together in pairs. Not a big deal, especially for the rock-bottom price. I had no trouble separating the puzzle into sections for easy reassembly later on, whenever I decide to frame & hang it. The puzzle hung together at least as well as a typical Ravensburger, and that's all I ask! A poster is included, and also features a brief bio of the artist. 

Rant Review: Look Out, Little Pigs! 1,000 Piece Jigsaw Puzzle (Ravensburger, art by Dean MacAdam)

This was a pretty simple and straightforward puzzle. The only tricky parts were the apple-laden tree branches and the Big Bad Wolf's engine of destruction, and even those came together quickly once a few key pieces were placed. This is the first of MacAdam's puzzles I've done, though I've had a couple of them for awhile. The art is varied enough that I didn't feel the need to do any real sorting beyond pulling out the edge pieces. From there, it was easy enough to simply pull most of the pieces from any given section-- brick house, tree branches, stick house, etc.-- as I went through my trays that further sorting felt unnecessary. I quite like the art, but should note that the piece with the middle pig's open mouth and his little pointy teeth was oddly creepy. Its rendering is unlike his two brothers, and there's just something unsettling about coming across an extreme closeup of it when shuffling pieces around. I was glad to place it and be done with it! 😂

Rant Review: Ophelia 300 Piece Jigsaw Puzzle (Buffalo Games, art by Laura El)

 

I don't often do puzzles smaller than 500 pieces, but when I ran across this in Target a couple of weeks ago, I simply couldn't leave it behind! I love the art style and the whole vibe of the piece. At only 300 pieces, and large pieces at that, it was dead easy to complete, but an enjoyable puzzling experience all the same. It served as a perfect buffer between the frenetic Flash puzzle I had just completed and the very busy puzzle I have on deck next. The quality is typical of Buffalo, i.e. not amazing but decent, and perfectly acceptable for a cheap puzzle from a big-box retailer. The large pieces are thin and sturdy, fit together well with no false fits, and there was very little dust. A poster is included. I rarely refer to a poster when doing a puzzle, but it's always nice to have the option! I know Buffalo's glued boxes are divisive, but I just slip my box cutter blade into the seam and run it around the box, and it opens it with no damage. It's not ideal packaging, but I've got no issues with it at this price point. 

On a semi-related note, I noticed after getting this that a puzzle I've had on my wishlist for a while now features art by the same artist. After enjoying this one so much, I may need to go ahead and pull the trigger on that one soon!