Rant Review: Ye Olde Spooky Shoppe 500 Piece Jigsaw Puzzle (Galison, art by Anne Bentley)

This new puzzle from Galison's fall lineup is a perfect kickoff to my Halloween puzzling! A vampire emerges from his coffin, presumably to begin his shift as store manager, as a ghost stocks and a skeleton serves as cashier. Candy corn is distributed liberally around the store to show that they know what true horror is all about. There are plenty of fun details scattered about; the severed finger in the tip jar is a particularly nice touch. This is the sort of cool little shop I'd like to have in my town. The slight risk of having my neck bitten or soul stolen while shopping would be a fair trade-off for not having yet another Dollar General or Starbucks in town.

The pieces have a different feel from other Galisons I've done, with a matte soft-touch finish that I quite like. This is a rare case where I didn't even bother to sort out the edge pieces, and just started putting it together right out of the box. The small piece count and colorful art made this a viable way to do the puzzle without any sudden realizations that I'd screwed up and needed to stop and sort. I dislike sorting, so this was a nice change of pace. Expect to see more Galisons soon as I delve further into my stockpile of Halloween puzzles!

Rant Review: Masters of the Universe: King of the Mountain 63 Piece Jigsaw Puzzle (Golden, art by R.L. Allen, 1983)

I'm nearing the end of my vintage MOTU puzzles, but I felt like getting one in before kicking off my Halloween puzzling. Like several of the other MOTU puzzles I've done, this one features art by R.L. Allen, who contributed quite a bit of art to licensed MOTU products in the early years. Allen's art lacks the dark, creepy atmosphere seen in the art of Alfredo Alcala, Rudy Obrero, and William George, but it's a rich, colorful sort of old world style which suits the characters well. 

Here, Skeletor has been forced into a precarious spot despite wielding the Power Sword. I reckon it's an off day for him. Meanwhile, Man-at-Arms pilots the Wind Raider in pursuit of Tri-Klops, who has apparently stolen a sky sled. The design of the sky sled takes a couple of elements from its appearance in the Battle Ram package art, most notably the large thruster on the back. (Scan via the Battle Ram Blog.) Otherwise, it and the Wind Raider are very accurate to the toy designs, humorously so in the Raider's case, as Man-at-Arms barely fits inside the thing. These are the same thin, rather loose-fitting pieces seen in other puzzles in this series. It's in great shape for its age, and though the Toys-R-Us price sticker is attached, the bit with the price has been torn off at some point. Bummer.

Rant Review: Noah's Ark 500 Piece Jigsaw Puzzle (Ravensburger, art by Andre Normil, 1991)

I recently came across a thrift store in a part of town I rarely visit, and it's become the one spot where I regularly come across good finds. This puzzle is a perfect example. Ravensburger is not a common brand here, and I'd certainly never come across one that was 35 years old before! The box informs us that it was made in West Germany, a detail that definitely roots it in a different era. I'd never done a RB this old before, and it was interesting to note the slight differences in the pieces. The board has a greenish tint rather than the familiar blue, and the texture is slightly different. The fit is good, though slightly looser than most other RBs I've done. I encountered no false fits.

The art has a pretty funky style with some downright bizarre renderings of certain animals, but I like it. (Nevermind that this puzzle was such a cool find that it could have featured a painting of me getting kicked in the nuts, and I probably still would have bought it.) It was tougher than I expected, but still fairly easy overall. For once I actually didn't put off the foliage for last, but only because I had set all the blue pieces aside in another tray as I worked through the puzzle, then moved it when I made a big iced coffee. As I neared the end, I finished the pieces I had at hand before getting up to retrieve that tray. One piece was missing, a shame since the puzzle is in fantastic condition otherwise, but I can't manage to get too annoyed by that since I only paid $1 for it.