Rant Review: Disney 100 Retro Reimagined Santa Mickey 1,000 Piece Jigsaw Puzzle (Ceaco Silver Select, artists uncredited)

I don't really give a damn about Disney in general or Mickey Mouse in particular, but I like the vintage art used for this puzzle, and I couldn't pass it up when I saw it on sale for $6. (Amusingly, I came across this Target exclusive puzzle on a steep discount at Walmart.com. It was sold by a third party, of course, but having this arrive in Walmart packaging and seeing "ONLY AT TARGET" emblazoned across the top of the box when I opened it up still elicited a chuckle from me.) I expected this one to be quick and easy. Most of it was. But that middle section, with Mickey dressed as Santa Claus? That took as long as the entire rest of the puzzle. His face was easy, but the sea of indistinguishable red and white that made up the bulk of those pieces was a significant speed bump impeding my progress. I've done crazy-ass photomosaics and such, so this is nowhere near one of the toughest puzzles I've done, but that middle section turned a quick and easy 1,000 piecer into a multiple day project. The first couple of days I worked on it, I tackled it after I was done with work and dealing with assorted other responsibilities, so I simply couldn't muster the patience to get through it. On the third day, I resigned myself to shape sorting the remaining pieces so I could just power through it. My mind simply didn't want to wrap around the way those pieces were going together, for whatever reason. Even looking at the completed puzzle now, I really don't get why that section was so relatively tough. Things just happen that way sometimes, though; were I to do this puzzle at a less hectic time of the year, it likely wouldn't have taken me nearly as long. As things are, it represents a weird anomaly in my regular puzzling.

This is the first puzzle I've done from the Silver Select series. I noticed no real difference in the quality of the actual pieces, but the packaging is greatly improved over the standard Ceaco/Buffalo puzzles. The sturdy cardboard box with its sliding drawer is a massive improvement over the glued-shut boxes of their standard line, and the resealable bag is a nice inclusion, as well. A poster is also included, and is actually large enough to be of help, should you need it. I wouldn't hesitate to buy another puzzle in this line!