Rant Review: Santa Town 500 Piece Jigsaw Puzzle (Galison, art by Caroline Bonne Müller)

A sub-$10 purchase from TJ Maxx, this puzzle was another quick and easy one. The sky was the only mildly tricky bit, but even it was not tough; focusing on Santa and his sleigh, followed by the reindeer, left only a few patches of blue to fill in. I recognized the art style, and checking the back of the box confirmed Caroline Bonne Müller as the artist, last seen in the Eeboo Music in Montreal puzzle I did a few weeks ago. 

This puzzle had a fair bit more dust than usual with Galison, and I had quite a few bent and warped pieces. Some just had a bent peg, but there were a handful of pieces that were bent in the middle. I wound up leaving the most badly warped pieces under a heavy book overnight in an attempt to straighten them so that they'd lie flat. This was surprising and disappointing, as I've found Galison one of the more reliable brands up until now. Hopefully the subpar quality of this one was just an odd one-off! Perhaps the quality control simply isn't as stringent for the lower-priced puzzles that ship to stores like TJ Maxx? I have several more, so I reckon we'll see!

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: 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.