Grumpy's Jigsaw Puzzle Review

  This is not my photo; our puzzle had a piece missing.  We got  this one from Ariel in trade.

  Another Goodwill Charles Wysocki, unfortunately missing a piece.   This one had more than the usual false fits but eventually it worked out.  You have to look for cracks to find pieces put in the wrong place.  Finished last night on 8 April 2023.

  Another Charles Wysocki from Goodwill.  I thought this one had a missing piece for the longest time, but eventually found it.  This one had a lot of false fits, but eventually it worked out.  The first 3/4 was pretty easy, the rest was more difficult.

  Another Goodwill puzzles.  This one was easier than I anticipated it would be.

  Another Goodwill find and Charles Wysocki with all the pieces!  We enjoyed this one a lot and finished it quickly.

  This is our first Charles Wysocki of 2023!  We enjoyed this a lot, and it was a nice break after doing the balloons.  We like the Wysocki puzzles very much.

  This is a 1500 piece puzzle we found at Goodwill.  We had a good time putting it together, other than the 3 missing pieces.  But we expected that because there were 5 pieces in a small baggie separate from the others.  We figured they were extra and it turned out that 2 were extra and 1 was from some other puzzle. 

  Another Buffalo Games and Puzzles by Charles Wysocki found at Goodwill.  This one had more false fits than usual.  I discovered that the right side was wrong when I could not connect it to the inside.  It took a bit of head scratching to figure it out.  This is our 31st puzzle from Goodwill our 31st from Buffalo Games and Puzzles, and our 14th Charles Wysocki. 

  Another fun one from Buffalo Games and Puzzles with artwork by Charles Wysocki.  This is the 13th Charles Wysocki puzzle we have done this year.  I enjoy doing these for some reason though they are simple and easy to do. This puzzle was also found at Goodwill (where we get most of our puzzles now).  This is the 27th Goodwill puzzle we have done this year; only 4 had missing pieces.

  This was a fun puzzle to put together.  My wife did most of the first half, and I might have done most of the second half.  She put all of the edge together but one piece that I had to look for. This is the first puzzle we have done with Kim Norlien as the artist, and I hope to do more.  We found this puzzle at Goodwill. 

  This was another Goodwill find.  The hardest part was the blue water at the bottom; there were quite a few false fits that slowed us up for a bit.  The buildings were easier than I expected they would be.  All in all we enjoyed this one, but were glad when it was done.  It took longer than it should have because we slowed down and didn't spend as much time each day working on it.

  This was another Goodwill find, only $3.  It is named "Enchanted Frame" and is part of the Majestic Castles series from Buffalo Games and Puzzles. The wife did nearly all of this one; I did some of the Neuschwanstein in the center and a few other bits and pieces. This was fun, and turned out to be a little more difficult than we expected.  We enjoyed it.

  Another fun puzzle by Charles Wysocki.  This was our 50th puzzle completed since we started on 30 April, our 26th from Buffalo Games and Puzzles, and our 12th by Charles Wysocki.  Two of the 26 have been missing pieces, both of which were purchased retail. I purchased this puzzle from Amazon a few weeks ago.  We enjoyed building this one; the wife did most of it.  It took us just under a day working on and off to finish it which is pretty good for us. There were a few false fits that slowed us up, but nothing unusual. This puzzle was a nice change after the Mega Puzzles one we just finished, which took 5 days.

  This is the 25th puzzle we have completed from Buffalo Games and Puzzles and our 48th puzzle since 30 April.  Of the 25 Buffalo Games puzzles there were two with missing pieces (both purchased retail and not from Goodwill).   This was a replacement puzzle I received for one of those puzzles ( Butterfly Spectrum ).  I have not received the other replacement yet (which was actually the first requested). This puzzle was not as difficult as I expected, as we finished it on the same day we started.  The truck and the fireworks went together easily.  I did have a few false fits; they should have been obvious because the cut used by Buffalo has four adjacent pieces all meeting at a point making a cross, and none of the false fits satisficed that condition. Also, this puzzle did not include the usual poster that Buffalo provides.  This was my first Buffalo puzzle missing the poster. When we finished there seemed to be a piece missing, but we found it un...

  Brand:  Buffalo Games and Puzzles Title:  Frederick the Literate Series:  The Cats of Charles Wysocki Artist:  Charles Wysocki Number of Pieces:  750 Size:  24" x 18" Poster included:  Yes Quality:  Very good   - Missing pieces:  None   - False Fits:  Only if you're not careful   - Sections stay together when moving:  Sometimes   - Bent or delaminated pieces:  None   - Uncut pieces:  None   - Finished puzzle can be picked up by edges:  Yes, if you're careful   - Image quality:  Excellent   - Puzzle dust:  None What I liked:  I like cats and I like everything Charles Wysocki, so this was fun to put together What I didn't like:  Nothing This was a recent Goodwill find.  

  Brand:  Buffalo Games and Puzzles Title:  Noah and Friends Series:  N/A Artist:  Charles Wysocki Number of Pieces:  1000 Size:  26.75" x 19.75" Poster included:  Yes Quality:  Excellent   - Missing pieces:  None   - False Fits:  Yes, there was one or two on the edge which held me up   - Sections stay together when moving:  Yes, generally   - Bent or delaminated pieces:  None   - Uncut pieces:  None   - Finished puzzle can be picked up by edges:  Yes   - Image quality:  Excellent   - Puzzle dust:  None What I liked:  The price (only $4.99 at Goodwill!).  This was a fun image to assemble, especially the animals though the rhinos, elephants and hippos are quite similar in color.  The arc was more difficult. What I didn't like:  Not much. Our first 1000 piece puzzle since we restarted doing jigsaw puzzles in April.  

  Brand:  Buffalo Games and Puzzles Title:  Wings Series:  Vivid Collection Number of Pieces: 300 Large pieces Size:  21.25" x 15" Poster included:  Yes Quality:  Good   - Missing pieces:  None   - False Fits:  None   - Sections stay together when moving:  Yes   - Bent or delaminated pieces:  Yes, some tabs are starting to delaminate, but this puzzle was purchased from Goodwill and was not new.   - Uncut pieces:  No   - Finished puzzle can be picked up by edges:  Yes   - Image quality:  Good   - Puzzle dust:  None What I liked:  A very colorful image, fun and easy to put together.  Whoever gave this to Goodwill also put the edge pieces in a bag, which was nice.   What I didn't like:  Nothing.

  Brand:  Buffalo Games and Puzzles Title:  Mont Saint Michel, France Series:  Majestic Castles Number of Pieces: 750 Size:  24" x 18" Poster included:  Yes, although smaller than the posters in the 500 piece puzzles Quality:  Good   - Missing pieces:  None   - False Fits:  Yes, the border took me a bit to get correct on the top.   - Sections stay together when moving:  Yes, but didn't do this often.   - Bent or delaminated pieces:  There was a slightly damaged piece, one of the tabs was rotated a bit which caused a small tear in the image.  It was useable with no problem, but detracts from the image.   - Uncut pieces:  None   - Finished puzzle can be picked up by edges:  Yes   - Image quality:  Good.  The picture is beautiful, except for the moon which looks unrealistic and too large.   - Puzzle dust:  Didn't notice any. What I liked:  Putting together the c...

  Brand:  Buffalo Games and Puzzles Title:  Fireside Companions Artist:  Charles Wysocki Number of Pieces:  300 Large pieces Size:  21.25" x 15" Poster included:  Yes Quality:  Excellent   - Missing pieces:  None   - False Fits:  None   - Sections stay together when moving:  Sometimes, but didn't really need to do that.   - Bent or delaminated pieces:  None   - Uncut pieces:  One pair was not completely cut, so I left them as is.   - Finished puzzle can be picked up by edges:  Yes, if you're careful.   - Image quality:  Excellent   - Puzzle dust:  Didn't notice any. What I liked:  Another nice Charles Wysocki image.  Easy and relaxing fun to assemble. What I didn't like:  Nothing.

  Brand:  Buffalo Games and Puzzles Title:  World Map Circa 1630 Series:  Going Places Artist:  This map was created by Hendrik Hondius I, a Dutch cartographer, in 1630.  This map shows two hemispheres of the known world along with illustrations of Julius Caesar, Claudius Ptolemaeus, Gerardus Mercator, and Hondius. It also features illustrations of the Four Elements: Fire (Ignis), Water (Aqua), Air (Aer), and Earth (Terra).  This was one of the first maps to show part of the coast of Australia. Poster included:  Yes, though it is smaller than the Buffalo posters in the 300 and 500 piece puzzles.  It was big enough to use, but I would have liked a bigger one. Quality:  Excellent   - Missing pieces:  None   - False Fits:  None   - Sections stay together when moving:  Yes.   - Bent or delaminated pieces:  One piece has a tab starting to delaminate slightly.   - Uncut pieces:  There were...