MikesAPuzzler, Author at Puzzling For Fun

Country Life Escape To The Shed Puzzle from Buffalo Games

This Country Life Escape To The Shed Puzzle from Buffalo Games is the exact kind of puzzle that not only got us into puzzling but keeps us coming back, puzzle after puzzle. The colors are amazing. The pieces are made well. And the scene makes you feel like you are actually there. The assembly process was fairly easy. The colors were easy to distinguish. Everything fit well. It was fun, from start to finish.

ALL4JIG 2000 Piece Rotating Puzzle Board with Drawers and Cover,29.7″x41.3″Portable Wooden Jigsaw Puzzle Table for Adults Portable,Lazy Susan Spinning Puzzle Boards Birthday Gift for mom

Used But Not Abused

We got this Country Life Escape To The Shed Puzzle from Buffalo Games used. I dunno even where we got it. Based on the sticker it was an antique mall. And it was ‘a gift from Bobby and Amber and the girls’. Someone got to enjoy it before us. It was in good shape and the pieces were placed in a resealable bag. That’s always a good sign. Usually I don’t have to worry about missing pieces if someone has taken the time (and expense) to re-bag the pieces in a good resealable bag.

The Last Piece

This puzzle includes a very nice colorful, quality small poster. There are 1000 wonderfully-colored pieces and they are nice and thick and fit fairly well. The assembled puzzle is about 27″ wide and 20″ high. This is a quality puzzle that brings hours of enjoyment.

Got questions about puzzling? Are you new to this great hobby? Check out our FAQ and guide to puzzling!

Ceaco – The Puzzle Scoop – A Lifting, Moving, Illuminating, and Magnifying Puzzle Accessory for All Puzzlers

My Awesome Collection 1989 Puzzle from Buffalo Games

We could actually smell the pencil erasers in the My Awesome Collection 1989 puzzle from Buffalo Games. Aimee Stewart, one of our favorite artists, gathered up a lot of the things we remember from our school years and put them in a large, colorful puzzle that was a true joy to assemble and even more fun to look at. This is one of our favorites from Ms. Stewart.

Buffalo Games – Aimee Stewart – My Awesome Collection 1989-1000 Piece Jigsaw Puzzle

Sorting Time

We begin every puzzle by sorting the pieces by color, pulling out any edges and corners. This My Awesome Collection 1989 puzzle by Buffalo Games was a sorting challenge. The pieces are very, very colorful. It was very difficult to decide which pile many of the pieces would go in to. Red? Green? Yellow? Some pieces could easily go into 3 or 4 different color piles. Fun. And challenging. There are lots of great childhood memories to be found in this puzzle.

The Last Piece

This puzzle contains 1000 pieces. The final puzzle is about 27″ wide and 20″ high. There is a poster included. The pieces fit fairly well. The image is very well-done and fun to look at.

Got questions about puzzling? Are you new to this great hobby? Check out our FAQ and guide to puzzling!

Ceaco – The Puzzle Scoop – A Lifting, Moving, Illuminating, and Magnifying Puzzle Accessory for All Puzzlers

Breakfast Cereal Puzzles From Kellogg’s

I love these kinds of puzzles. I ate my share of those little single-serve cereal boxes as a kid. I’d eat the ‘yucky’ ones first. The ones I didn’t like. And I’d save the ‘yummy’ ones for last. These Breakfast Cereal Puzzles from Kellogg’s remind me of those times and the flavors and textures. Six puzzles in all, these were a joy to assemble.

They’re Grrrrreat!

These Breakfast Cereal Puzzles from Kellogg’s didn’t take too long to assemble. It’s much like another set of cereal puzzles we did, from White Mountain. I found these puzzles in an antique mall, but you can find them in stores and online. They come in a little package reminiscent of how the small cereal boxes are sold in the stores.

Kellogg’s Breakfast Cereal Puzzles for Toddlers Set – Bundle with 100 Pc Puzzles Featuring Frosted Flakes, Froot Loops, Corn Pops Boxes Plus Stickers | Kellogg’s Jigsaw for Kids, Boys, Girls

The Last Piece

Each ‘cereal box’ puzzle comes in its own box. There is no poster included with this puzzle, but honestly you really don’t need one. Each puzzle is about 9″ high and 7″ wide. This is a fun puzzle and would make for a great gift for all ages! There are 100 pieces in each puzzle, and they are nice and big and fit tightly. The colors and artwork are fantastic.

Got questions about puzzling? Are you new to this great hobby? Check out our FAQ and guide to puzzling!

Ceaco – The Puzzle Scoop – A Lifting, Moving, Illuminating, and Magnifying Puzzle Accessory for All Puzzlers

Roses At Snapdragons Puzzle from Buffalo Games

We find a lot of great used puzzles at antique malls. Some are older, some are newer. We even find some that have never been opened, likely gifts that weren’t as wanted as hoped. And we’ve been very lucky with used puzzles. Rarely do we end up missing any pieces. Like with this Roses at Snapdragons puzzle from Buffalo Games. Although not really old, it’s a gently used puzzle from a few years ago of a painting from Art Poulin. Like with Charles Wysocki’s works, this puzzle attracted us because of its Americana theme. We greatly enjoyed assembling it.

Not A Cheap Date

One thing about this Roses at Snapdragons puzzle from Buffalo Games made us laugh. There’s a sign in the bottom right advertising Valentine’s Dinner for two. For $40! In what has to be the 1800s, that’s quite the expensive dinner! A quick Google shows that that would be over $1500 in today’s dollars! Now that’s an expensive date!

MasterPieces 2000 Piece Jigsaw Puzzle for Adults, Family, Or Youth – Fun Folk Art Am Poulin 4-Pack – 14″x19″

The Last Piece

This puzzle contains 1000 pieces. The final puzzle is about 27″ wide and 20″ high. There was a poster included. The pieces fit well. The image is well-done and fun to look at. The snowy hills and muddy path at the bottom were challenging.

Got questions about puzzling? Are you new to this great hobby? Check out our FAQ and guide to puzzling!

Ceaco – The Puzzle Scoop – A Lifting, Moving, Illuminating, and Magnifying Puzzle Accessory for All Puzzlers

Bostonians and Beans Puzzle from Buffalo Games

We have assembled quite a few puzzles of artwork from Charles Wysocki. He is definitely one of our favorite artists. His creations always make us happy. The Bostonians and Beans puzzle from Buffalo Games is another great Wysocki creation. Though, we found this one to be a bit different than our usual ones. There are more objects in this puzzle. There’s lots of stuff going on. Fun stuff.

Golden Era. Golden Colors.

There’s lots of gold hues in the Bostonians and Baked Beans puzzle from Buffalo Games. That makes assembling some of the areas a bit more challenging. Especially all of the faces and windows. This isn’t a terribly hard puzzle, but it’s not a walk in the park (or on the ice) either!

You have to make sure that you glance around at all the great things going on in this puzzle when you complete it. It’s fun!

Buffalo Games – Charles Wysocki – Bostonians and Beans – 1000 Piece Jigsaw Puzzle for Adults -Challenging Puzzle Perfect for Game Nights – Finished Size is 26.75 x 19.75

Hearts

You can always (it seems) find hearts in Mr. Wysocki’s art. Some are obvious. Some are hidden. They are his trademark. Like Aimee Stewart, another great artist, who often ‘hides’ foxes in her puzzles. Just a little added touch that we think makes the puzzle even more enjoyable.

The Last Piece

This 1000 piece puzzle did include a nice large poster. The assembled puzzle is about 27″ wide and 20″ high. The pieces fit very tightly. They are cut in very simple patterns, which did help make it a little easier to assemble. There is also a 500 piece version of this puzzle. This is a true joy to assemble and admire.

Got questions about puzzling? Are you new to this great hobby? Check out our FAQ and guide to puzzling!

Ceaco – The Puzzle Scoop – A Lifting, Moving, Illuminating, and Magnifying Puzzle Accessory for All Puzzlers

Pizza and Pocket Change Puzzle from Buffalo Games

What a truly fun puzzle this Pizza and Pocket Change puzzle from Buffalo Games was! It caught our attention in the grocery store (we always peruse the puzzle section) and we had to grab it. Not only because of the way-cool imagery but also because it’s from one of our all-time favorite artists, Aimee Stewart! This is definitely one of our favorite puzzles of all time!

Buffalo Games – Aimee Stewart – Pizza and Pocket Change – 1000 Piece Jigsaw Puzzle for Adults -Challenging Puzzle Perfect for Game Nights – Finished Size is 26.75 x 19.75

The Search Is On!

It’s so fun to find the many, many objects in this Pizza and Pocket Change puzzle from Buffalo Games. Cool things. Things from our childhood. And they’re all so wonderfully colorful too! And don’t worry, this isn’t some clipart-style puzzle where objects are placed willy-nilly. Everything makes sense. Everything is fun! It’s another Aimee Stewart great!

My wife loved the little kitty ring!

There’s even a shout-out the Lars, Aimee’s husband!

Pizza! (With extra puzzle pieces?)

I loved the mullet barber shop card!

The Last Piece

This is a 1000 piece puzzle. It included a very colorful poster. The assembled puzzle is about 20″ wide and 27″ high. The pieces are thick and fit well. The image quality on the pieces is very good. We had a tough time sorting (we always sort by color) because there are so many colors! Colors everywhere! But we actually found the puzzle itself to be fairly easy to assemble thanks to the many (fairly obvious) objects. This is a great puzzle full of fun stuff!

Got questions about puzzling? Are you new to this great hobby? Check out our FAQ and guide to puzzling!

Ceaco – The Puzzle Scoop – A Lifting, Moving, Illuminating, and Magnifying Puzzle Accessory for All Puzzlers

Annie’s Hideaway Puzzle from MasterPieces

This Annie’s Hideaway puzzle from MasterPieces caught our eye at Hobby Lobby because the image on the box was so colorful and the scene so fun. We usually do larger puzzles, but we don’t let that stop us from doing any size if we like the picture. Plus there are times when we just want a quicker, relaxing puzzle that rewards us a bit sooner than a week-long (or longer) effort.

Masterpieces 500 Piece Jigsaw Puzzle For Adults and Family – Annie’s Hideaway – 18″x24″

Bright And Fun

This was one of my favorite puzzles just because the kids room in the image just looked fun. Big time fun. Annie’s Hideaway puzzle from MasterPieces has all sorts of neat things in it. Dinosaurs. A fire truck. A model airplane. And I have to say, it is one of best organized toy collections that I’ve seen. But you would have to be careful of where you step…

The Last Piece

This puzzle contains 550 pieces. The final puzzle is about 24″ wide and 18″ high. There was no poster included, but I didn’t really miss it. The pieces are fairly big and thick and fit fairly well. There is a bit of a gap between the pieces in places, but that didn’t detract from the fun of assembling it or enjoying the final puzzle. The image is well-done and fun to look at.

Got questions about puzzling? Are you new to this great hobby? Check out our FAQ and guide to puzzling!

Blue Truck and Red Barn Puzzle from Brother Sister Design Studios

This Blue Truck and Red Barn Puzzle from Brother Sister Design Studios was one of our first puzzles purchased at Hobby Lobby. They have a good-sized selection of puzzles, ranging in piece counts that will satisfy anyone’s skill level. We found this puzzle to be quite enjoyable. The scene is pleasant and well-done. For the price (we got it for 40% off) it was a major score for the amount of time we spent assembling and enjoying it!

Random Cut

The pieces in the Blue Truck and Red Barn Puzzle from Brother Sister Design Studios are random cut. And that’s putting it mildly. They’re so random that we actually mis-sorted at least 20 pieces as edges that in fact were not edges. You can get a feel for it in the picture in the sides of the mountains. No two pieces are alike. It’s actually very fun. And very challenging. Like I mentioned, we feel like we more than got our money’s worth from this puzzle!

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The Last Piece

This puzzle contains 1000 pieces. The final puzzle is 30″ wide and about 24″ high. The pieces fit a little loose but are nice and thick. The pieces are very randomly and oddly cut, adding to the challenge. The image is nice. There are some very challenging places in this puzzle that gave us hours of enjoyment (and frustration!).

Got questions about puzzling? Are you new to this great hobby? Check out our FAQ and guide to puzzling!

Ceaco – The Puzzle Scoop – A Lifting, Moving, Illuminating, and Magnifying Puzzle Accessory for All Puzzlers

Paws and Reflect A Fishbowl Caper Puzzle from Cross and Glory

This Paws and Reflect A Fishbowl Caper puzzle from Cross and Glory is definitely one of our all-time favorite puzzles. The colors are amazing. The artwork is fantastic. It’s fun and it’s whimsical. If ever there was a frameable puzzle, this is definitely it. It is definitely a piece of art worthy of display. Though there are some challenging spots in this puzzle, overall it wasn’t too complicated but it was a real joy to stand back and admire when the last piece went in.

Great Quality

Everything about this Paws and Reflect A Fishbowl Caper puzzle from Cross and Glory screams ‘quality’. From the packaging, to the thick pieces, to the colors in the puzzle, this puzzle is more than worth the price. There’s no corners cut here. This is a puzzle purchase you will not ever regret. Although we often trade or donate or completed puzzles, this one will remain in our collection because of the joy that it brought!

Cross & Glory – Paws & Reflect: A Fishbowl Caper – 1000 Piece Jigsaw Puzzle for Adults | Humorous Challenge | Colorful Imagery and Whimsical Cat Antics

The Last Piece

This puzzle includes a very nice colorful, quality poster. There are 1000 wonderfully-colored pieces and they are nice and thick and fit amazingly well. So well that I was able to pick up the finished puzzle by a corner piece and walk around with it without losing a single piece. The assembled puzzle is about 27″ wide and 20″ high. This is a quality puzzle that brings hours of enjoyment. There are essentially two different style cuts of pieces outside of the edges. This makes the puzzle a bit easier to assemble.

Got questions about puzzling? Are you new to this great hobby? Check out our FAQ and guide to puzzling!

Ceaco – The Puzzle Scoop – A Lifting, Moving, Illuminating, and Magnifying Puzzle Accessory for All Puzzlers

Floral Symphony Puzzle from PICKFORU

What a fun puzzle this Floral Symphony puzzle from PICKFORU is. The colors are fantastic. The detail is great. The quality was great. Everything we could ask for in a puzzle, this one delivered. If we had room to frame and display our favorites, this one would definitely find a place on our wall. It was a joy to do and enjoy when done!

Spring Floral Puzzles for Adults 1000 Pieces, PICKFORU Wildflower Garden Flower Jigsaw Puzzle Oil Painting, Impossible Hard Plant Theme as Home Decor

Sort By Letters. Or Colors. Or not.

We usually sort our puzzles by color. I know some people don’t sort, they just ‘go for it’. This Floral Symphony puzzle from PICKFORU has letters on the backs of the piece to assist with sorting. If you want to. You don’t have to use them. You aren’t required to. Some folks consider it cheating. Some don’t. I say do whatever you want. This particularl puzzle has letters from A-F, so the puzzle is divided into 6 quadrants, or rectangles. Does using them make assembling the puzzle go quicker? It can. It’s all up to you whether you use them or not. I will say that the letters have saved us once or twice from giving up on puzzles that we could not enjoy because sorting them was so difficult and frustrating. Puzzling should be enjoyable, not frustrating.

The Last Piece

This puzzle included a fantastic large poster. There are 1000 pieces in this puzzle. The assembled puzzle is about 20″ high and 27″ wide. The pieces fit very well and the image quality on the pieces is fantastic. The colors were great. The puzzle has a glossy finish. If you are working under bright lighting you might find that glare is an issue.

I couldn’t find this exact puzzle on Amazon at the moment, but PICKFORU has other fantastic looking embroidery puzzles available!

Got questions about puzzling? Are you new to this great hobby? Check out our FAQ and guide to puzzling!

Ceaco – The Puzzle Scoop – A Lifting, Moving, Illuminating, and Magnifying Puzzle Accessory for All Puzzlers