“Fishing Fun” by Aimee Stewart, Ravensburger – 8.5/10
Publisher: Ravensburger (Germany), 2016
Title: “Fishing Fun” by Aimee Stewart, 1000 pieces
Final dimension: 20″x27″
Review by Jane
OUR RATING: 8.5/10
Box Quality: (8/10)
The box is shown above and below. Like all Ravensburger boxes, the rectangular box is sturdy and nicely designed.
Back:
The back of this box is a generic “Ravensburger quality” back. There’s nothing about the puzzle image or artist. Ravensburger boxes often have custom backs, so this must be one of their lower-run puzzles.
The sides:
The sides show the Ravensburger logo, a close-up detail from the image, the piece count and dimensions. The name of the image, and the artist name, are only shown small on one side in the copyright info. Since Aimee Stewart is a fairly big brand with Ravensburger (her ‘shelf’ puzzles are popular), it’s a little surprising that they haven’t emphasized her name on the box. On the plus side, the year of manufacture is given with the copyright info also (2016).
Inside the box:
This box contains the bag of puzzle pieces and a generic Ravensburger sheet.
Overall, this Ravensburger box is sturdy and attractive, but it’s pretty bare bones. It doesn’t have the ‘extras’ some Ravensburger boxes have, such information about the puzzle image and artist or a mini-catalog. I’ve given it an 8 score.
The Image: 9/10
I’ve reviewed a few other Aimee Stewart collages, and I was not surprised when I got this puzzle to see she was the artist of this one as well. As I mentioned in my review of “Pastry Party“, which was a baking collage, one thing that draws me to Aimee Stewart collages is the high quality of perfectionism in the images. There are many photoshopped collage puzzles on the market that have a mismash of photos and drawings and illustrations and vintage items, with half-hearted attempts made to blend these different image sources into a truly cohesive whole. There’s often overcooked drop shadows or the light sources on the images don’t match up. But the Aimee Stewart collages have lovely blending. Either she uses vintage objects as inspiration and paints them from scratch, or she paints over the photos in photoshop, but the end result looks like one cohesive illustration. I dig it!
I immediately liked the color and detail in this fishing collage image and the soft, vintage feeling. It’s beautifully done and looks like a great image for a puzzle, no? I’ve rated the image a 9, but that’s from someone who isn’t into fishing at all. So for the fisherman in your life, this would probably easily rate a 10.
Above: The completed puzzle. Click for closer view.
Puzzle Quality: 9/10
Ravensburger is one of our highest ranking brands for quality and this puzzle is no exception. It features solid, sturdy pieces, great image reproduction, and a nice variety of piece shapes for a grid-shaped puzzle. I love the way the pieces interlock. You can lift small groups of pieces without them falling apart. I also really appreciate the matte finish on Ravensburger after I’ve been working on glossy-finish puzzles like Buffao or Sunsout. The image is just easier to see under all lighting. No glare! And the matte finish has a nice tactile feel too.
Assembly: 8/10
This puzzle is of moderate difficulty. The bright colors, such as the reds, blues, and greens, are in small doses spread out all over the image. So you end up getting tiny little pockets of assembled pieces around the board instead of having larger areas to work on. Most objects in the image are relatively small.
I started out by assembling the border of the puzzle, then the bright reds and bright greens.
The bright yellows and blues came next. At that point I could fill in some of the distinctive areas like the illustrated postcard of the man and girl.
The illustrated fish around the image were also distinctive enough in style to be able to pull and assemble all the ‘fish pieces’.
And all the tiny bits of colors that are in the lures and fishing doodads.
The netting in the center of the image is a fairly large area with a distinct pattern, but it was harder than it looks because the netting pattern, and gray background, were quite similar throughout.
Overall, I’ve rated my assembly experience an ‘8’ instead of higher because it felt like there were a lot of neutrals — gray, white, tan, brown. There felt like more of this sort of piece as I worked the puzzle than I would have anticipated just looking the image. I found this puzzle more of a challenge than I expected, but by no means frustrating or impossible.
Summary
This fishing collage puzzle is from two of the best names in the business–Aimee Stewart and Ravensburger. It boasts excellent manufacturing quality and a lovely vintage-style illustration that is full of detail and interest. This puzzle would make an excellent gift for the fisherman in your life or anyone who appreciates masculine-themed puzzles. Recommended!
Where to find:
Click on the logo below to see this puzzle at Puzzle Warehouse
JJ
