Publisher: Sunsout (US), published date 2017 Title: “Waiting for Some Sunshine” by Ashley Davis, 1000 pieces Finished size: 25″ x 38 OUR RATING: 8.25/10 This week Puzzle Warehouse is having a “Buy 2 Get 1 Free” sale on all Sunsout puzzles, so I wanted to review one. And it’s been a long time since I reviewed a shaped puzzle. So I picked this Spring-themed cutie. Let’s take a look! YOU CAN SEE THE SUNSOUT SALE HERE. Box Quality: (7/10) The Sunsout boxes are veryRead more
Posts filed in: Shaped Puzzles
Review: “A Girl’s Stocking” by Liz Goodrick Dillon, Sunsout – 9.25/10
I loved shaped puzzles. There aren’t that many released each year, so I treasure the good ones when they come along. This stocking-shaped Christmas puzzle is really delightful. The curved border is fun to work with and the image is filled with bright colors and patterns that keep you moving from one object to the other without wanting to stop. I love the quiet scene by the Christmas tree and the soft, painterly art style. The Sunsout quality is excellent too, with sturdy pieces and a fun random piece cut. Highly recommended.Read more
Review: “Butterfly Menagerie” by Aimee Stewart — Sunsout, 9.5/10
love shaped puzzles, and this offering from Sunsout and Aimee Stewart is really gorgeous and fun to assemble. The image is filled with a variety of brightly-colored butterflies and flowers in different colors and patterns, and those are easy to assemble. The fill around them–greenery and a blue pattern–appears in small doses and wasn’t too difficult. I really liked assembling the irregular edge, especially the antenna. Cute! Read more
Shaped for Fun — A Top Ten List
This week, for the dog days of summer, Jigsaw Junkies is featuring shaped puzzles. This week we had a review of “Autumn Squirrel” by Mary Thompson and “Abundant Garden” by Aimee Stewart. Today I’m going to share a top ten list with my favorite picks of Puzzle Warehouse’s selection of shaped puzzles. (As usual, I couldn’t pick just ten so there are a few extra…) Counting up to the very best…. 12. “Waiting For A Walk” by Giordano Studios, Sunsout — 800Read more
Review: “Abundant Garden” by Aimee Stewart – Sunout, 9.25/10
This is a gorgeous and fun-to-assemble shaped puzzle from Sunsout. The garden is filled with vibrant flowers, colorful birds, cute animals, and other surprises to discover as you assemble it. I really loved the soft art style, which feels airbrushed. The image is full without feeling crowded and there’s no real ‘background color’, dead space, or dark areas. Assembly is of moderate difficulty but everything has a unique color or texture, so if you reference the box lid, you can always tell where a piece goes. The Sunsout quality is excellent with thick, sturdy pieces and a wonderful random cut. I particularly liked the unusual, fan-shaped border, which was a nice change from rectangular puzzles. Highly recommenRead more
Review: “Autumn Squirrel” by Mary Thompson — Sunsout, 9/10
I loved shaped puzzles and fall-themed puzzles, so this puzzle was extra fun to assemble. The image has lots of fall leaves, both large and small. It really puts me in the mood for crisp autumn days! The Sunsout quality is excellent with thick, sturdy pieces and a wonderful random cut and hangs together really well. The overall difficulty is moderate. Most of the puzzle is easy, despite the shaped border, but all the squirrel fur gives the puzzle a little more challenge at the end. Highly recommended.Read more
Review: “Summer House” by Steve Crisp, Sunsout – 9/10
Sunsout presents “Summer House” by Steve Crisp as a house-shaped puzzle. I love the irregular border on shaped puzzles and this one is quite fun with the pine tree, roof of the house, and flower beds providing the border. The quality of the puzzle is excellent with thick pieces and a crazy fun random cut. The cut includes whimsies–pieces shaped like dogs, birds, trees, and other objects. The image reproduction is wonderful with bright colors and sharp details. The beautiful illustration by Steve Crisp makes a great puzzle. The various colored rooms in the house are separate vignettes you can piece together. The rooms are easy, but the half-timbered exterior walls and thatched roof provide a little more challenge. This is an unusual puzzle that goes above and beyond the standard rectangular, grid-cut puzzle. Highly recommended.Read more
Review: “Garden Bunnies” by Mary Thompson, Sunsout — 8.75/10
Publisher: Sunsout (USA), 1000 pieces Title: “Garden Bunnies”, Artist: Mary Thompson Finished size: 26.5″ x 29″ OUR RATING: 8.75/10 I love shaped puzzles, especially those with a cute spring theme. It was past time to review this classic from Sunsout. And for the next three days you can grab it on sale for 25% off too. $12.36 is a great price for this one since it’s normally $17.99! Here’s a link to the sale. Read more
Review: “Big Ben, London” by Ravensburger, 9/10
Publisher: Ravensburger (Germany) Title: “Big Ben, London” 1155 pieces Review by Jane OUR RATING: 9/10 This puzzle is part of a new category of shaped puzzles from Ravensburger called “Silhouette”. Since I’m a fan of both shaped puzzles and Ravensburger, let’s see how well the latter pulls off the former, shall we? Box Quality: (9/10) The box is shown above and below. It’s a pretty box and very sturdy in typical German board-game style. I imagine the look of the box will be similar acrossRead more
Review: “Busy as a Beaver” by Jeffrey Severn, Bits and Pieces – 9/10
Publisher: Bits And Pieces (US) Title: “Busy as a Beaver” by Jeffrey Severn, 750 pieces Release date: There is no release date on the box, but this puzzle is several years old and not currently in print. You can find it it on ebay. This image came in 300 and 750 pieces, so make sure you check the piece size before buying. Review by Jane OUR RATING: 9/10 Box Quality: (7/10) The box is shown above. I like the smaller, space-saving sizeRead more
Bits and Pieces: New Puzzles for Winter 2016
Bits and Pieces releases puzzle throughout the year, but the bulk of new releases are seasonal. Their new ‘winter catalogue’ has a number of new puzzles. (A few of these are also from the end of 2015). I’ve pulled out my favorites below, but you can see all their new puzzles here. “Birdhouse Quilt” by Helz Cuppelditch, 1000 or 500 pieces I like the blackboard-and-chalk style puzzles Bits and Pieces has been releasing from Helz Cuppelditch lately. (There was aRead more
Ravensburger – New Winter 2016 Puzzles
I posted a link to the new Ravensburger 2016 catalogue a week or so ago. I still don’t have great pictures of the new puzzles, but since I’m working on a 2016 master page, I’m going to post the best pictures I could get from the online pdf catalogue. These are my picks from the new 2016 puzzles. You can see the entire 2016 catalogue here. NEW WHAT IF? PUZZLES (art by Geoff Tristram) 2 new “What If?” puzzles wereRead more
