Dog themed puzzles week: This week we’re featuring puzzles that include man’s best friend! We reviewed Falcon’s “Puppies and Kittens” by Steve Read (review here) and “Dogs on a Bench” by Interlitho Licensing (review here). Now it’s time for our top picks of the dog puzzles available at Puzzle Warehouse. See all dog themed puzzles at Puzzle Warehouse here. Okay. Let’s get started. 16. “The World of Dogs” by Ernest Brown, White Mountain (1000 pieces) This is a classic White Mountain “edutainment” puzzle thatRead more
Posts tagged: #cats & dogs
Review: “Cat’s Life” by Marino Degano, Heye – 9.75/10
“Cat’s Life” is terrific fun and a perfect example of the awesomeness of cartoon puzzles from Heye. It’s a fairly easy puzzle to assemble. Despite the large body of the cat and the green background, there are unique little characters (fleas, ticks, and mosquitoes, among others) that inhabit every inch of the brilliant composition by cartoonist Marino Degano. Each little critter has a unique outfit, expression, or action, and you can match your pieces against the large poster that comes in the box. There are many joke and puns and pure silliness to discover as you assemble this puzzle.Read more
Review: “Tapestry Cat” by Lewis T. Johnson, White Mountain — 9/10
White Mountain’s “Tapestry Cat” is a fun and challenging puzzle with moderate difficulty. The image by artist Lewis T. Johnson has bright colors and a lovely hand-drawn art style. Big bold elements–such as the large border, the Morris-esque wallpaper background, the cat, and the floral bouquet inside the cat–make separate distinctive areas to assemble. Repeating elements within the border (like the blue diamonds) and within the floral bouquet (for example, white daisies) make the puzzle more challenging but never frustrating. The White Mountain quality is good with larger pieces and a random cut. The final puzzle has a flat, smooth finish that allows you to see the art rather than the jigsaw cut. The finish is glossy, so there is some glare under bright lights. Highly recommended!Read more
Review: “Classic Companions” by Polly Pickering, Otter House – 9/10
Publisher: Otter House (UK), 2016 Title: “Classic Companions” byPolly Pickering, 1000 pieces Review by Jane OUR RATING: 9/10 Box Quality: (9/10) The box is shown above and below. Otter House has “space saving” boxes, which are smaller in size, sturdy, and nicely designed. I like the smaller sized box, especially since it comes with a poster inside so you don’t have to work with a smaller box image. Back: The back of the box is blank white. The sides: Three sides are the same withRead more
Otter House: New Puzzles for winter 2016
Otter House is a UK company that makes animal-themed gifts such as cards and puzzles. They have smaller ‘space saving’ boxes that are quite nice (they each come with a poster for help when working the puzzle). The puzzle quality is good. You can see our review of an Otter House puzzle here. I’ve received their 2016 catalogue and below are my favorite of their new puzzles. Note: These images were taken from a pdf catalogue. You will find their websiteRead more
Review: “Grandpa’s Potting Shed” by Steve Read, Buffalo Games – 9.5/10
Publisher: BuffaloGanes (US), published 2015 Title: “Grandpa’s Potting Shed” by Steve Read Buffalo Games, 2000 pieces OUR RATING: 9.5/10 I just completed this 2000 piece puzzle a few days ago, and I loved it! Box Quality: (9/10) The Buffalo Games box is a smaller square shape, which saves room on the shelf. The front is shown above. The back of the box has a generic Buffalo Games back. The sides have a photo of the puzzle, the name, piece count, and manufacturer. TheRead more
Puzzle Maker Interviews: Geoff Tristram
I’m thrilled to have Geoff Tristram on Jigsaw Junkie today! Geoff is an artist and cartoonist who does a few of my favorite puzzle series. He’s the artist behind Ravensburger’s “Best of British” series, their “What If?” series, and “Cat-ology”, published by Masterpieces. I’ll be sharing images of his work throughout this interview. JJ: Please introduce yourself and tell us where you are from and where you live now. GT: My name is Geoff Tristram. I’m a professional artist andRead more
Review: “Boucat” by Cobble Hill 9/10
Publisher: Cobble Hill (Canada), no date on box Title: “Boucat” by artist Braldt Bralds, 1000 pieces OUR RATING: 9/10 This is a gorgeous puzzle with a wonderful image by Braldt Bralds. Box Quality: The Cobble Hill box is very nice. It’s rectangular in shape and similar in size to Ravensburger puzzle boxes. It’s very sturdy and has a nice linen texture finish. The front of the box is shown above. All Cobble Hill boxes have this green-and-cream box style. The back ofRead more
Review: “Cat-Ology: Hemingway” by Masterpieces
Publisher: Masterpieces (US), Released 2014 Title: “Cat-Ology: Hemingway” by artist Geoffrey Tristram, 1000 pieces OUR RATING: 7/10 This is a bit of a departure from the puzzles I normally do, but I wanted to do another MasterPieces puzzle for my brand comparison–and I love Geoffrey Tristram. He is better known for his cartoony images. He does images mostly for Ravensburger these days (he’s the artist behind their “Best of British” and “What If?” series, two of my favorites). But he also didRead more
Review: Max in the Adirondacks by Charles Wysocki, Buffalo Games
I’ve been trying out some new brands of puzzles I’ve never done before for my Brand Comparison Review. Of the Buffalo Games offerings, I was drawn to this Charles Wysocki image. Wysocki normally does Americana landscapes, but I liked he fact that this was a much closer, more intimate view. I also was attracted to all the detail in the image. So what’s the verdict? I’ll be doing a full brand analysis for Buffalo Games soon, but for this reviewRead more
