Goodwill Store Finds: Arte brasil, Cardinal, Karmin, NYPC, Dowdle & More

Collection of 11 Sure-Lox Puzzles, 7250 pieces total

I've been home from my recent road trip for one week now, and I'm getting back into the puzzling swing of things a lot quicker than I had expected to.  Maybe that's because the first two stops I made at local Goodwill Stores turned up a small bonanza of nice puzzles to add to my infamous To-Do stack.  In fact the first two things I spotted were this great collection of eleven puzzles and another of five different puzzles. This Sure-Lox bunch includes two 1000-piece puzzles, three at 750 pieces, and five at 500 pieces, for a whopping 7,250 pieces in total.

Here's the five-puzzle collection I mentioned:

Collection of five puzzles from Cardinal

All five of the puzzles are 500 pieces, so this adds another 2500 pieces for me eventually to work. Even if I don't work all 16 of the puzzles, it's hard to go wrong when the total cost was four dollars. I like the variety of the first box of puzzles more than this one, but I'm likely to do the Tower Bridge puzzle fairly soon as that's one of my favorite spots in the world.

"New York City," Dowdle Folk Art, 500 pieces, 24 x 18 inches

I prefer a larger piece-count, but I couldn't resist picking up another Dowdle Folk Art puzzle for 99 cents, even at only 500 pieces. I suspect that all of the so similar looking buildings are going to be more of a challenge than they appear to be on the box cover...so this one will probably play as a larger-count puzzle anyway.

"Winter Weekend," New York Puzzle Company, 1000 pieces, 20 x 27 inches

I've come to enjoy the "New Yorker cover" puzzles a lot more than I ever suspected I would, so it was kind of a no-brainer to spend a dollar on this New York Puzzle Company version of a "winter weekend."

"Amish Neighbors," Milton Bradley, 1000 pieces, 23 x 26 inches

This is another of Charles Wysocki's Americana puzzles, and as you can see from the buggies, it's meant to represent the Amish part of the U.S.  I like building the "primitive art" style of puzzle, so another at one dollar was easy to pick off the shelf for home.

Rolling Stones Album Covers, Ant Hill, 500 pieces

I was drawn to this Rolling Stones puzzle because of a similar one I found last year of album covers from the Beatles. I was surprised at how many good memories came from seeing all those old Beatles covers in one place, and I'm hoping that, since I am a fan of both bands, this one will have a similar effect on me.  

"Puzzle Grow," Arte brasil, 1000 pieces

I think this one is rather unusual because it appears to have come to my Goodwill Store all the way from Brazil. Almost all of the writing on the box is in Portuguese, and the puzzle image itself is taken from the work of Tarsila do Amaral (1886-1973). Her work is described in Wikipedia as "Latin American modern."

And finally, this is the only new puzzle I picked up this week:

"Country Auction," Karmin, 1000 pieces, 27 x 20 inches

I bought this one at Tuesday Morning for six dollars (probably a 40% markdown from its normal retail price), and I decided to get it because I'm always on the lookout for something new from artist Susan Brabeau. This one, I think, should be a lot of fun.

So there you have, one week home, and I'm almost embarrassed to admit that I bought 22 new puzzles (counting the collections) and only worked two. The good news is that my total cost was around fifteen dollars...not bad.

Thirteen Puzzle Companies Ranked by Overall Quality

I have added a formal review of Buffalo puzzles to the "Company Reviews" page and revised (as a result of more exposure to their puzzles) the numeric totals of a couple of others. I have broken point-ties strictly by a gut feel for which for which company's product I would likely reach for first.

That said, I do use a point-system to rank the companies, and there is still surprisingly little difference along that 35-point scale in many cases. It seems that most companies are strong in some qualities and just average or even weak in others, so the overall ranking can boil down to only one or two category "misses" on the parts of the companies. Some companies produce too many damaged pieces, some produce poor colors, or too loose a fit, etc., but whatever it is, they almost all have one or two weak areas.

I rate eight separate categories from 1-4 points each, and offer up to three possible bonus points for exceptional quality in any of the rating-categories. That means that a perfect score would be 35 points (and no company has approached that number yet). This thirteen-company ranking is based on total points (with the percentage of a perfect score also shown strictly for informational purposes}. 

More reviews and list adjustments will follow as I gain more experience with the puzzles of other companies.

Puzzle Company Ranking List:

1. White Mountain -   29 points, 83%
2. Aquarius -   28 points, 80%
3. The Jigsaw Puzzle Factory - 28 points, 80%
4. Ravensburger - 28 points, 80%
5. Cobble Hill - 27 points, 77%
6. Buffalo - 26 points, 74%
7. SunsOut -   26 points, 74%
8. Dowdle Folk Art -   26 points, 74%
9. Hogan's Harbor - 25 points, 71%
10. Eurographics - 24 points, 69%
11. Ceaco -  23 points, 66%
12. Hasbro - 23 points, 66%
13. Puzz3D (MB) - 15 points, 43%

Detailed Reviews for Each Company Ranked - Click Here


I invite your comments and/or mini-reviews on any of the puzzle companies I've ranked to this point. Just attach your thoughts below in the comments section and I will copy them to my review of the same company. Your words will appear here in the original post AND as an attachment to my review. 

Thoughts, folks?

Twelve Puzzle Companies Ranked by Overall Quality

I am adding reviews of two puzzle producers today to my ranking list of ten companies previously posted: The Jigsaw Puzzle Factory and Hasbro.

I use a point-system to rank the companies, and there is surprisingly little difference in point-totals in many cases. It seems that most companies are strong in some qualities and just average in others, so it's all boils down to one or two category "misses" on the parts of the companies as to where they will rank. Some companies produce too many damaged pieces, some produce poor colors, or too loose a fit, etc., but it seems that they all have at least one major weakness.

I rate eight separate categories from 1-4 points each, and offer up to three possible bonus points for exceptional quality in any of the rating-categories. That means that a perfect score would be 35 points (and no company has approached that number yet). This ten-company ranking is based on total points (with the percentage of a perfect score also shown for informational purposes}. 

More reviews and list adjustments will follow as I gain more experience with the puzzles of other companies.

Puzzle Company Ranking List:

1. White Mountain -   29 points, 83%
2. SunsOut -   29 points, 83%
3. Aquarius -   28 points, 80%
4. Ravensburger - 28 points, 80%
5. The Jigsaw Puzzle Factory - 28 points, 80%
6. Dowdle Folk Art -   27 points, 77%
7. Cobble Hill - 27 points, 77%
8. Hogan's Harbor - 25 points, 71%
9. Eurographics - 24 points, 69%
10. Ceaco -  23 points, 66%
11. Hasbro - 23 points, 66%
12. Puzz3D (MB) - 15 points, 43%

Detailed Reviews for Each Company Ranked - Click Here

Six Puzzle Companies Ranked by Overall Quality: White Mountain to Puzz3D

Since starting Puzzle Fanatics, I've had sufficient experience with the recent puzzles of several companies to compare the overall quality of their products. My "Company Reviews" page, in fact, now includes full reviews of puzzles from six different companies, so I've decided to post my first puzzle company ranking list. And, I'm close to feeling comfortable about reviewing a handful of other companies, so I'll continue to add to the review page and ranking list as those reviews are ready.

I use a point-system to rank the companies, and there is surprisingly little difference in poing-totals in some cases. It seems that most companies are strong in some qualities and just average in others, so it's all boils down to one or two category "misses" on their parts. I rate eight separate categories from 1-4 points each, and offer up to three possible bonus points for exceptional quality in any of the rating-categories. That means that a perfect score would be 35 points (and no company has approached that number yet). This six-company ranking is based on total points with the percentage of a perfect score also shown. Remember that more reviews and list adjustments will follow when I feel comfortable with doing initial ratings for other companies. 

Puzzle Company Ranking List:

1. White Mountain -   31 points, 89%
2. SunsOut -   31 points, 89%
3. Dowdle Folk Art -   30 points, 86%
4. Aquarius -   29 points, 83%
5. Ceaco -   24 points, 69%
6. Puzz3D (MB) -   15 points, 43%

Detailed Reviews for Each Company Ranked - Click Here

Texas A&M Puzzle from Dowdle Folk Art

"Texas A&M," Dowdle Folk Art, 500 pieces, 16 x 20 inches

I have seen Dowdle Folk Art puzzles around for a long time, but this was my first experience in solving one of them. I am a longtime admirer of Texas A&M University, especially of what it stands for and the approach it takes to educating our young people (my granddaughter, in fact, is a sophomore at the school right now so I know it quite well), so this one was a natural choice for me. At first glance, the puzzle looks quite difficult, especially those large sections of football fans inside the stadium, but I was surprised at how quickly it all came together.

As usual, I started by building the frame of the puzzle first in order to see how much space I would be dealing with, and to help me decide how to approach the rest of the puzzle.  That's when I first spotted the "missing piece" on the left vertical, just above the A&M logo. I found this puzzle (it's from 1999) in a Goodwill Store, so I was not particularly surprised to find a missing piece right off the bat.

With a few exceptions, all the separated pieces look very much alike because of the artist's heavy use of the school's basic maroon-color-scheme. So I began with the biggest school logo and the few bluish pieces in the puzzle. After that I decided to start putting together stadium signs and the pattern at the forefront of the puzzle where cheerleaders, the team mascot, the Corp, monuments, and fans are grouped together.

And you might notice here that the "missing piece" has somehow been found.  Well, it turns out that the rather large piece is very much the color of the hardwood floor in my study (which is also my puzzle room), and I suddenly noticed it in one corner of the room where it had most likely been sitting face-up for at least two days. If the piece had fallen facedown, I would have spotted it immediately, but that's the way my luck usually plays out.

Now it was time to tackle the crowd and a few remaining fill-in pieces in other areas. Let me tell you...those little people are small and they all look pretty much alike with the exception of the signs they may be carrying...small signs, at that. It was when I decided to sort the crowd pieces by shape that things really began to move fast, and all I had left to do was fill in that handful of pieces at the bottom.  

I really enjoyed putting this one together and I recommend this kind of puzzle to others out there. Dowdle makes a number of similar puzzles for different schools across the country, so take a look for the school of your choice and you may just find a puzzle representing it.

The pieces on this one are thick and the finish is a bit glossy and prone to glare, but that gloss really enhances the look of the finished puzzle when viewed in indirect light. Adjoining pieces almost always clearly fit together, but somehow this did not translate into a tight fit. I don't glue...I use blue painter's tape on the backside of the puzzles I want to keep whole. As I found this time, even the most careful flipping of this puzzle is impossible without it coming apart in large sections. Consequently, this one will be going to my granddaughter in the box this summer when she's back home so that she can build, glue, and frame it for when she returns to school in the fall.

Puzzle Finds: Goodwill Store

Texas A&M Aggies, Dowdle Folk Art, 500 pieces, 16 x 20

Finally. 

Finally, I found some puzzles at the one Goodwill Store (among a total of three that I visit regularly) that I've never seen anything but a few beat-up children's puzzles. And what a find it was for someone like me who has admired Texas A&M University - and everything the school stands for - for the last several decades. I've seen a few of Eric Dowdle's folk art puzzles around before, but this will be my first experience with one of them. If all the pieces are in the box, this one is destined to be framed for use in my study.

In keeping with the Dowdle Folk Art theme, I also found his portrayal of one of the most popular tourist draws in Mexico: Puerto Vallarta.

Puerto Vallarto, Dowdle Folk Art, 500 pieces, 16 x 20

The box on this one is more beat-up than the box holding the A&M puzzle, so it will be interesting to compare the contents of the two boxes for completeness and condition.  The contents of both boxes are packed in plastic bags (and the Aggie puzzle even includes the puzzle poster), so I am hopeful that all the pieces are there.

Finally, I picked up this Ravensburger puzzle for $1.99 even though I'm not terribly drawn to the image. I'm running low on 500-piece change-of-pace puzzles, and any Ravensburger puzzle for a couple of bucks seems like a good idea, so...

Idyllic Life, Ravensburger, 500 pieces, 27 x 20