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.

Buffalo Puzzles: "Fireside Companions," A Treat for Book Lovers

Focal Point of "Fireside Companions," Buffalo, 1000 pieces, 27 x 20 inches

By the time I left for vacation on June 30, I had completed just over 400 pieces of pieces of Buffalo's "Fireside Companions," a 1000-piece puzzle based upon one of my favorite Charles Wysocki images. (I love the way that the painting works books and readers into the setting as a part of everyday life rather than resorting to the same old collages or bookstore or library shelves.) Anyway, I figured that I would quickly finish up the puzzle when I got home...but I quickly learned that my eleven-day layoff had made my puzzle-working skills pretty rusty. Luckily enough, however, it only took a day or two to regain my former "speed," and my first Buffalo puzzle is now done.

My initial approach was to concentrate on the two large buildings that dominate the image, leading to the good start that gave me the false impression that this one was going to come together fairly quickly. 

So next it was on to all of the action in the foreground, people at the bookmobile and all the rest.

All the time I was filling in as much of the foreground as possible, I knew that the sections I was postponing were going to be a good bit tougher than what I was working on. And I was right, because the sections of the puzzle above the buildings and just below the white house did turn out a good bit harder to complete than the rest of the puzzle.

But finally, all the bare tree limbs and sky were done. (I do have to admit that bare limbs are easier for me to work than heavily leaved trees.)

More foreground detail:

I particularly like the inclusion of  this wagon full of underwear making home deliveries.  (Doolies Woolies - Supreme Underwear)

This lady is apparently on her way home with a basket of books to read.

And this little guy couldn't wait to get home before opening his new book.

Buffalo makes a great puzzle, and I'm looking forward to working more of them (I have eight of them on the To-Do Shelf right now). I particularly like the way that the puzzle lines don't show up as sharply as they do on some other brands (the pictures make the lines stand out a lot more than they do to the naked eye) and how well the puzzle holds together when moved. I'll be doing a formal review of Buffalo Puzzles soon and adding the company to my rankings list. 

All in all, I enjoyed this one a whole lot despite the almost-two-week gap I experienced while working it. I see now why Buffalo Puzzles is so often mentioned when puzzlers are asked to name their favorite puzzle companies.

Bufflalo Puzzles Fireside Companions: Shake the Box

I figured that my puzzle solving speed would drop pretty drastically after being away from the hobby for almost two weeks, and I was right. But I was really starting to worry this evening when I struggled more and more to fit pieces into this Charles Wysocki puzzle from Buffalo Puzzles. But just about the time I started to become more and more sure that the puzzle was either missing about 50 pieces or that I had completely lost the skill needed to complete even a 1000-piece puzzle, I picked up the puzzle box for a better look at the cover...and the box made a noise. Turns out that there were at least 60 pieces still inside the box.

Now in my defense, I did complete almost 400 pieces of this puzzle before leaving on vacation for eleven days, so when I finally got back to puzzling a couple of days ago, I just assumed that I had placed all the remaining puzzle pieces on my work-board before leaving home.  Wrong.  All those pieces I was so certain were missing, were right there in the box, and since I had been staring at the puzzle for so long today, I was able quickly to place the first 30 pieces or so that I pulled from the box.  

What a relief! Even though I probably wasted a good two hours looking for the same pieces over and over this afternoon, I'm just happy to find that I can still work a jigsaw puzzle. Lesson learned: shake the box a time or two to make sure that there are no pieces still inside.  #IFeelLikeAnIdiot