It was my birthdaytimes, and I wanted to have a puzzle that could be colored in, like a coloring book. I want the people in my life to color pieces of the puzzle which I would assemble, and it would make me think of all the lovely people every time I assemble. Woohoo, I thought, what a great idea.
So I went on ye olde Amazon.com and looked for such a thing. If it stayed within the theme of fine art puzzles, that would even be better, so I can get back on track with that whole thing.
I found a puzzle based on Johanna Basford's Secret Garden coloring book for adults. Fantastic! Basford's work is super rad; this will be great. 500 pieces, so I can assemble it quickly, and it is Buffalo, which is an excellent brand. Made in the United States, superior piece quality. Great stuff. It arrived on my birthday, with the fancy markers I bought just for this occasion.
Yay!!! Look how awesome! I cracked it open.
What. These pieces are all colored in already. This is TERRIBLE. I mean, it's a pretty puzzle and I look forward to building it but THIS IS TERRIBLE. I have a PLAN. A BIRTHDAY PLAN.
My good monster and I were going out and about on adventures by the mall anyway, so we stopped into the puzzle store
Diversions Puzzles and Games in South Portland. I looked around a bit, because they always have such nice things, and it was my birthday! I didn't find any coloring puzzles, so I asked the sales associate. I explained my desires for a collaborative puzzle/art experience and she thought that was pretty rad and showed me the only coloring puzzles they had, and promised to go out back for a Christmas themed one if I wanted that.
I found one that I liked very well - it was rows of houses and thematically the imagery of a neighborhood fit best with the experience I wanted to have.
I bought my puzzle and was excited to get home and check it out.
"Town Houses"
Eurographics
Stats:
Pieces: 300
Size: 13" tall x 19" wide
Shape: rectangle
Location of printing: United States
Location of manufacture: United States
Artist: unknown
Purchase location: Diversions Puzzles and Games, South Portland, Maine
Start Date: January 25, 2018
I love Eurographics puzzles. They may not be terribly fancy when it comes to piece quality, but they are definitely solid, with clean cuts, a modest amount of puzzle dust, and the best works of art. They are typically made in the United States (though sometimes printing in Canada), and they are super reliable when it comes to challenging and creative piece shapes.
Also, the boxes are really excellent! The box for this puzzle is an incredibly tight fit, so I can rely on no pieces escaping.
Stripped off the plastic, popped open the box, and inside:
This is an awfully big box for these contents, Eurographics.
What is in this baggie?
What the hecken?
Oh I see. It is a hanging kit. Fun! Extra stuff!
I strategically shook the plastic bag of puzzle pieces to get all the dust to go down into the bottom corner. Usually these bags have a few holes in them for air to escape but not pieces, and I was careful to not let too much dust floof out the holes.
Not too shabby. I tore open the bag and blindly pulled out a piece to color. I was wicked excited to try the new markers and see how they worked with the puzzle.
Pretty cool. This is going to be fun.
First sort was just corners, and edge pieces.
I was trying to decide if I should build half the puzzle, so people can decide if they want to color adjacent pieces together, for context, or just color random pieces.
The missing edge piece is in the pile. I found it.
All the pieces are uniformly shaped, all normal shape. But, as a Eurographics, the variations are many and pleasing, so you don't really notice the uniformity, which is fun.