Tag Archives: Shaped puzzle

Puzzle Review

Back in the Saddle with Madd Capp’s I Am Horse

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Last February, I got to meet an awesome puzzle company at Toy Fair. Madd Capp Games makes animal head shaped puzzles. Not just any animal shapes, though. These are hyper-realistic puzzles that any big-game hunter could substitute for a moldy taxidermy trophy. I was determined to try one, even though shaped puzzles are something I find incredibly daunting.

I was sent the I Am Horse 300 puzzle, which has 300 pieces. The 300 line is for people like myself who are intimidated by the larger puzzles which range from 550 -700 pieces but want more challenge than the 100 piece Lil line.

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The box is really nice and sturdy, the puzzle is nestled inside with a full color poster, wasting no space. The poster’s back side is covered in great horse facts, adding to the educational aspect.

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The pieces are a random cut, nicely large in size and with a great bottom texture. I found them to be gentle on my hands and easy to handle.

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As I expected, this was tricky to get started. I sorted according to color as there wasn’t a frame to work off of. Once I got the nose and part of the ears together, the assembly sped up!

IMG_6686I love how very realistic this is!! You can see the individual hairs on the horse’s muzzle and count it’s eyelashes!

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It took me 2 days to finish this puzzle and I took another 2 to seal it with polycrylic. Hime is currently getting to the horse/unicorn obsessed phase,  and this was part of her Christmas present.

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I am not really a horse person, but I love how this came out! Definitely will be doing more Madd Capp Puzzles in the future!

PUZZLE SPECS

  • Company: Madd Capp Games
  • Title: I Am Horse
  • Year released: 2019
  • Pieces: 300
  • Cut-Style:  Random
  • Finished size: 15 x 20 inches – Horse Shaped
  • Bonus poster: Yes
  • Made in China

QUALITY: 

  • Box: Sturdy and compact,
  • Board:  Medium weight chipboard, sturdy pieces
  • Cut: Steel-cut Die
  • Image Quality: Excellent, great color saturation
  • Finish: Semi-gloss, with great color saturation
  • Puzzle Dust: Minimal
  • Piece shapes: Random
  • Piece Fit: Very Good. Some of the irregular pieces make it so that pieces can only be moved in small groups.

Disability Notes: The slightly larger size pieces of the 300 piece puzzle are kind to the hands while still being complex enough to challenge lovers of larger piece count puzzles. Honestly, I want to try this brand’s 100 piece counts for later this winter when my hands threaten to swell into claws. Their 550 -700 piece puzzles are intricate and huge! I can recommend this for people with mild to moderate arthritis or hand/eye coordination.

Where to buy: I Am Horse is available on the Madd Capp Puzzles website for $14.99 USD.

Madd Capp Puzzles : Website / FaceBook

Disclosure: I received a complimentary puzzle from the manufacturer in exchange for review. The opinions are my own. All links are direct; I do not make money from them.

Thanks for reading, and please click the Follow Button under my profile on the right side of the page.To support posts like this in the future, consider joining my Patreon!

Puzzle Review

Sunny May Days and Baseball!

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Tonight my baseball team, the Boston Red Sox will play against the Seattle Mariners.

Team loyalty is a strong human trait. Most people “choose” their sports teams early in childhood and rarely switch them. I’m no different. My first baseball memory is my Grandpa Roy (maternal grandfather) taking my brother and I to a game when I was around 8 or 9. That was 30 years ago. Grandpa Roy was a diehard Mets fan, and while he failed to give me a love of the Mets, he did teach me to love baseball.  At the time, I was living in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Naturally, I was a Red Sox girl. When we moved to Upstate NY, I found myself in enemy territory. The dread Yankees merchandise was everywhere!  I clung to my beloved Sox fandom, throughout the long years of no Pennants or World Series wins. I celebrated with the rest of the Red Sox Nation when in 2004 we broke the Bambino’s Curse at last!

When I saw the new puzzles that MasterPieces  and Major League Baseball had created, I knew I needed to do one! This is the Boston Red Sox 500 Piece Home Plate Shaped Jigsaw Puzzle, which is a mouthful to say! Thankfully, the title tells you all the pertinent details; it’s 500 pieces, is shaped like home plate, and features the Red Sox! This puzzle is officially licensed by the MLB.

I don’t have my usual frame picture, because I started to assemble the puzzle on my new puzzle board, not having checked to see if it would fit first! Ooops! I ended up having to slide my frame onto the puzzle board SC made me. Shaped puzzles can be tricky, as the nonstandard dimensions may not fit on your puzzling surface.

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This was a really fun, and challenging puzzle. Not only is it a shaped puzzle, but it has 5 shaped pieces, known as whimsies. The whimsies are larger than all the other pieces, and added to the difficulty. That being said, this is a random cut puzzle and the pieces fit together amazingly well.

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Home plate, cleat, glove, cap, and jersey

I haven’t been to Fenway Park since I was a little girl. I live in Virginia now, but visit family and friends outside Boston often. Eventually, I’ll get a chance to cheer my Sox in their home stadium like I did as a kid. In the meantime, I watch from home and wear my colors proudly!

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PUZZLE SPECS

  • Company: MasterPieces® Inc.
  • Title: Boston Red Sox 500 Piece Home Plate Shaped Jigsaw Puzzle
  • Artist: Not listed
  • Year released: Unknown
  • Pieces: 500
  • Cut-Style: Random
  • Finished size: 22x 22 in
  • Bonus poster: No
  • Made from recycled materials
  • Made in China

QUALITY: 

  • Box: Sturdy but lightweight, 10.5 x 10.5 x 2 inches
  • Board: Medium thickness, recycled chipboard
  • Cut: Cut with a steelcut die
  • Image Quality: Excellent, great color saturation
  • Finish: Semi-gloss
  • Puzzle Dust: Minimal
  • Piece shapes: Irregular pieces and 5 whimsy pieces
  • Piece Fit: Very good, small clusters of pieces could be moved without falling apart

Where to buy: Boston Red Sox 500 Piece Home Plate Shaped Jigsaw Puzzle is available on the MasterPieces website for $19.99 USD.

MasterPieces Puzzles: Website / FaceBook

Disclosure: I received a complimentary puzzle from the manufacturer in exchange for review. The opinions are my own. All links are direct, I do not make money from them.

Thanks for reading, and please click the Follow Button under my profile on the right side of the page. To support posts like this in the future, consider joining my Patreon!