I have the Crocodile Creek city puzzle as well 😊 Haven't done it yet but good to know it will be good quality when I open it. I love the Matchbox one! Phillumany (matchbox collecting) was a hobby of mine, started collecting at the age of 8, however that came to an end thanks to the 2019/20 bushfires here in Australia, which also claimed my embarrassingly large jigsaw puzzle collection. One of my favourite puzzles, picture wise, was an older Waddingtons called "In Love" by Marcus Stone which I had for probably 30 years. I think Australia seems to have a similar problem to New Zealand in what is easily available to us - so many I see online are only in the US unless you want to pay a fortune for them. Mind you, the normal cost of new puzzles here now is ridiculous. And secondhand and charity shop finds are usually full of Anne Geddes and Hinkler puzzles and little else, although that may be because I am rural instead of urban so less choices. If you are going to buy fine art puzzles, go for Pomegranate - always reliable and great quality in my opinion. Sorry, I keep adding comments to this as I go through the video, lol. I had a secondhand copy of the Village Farrier, and I ended up getting rid of it as it was ridiculously loose. Not sure if it was because it had been done a number of times by a past owner, or it was just a bad cut. Wow, what a score on the last puzzle, the Vintage Postcard one, beautiful !!!
@paisley9782 wow thanks for the comment, Paisley! Im so sorry to hear about the bushfires claiming your puzzles. I cant even grasp what that must have felt like. But as they say, we just get up and start over eh. Glad you are safe and sound and back to puzzling! The Matchbox collecting - how fascinating! I guess also gone too because of the fires? Oh my. Australia can be really harsh eh?! Lol Pomegranade are beyond expensive, just checked. But Ive been keeping some in my Wishlist here and will eventually order some for sure! Funny you mentioned about the similarities for us in puzzles. I thought it was a lot better for you. I truly feel like nz for puzzles is like Cuba for cars. - we literally froze in time, is that something you feel like as well in AU? I guess im lucky that i do enjoy older puzzles, otherwise i would be completely frustrated. The puzzles i see on instagram with colourful designs is something that i will probably never experience in my lifetime unless i win big in the lotto 😂 i didnt know you have trouble finding puzzles too, but as you said , it may be because you are in a rural area? I’m a little luckier then, We have so many op shops here and lucky i get different options but it’s a huge gamble:. i.e. most brands people praise online as the best - what i get must be fake! Has to be! Blurry, poor cuts, a mess. There isnt any other explanation- i wouldnt buy a 150 dollars mediocre brand puzzle here not even if i was a millionaire, completely overrated if thats their true quality. I really think we are being sent here the unwanted low quality puzzles that didn’t pass factory quality standards!! And ordering on amazon can break the bank 😂
@@RicPuzzles I only ever buy puzzles new when i find very very good specials. Something else that has recently happened over here is most online hobby and puzzle shops have suddenly stopped their flat rate postage. Now with only one or two exceptions, they all charge per weight and size, which has been another nail in the coffin as previously you could have a spending spree if you had saved your pennies and only get charged $10 postage and shipping. NZ's Mighty Ape used to have amazingly cheap postage but that has changed as well. Unfortunately, I think Covid didn't help either, companies have taken advantage because of the amount of new people who discovered the joys of jigsaws at that time, and prices of puzzles have skyrocketed to stupidity, somewhat ruining it for us who have puzzled forever but now can't afford to indulge that often. Pomegranate are expensive yes, but they have some amazing puzzles. Robert Bissell is a favourite for me. And yes, the 3500+ matchboxes went in the bushfire along with everything else 🥺
@@RicPuzzles i just wrote a reply but it seems to have disappeared into the ether, so hopefully I don't repeat myself here, lol. I was saying that another issue that has recently happened, is that the majority of puzzle and hobby shops online have suddenly stopped their flat rate postage costs, now charging by weight and size. Obviously this has almost tripled the postage cost that previously was usually $10, to $30. NZ's Mighty Ape used to have even cheaper postage costs but they too have gone to the weight and size costs. I also feel that since Covid, when so many people were introduced to puzzling, companies have taken advantage of the sudden increase of interest, and skyrocked the prices of puzzles to stupidity, and those of us who have puzzled for years have now been almost pushed out of it unless we are fortunate enough to find great opshops and even in those, some "charities" have also taken advantage as well. One of the most well known charity chains now regularly charge $10 for donated puzzles that they cannot guarantee to be complete. Oh and yes, the 3,500+ matchbox collection did also go the way of my puzzles and everything else, burned to ash 😢
oh mate, yes I got your last reply, it seems to be here! just read it through. sorry about your fire situation, I cannot even imagine what it must feel like. totally agree about the factors driving puzzle prices, it makes absolutely perfect sense. here too, they are very expensive because the demand is miniscule. so for shops it is very normal to charge 140 dollars for a Pomegranate or a Ravensburger. I just saw a 3k pieces Heyes on a local website for $ 699 + shipping. I can buy a car with that money mate. what a joke!
Look Rick, you can solve any puzzle and I would watch it because it is so calming to watch you puzzle and genuinely talk about the puzzle with such fondness and appreciation.
great puzzles, Ric! I love the old puzzles too such as MB and Waddingtons, very nostalgic. I recently watched a crossword puzzle video at Janette and her puzzles channel, I remembered you. Thank you for sharing, you are very informative.
Fantastic puzzle images Ric. I liked the Supermarket puzzle, The Puzzle within a puzzle and the Puzzle Master with the garden and the fruit trees. I think you will like the Cobble Hill puzzle. They are top notch quality.
hello Laura! thanks for taking your time to watch the collection, glad to know you enjoyed a few there! uh yes the Italian terrace - such a beautiful puzzle, it does look like where I grew up. I can definitely see now that Cobble Hill isn't any ordinary puzzle brand, I'll keep a sharp eye for this. brand when going on new puzzle hunts!
Nice finds Ric!! Cobble Hill is a nice brand, images are clear, colors are vibrant and piece quality is excellent. I am working on an F.X. Schmid right now called The Red Box by Colin Thompson and am loving it!! I really like the image of the last one you showed, very nice! Thank you for sharing and look forward to your future videos!
Hi Marlene! Thanks for your comment, im here looking at the Red box, looks really fun! Maybe im just getting the ugly ones here by FX 😂😂😂 the other many i tried were all blurry hehe. Hope to see you here in the next video indeed! Cheers!
Good collection of puzzles there and you don't need to pay high sums if you look in the right places. 😃The newspaper one relates to when England won the World Cup in 1966. Three other ones you showed were ones I have done myself. Like you I could never find any information about the Kings & Queens puzzle, totally anonymous for some reason. The Village Farrier was a 636 Gibsons puzzle that came out around 2007. The jigsaws on the back of the Village Farrier puzzle are all ones I have done. The Village Shop, another Gibsons, was produced in 2010. Out of curiosity I checked NZ $14.99 in the currency converter and it came up with GB £7.00. DonnaLouise has mentioned how expensive new puzzles are in New Zealand. Worth looking in charity shops etc., you can get some good bargains there.
Hi Puzzlepiece! So nice to see you here today!! Hah so many familiar puzzles here uh? Thats really awesome and thanks for the excellent info too, I’ll definitely keep them in mind. Yep 14.99 is very very cheap. A Brand new puzzle of any given brand is usually 29.99 and above. A simple 1k Ravensburger is well into the nzd100 (something like €40) and a heyes omg dont ask. I see 1k Heys for Nzd 200, 300 dollars it’s ridiculous and overrated! 😅
Congrats on finding so many neat and beautiful puzzles! I find the puzzle within a puzzle to be really interesting. I love the unique illustration style. It will be so fun to assemble and see it come together. I look forward to any of these being in a video. Such a nice variety of brands and images. Thank you for sharing them with us. 😊
Good day Bperillo! Thanks for the nice comment! Only one or 2 here were recent while most others ive had for about a year now and or have solved already. Yea the Puzzle within a puzzle. They are incredibly interesting arent they!? I dont know if you had the chance to watch the video about the other puzzle? Heres the link anyway if you are curious! It’s so cool, i had the help of subscribers to find all the clues. Great memories! Thanks again for your feeback! - OMG, this jigsaw puzzle! I missed 10 cliches out of 56: can you spot them? Vintage puzzle 1997! th-cam.com/video/HvjdgAlTbSU/w-d-xo.html
@@RicPuzzles Thank you for the link! What a fun puzzle and video. I thought I had watched all of your videos up until now so I may have missed that one lol. I really enjoyed all the cliches in that puzzle, so fun to look for them with you. That is what I love about your channel so much, we get to see all different kinds of puzzles that I have never seen on other channels. Thanks again for all you do and for sharing all this with us!
@@bperillo62219ohh thats so nice Bperillo! That puts a big smile on my face! Thank you so much! And hey so cool that you found that other puzzle interesting too. One of my favourites here by a country mile!
Oh - that last puzzle is BEAUTIFUL!!! - The place in Copenhagen is called Nyhavn -(new port) - it is a very popular place with lots of restaurants and bars. Cobble Hill is one of my top 5 favorite brands because i love the random cut pieces. I just had a Schmidt puzzle that was so blurred that i couldnt finish it, normally Schmidt is one of my preferred brands.
hi PipsDk! wow thank you so very much for leaving such a nice comment today! indeed, I was just replying to another comment about the Cobble Hill puzzles, I can surely see why it is a favourite! the last one, the NZ luxury? so cool and well put together isn't it? Glad you liked it as well. oh the Shmidt issue...yeah I have at least 3 here that are beyond blurry, so it is not just me! I would never pay full price for one, based on my experience with second hand ones I had s far! I recently bought an amazing Egyptian Tutankamen and it is very blurry too. another one for my stash of crap puzzles, such an inconsistent brand isn't it?
🎉🧩🎉🧩🎉🧩ooooooh!!!! These are wonderful puzzles!!! I really liked the mansion and the fishing lures ones the best. Thanks for sharing your puzzles 🎉🧩🎉🧩🎉🧩🎉🧩🎉🧩🎉🧩🎉🧩🎉🧩🎉🧩🎉🧩🎉🧩🎉🧩🎉🧩🧩
@@ThirzaTumTum good day Thirza! The Ferndale mansion MB is so cute isn’t it!? Im really tempted to solve it very soon, seems like many viewers really like it as well. Thank you very much for commenting. Always great to hear from you!
Those are some fun looking puzzles, I like the last one, with the NZ birds best, just because I like all bird puzzles, and the drawinfs on that one look beautiful! Looking forward to see the video's about any of them! I am suprised to hear you say you had such bad experiences with Ravensburger, is it printed in Europe? Here Ravensburger is a very reliable high quality brand, one of the best I might say, no false fits, thick pieces which fit perfectly, and because the cut shapes are made by hand you never have 2 identical pieces, you always just can feel right away if its the correct piece or not.
Hi Nina, oh the birds puzzle?! So beautiful isnt it? I also have a thing for bird puzzles. There are some incredible ones here in nz but all luxury ones i cant afford. 😂 glad i found that one, i think i paid 6 dollars or something like that. Yes, i had a number of Ravensburgers that were mediocre quality. One literally faded in front of my eyes as i was solving it in a bright sunny room. I think it had to be fake? It’s a real gamble you never know what you get unless you import them - then i guess you get the real deal you guys talk about! 😅😅 but i would definitely not buy a Ravensburger at a local shop here. Expensive and probably didnt pass the quality standards back in the factory so they sent to nz shops 😂 i will however give them the benefit of doubt if they only cost a few coins at a thrift store, in which case i just get them gone if they are bad. 😁
Great selection. I am from Canada... and we have no shortage of puzzles... but I understand the frustration of not having easy access to specific brands. Not everyone carries everything...even up here in Alberta. I'm a big Cobble Hill fan... with over 40 puzzles that I've completed. Cobble Hill has amazing quality and has so much variety in subject matter. Great for lovers of nature, animals, colour and creativity. I am also a big fan of buying second hand. I have had great enjoyment with puzzles that I have only spend 1-3 dollars on.
Good day Ruby, thanks for the valuable comment, really appreciated. I see now that Cobble Hill is a great brand indeed. I hope to find more puzzle like this soon. I agree with tou about second hand, all of the ones i remember well due to te joy they brought me were second hand or used puzzles too!
wow you have managed to score some pretty cool puzzles in 2nd hand shops, that last NZ puzzle is fab!! im in NZ as well and im in wellington and most of the ones i come across in 2nd hand shops are not as nice as those. jealous!
Hello Matilda! Oh you’re in Welly! Thats so cool, i only have heard from 1 other puzzlers in nz too, besides you in my channel so thats so nice! I do scavenge a lot here, as op shops are just about in every corner 😂 sometimes i get some really nice finds indeed, like yesterday i found 2 pomegranade puzzles which cost huge bucks new, for only $3! I almost fainted when i saw them hanging amongst some scrap 😂😂 sorry to hear you dont find nice puzzles in wellington! Wonder why?!
@@RicPuzzles you are honestly finding some great finds, i also just watched your other thrift store findings in browns bay and my my my, you are spoilt. the 2nd hand shops down here in welly tend to just have crap than anything great. wish there are loads of them around but they are either just 1 around and the others are like miles away. maybe welly is not as exciting as Auckland so lots of people do puzzles here hahaha and not enough 2nd hand ones to go around 🙂 BY the way have been meaning to ask if you have ever tried the whitcoulls own brand puzzles?? i have never done one of theirs and was wondering if you know the quality.
hi there! to be very honest I do think it may indeed be a regional thing? i also noticed that if you go to certain parts of Auckland for example, the puzzle choices are a world different! for example, I never find good puzzles in Albany, which I do in other places on the shore...it's so odd isn't it? im sure it may have something to do with the habits of the place. one thing to study about! hehe sorry you dont have much of a choice there!
Hi, sorry to hear that you haven't had the best experience with FX Schmid puzzles. They're actually one of my favorite ones. The ones I've assembled have had a great fit, nice and solid, and interesting, distinctive piece cuts. As for Springboks, the crossword puzzles aren't exactly the best representation of their glory period...those are from the 60's and early 70's. The quality of the cuts and general piece quality diminishes you get closer to present day. If you can find one from the 60's you'll be very happy. 🙂
Oh thank you for the feedback Joe! Yes..so sad i have like 5 fx, all of them are really either faded or just very blurry, i truly wonder if they are fake. More and more i feel like what we are getting here might be unwanted left overs! 😂 i will keep an eye on 60s Springbok, good to know! Thank you for the comment, very helpful!
@@maryjaneellinger1783 hi Maryjane! Oh thank you so much for the comment, really cool to know your opinion on the puzzles and on my thoughts on some. I know right?! I have had a few of those blurry ones but what bugs me is why then some other paintings are just fine?! It is a gamble i guess. It would be nice if they were able to maintain the brush strokes like in this one painting puzzle i solved recently th-cam.com/video/pMC_lZeTojI/w-d-xo.html Thanks for your comment! 🙏👍🏻😁
Hi Ric im sorry i hadn’t checked your videos lately. This is one of the greatest collection i have seen in a while. I couldn’t pick one as a favourite. Maybe the very old MB? It would be fun see see what you can come up with.
The Milton Bradley Ferndale jigsaw is gorgeous! I have only done one Holdson's that I remember, an older 'Mirror Mirror', and it was great, my only complaint was that is was very loose fitting which meant I couldn't move sections easily. That wouldn't stop me trying another one though!
Oh nice! Yes i loved that old mb puzzle too. Really tempted to solve it very soon. Sorry to hear about the lose fit on Holdsons - definitely not the kind to hold up like we see on socials! I know the puzzle you mentioned, nice choice! Thx for the comment 👍🏻😁
Nice selection of puzzles. I really like Waddingtons puzzles. I just bought a Mike Wilks one. It’s very busy, so I keep putting it off. 😂 Trevor Mitchell is one of my favourite puzzle artists. That garage one is part of a Ravensburger series called Happy Days at Work as well. They are really fun. Cobble Hill are lovely. What a bargain. That’s about £1.50 here. They are becoming easier to get in the uk, but they are still quite expensive. I did a springbok a week or so ago and the quality was far better than your one. Not the best though. It was a newer print.
@@50sRockChick hi 50sRockChick! Great to hear from you today! Oh thank you for the feedback on the puzzles. I have been meaning to post more puzzle collections for a few months now 😅, me too, love the older waddingtons very much! cobble is so new to me and i only came across it because of the fishing-related image… and bought it without knowing this is a great traditional brand to keep an eye on! Now i see it’s a great find! Yeah i do feel like the springboks and well as Heyes are VERY overrated. They are ok. But maybe im also just seeing whats old. Haven’t solved anything from the two brands thats brand new and novelty yet so i guess i cant really make a final bold statement. Thanks for commenting, always great to hear from you.
Hej Ric, I was rewatching this video and I noticed something I missed the first time around, regarding the F.X. Schmid, Tribute to Nelson by William E.D. Stuart. This brand’s name is similar to Schmidt Spiele (usually just call Schmidt), and I wonder if perhaps you have heard about their puzzles when people have mixed up the names. Both brands are German but that is where the similarities end. Schmidt (with a “t") puzzles are today of the best quality, sometimes even better than Ravensburgers (modern Ravesburgers). And it was just Ravensburger that bought up FX Schmid in the nineties and now uses the name brand for some of their products, although not puzzles. If the bad info you got was indeed about a Schmidt Spiele puzzle, it had to have been an old exemplar. If one exists; I have never even seen one.
hi Lock Kulla! absolutely, I always thought I was going mad, because every time I say FX chmiD people jump in to defend them and call it Schmidt, and I really failed to see what the fuss is about since the quality was really basic or questionable! I have bought many older FX shmid puZzles (SHMID) from the 90s mostly before and pretty much all of them were on the blurrier looks...hahah your feedback makes perfect sense! I will write it down to make a video about it.
@@RicPuzzles Glad to have cleared some of the confusion. There are other tidbits in this video worth expanding on. Falcon puzzles, for example. Originally a British brand, it is now owed by Jumbo Games, from the Netherlands, and has become a very popular collection under this brand. It’d be interesting to own an original Falcon, for comparison. See how you keep finding the odd and the unusual? If you happen to find a Falcon/Jumbo, in its distinctive forest green box design, don’t hesitate to buy it. Great quality and their artists' work on themes like the one on the Holdson Times Past. Kind of nostalgic scenes of a kinder time. Or an Idealised picture of a time that probably never was. The images are pretty either way.
Oh wow thank you for the fantastic insight, i didn’t know any of these logistics, good to know! I’ll keep an eye for the green boxes then jumbo and falcon together. Thank again!
Hej Ric, just watched your latest. We really are spoiled for choice here in Europe. Not only because there are so many well established puzzle makers, but also because due to the global interest, more brands keep popping-up. Then again, you get to live in New Zealand, so let’s call it even. Go Blacks!
haha I definitely share the enthusiasm with you about NZ, but tell me about this puzzle shortage right? I envy you for having such a variety! I scroll on Instagram and I see those absolutely stunning and very colourful puzzles with beautiful illustrations, graphics drawings and feel sad! hahaha I love my older puzzles, but new quirky ones in a while would be welcome too! thanks for the comment mate!
Hej again 🙂 I don’t always read the comments from your other subscribers but today I did and one of them got me thinking. Do you still have one of those bad Ravensburgers? If you do, look at the barcode, or some place around it. Does it state that it's made in the USA? Because that would explain a lot. A Ravensburger expert on TH-cam clarifies in great detail why some puzzlers think they have found counterfeit puzzles. Most of the time the reason is that they have old puzzles, from before the company began producing them with their signature softclick technology. The jigsaws made in the USA are a special case though. With few exceptions, Ravensburger products are made in Germany, however, the company did work with a factory in New Hampshire for a few years, 2002 to 2007 or whereabouts, and the results were less than satisfactory. Check out the video “Fake Ravensburger ???” from PuzzlesbyLiza. It is only 15 min. and she seems to know her stuff.
omg Lock, indeed, I just had one in my car and went to check it out, printed in there USA in 2003. it literally faded as I was completing it. by the time the puzzle was finished, it was completely faded like as if I had bleached it. omg thanks for the tip, I'll definitely keep a sharp eye on this now!
@@RicPuzzles Glad to be of help 🙂 In other news: you may want to hold on to that Ravensburger, World Cup 1966. If you happen not to like it, don’t send it back to the Op shop until you find out what you can get for it. I was looking for other jigsaws in the Headline collection (I found one about the coronation of Liz II) and depending on the condition, and if all the pieces are there, and if you find the right buyer it could fetch anything between 50 to 90 NZ. You also may want to keep it of course, if you like it, or for being a collectors’ item. Puzzle collectors or fans of the English team that has only won the World Cup once.
@@lock-kulla oh thank you for the tip! To be very honest, i feel like NZ is to puzzles what Cuba is for cars, frozen in time, i think that 1966 cup isn’t the only copy around here, but i do love the image and might keep it anyway! 🤭
@@RicPuzzles That’s interesting. On the one hand NZ is the Cuba of puzzles, but on the other you can find rarities. Here’s my theory. I can’t find good stuff in our second hand shops because puzzling is popular over here, thus, puzzlers would much rather keep their jigsaws. Conversely, you can find odd, remarkable items because Kiwis don’t really know what they have at home, being as puzzling isn’t a thing. Do you have friends or family that puzzle?
Hah yes i couldnt agree more! Your theory seems spot on. It does look like people dont keep puzzles here and a lot of the oddities i get have been around for a long time, hand to hand, often for decades. Good that people here are very good at looking after them. Im happy indeed with second hand puzzles, some are questionable but god forbid, the brand new ones are made of gold here mate. Just saw an ‘OK’ (nothing special) Heyes 1000pcs for nzd 200 + shipping from within nz. It’s pure greed i think.
@@blackhellebore89 hi Blackhellebore. Nope i haven’t tried them yet! I just checked new ones here. Cheapest is NZ$ 49 plus shipping new. I hope to find some second hand ones one day though!
@@blackhellebore89 fair enough about Holdson, we need to connect with the images we are working on don’t we! Thanks for your comment btw, great to exchange ideas!
I have the Crocodile Creek city puzzle as well 😊 Haven't done it yet but good to know it will be good quality when I open it.
I love the Matchbox one! Phillumany (matchbox collecting) was a hobby of mine, started collecting at the age of 8, however that came to an end thanks to the 2019/20 bushfires here in Australia, which also claimed my embarrassingly large jigsaw puzzle collection.
One of my favourite puzzles, picture wise, was an older Waddingtons called "In Love" by Marcus Stone which I had for probably 30 years.
I think Australia seems to have a similar problem to New Zealand in what is easily available to us - so many I see online are only in the US unless you want to pay a fortune for them. Mind you, the normal cost of new puzzles here now is ridiculous. And secondhand and charity shop finds are usually full of Anne Geddes and Hinkler puzzles and little else, although that may be because I am rural instead of urban so less choices.
If you are going to buy fine art puzzles, go for Pomegranate - always reliable and great quality in my opinion.
Sorry, I keep adding comments to this as I go through the video, lol. I had a secondhand copy of the Village Farrier, and I ended up getting rid of it as it was ridiculously loose. Not sure if it was because it had been done a number of times by a past owner, or it was just a bad cut.
Wow, what a score on the last puzzle, the Vintage Postcard one, beautiful !!!
@paisley9782 wow thanks for the comment, Paisley! Im so sorry to hear about the bushfires claiming your puzzles. I cant even grasp what that must have felt like. But as they say, we just get up and start over eh. Glad you are safe and sound and back to puzzling!
The Matchbox collecting - how fascinating! I guess also gone too because of the fires? Oh my. Australia can be really harsh eh?! Lol Pomegranade are beyond expensive, just checked. But Ive been keeping some in my Wishlist here and will eventually order some for sure!
Funny you mentioned about the similarities for us in puzzles. I thought it was a lot better for you. I truly feel like nz for puzzles is like Cuba for cars. - we literally froze in time, is that something you feel like as well in AU? I guess im lucky that i do enjoy older puzzles, otherwise i would be completely frustrated. The puzzles i see on instagram with colourful designs is something that i will probably never experience in my lifetime unless i win big in the lotto 😂 i didnt know you have trouble finding puzzles too, but as you said , it may be because you are in a rural area? I’m a little luckier then, We have so many op shops here and lucky i get different options but it’s a huge gamble:. i.e. most brands people praise online as the best - what i get must be fake! Has to be! Blurry, poor cuts, a mess. There isnt any other explanation- i wouldnt buy a 150 dollars mediocre brand puzzle here not even if i was a millionaire, completely overrated if thats their true quality. I really think we are being sent here the unwanted low quality puzzles that didn’t pass factory quality standards!! And ordering on amazon can break the bank 😂
@@RicPuzzles I only ever buy puzzles new when i find very very good specials. Something else that has recently happened over here is most online hobby and puzzle shops have suddenly stopped their flat rate postage. Now with only one or two exceptions, they all charge per weight and size, which has been another nail in the coffin as previously you could have a spending spree if you had saved your pennies and only get charged $10 postage and shipping. NZ's Mighty Ape used to have amazingly cheap postage but that has changed as well. Unfortunately, I think Covid didn't help either, companies have taken advantage because of the amount of new people who discovered the joys of jigsaws at that time, and prices of puzzles have skyrocketed to stupidity, somewhat ruining it for us who have puzzled forever but now can't afford to indulge that often.
Pomegranate are expensive yes, but they have some amazing puzzles. Robert Bissell is a favourite for me.
And yes, the 3500+ matchboxes went in the bushfire along with everything else 🥺
@@RicPuzzles i just wrote a reply but it seems to have disappeared into the ether, so hopefully I don't repeat myself here, lol.
I was saying that another issue that has recently happened, is that the majority of puzzle and hobby shops online have suddenly stopped their flat rate postage costs, now charging by weight and size. Obviously this has almost tripled the postage cost that previously was usually $10, to $30. NZ's Mighty Ape used to have even cheaper postage costs but they too have gone to the weight and size costs.
I also feel that since Covid, when so many people were introduced to puzzling, companies have taken advantage of the sudden increase of interest, and skyrocked the prices of puzzles to stupidity, and those of us who have puzzled for years have now been almost pushed out of it unless we are fortunate enough to find great opshops and even in those, some "charities" have also taken advantage as well. One of the most well known charity chains now regularly charge $10 for donated puzzles that they cannot guarantee to be complete.
Oh and yes, the 3,500+ matchbox collection did also go the way of my puzzles and everything else, burned to ash 😢
oh mate, yes I got your last reply, it seems to be here! just read it through. sorry about your fire situation, I cannot even imagine what it must feel like. totally agree about the factors driving puzzle prices, it makes absolutely perfect sense. here too, they are very expensive because the demand is miniscule. so for shops it is very normal to charge 140 dollars for a Pomegranate or a Ravensburger. I just saw a 3k pieces Heyes on a local website for $ 699 + shipping. I can buy a car with that money mate. what a joke!
Look Rick, you can solve any puzzle and I would watch it because it is so calming to watch you puzzle and genuinely talk about the puzzle with such fondness and appreciation.
Ohhh thank you so much! 🫠🫠 glad to hear it!
great puzzles, Ric! I love the old puzzles too such as MB and Waddingtons, very nostalgic. I recently watched a crossword puzzle video at Janette and her puzzles channel, I remembered you. Thank you for sharing, you are very informative.
Oh thanks Ramenaddict!! Great to hear from you today, i’ll have to check out Janette’s video too! 😁👍🏻👍🏻
Fantastic puzzle images Ric. I liked the Supermarket puzzle, The Puzzle within a puzzle and the Puzzle Master with the garden and the fruit trees. I think you will like the Cobble Hill puzzle. They are top notch quality.
hello Laura! thanks for taking your time to watch the collection, glad to know you enjoyed a few there! uh yes the Italian terrace - such a beautiful puzzle, it does look like where I grew up. I can definitely see now that Cobble Hill isn't any ordinary puzzle brand, I'll keep a sharp eye for this. brand when going on new puzzle hunts!
Nice finds Ric!! Cobble Hill is a nice brand, images are clear, colors are vibrant and piece quality is excellent. I am working on an F.X. Schmid right now called The Red Box by Colin Thompson and am loving it!! I really like the image of the last one you showed, very nice! Thank you for sharing and look forward to your future videos!
Hi Marlene! Thanks for your comment, im here looking at the Red box, looks really fun! Maybe im just getting the ugly ones here by FX 😂😂😂 the other many i tried were all blurry hehe. Hope to see you here in the next video indeed! Cheers!
Looks like a good puzzle haul... I've done a few Cobble Hill puzzles and they go together nicely...
Oh thanks mate! Definitely a great brand if this is their standard 👍🏻😁
Good collection of puzzles there and you don't need to pay high sums if you look in the right places. 😃The newspaper one relates to when England won the World Cup in 1966. Three other ones you showed were ones I have done myself. Like you I could never find any information about the Kings & Queens puzzle, totally anonymous for some reason. The Village Farrier was a 636 Gibsons puzzle that came out around 2007. The jigsaws on the back of the Village Farrier puzzle are all ones I have done. The Village Shop, another Gibsons, was produced in 2010. Out of curiosity I checked NZ $14.99 in the currency converter and it came up with GB £7.00. DonnaLouise has mentioned how expensive new puzzles are in New Zealand. Worth looking in charity shops etc., you can get some good bargains there.
Hi Puzzlepiece! So nice to see you here today!! Hah so many familiar puzzles here uh? Thats really awesome and thanks for the excellent info too, I’ll definitely keep them in mind. Yep 14.99 is very very cheap. A Brand new puzzle of any given brand is usually 29.99 and above. A simple 1k Ravensburger is well into the nzd100 (something like €40) and a heyes omg dont ask. I see 1k Heys for Nzd 200, 300 dollars it’s ridiculous and overrated! 😅
And yep, 90% of all my puzzles are from op shops. Thanks for the great contribution here really appreciated!
Congrats on finding so many neat and beautiful puzzles! I find the puzzle within a puzzle to be really interesting. I love the unique illustration style. It will be so fun to assemble and see it come together. I look forward to any of these being in a video. Such a nice variety of brands and images. Thank you for sharing them with us. 😊
Good day Bperillo! Thanks for the nice comment! Only one or 2 here were recent while most others ive had for about a year now and or have solved already. Yea the Puzzle within a puzzle. They are incredibly interesting arent they!? I dont know if you had the chance to watch the video about the other puzzle? Heres the link anyway if you are curious! It’s so cool, i had the help of subscribers to find all the clues. Great memories! Thanks again for your feeback!
- OMG, this jigsaw puzzle! I missed 10 cliches out of 56: can you spot them? Vintage puzzle 1997!
th-cam.com/video/HvjdgAlTbSU/w-d-xo.html
@@RicPuzzles Thank you for the link! What a fun puzzle and video. I thought I had watched all of your videos up until now so I may have missed that one lol. I really enjoyed all the cliches in that puzzle, so fun to look for them with you. That is what I love about your channel so much, we get to see all different kinds of puzzles that I have never seen on other channels. Thanks again for all you do and for sharing all this with us!
@@bperillo62219ohh thats so nice Bperillo! That puts a big smile on my face! Thank you so much! And hey so cool that you found that other puzzle interesting too. One of my favourites here by a country mile!
Oh - that last puzzle is BEAUTIFUL!!! - The place in Copenhagen is called Nyhavn -(new port) - it is a very popular place with lots of restaurants and bars. Cobble Hill is one of my top 5 favorite brands because i love the random cut pieces. I just had a Schmidt puzzle that was so blurred that i couldnt finish it, normally Schmidt is one of my preferred brands.
hi PipsDk! wow thank you so very much for leaving such a nice comment today! indeed, I was just replying to another comment about the Cobble Hill puzzles, I can surely see why it is a favourite! the last one, the NZ luxury? so cool and well put together isn't it? Glad you liked it as well. oh the Shmidt issue...yeah I have at least 3 here that are beyond blurry, so it is not just me! I would never pay full price for one, based on my experience with second hand ones I had s far! I recently bought an amazing Egyptian Tutankamen and it is very blurry too. another one for my stash of crap puzzles, such an inconsistent brand isn't it?
🎉🧩🎉🧩🎉🧩ooooooh!!!! These are wonderful puzzles!!!
I really liked the mansion and the fishing lures ones the best.
Thanks for sharing your puzzles 🎉🧩🎉🧩🎉🧩🎉🧩🎉🧩🎉🧩🎉🧩🎉🧩🎉🧩🎉🧩🎉🧩🎉🧩🎉🧩🧩
@@ThirzaTumTum good day Thirza! The Ferndale mansion MB is so cute isn’t it!? Im really tempted to solve it very soon, seems like many viewers really like it as well. Thank you very much for commenting. Always great to hear from you!
Those are some fun looking puzzles, I like the last one, with the NZ birds best, just because I like all bird puzzles, and the drawinfs on that one look beautiful! Looking forward to see the video's about any of them! I am suprised to hear you say you had such bad experiences with Ravensburger, is it printed in Europe? Here Ravensburger is a very reliable high quality brand, one of the best I might say, no false fits, thick pieces which fit perfectly, and because the cut shapes are made by hand you never have 2 identical pieces, you always just can feel right away if its the correct piece or not.
Hi Nina, oh the birds puzzle?! So beautiful isnt it? I also have a thing for bird puzzles. There are some incredible ones here in nz but all luxury ones i cant afford. 😂 glad i found that one, i think i paid 6 dollars or something like that. Yes, i had a number of Ravensburgers that were mediocre quality. One literally faded in front of my eyes as i was solving it in a bright sunny room. I think it had to be fake? It’s a real gamble you never know what you get unless you import them - then i guess you get the real deal you guys talk about! 😅😅 but i would definitely not buy a Ravensburger at a local shop here. Expensive and probably didnt pass the quality standards back in the factory so they sent to nz shops 😂 i will however give them the benefit of doubt if they only cost a few coins at a thrift store, in which case i just get them gone if they are bad. 😁
Great selection. I am from Canada... and we have no shortage of puzzles... but I understand the frustration of not having easy access to specific brands. Not everyone carries everything...even up here in Alberta. I'm a big Cobble Hill fan... with over 40 puzzles that I've completed. Cobble Hill has amazing quality and has so much variety in subject matter. Great for lovers of nature, animals, colour and creativity. I am also a big fan of buying second hand. I have had great enjoyment with puzzles that I have only spend 1-3 dollars on.
Good day Ruby, thanks for the valuable comment, really appreciated. I see now that Cobble Hill is a great brand indeed. I hope to find more puzzle like this soon. I agree with tou about second hand, all of the ones i remember well due to te joy they brought me were second hand or used puzzles too!
wow you have managed to score some pretty cool puzzles in 2nd hand shops, that last NZ puzzle is fab!! im in NZ as well and im in wellington and most of the ones i come across in 2nd hand shops are not as nice as those. jealous!
Hello Matilda! Oh you’re in Welly! Thats so cool, i only have heard from 1 other puzzlers in nz too, besides you in my channel so thats so nice! I do scavenge a lot here, as op shops are just about in every corner 😂 sometimes i get some really nice finds indeed, like yesterday i found 2 pomegranade puzzles which cost huge bucks new, for only $3! I almost fainted when i saw them hanging amongst some scrap 😂😂 sorry to hear you dont find nice puzzles in wellington! Wonder why?!
@@RicPuzzles you are honestly finding some great finds, i also just watched your other thrift store findings in browns bay and my my my, you are spoilt. the 2nd hand shops down here in welly tend to just have crap than anything great. wish there are loads of them around but they are either just 1 around and the others are like miles away. maybe welly is not as exciting as Auckland so lots of people do puzzles here hahaha and not enough 2nd hand ones to go around 🙂 BY the way have been meaning to ask if you have ever tried the whitcoulls own brand puzzles?? i have never done one of theirs and was wondering if you know the quality.
hi there! to be very honest I do think it may indeed be a regional thing? i also noticed that if you go to certain parts of Auckland for example, the puzzle choices are a world different! for example, I never find good puzzles in Albany, which I do in other places on the shore...it's so odd isn't it? im sure it may have something to do with the habits of the place. one thing to study about! hehe sorry you dont have much of a choice there!
Hi, sorry to hear that you haven't had the best experience with FX Schmid puzzles. They're actually one of my favorite ones. The ones I've assembled have had a great fit, nice and solid, and interesting, distinctive piece cuts. As for Springboks, the crossword puzzles aren't exactly the best representation of their glory period...those are from the 60's and early 70's. The quality of the cuts and general piece quality diminishes you get closer to present day. If you can find one from the 60's you'll be very happy. 🙂
Oh thank you for the feedback Joe! Yes..so sad i have like 5 fx, all of them are really either faded or just very blurry, i truly wonder if they are fake. More and more i feel like what we are getting here might be unwanted left overs! 😂 i will keep an eye on 60s Springbok, good to know! Thank you for the comment, very helpful!
Great collection of puzzles! The puzzles that you didn't like because they weren't sharp were that way because they were of paintings.
@@maryjaneellinger1783 hi Maryjane! Oh thank you so much for the comment, really cool to know your opinion on the puzzles and on my thoughts on some. I know right?! I have had a few of those blurry ones but what bugs me is why then some other paintings are just fine?! It is a gamble i guess. It would be nice if they were able to maintain the brush strokes like in this one painting puzzle i solved recently
th-cam.com/video/pMC_lZeTojI/w-d-xo.html
Thanks for your comment! 🙏👍🏻😁
Beautiful selection of puzzles! ❤ Can't wait for the videos.
Thank you kindly Izebelle!
Hi Ric im sorry i hadn’t checked your videos lately. This is one of the greatest collection i have seen in a while. I couldn’t pick one as a favourite. Maybe the very old MB? It would be fun see see what you can come up with.
Hello Praisepuzzle that is ok! I know we are all busy doing life eh! Haha the MB seems like a great pick here indeed 🙌😁
The Milton Bradley Ferndale jigsaw is gorgeous! I have only done one Holdson's that I remember, an older 'Mirror Mirror', and it was great, my only complaint was that is was very loose fitting which meant I couldn't move sections easily. That wouldn't stop me trying another one though!
Oh nice! Yes i loved that old mb puzzle too. Really tempted to solve it very soon. Sorry to hear about the lose fit on Holdsons - definitely not the kind to hold up like we see on socials! I know the puzzle you mentioned, nice choice! Thx for the comment 👍🏻😁
Nice selection of puzzles. I really like Waddingtons puzzles. I just bought a Mike Wilks one. It’s very busy, so I keep putting it off. 😂
Trevor Mitchell is one of my favourite puzzle artists. That garage one is part of a Ravensburger series called Happy Days at Work as well. They are really fun.
Cobble Hill are lovely. What a bargain. That’s about £1.50 here. They are becoming easier to get in the uk, but they are still quite expensive.
I did a springbok a week or so ago and the quality was far better than your one. Not the best though. It was a newer print.
@@50sRockChick hi 50sRockChick! Great to hear from you today! Oh thank you for the feedback on the puzzles. I have been meaning to post more puzzle collections for a few months now 😅, me too, love the older waddingtons very much! cobble is so new to me and i only came across it because of the fishing-related image… and bought it without knowing this is a great traditional brand to keep an eye on! Now i see it’s a great find! Yeah i do feel like the springboks and well as Heyes are VERY overrated. They are ok. But maybe im also just seeing whats old. Haven’t solved anything from the two brands thats brand new and novelty yet so i guess i cant really make a final bold statement. Thanks for commenting, always great to hear from you.
Hi Ric, great puzzle haul. I can’t wait to see the crossword ones done. I also loved the last one Can’t wait for our next video.
Good day Debbie! Thanks for enjoying this! Me too so looking forward to doing that gigantic crossword one 🤭
@@RicPuzzles2 of my favourite things to do. Jigsaw puzzles and crosswords 😊
@@debbiegrima4047 😁👍🏻 same!
@@RicPuzzlesdo you still have your Amazon Wishlist?? I’ve been trying to find it. Thanks
@@debbiegrima4047 hi Debbie! of course, I still have it :-) here it is:
www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/DSA356Q48ZOS
Hej Ric, I was rewatching this video and I noticed something I missed the first time around, regarding the F.X. Schmid, Tribute to Nelson by William E.D. Stuart.
This brand’s name is similar to Schmidt Spiele (usually just call Schmidt), and I wonder if perhaps you have heard about their puzzles when people have mixed up the names.
Both brands are German but that is where the similarities end. Schmidt (with a “t") puzzles are today of the best quality, sometimes even better than Ravensburgers (modern Ravesburgers).
And it was just Ravensburger that bought up FX Schmid in the nineties and now uses the name brand for some of their products, although not puzzles.
If the bad info you got was indeed about a Schmidt Spiele puzzle, it had to have been an old exemplar. If one exists; I have never even seen one.
hi Lock Kulla! absolutely, I always thought I was going mad, because every time I say FX chmiD people jump in to defend them and call it Schmidt, and I really failed to see what the fuss is about since the quality was really basic or questionable! I have bought many older FX shmid puZzles (SHMID) from the 90s mostly before and pretty much all of them were on the blurrier looks...hahah your feedback makes perfect sense! I will write it down to make a video about it.
@@RicPuzzles Glad to have cleared some of the confusion. There are other tidbits in this video worth expanding on.
Falcon puzzles, for example. Originally a British brand, it is now owed by Jumbo Games, from the Netherlands, and has become a very popular collection under this brand.
It’d be interesting to own an original Falcon, for comparison. See how you keep finding the odd and the unusual?
If you happen to find a Falcon/Jumbo, in its distinctive forest green box design, don’t hesitate to buy it. Great quality and their artists' work on themes like the one on the Holdson Times Past. Kind of nostalgic scenes of a kinder time. Or an Idealised picture of a time that probably never was. The images are pretty either way.
Oh wow thank you for the fantastic insight, i didn’t know any of these logistics, good to know! I’ll keep an eye for the green boxes then jumbo and falcon together. Thank again!
@@RicPuzzles You're welcome 😀🧩
Merry Xmas from New Zealand to you!
Hej Ric, just watched your latest. We really are spoiled for choice here in Europe. Not only because there are so many well established puzzle makers, but also because due to the global interest, more brands keep popping-up.
Then again, you get to live in New Zealand, so let’s call it even. Go Blacks!
haha I definitely share the enthusiasm with you about NZ, but tell me about this puzzle shortage right? I envy you for having such a variety! I scroll on Instagram and I see those absolutely stunning and very colourful puzzles with beautiful illustrations, graphics drawings and feel sad! hahaha I love my older puzzles, but new quirky ones in a while would be welcome too! thanks for the comment mate!
Hej again 🙂 I don’t always read the comments from your other subscribers but today I did and one of them got me thinking.
Do you still have one of those bad Ravensburgers? If you do, look at the barcode, or some place around it. Does it state that it's made in the USA? Because that would explain a lot.
A Ravensburger expert on TH-cam clarifies in great detail why some puzzlers think they have found counterfeit puzzles. Most of the time the reason is that they have old puzzles, from before the company began producing them with their signature softclick technology.
The jigsaws made in the USA are a special case though. With few exceptions, Ravensburger products are made in Germany, however, the company did work with a factory in New Hampshire for a few years, 2002 to 2007 or whereabouts, and the results were less than satisfactory.
Check out the video “Fake Ravensburger ???” from PuzzlesbyLiza. It is only 15 min. and she seems to know her stuff.
omg Lock, indeed, I just had one in my car and went to check it out, printed in there USA in 2003. it literally faded as I was completing it. by the time the puzzle was finished, it was completely faded like as if I had bleached it. omg thanks for the tip, I'll definitely keep a sharp eye on this now!
@@RicPuzzles Glad to be of help 🙂
In other news: you may want to hold on to that Ravensburger, World Cup 1966. If you happen not to like it, don’t send it back to the Op shop until you find out what you can get for it.
I was looking for other jigsaws in the Headline collection (I found one about the coronation of Liz II) and depending on the condition, and if all the pieces are there, and if you find the right buyer it could fetch anything between 50 to 90 NZ.
You also may want to keep it of course, if you like it, or for being a collectors’ item.
Puzzle collectors or fans of the English team that has only won the World Cup once.
@@lock-kulla oh thank you for the tip! To be very honest, i feel like NZ is to puzzles what Cuba is for cars, frozen in time, i think that 1966 cup isn’t the only copy around here, but i do love the image and might keep it anyway! 🤭
@@RicPuzzles That’s interesting. On the one hand NZ is the Cuba of puzzles, but on the other you can find rarities. Here’s my theory. I can’t find good stuff in our second hand shops because puzzling is popular over here, thus, puzzlers would much rather keep their jigsaws. Conversely, you can find odd, remarkable items because Kiwis don’t really know what they have at home, being as puzzling isn’t a thing.
Do you have friends or family that puzzle?
Hah yes i couldnt agree more! Your theory seems spot on. It does look like people dont keep puzzles here and a lot of the oddities i get have been around for a long time, hand to hand, often for decades. Good that people here are very good at looking after them. Im happy indeed with second hand puzzles, some are questionable but god forbid, the brand new ones are made of gold here mate. Just saw an ‘OK’ (nothing special) Heyes 1000pcs for nzd 200 + shipping from within nz. It’s pure greed i think.
Yes
Have you tried Piece House? The quality is stunning. I like the quality of Holdson's but I cannot stand the images - not my cup of tea.
@@blackhellebore89 hi Blackhellebore. Nope i haven’t tried them yet! I just checked new ones here. Cheapest is NZ$ 49 plus shipping new. I hope to find some second hand ones one day though!
@@blackhellebore89 fair enough about Holdson, we need to connect with the images we are working on don’t we! Thanks for your comment btw, great to exchange ideas!
@@RicPuzzles they are definitely going for the luxury market - I have a couple from when they had a bundle sale.
hehe thanks BlackHellebore, hah yeah I get you. I'll also keep an eye for Piece House too, maybe I'll come across some sale myself too!
Hello.
hi there! sorry for the long delay!
You and Karen Puzzles should get married, I think she's single too.
😂👍🏻
Hello.
Hello!