This puzzle is also wider than a standard 1000 piece puzzle so play close attention to the dimensions. I gave up on this puzzle due to the difficulty. You have inspired me to try this puzzle again, and gave me lots of tips for completing it. Thanks! I completely agree on the high quality of the puzzle pieces and the vibrant colors, but they need to work on creating easier images.
Yes, I did notice it was wider, but forgot to mention it to be honest. It fit on my board ok though, so there wasn’t a problem in that respect. I am glad I’ve inspired you to try again. I think I just managed to find a strategy that worked really well for me and I stuck with it. I hope it works for you too 😍
@@Vickymakesandbuilds I finally completed the 1000 piece "Out West" puzzle!!! My skills have definitely improved since I first tried this puzzle. In fact, I enjoyed this Blue Kazoo puzzle so much that I have purchased the 1000 piece "Meridian" puzzle to complete.
There is nothing better than a flow state when I’m puzzling! My favorite part is though when assembling I tend to place pieces where I’m not sure where they belong they start to pile up. Then the puzzle starts to come together I now know. A big handful of pieces in my hand feels wonderful! One by one I place them. Just wonderful! The rush of satisfaction oh la la! Such a beautiful and vibrant puzzle.
Hi Vicky -that puzzle looked great -the colours were so vivid. I've never done one of their puzzles but will certainly get one after seeing you do that one.
Nice puzzle Vicky. I love that the pieces are softer and not glossy. Not a fan of the glossy finish myself as it reflects in the light and makes it harder to see what you are doing. Sadly Blue Kazoo are quite expensive and I need to tell myself I have way more than enough puzzles to be going on with. Doing the Ravensburger 5000 piece Pokeman Allstars at the moment. I know nothing about Pokemon but the puzzle is fun to do anyway.
Hiya! Thank you 🤩 I too am soooo glad that they have ditched the gloss - I really didn’t like that about their old ones. I agree, they are more on the expensive side and for me the postage is high too so I haven’t bought too many from them. I just had to get Earth though and I was lucky with the other ones I have, got many of them second hand 😊 Yay! I love that Pokemon puzzle! I need to get my kids in the puzzle room and finally fire that one out! I’m so glad you are enjoying it!
Hi Vicky, what can we say, you are an inspiration 🥰. We love blue kazoo puzzles even though postage is a tad heavy to Oz. Would love to see you construct Jupiter, I’m an astrology nut so it would be so cool. Thanks so much Vicky👍. Mark+Chris
Thank you so much Mark and Chris! 😍 I agree, the postage is pretty high - can’t even imagine what it must be to Oz, but it’s a fair bit to the UK. I’ve been lucky in the past and found a couple of Blue Kazoo’s on local marketplaces, so I’ve only really had to pay a hefty postage for the Earth puzzle that I did. I can’t wait to do Jupiter - I’m a huge fan of their planet puzzles. I really hope they bring a sustainable version of the Earth puzzle out, so I can do it again and try to complete the collection! 😍
Hi Vicky, We would love a video of the Jupiter puzzle and your methods of attack. We know that you have a huge pile of new puzzles so it’s a long shot but …… worth asking ha!. Be well Vicky and warm wishes from Oz. Mark+Chris😎😄
Hmm, I might actually have to check Blue Kazoo out again and get some from their new lines! I've done a few from their old lines and absolutely hated how shiny the pieces were. But I like what I see, like the improvements, especially that matte finish! :D
Yes! That’s one of the best changes they’ve made to be quite honest, they’ve ditched the gloss! Woohoo! Let me know if you give one of the new ones a try - I hope you enjoy 😊
Wish I'd bought this one too. Looks so fun, so gorgeous. I noticed you have Starfield of the old version. That is to date the hardest quality puzzle I've done so far (my black table didn't help either). I'f you do that one, I'd become a member or patron support for sure, cos I'd paid to see you do that one. Looking forward to Jupiter.
Ha ha! You’re certainly making me work hard for it! Lol. Thank you, I shall keep that in mind when I’m figuring out which puzzle to do for my next members video 😍
I hadnt considered getting this puzzle because it looked very difficult. I might give it a go after seeing this. Im currently working on jupiter. It is difficult, but still very enjoyable.
It wasn’t easy, but I didn’t find it overly difficult, just took a bit of strategising that’s all 😊. If you do go for it, I hope you enjoy! Jupiter looks harder in my opinion! I will find out soon I guess - I am really looking forward to doing that one 😍
Hi Vicky 😂 I found in the Meridian one I had: - paper backing to peel when removing a piece from the built puzzle -false fits but easily noticeable or by turning piece around - yellows & whites stand out in the poster (and the white on the box) whereas it's dark on the actual puzzle; the blues don't reflect that, though -piece thickness is chunky but doesn't beat the Ravensburger...just as thick - cannot rummage in box bc black piece backings are camoflauged with the interior part of the box that's black - very crumbly, but you state it's not that bad - couldn't pick it up (that's satisfying to me) -tiny bit larger size than standard 1000pc counts - very challenging but very doable, I agree! -too big of a poster - loved the box design, but the entire image is found on the back Would I put together this "clay image" puzzle again? I may give it another try, but with another image I'm interested in that is ribbon cut. I did like the thick, ribbon cut, soft touch pieces so much but the rest steered me into giving it away. MAYBE "Daughter"?? Don't know yet...
That’s a shame you experienced some issues with Meridian. The poster vs puzzle colours was not a problem in Out West, I’m not sure what the reason is for the discrepancy there across the puzzles. I have had that mismatch with other brands, but I didn’t find it with this one. I also had no peeling pieces, even when removing one from the puzzle. I agree the box is hard to use for rummaging, not only because the inside is black, like the pieces, but also because the boxes are small. However, I do appreciate that for storage purposes. You saw I managed to pick it up. I would rate the hold together-ability as average on this puzzle, not super firm, but I wouldn’t describe it as overly crumbly either. Yes, I was surprised by how much wider the puzzle was than standard. Could make it an issue for framing I suppose. Thank you for sharing your experience of Blue Kazoo puzzles, Betty 😍
Hi Vicky! Lovely review! This image initially looked intimidating; your analysis makes it seem doable. There aren’t any Blue Kazoo puzzles currently residing in my collection; this one is a likely candidate! At the moment I have a Buffalo Games puzzle from their Noir series: London. It seems to be a premier line for them, priced similarly to Blue Kazoo and also has black backing paper. Because the image is a city street scene at night the dark backing did make the sorting interesting. In other puzzle news, I just finished the Clementoni 6k Venice Evening Sunset. 121 hours over a stretch of 98 days worth of puzzling pleasure! Now I’m wondering which giant puzzle to do next. Do you have a recommendation for a 5k or 6k you really enjoyed? (I’ve already done Artist Mickey and the Colin Thompson Bizarre Town. They’re kind of what hooked me on large piece counts!)
Hiya! Thank you - I’m glad I made it look doable - a couple of people have said that, it’s nice to know that my videos help in that way. I still have yet to do a Buffalo puzzle, I will get around to it eventually! That London one sounds good - I do like the black backing, I just think it looks sort of classy - not sure why, it just does! Well done on Venice - it’s a lovely puzzle, I’m glad you enjoyed it. As for recommendations, there is only one other 6k puzzle I’ve done outside of the ones you have mentioned and that is Entering the Bedroom by Educa. I loved that puzzle. If you don’t mind Educa puzzles I would recommend that one. Otherwise I am looking forward to tackling Downtown - Clementoni, I think that one will be very enjoyable - also The Kiss by Mordillo. For my 5ks I’m really looking forward to them all, but Pokemon, Big City Collage and Space Odyssey are ones you haven’t mentioned and I think they will all be fun!
Hi Vicky. Good video as always. Never done a puzzle like that and not sure if be too stressfull for me as if remember from previous messages...One day I will try a puzzle like that. Looking forward to more beautiful videos
Starfield is a joke - I have been working on it for more than two weeks with no end in sight. I am starting to think there are pieces missing or it’s some kind of gag with mismatched pieces. I’m glad you didn’t pay for it. I tried to post an honest, negative-but-polite review on the BK website and so far it is not showing up in their reviews for customers to see. Interesting images, great quality, but I don’t really enjoy assembling these puzzles, and I don’t trust a brand that makes a big production of posting positive reviews, while withholding negative feedback from its customers.
Starfield does look extremely tough. It will be a while before I get around to that one, and I honestly don’t know how much I’ll enjoy doing one of their older, glossier puzzles, now that I’ve done one of their sustainable ones - not sure if I can go back! That’s a shame that your review hasn’t been posted, that seems a little misleading only posting positive reviews.
I wrote my review twice to make sure it wasn’t too harsh, but maybe I should have done a third re-write! At any rate, I have probably put 100+ hours into this puzzle and I think I’m at about 70% complete. I am only finishing it because I am competitive and I won’t let this beast beat me! I also want to find out if there are pieces missing. Once I finish, I will carefully craft another review and see if it gets accepted. Thanks for listening to my rant. This was just so frustrating and it doesn’t seem fair to not be able to warn other puzzlers about it. (Background: I have been a puzzler for 40 years, I stopped looking at boxes and posters years ago, and I have never had to make special accommodations for a puzzle. This is truly awful.) Anyway, you and the other TH-cam Battle ladies are so much fun! Happy puzzling! P.S. I almost forgot-I watched your Part 3 video with the “slow walk”. That was awesome…😂
@@Vickymakesandbuilds Hi Vicky - I am closing the loop on this comment. Last night I was about 80% finished with this puzzle and completely hit a wall. Realizing that it was starting to affect my mental health, I put it all in the box and immediately felt better. I've already moved on. Thank you again for letting me vent. 🙂
Me too! My favourite change to be quite honest - I didn’t like the gloss in the old ones 😍 Thank you for letting me know your handle! Sometimes people’s YT names are so different from their Instagram handles that it’s impossible to know who is who 😍
Thank you so much for the review! We’re so happy you loved it. 😃🍻
Thank you for sending the puzzles! I did really enjoy it 😃
This puzzle is also wider than a standard 1000 piece puzzle so play close attention to the dimensions. I gave up on this puzzle due to the difficulty. You have inspired me to try this puzzle again, and gave me lots of tips for completing it. Thanks! I completely agree on the high quality of the puzzle pieces and the vibrant colors, but they need to work on creating easier images.
Yes, I did notice it was wider, but forgot to mention it to be honest. It fit on my board ok though, so there wasn’t a problem in that respect. I am glad I’ve inspired you to try again. I think I just managed to find a strategy that worked really well for me and I stuck with it. I hope it works for you too 😍
@@Vickymakesandbuilds I finally completed the 1000 piece "Out West" puzzle!!! My skills have definitely improved since I first tried this puzzle. In fact, I enjoyed this Blue Kazoo puzzle so much that I have purchased the 1000 piece "Meridian" puzzle to complete.
There is nothing better than a flow state when I’m puzzling! My favorite part is though when assembling I tend to place pieces where I’m not sure where they belong they start to pile up. Then the puzzle starts to come together I now know. A big handful of pieces in my hand feels wonderful! One by one I place them. Just wonderful! The rush of satisfaction oh la la!
Such a beautiful and vibrant puzzle.
Thank you Ruth! I agree, it is soooo satisfying when you get into the flow with a puzzle. 🧩😍
Such a pretty image; I love the colors and the 3-D aspect of it.
Yes! It definitely has a wee 3D effect about it! 😍
Hi Vicky -that puzzle looked great -the colours were so vivid. I've never done one of their puzzles but will certainly get one after seeing you do that one.
Yay! Thank you - I’m happy that you’re going to try one, I hope you enjoy it when you do 😍
Beautiful! I love the vibrant colors!
Thank you! I’m so glad you love it 🥰
Nice puzzle Vicky. I love that the pieces are softer and not glossy. Not a fan of the glossy finish myself as it reflects in the light and makes it harder to see what you are doing. Sadly Blue Kazoo are quite expensive and I need to tell myself I have way more than enough puzzles to be going on with. Doing the Ravensburger 5000 piece Pokeman Allstars at the moment. I know nothing about Pokemon but the puzzle is fun to do anyway.
Hiya! Thank you 🤩 I too am soooo glad that they have ditched the gloss - I really didn’t like that about their old ones. I agree, they are more on the expensive side and for me the postage is high too so I haven’t bought too many from them. I just had to get Earth though and I was lucky with the other ones I have, got many of them second hand 😊
Yay! I love that Pokemon puzzle! I need to get my kids in the puzzle room and finally fire that one out! I’m so glad you are enjoying it!
Hi Vicky, what can we say, you are an inspiration 🥰. We love blue kazoo puzzles even though postage is a tad heavy to Oz. Would love to see you construct Jupiter, I’m an astrology nut so it would be so cool. Thanks so much Vicky👍. Mark+Chris
Thank you so much Mark and Chris! 😍 I agree, the postage is pretty high - can’t even imagine what it must be to Oz, but it’s a fair bit to the UK. I’ve been lucky in the past and found a couple of Blue Kazoo’s on local marketplaces, so I’ve only really had to pay a hefty postage for the Earth puzzle that I did. I can’t wait to do Jupiter - I’m a huge fan of their planet puzzles. I really hope they bring a sustainable version of the Earth puzzle out, so I can do it again and try to complete the collection! 😍
Hi Vicky, We would love a video of the Jupiter puzzle and your methods of attack. We know that you have a huge pile of new puzzles so it’s a long shot but …… worth asking ha!. Be well Vicky and warm wishes from Oz. Mark+Chris😎😄
Those colors are so vivid and beautiful. 🎉❤
I'd love to build that.
Glad you enjoyed it so much!
Happy Puzzling, Vicky! 😊
Happy puzzling to you too! I absolutely did enjoy it, it was a beautiful puzzle to build and lovely quality 😍
Hmm, I might actually have to check Blue Kazoo out again and get some from their new lines! I've done a few from their old lines and absolutely hated how shiny the pieces were. But I like what I see, like the improvements, especially that matte finish! :D
Yes! That’s one of the best changes they’ve made to be quite honest, they’ve ditched the gloss! Woohoo! Let me know if you give one of the new ones a try - I hope you enjoy 😊
Wish I'd bought this one too. Looks so fun, so gorgeous. I noticed you have Starfield of the old version. That is to date the hardest quality puzzle I've done so far (my black table didn't help either). I'f you do that one, I'd become a member or patron support for sure, cos I'd paid to see you do that one. Looking forward to Jupiter.
Ha ha! You’re certainly making me work hard for it! Lol. Thank you, I shall keep that in mind when I’m figuring out which puzzle to do for my next members video 😍
Beautiful puzzle I loved the colors on it. I finally finished my first 3,000 pc puzzle. I was so proud of myself .
Yay!! Well done 😍 That’s awesome! 3k is not small at all - will you go bigger next do you think? 😃
I probably won't go too much bigger. I just don't have the space.
I hadnt considered getting this puzzle because it looked very difficult. I might give it a go after seeing this. Im currently working on jupiter. It is difficult, but still very enjoyable.
It wasn’t easy, but I didn’t find it overly difficult, just took a bit of strategising that’s all 😊. If you do go for it, I hope you enjoy! Jupiter looks harder in my opinion! I will find out soon I guess - I am really looking forward to doing that one 😍
Hi Vicky 😂
I found in the Meridian one I had:
- paper backing to peel when removing a piece from the built puzzle
-false fits but easily noticeable or by turning piece around
- yellows & whites stand out in the poster (and the white on the box) whereas it's dark on the actual puzzle; the blues don't reflect that, though
-piece thickness is chunky but doesn't beat the Ravensburger...just as thick
- cannot rummage in box bc black piece backings are camoflauged with the interior part of the box that's black
- very crumbly, but you state it's not that bad
- couldn't pick it up (that's satisfying to me)
-tiny bit larger size than standard 1000pc counts
- very challenging but very doable, I agree!
-too big of a poster
- loved the box design, but the entire image is found on the back
Would I put together this "clay image" puzzle again?
I may give it another try, but with another image I'm interested in that is ribbon cut. I did like the thick, ribbon cut, soft touch pieces so much but the rest steered me into giving it away. MAYBE "Daughter"?? Don't know yet...
That’s a shame you experienced some issues with Meridian. The poster vs puzzle colours was not a problem in Out West, I’m not sure what the reason is for the discrepancy there across the puzzles. I have had that mismatch with other brands, but I didn’t find it with this one. I also had no peeling pieces, even when removing one from the puzzle. I agree the box is hard to use for rummaging, not only because the inside is black, like the pieces, but also because the boxes are small. However, I do appreciate that for storage purposes. You saw I managed to pick it up. I would rate the hold together-ability as average on this puzzle, not super firm, but I wouldn’t describe it as overly crumbly either. Yes, I was surprised by how much wider the puzzle was than standard. Could make it an issue for framing I suppose.
Thank you for sharing your experience of Blue Kazoo puzzles, Betty 😍
I ordered this one and the kitty picnic one waiting to get them!!
Woohoo! I hope they come soon, and that you have fun with them 😍
Hi Vicky! Lovely review! This image initially looked intimidating; your analysis makes it seem doable. There aren’t any Blue Kazoo puzzles currently residing in my collection; this one is a likely candidate! At the moment I have a Buffalo Games puzzle from their Noir series: London. It seems to be a premier line for them, priced similarly to Blue Kazoo and also has black backing paper. Because the image is a city street scene at night the dark backing did make the sorting interesting.
In other puzzle news, I just finished the Clementoni 6k Venice Evening Sunset. 121 hours over a stretch of 98 days worth of puzzling pleasure! Now I’m wondering which giant puzzle to do next. Do you have a recommendation for a 5k or 6k you really enjoyed? (I’ve already done Artist Mickey and the Colin Thompson Bizarre Town. They’re kind of what hooked me on large piece counts!)
Hiya! Thank you - I’m glad I made it look doable - a couple of people have said that, it’s nice to know that my videos help in that way. I still have yet to do a Buffalo puzzle, I will get around to it eventually! That London one sounds good - I do like the black backing, I just think it looks sort of classy - not sure why, it just does!
Well done on Venice - it’s a lovely puzzle, I’m glad you enjoyed it.
As for recommendations, there is only one other 6k puzzle I’ve done outside of the ones you have mentioned and that is Entering the Bedroom by Educa. I loved that puzzle. If you don’t mind Educa puzzles I would recommend that one. Otherwise I am looking forward to tackling Downtown - Clementoni, I think that one will be very enjoyable - also The Kiss by Mordillo. For my 5ks I’m really looking forward to them all, but Pokemon, Big City Collage and Space Odyssey are ones you haven’t mentioned and I think they will all be fun!
The colors on that puzzle look great!
They were lovely 😍
Hi Vicky. Good video as always. Never done a puzzle like that and not sure if be too stressfull for me as if remember from previous messages...One day I will try a puzzle like that. Looking forward to more beautiful videos
Thank you so much! I’m so glad you enjoyed it 😍
Such a nice pattern in the art!
Yes! I agree, it pops out at you, which I love - it’s a cool affect 😍
Starfield is a joke - I have been working on it for more than two weeks with no end in sight. I am starting to think there are pieces missing or it’s some kind of gag with mismatched pieces. I’m glad you didn’t pay for it. I tried to post an honest, negative-but-polite review on the BK website and so far it is not showing up in their reviews for customers to see. Interesting images, great quality, but I don’t really enjoy assembling these puzzles, and I don’t trust a brand that makes a big production of posting positive reviews, while withholding negative feedback from its customers.
Starfield does look extremely tough. It will be a while before I get around to that one, and I honestly don’t know how much I’ll enjoy doing one of their older, glossier puzzles, now that I’ve done one of their sustainable ones - not sure if I can go back!
That’s a shame that your review hasn’t been posted, that seems a little misleading only posting positive reviews.
I wrote my review twice to make sure it wasn’t too harsh, but maybe I should have done a third re-write! At any rate, I have probably put 100+ hours into this puzzle and I think I’m at about 70% complete. I am only finishing it because I am competitive and I won’t let this beast beat me! I also want to find out if there are pieces missing. Once I finish, I will carefully craft another review and see if it gets accepted.
Thanks for listening to my rant. This was just so frustrating and it doesn’t seem fair to not be able to warn other puzzlers about it. (Background: I have been a puzzler for 40 years, I stopped looking at boxes and posters years ago, and I have never had to make special accommodations for a puzzle. This is truly awful.)
Anyway, you and the other TH-cam Battle ladies are so much fun! Happy puzzling!
P.S. I almost forgot-I watched your Part 3 video with the “slow walk”. That was awesome…😂
@@Vickymakesandbuilds Hi Vicky - I am closing the loop on this comment. Last night I was about 80% finished with this puzzle and completely hit a wall. Realizing that it was starting to affect my mental health, I put it all in the box and immediately felt better. I've already moved on. Thank you again for letting me vent. 🙂
I’m happy that the glare is gone I only have their older ones, great pick up aka @gottajustpuzzle
Me too! My favourite change to be quite honest - I didn’t like the gloss in the old ones 😍
Thank you for letting me know your handle! Sometimes people’s YT names are so different from their Instagram handles that it’s impossible to know who is who 😍