Holdson Jigsaw

 Holdson has become my least favourite puzzle brand recently, after all the issues I have had with them, I have found the other brands to be a better quality. Will only get them off of marketplace now and not purchase them brand new.

Just not worth it as getting very bored with their designs and actually saw the other week, that they had taken a design that I have already completed by another brand and it had been reimagine, by the artist, to create a new one, but it was only small subtle changes that had been made so knew I had already done that design. 

New Holdson design

Come on, at least come up with new designs!

Are they that desperate for images to use that they have to work with the same artist from another country and recreate, when they could come up with something new.

Jigsaw 24 - Vintage Book Shop

 This past weekend I have not been well.

I have the start of Rheumatoid Arthritis and Fibromyalgia, although they are currently classing it as Palindromic rheumatism. So occasionally I get flare ups where I have pain in my ankles, wrists, knees, hips and neck. The pain comes on for no reason; nothing sets it off and it can last for 6 hours to 3 days. Pain relief and rest is usually the treatment. There is not much I can do when in a flare up, walking is painful, legs sometimes struggle to work, hands don't want to work as no strength in them and my brain just does not cope well.

So, this past weekend I have spent a lot of time sitting and completing jigsaws as it is easy to do and doesn't hurt my wrists so much. It is my first major flare up in the past 4-6 months.

This one was finished within 24 hours of the Lego one as I have had nothing else, I can do during that time.

It was easy to sort into colours, went together easily and apart from being a Holdson and being flimsy and breaking easily every time you caught a piece on your sleeve, it was nice to do. 

Jigsaw 23 - Space Stars

 This was easy, quick and fun to complete.

I do like the Lego jigsaws but there is not much challenge to them because the colours are easy to identify and sort and then they come together very quickly.

So, start to finish took all of about 24 hours.

Jigsaw 22 - Butterfly

 This is one I got from marketplace and thought it might be somewhat easy to complete.

Yeah, well, occasionally, I am totally wrong! This one was tricky, drove me spare and I think I cursed every time I touched it until it was finished. The colours smashed into each other and the pieces were not easy to identify by pattern/colour alone. Several times I searched all available pieces for what I thought it would be only to find it looked slightly different.

Glad I finished it but by far my least favourite one this year.

Now on to one a little simpler

Jigsaw 21 - Sidewalk Fashion

 This one is actually 1500 pieces, and I have enjoyed completing a jigsaw slightly bigger than normal. It did mean I had to get my board out to complete it on as it was too large for the card table I usually use. Whilst 1000 pieces is a good size to complete, a bigger one is always fun, and I wish I could get more of the large sizes to complete. Still trying to work out how to get a slightly bigger board so I can complete 2000 pieces more easily.

I have started looking at measurements to see how to make myself a slightly bigger board, so watch this space.

Where Do They Come From?

Where do I get all my jigsaw puzzles from people often ask me.

For a while then yes, I did buy them myself when I saw them on special or received them from the boys as presents on birthdays and Christmas.

Then I found Facebook Marketplace, and, in my city, there is quite a movement of jigsaws between people. Mostly costing about $10. I only stay in my city and don't travel long distance or pay postage for any. 

Back in April 2024 someone put a post on marketplace about some jigsaws she was selling, she had heaps and I saw many that I wanted. So, I went and visited to buy some. She had been completing jigsaws all through covid, had been storing them in a storage unit and now wanted to get rid of them. She had a wall full, and I mean there had to be nearly 200+ puzzles in her room. I have only seen that amount in a shop, not someone's front room of their house! Lots of Holdson jigsaws come in sets of 4 and she had all four from the collection, so there were many that I wanted.

Well, 25 puzzles later ($210), I left her house. I got most of the ones you have seen me complete this year and last year from her (if Holdson brand) and I have moved them all on since then by selling them back on marketplace for $10 each, so I am pretty much equal on the money front 😎 the odd one hasn't moved but it is a minor loss for all the enjoyment they have brought me and savings of getting them for $5-10 instead of $28-40

This was one picture I took of some I got from her and as you can see, many are of the same design and collection. This pile is only 9 jigsaws so you can imagine, I had jigsaws all over the house, still do if I am honest!

This year, whilst I have still purchased quite a few, always on special and when my local Jigstore has good specials on, or damage box sales (just because the box is dented doesn't mean there is anything wrong with the jigsaw) then a majority have come from marketplace, although a few weeks ago I did actually do a swap with a lady of 3 puzzles. Saved me giving her $10 only to have her give it back to me for one of mine. from now on, I will be putting this on my posts that I am open to swaps.

I would say I have probably spent about $500 on jigsaws throughout the year but when I sell them, I get a little bit of that back, but it is not about making the money back.

So, gifts, purchasing and marketplace is my place of choice, although the odd one does still get loaned from family/friend.

I do also loan them to family and friends and that has started to happen a little bit more, but they always come back to me.

Jigsaw 20 - Bees and Honey

 This one was loaned to me by a colleague and was trickier than I realised it would be. The colour was all the same so made for some harder parts and difficult to sort. Although it was nice to have a challenge for a while.

Recovery is going well, but finding walking hard some days as my abdomen muscles are definitely telling me that they are not happy about being chopped up and then put back together!