u/sugimhon

This was a plastic puzzle which doesn’t come by that often for Tenyo. This one was the fourth puzzle I’d done from this series. But it was way more challenging than I expected, mainly because the colors on the pieces were a lot more saturated than on the box, particularly the warm tones. I guess they were going for the bright/exaggerated look of stained glass ? I started with yellows and oranges as well. It might have been easier if I’d started with purple and blue and green lines in the background. But I always start with the characters for Disney puzzles.

After about 30% done though, it started to get really fun. And the cut quality, as expected from Tenyo, was excellent. Sharp lines, fit perfectly, no false fit. I wish they’d release 1000-pc plastic puzzles more often. And I wish they’d have more of these really beautiful art which have been lacking in recent years (I bought one this around 2020). 

The puzzle in question is Alice’s World, 500 ”Petit^(2)“ pieces, by Yanoman. And guess what, it’s been hiding in my puzzle stash for the last 15 years! 

To continue with my “cute!” theme for the month, I was looking for a smaller count cardboard puzzle to do before I jump into more “cute!”1000-pc+ plastic puzzles. I decided to give this tiny box a look. After all, Alice in Wonderland is also cute right? The box looked a bit worn and dented. I bought this over a decade before I ever started doing mini and micro puzzles. But I grabbed it assuming it was the same size as either one of those. But lo and behold! The pieces are even smaller! Like considerably so! 

I decided to take a picture of a size comparison to showoff to you guys. From the right: Heye standard piece, Pintoo small plastic piece, Beverly mini piece, Beverly micro piece, and lastly the tiny Yanoman Petit^(2)! It’s the size of my small pinky nail! 

Since the box is a flimsy reverse tuck carton, I wasn’t expecting much in terms of quality. In fact, I never paid it much mind because I thought it was a cheap puzzle. I also don’t usually do 500-pc puzzles. But it was so well made! Barely any dust. Excellent print quality. The cuts are very clean and precise for something so small. No 2 pieces stuck together. And while the fits are on the looser side (as are all Japanese brands) they’re more snug than Beverly and Epoch’s micro puzzles. 

I can’t gush enough about how much I enjoyed this puzzle. After I finished the borders by hand, I fished out my jewelry tweezer and finished the rest in one afternoon, about 3.5 hours. 

I rushed to Yanoman’s website to see if they’re still making these because, already, I’m addicted! Sadly, while the “Petit” series are still being sold, they’re now only 300 pieces while having the same finished size. So I assume each piece is now the same size as the micro piece. Bummer.

I have another box I haven’t done (Mickey and Friends). I will save that one for now. Anyway, I found something really cool so I wanted to rave to you guys about it. These 2 puzzles are so special, I will treasure them forever! Lol. 

I usually don’t do 500-pc puzzles. This one was purely for nostalgia since it features many of the characters I loved growing up.

A dear friend in Europe sent me this lovely puzzle. All the pieces are shaped like various dogs (and one cat). What a lovely present. I hadn’t done a puzzle less than 500pcs since childhood. But since the pieces were oddly shaped (not even jigsaw shaped, lol), this one provided just enough challenge.

There’re numerous dogs with funny faces. like ones giving, presumably their owners, stink eyes and/or side eyes, one sad dog not getting enough attention, and one dog I can only assume is high on treats or something. Maltese is the breed of my girls so I saved that piece for last. It was fun!

I found this artist when I stumbled upon what I thought was a stained glass museum while road tripping in Nagano a few years ago. But what I saw was, instead, some incredibly intricate, beautiful paper shadow art. I was so impressed and inspired that I made another trip last year to his official museum in Tochigi. My photos and any reproduction don’t do justice to the real works. They’re not the kind of art you just look at. It was more like an experience.

Fujishiro-Sensei definitely has a knack for storytelling and world building. Even more amazingly, his most intricate pieces (imo) are ones he created in his 70s and 80s. His most popular works are whimsical and humorous. But there’s also something eerie and mysterious about them. Well, here’s one. This one is from 2011. He created this one when he was 87 years old. Look at the leaves, cats’ hair and lions’ manes. All those details are made entirely out of paper! Pretty amazing right?

Let me know what you guys think.