I have a new obsession which I admit is getting out of hand. I am obsessed with recreating puzzles of places I've visited. Let me first say, these are not just boring puzzles 2d puzzles but
3D puzzles, some that range in size to a few inches to several feet in height.
Some of you may have remembered these 3D puzzles from several years ago manufactured by a company called Wrebbit. Well the company has long since gone out of business (probably a result of kids migrating from board games and boring toy's we played with to Xbox and Playstation's).
I stumbled onto this hobby when looking for a model of Chateau Chenonceau, located in the Loire Valley in France. While visiting the Chateau, I saw a model of it in the gift shop but could not figure out how to transport it back to the US. so when I returned home, I started to google "chateau model" and found "chateau puzzle". I was excited to find a 3D puzzle of the chateau but wasn't excited about putting an 800 pc puzzle together.Since I couldn't find the model I was looking for, I had to settle for the puzzle.
As you can see, the similarity between the puzzle and the actual chateau is pretty accurate, I couldn't detect any variance at all. The puzzle is made of foam pieces and is pretty sturdy so it still sits on my desk as a reminder of a wonderful vacation.
After completing this 1st puzzle I began to search Ebay for other locations we visited and was surprised to find numerous 3D puzzle options! The challenge I've found is that since they don't make these puzzles anymore, there is a subculture of other puzzle nuts out there who are buying and selling these things and finding a good puzzle at the right price is not easy. For example a recent post on Ebay for the New York skyline runs for $600 (I got mine for $90), it's seems expensive for a puzzle I know but it's over 3000 pcs and includes the twin towers (manufactured pre- 911).
The next puzzle I purchased was the Notre Dame Cathedral (keeping with the French theme). It was bigger and much more difficult then the Chateau but was again, a very accurate model of the original structure.
I am thinking of having my family recreated as 3D puzzles so I can insert them in all the scenes, just a thought now but stay tuned.
The Notre Dame puzzle had to be disassembled due to it's size and the fact that my wife Betsy doesn't want 3D puzzles all over the house (she is still not that happy with my collection of sports memorabilia hanging all over the bonus room). Taking one of these apart is almost as difficult as putting them together. When you are looking for a piece to complete a section and you've done so for a long time, it seems so wrong to dismember it.... so I take a picture to "remember" what was "dis-membered".
My latest puzzle was a lot of fun since it was constructed vertically, the Eiffel Tower is the tallest puzzle that I 've built so far. I finished it in about 3 days which my family will tell you was three days that I didn't speak to anyone (not true), although I do get pretty focused on finishing these once I start.
The New York skyline may be my next puzzle, however, at 3,141 pieces, I think I may need a lot of down time to finish it since it alone is bigger then the other three puzzles combined. I mean just look at this thing!
By far the most challenging puzzles they ever made. Not sure if I will tackle this one next or move on to something else but I thought I would share this new hobby of mine. It's fun to recreate these puzzles when you've visited (or want to visit) these places. I can still remember walking through the actual sites and for a minute, building these takes me back there.
Other potential candidates:
Tower Bridge
Big Ben
The Capitol
The White House
Empire State Building
Champs Elysees
Oh the list keeps going on!
New edition below, finished 8/16/2011, Neuschwanstein Castle. 1000 pc's.
9/16/2011
Well I put it off long enough but as 9/11/2011 approached, I thought it would be a nice tribute to the 911 victims to finally build this large and challenging puzzle. My goal was to complete this puzzle by 9/11/11. To be honest, it took a little longer. This puzzle was 3,141 pieces and extremely difficult.
911 had a profound day in everyone's life, for our family, it's my son Bradley's birthday and on the day he turned 8 years old. I had been traveling for work in San Francisco, when I called that morning to wish him a happy birthday, the day was overshadowed by the horror of what we all watched on TV.
It makes me a little sad to think that my son's birthday will always be tied to such a horrible day 8 years later but I tell him to think of what a blessing life is, on a day he turns a year older, that for many, it was taken away in an instant. That he should live his life to the fullest in honor of those who had it suddenly taken away.
As we all know, the airports were closed on 9/11 and my flights from San Francisco to home were cancelled. On the long drive home in a rented car, I didn't know what would be next for our country, I was sad that I missed my son's birthday, sad that so many had died in a building that I once stood on top of, and most of all sad for all the misery the day caused.
Every year on 9/11, I watch the events retold on TV news shows, I'm not sure why I watch these repeats, maybe I just think that we should never forget what our fellow American's went through and suffered for, maybe it’s a way to remember the hero’s who ran into a place most would run out of. It's just my way of remembering.
I had several fits of anger putting this puzzle together, disassembling major sections once I realized I'd made a mistake. I spent hours of just staring at pieces with no conceivable location to put them and then wondering where other pieces I should have, disappeared to.
Unlike some of my other puzzles of places I've enjoyed visiting (Effie Tower, Chateau's, etc), this one was like having a dark cloud in the room and I didn't enjoy looking at it for days after like the others. I may remove the towers and buildings around ground zero first, before taking the rest down. I typically put my puzzles back on ebay after I complete them and I hope the next person who buys this puzzle will appreciate it for more than just a puzzle, it’s a time in history that is lost, but not forgotten.
11/13/2011
Just added a new puzzle to the completed list, this one is Paris in the 1800's a simple one tht was about 800 pieces. I should have left the other Paris puzzles together so I could have a whole complete city.
