jigsaw puzzles

Are puzzles good for your brain?

admin — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 16:21:22 +0000

A comic once quipped that he wanted to die healthy. It’s common knowledge that exercise, eating well and not smoking are well documented ways to maintaining good health. It’s now appears to be more accepted that in order to help reduce the onset of various dementias, keeping one’s brain healthy is also important. Reading is an obvious activity as is doing puzzles. They can be word puzzles or number puzzles such as crosswords or sudoku. Jigsaw puzzles also fall into the category. You are being asked to use your cognitive skills to recognise and assemble hundreds of small pieces into one complete image. Strategy is required as is the ability to recognise shapes and colours and to be able to put the pieces into the right space. Lots of trial and error occur but, sooner or later the picture is completed to the satisfaction of the puzzler. Puzzles, serendipitously invented over 200 years ago in London, are still with us because of the challenge and satisfaction of engaging ones mental skills, concentration and hand-eye coordination in a pleasurable activity remains appealing.

Puzzle Trend is up.

admin — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 16:32:42 +0000

When puzzles were first invented over 200 years ago by a London mapmaker who would have reckoned with their staying power? Now in the economic downturn puzzles have once again proven their appeal: value. Compared to going out to a movie for two plus a snack, you can get a brand new jigsaw puzzle which will provide a satisfying challenge, is easily shared and can last for weeks at a time. Products come and go but jigsaw puzzles originally developed as a geographic teaching aid are here to stay.

Worldwide interest in Gibsons puzzles

admin — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 04:51:19 +0000

Our inbox has been bristling with e-mail enquiries from literally around the globe. Gibsons puzzles unique nostalgic look have taken the fancy of puzzlers from Canada to Australia. The Gibsons puzzles we find most popular are those that are based on paintings. Pictures of people interacting with each other, whether it be buying fresh produce or flowers at the market, visiting the village blacksmith or having a snowfight, we can safely say are our most consistent bestsellers. There are several Gibsons puzzle artists who are eagerly sought after and once their new pictures arrive it’s hard to keep them in stock. Photographs are more the norm from other European manufacturers and, quite frankly, how many ways can you photograph the same castle? Anyway for us, it’s from strength to strength.

Unexpected Christmas

admin — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 14:50:08 +0000

In years gone by the wisdom has been to make sure the Christmas puzzles had sold through before December 24th. This year has proven that false. As it is, the Gibsons Christmas puzzles are now the best selling range from Gibsons despite their short selling season. We are still taking orders for all the christmas puzzles, especially GIB 2009, the limited edition 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle by Marcello Conti. The image has proven to be fantastically popular on its own because the picture is a heartwarming image with or without the Christmas references. The new 2010 Christmas puzzle, also by Marcello Conti, is a wonderful image with Santa Claus, riding in his sleigh. The jigsaw puzzle will be available in fall 2010.

Winter Season puzzles

admin — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 14:41:59 +0000

Surprisingly, after a very busy Christmas the most popular puzzles at this time of the year are those with winter scenes. January, through April are very strong months for all puzzles especially Gibsons with their wonderully painted nostagic images. The Blacksmith Shop, Village Crossing and Keeping out the Cold are only a few 1000 piece winter scene puzzles with the snowy weather either being enjoyed as in Team Effort (500 pieces) or with families protecting themselves against the most northerly winter blasts. The 1000 piece Gibsons Christmas puzzle has proven to be the singular best selling puzzle from Gibsons. Due to his success, Marcello Conti, who designed the 2009 Christmas puzzle, has been commissioned to create the 2010 Christmas puzzle. It will be presented in the latter part of 2010.

Gibsons puzzles in warehouse

admin — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 02:18:52 +0000

Our new shipment of Gibsons puzzles for the fall and winter season is now in our warehouse and is shipping like mad. Easily the most popular range at this time of the year would be the several Christmas styles. G2009, Christmas Cheer stands head and shoulders above all other Christmas puzzles as the one to have. We are shippping the Christmas Cheer puzzle (1000 pieces) at about twelve times that one of any other title.

Christmas Puzzle 2009

admin — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 03:23:03 +0000

This year’s Christmas puzzle is, like the 2008 Gibsons Christmas puzzle, based on a painting by Marcello Corti. This is Gibsons most fantastic Christmas jigsaw puzzle yet with an almost dizzying array of light and magic in which the villagers are enjoying a moment of sheer pleasure with their families. Warm wine, brightly lit snowflakes and glorious old fashioned toy shops add to the brilliant atmosphere. Pretzels, mulled wine and the midnight market are hallmarks of the season.

New Fall Puzzles 2009

admin — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 02:17:10 +0000

The new fall 2009 jigsaw puzzles from Gibsons have now been included in our website. Gibsons have been working hard to develop their increasingly popular Christmas puzzle (GIB 2009). Once again Marcelo Corti is the artist and has surpassed himself with an amazing picture that has all the elements we associate with the Christmas holidays. The image is beautifully painted with a pallette of rich colours and heart warming family activities. Hot drinks, sleds and brightly lit toy shops are all there. Giant snowflakes and twinkling golden lights add a fantastic seasonal feel. The church sits atop the hill in the distance to remind us of the reason for all the goodwill.

Jigsaw puzzles

admin — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 11:36:34 +0000

Jigsaw puzzles are available in many sizes but a thousand pieces remain the favorite. The normal layout is thirty eight pieces by twenty seven pieces and with a total of over one thousand pieces. Five hundred piece puzzles are made twenty seven pieces wide by nineteen.

Various jigsaw puzzles come in the shape of squares, circles, triangle and rectangles for toddlers, to one hundred pieces for older. For children they usually show suitable ages by the number and size of the pieces within. For puzzles with less pieces , youngsters will be building the puzzle. Most of these are made of durable materials that are easily wiped.

The more pieces to a puzzle, the more time it takes to build. To add to the degree of difficulty of a jigsaw buy puzzles that are double-sided. These can be assembled from back or front. This adds complexity to the assembly because the solver cannot be sure which side of the piece is right. This requires patience for the solver because there are many trial and errors before you get it right.

Summer’s almost here

admin — Tue, 19 May 2009 11:27:36 +0000

As summer tries to break winter’s hold all things related to that chilly season take a back seat in the consumer’s buying habits. Mix that seasonal effect with the overall cautious retail climate and you’ve got a recipe for slower jigsaw puzzle sales. Our retail customers who bought the new 2009 Gibsons selection have done predictably well with them and those who did not buy are anticipating a worse than normal summer season slowdown. Gibsons themselves have changed their release pattern. Rather than two new product release events (once in the spring and again in the fall) they are spreading their

new releases throughout the year.