Gibsons Jigsaw Advent Calendar Review
Gibsons make a wonderful jigsaw advent calendar which is reviewed here in detail for you. If you enjoy the festive season and love the idea of counting down the days with jigsaw puzzles, read on.
With the advent calendar market exploding, it makes brilliant sense for us avid puzzlers that you can now get a jigsaw version. Gibsons make a box set of 12 mini puzzles with the idea that you open and complete a jigsaw every other day running up until Christmas Eve.
What could be more exciting than unboxing a mini festive jigsaw as you literally count down the days to Christmas? The artist, Pimlada Phuapradit, has done a great job of designing some colourful miniature puzzles.
Title: Christmas Street (2018) Christmas is Coming (2019)
Publisher: Gibsons
Release date: 2019
Artist: Pimlada Phuapradit
Cutting style: Grid Cut
Number of puzzle pieces: 12 x 80 pieces
Finished size approx: 7 x 4 inches / 18 x 10 cm approx each
Christmas Street was Gibsons 2018 12 Days of Christmas advent calendar jigsaw for which they won the Gift of the Year Award. They followed up this success in 2019 with Christmas is Coming in the same vein.
Here I'm reviewing the 2019 version of this jigsaw advent calendar which has is exactly the same concept, style and even artist as the first one.
The glossy looking box (27 x 37 cm approx and 6 cm deep) allows you to open up 12 doors inside which each contain a mini jigsaw puzzle of 80 pieces to work on.
You may wonder if 12 small jigsaw puzzles is adequate, but the run up to Christmas is a very busy time of year and so for many people having a couple of days to complete each one may be just fine. At 960 pieces all told, it's almost the equivalent of doing a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle in 24 days after all.
As a part-time worker with plenty of puzzling time to spare, I would prefer 24 mini puzzles to enjoy up until Christmas Eve. Luckily this should be easily sorted because I have carefully saved all 12 from this year and also intend to buy next year's Gibsons 2020 advent calendar so I can then complete a puzzle every day.
Comparing the smaller sizes of the Gibsons advent calendar jigsaw pieces on the right to more regular sized pieces.
The jigsaw puzzle pieces are noticeably smaller than regular pieces but thankfully comfortably larger than those world's smallest jigsaw puzzle pieces which often require tweezers to place. An average sized piece with 2 tabs and 2 slots measured approx 2.5 x 1.5 cm compared with a 3 x 2 cm regular.
So the pieces are smaller but still very workable for me. Anyone with sight or hand dexterity issues may find the smaller pieces a bit challenging.
Gibsons is a good solid brand, not quite premium because they often have issues with not being cut through cleanly all the way from front to back. This means that often the reverse sides can be torn or lifting and it's due to a cut that isn't quite as good as it could be.
This cutting issue was the same with the advent calendar as I've noticed with all Gibsons puzzles. However it's a minor issue as the fronts are always cut cleanly and mostly their pieces are of a good quality. I still rate Gibsons highly and am more than happy to purchase their puzzles.
Overall I was really impressed with the quality of these smaller sized pieces. They feel very sturdy despite a smaller size. And actually I love this smaller size and wish most jigsaws could be scaled down in the same way.
I thought I was missing one piece, but what do you know I found it in my bed from a lazy Sunday morning spent doing jigsaws. I'd already packed that puzzle away but redid it just to complete it properly.
So all pieces were present. There was the odd piece that had part of the image lifting or peeling (subsequently glued back down with white glue) and a few tabs that were bent. Mostly the pieces were in very good condition and fit together nicely.
Showing the inside of the advent calendar jigsaw box with the doors having hints on the outside and a complete image of the jigsaw on the inside.
With only 80 pieces each, they're not exactly the hardest jigsaw puzzles to assemble. It's unlikely then that you'll need any solid tips. I found it easy to put the edge together first and then fill in the inside.
On the back of each advent calendar door, you can view a small picture of what the completed puzzle looks like. To make it a bit more challenging, I didn't look at any of the pictures before working on each jigsaw.
You could expect each 80 piece jigsaw to take around 10 to 40 minutes for most people to do. Speed puzzlers maybe a few minutes! I am not known for being particularly fast at anything (except for typing) and most of these took me 15-25 minutes to complete.
A couple of the completed jigsaw puzzle scenes from the Christmas is Coming advent calendar.
I decided to take each jigsaw puzzle apart after assembling and carefully re-pack in a bag behind each door. Next year I intend to buy Gibsons 2020 advent calendar so I can then enjoy completing a puzzle every day up until Christmas Eve.
After that I plan to continue buying the calendars and then just saving my absolute favourites to work on for a total of 24 advent jigsaw puzzles. There's no point in having one for Christmas Day as I normally wind up doing the cooking and, after the eating, I often nod off.
With the designs that I don't quite like as much, they can be made into some fun Christmas bunting, given away as mini jigsaw gifts along with Christmas cards for friends and family, or even glued to the front of Christmas cards as cute and rather unique designs.
Really I loved it. What a really fab concept and I just love working on cute house scenes which most of these were.
What could be more exciting than an advent calendar filled with jigsaw puzzles! Beats a beauty themed one or even the bog standard chocolate version any day of the week.
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With the advent calendar market exploding, it makes brilliant sense for us avid puzzlers that you can now get a jigsaw version. Gibsons make a box set of 12 mini puzzles with the idea that you open and complete a jigsaw every other day running up until Christmas Eve.
What could be more exciting than unboxing a mini festive jigsaw as you literally count down the days to Christmas? The artist, Pimlada Phuapradit, has done a great job of designing some colourful miniature puzzles.
Gibsons Jigsaw Advent Calendar Review: 12 Puzzles to Count Down to Christmas
Title: Christmas Street (2018) Christmas is Coming (2019)
Publisher: Gibsons
Release date: 2019
Artist: Pimlada Phuapradit
Cutting style: Grid Cut
Number of puzzle pieces: 12 x 80 pieces
Finished size approx: 7 x 4 inches / 18 x 10 cm approx each
Christmas Street was Gibsons 2018 12 Days of Christmas advent calendar jigsaw for which they won the Gift of the Year Award. They followed up this success in 2019 with Christmas is Coming in the same vein.
Here I'm reviewing the 2019 version of this jigsaw advent calendar which has is exactly the same concept, style and even artist as the first one.
The glossy looking box (27 x 37 cm approx and 6 cm deep) allows you to open up 12 doors inside which each contain a mini jigsaw puzzle of 80 pieces to work on.
You may wonder if 12 small jigsaw puzzles is adequate, but the run up to Christmas is a very busy time of year and so for many people having a couple of days to complete each one may be just fine. At 960 pieces all told, it's almost the equivalent of doing a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle in 24 days after all.
As a part-time worker with plenty of puzzling time to spare, I would prefer 24 mini puzzles to enjoy up until Christmas Eve. Luckily this should be easily sorted because I have carefully saved all 12 from this year and also intend to buy next year's Gibsons 2020 advent calendar so I can then complete a puzzle every day.
Puzzle Quality Notes
Comparing the smaller sizes of the Gibsons advent calendar jigsaw pieces on the right to more regular sized pieces.
The jigsaw puzzle pieces are noticeably smaller than regular pieces but thankfully comfortably larger than those world's smallest jigsaw puzzle pieces which often require tweezers to place. An average sized piece with 2 tabs and 2 slots measured approx 2.5 x 1.5 cm compared with a 3 x 2 cm regular.
So the pieces are smaller but still very workable for me. Anyone with sight or hand dexterity issues may find the smaller pieces a bit challenging.
Gibsons is a good solid brand, not quite premium because they often have issues with not being cut through cleanly all the way from front to back. This means that often the reverse sides can be torn or lifting and it's due to a cut that isn't quite as good as it could be.
This cutting issue was the same with the advent calendar as I've noticed with all Gibsons puzzles. However it's a minor issue as the fronts are always cut cleanly and mostly their pieces are of a good quality. I still rate Gibsons highly and am more than happy to purchase their puzzles.
Overall I was really impressed with the quality of these smaller sized pieces. They feel very sturdy despite a smaller size. And actually I love this smaller size and wish most jigsaws could be scaled down in the same way.
I thought I was missing one piece, but what do you know I found it in my bed from a lazy Sunday morning spent doing jigsaws. I'd already packed that puzzle away but redid it just to complete it properly.
So all pieces were present. There was the odd piece that had part of the image lifting or peeling (subsequently glued back down with white glue) and a few tabs that were bent. Mostly the pieces were in very good condition and fit together nicely.
Jigsaw Puzzle Construction Order and Tips
Showing the inside of the advent calendar jigsaw box with the doors having hints on the outside and a complete image of the jigsaw on the inside.
With only 80 pieces each, they're not exactly the hardest jigsaw puzzles to assemble. It's unlikely then that you'll need any solid tips. I found it easy to put the edge together first and then fill in the inside.
On the back of each advent calendar door, you can view a small picture of what the completed puzzle looks like. To make it a bit more challenging, I didn't look at any of the pictures before working on each jigsaw.
You could expect each 80 piece jigsaw to take around 10 to 40 minutes for most people to do. Speed puzzlers maybe a few minutes! I am not known for being particularly fast at anything (except for typing) and most of these took me 15-25 minutes to complete.
On Completing These Jigsaw Puzzles
A couple of the completed jigsaw puzzle scenes from the Christmas is Coming advent calendar.
I decided to take each jigsaw puzzle apart after assembling and carefully re-pack in a bag behind each door. Next year I intend to buy Gibsons 2020 advent calendar so I can then enjoy completing a puzzle every day up until Christmas Eve.
After that I plan to continue buying the calendars and then just saving my absolute favourites to work on for a total of 24 advent jigsaw puzzles. There's no point in having one for Christmas Day as I normally wind up doing the cooking and, after the eating, I often nod off.
With the designs that I don't quite like as much, they can be made into some fun Christmas bunting, given away as mini jigsaw gifts along with Christmas cards for friends and family, or even glued to the front of Christmas cards as cute and rather unique designs.
Overall Experience With Gibsons Jigsaw Puzzle Advent Calendar
Really I loved it. What a really fab concept and I just love working on cute house scenes which most of these were.
What could be more exciting than an advent calendar filled with jigsaw puzzles! Beats a beauty themed one or even the bog standard chocolate version any day of the week.
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