New puzzles day!
Lately I have been too busy to find any time for working on puzzles, so I thought instead I would share a recent discovery.
I stumbled upon a new Russian puzzle brand called Stella. Stella, an importer and distributor of jigsaw puzzles throughout Russia, has developed the Tretyakov Series under its own imprint.
If you live outside of Russia, the puzzles can be purchased through Russia's largest puzzle store, 1001puzzle.com.
Some searching around on the Russian puzzle site forum.puzzler.su revealed that Stella's inaugural series is comprised of 39 different art works exclusively licensed from the Tretyakov Gallery, the largest museum in Russia. So far, 22 titles have been released, with 1000 - 3000 pieces, and I'm told that the rest are expected to be available before the end of this year.
According to the person responsible for establishing the series, who goes by the name "Uncle Vova" on the puzzler.su forum, Stella is something of an experiment to see how successful this product line will be. Art puzzle fans on the Russian puzzle forum miss the Russian Museum Collection released by Step some 10+ years ago. I miss that series too, and hope this new brand succeeds.
Initially I was unsure about the quality of the puzzles, as an unknown, small start-up press may have inferior quality issues, i.e., Planet Puzzles' Grafika brand. But, after seeing reviews and photos of completed Stella puzzles - especially the contributions from a forum member called "ashk," who must have an amazing camera - I was convinced that these puzzles are the real deal.
Now, holding them in my hands, I can confirm the quality: dense, blue-backed cardboard, a bit thinner than Ravensburger but nowhere near as thin as Step; a nice soft feel to the pieces that reminds me of Castorland; and most importantly, exceptional print quality that really highlights the canvas and the brushstrokes.
Reviews can be seen here and here and here, and more on this thread.
I had never made a purchase from Russia before, and was not quite sure what to expect, but I am really pleased with every aspect of my order from 1001puzzle. They speak English, accept Paypal, ship worldwide, and the shipping was via EMS and tracked. Alex, my contact at the store, was helpful in answering my questions about both the puzzles and the ordering process.
I might add that Stella pricing is very good - about in line with Castorland or Dtoys. You'll also find very cheap Step puzzles, and if you're into Pintoo, 1001 has the lowest prices of this plastic puzzle brand that I've seen.
As I usually do when ordering from afar, I made a large order and tried to fit as many puzzles as I could into one large box. This helps decrease the shipping cost per unit. In this case, I bought 18 Stellas and 3 Steps, and the shipping was about $140 - not much more to send this 22 kg. package than a similar sized box from the Western U.S. (domestic shipping in the States has become ridiculous, but that's a topic for another post). It took them a few days to pack the order, and then 2 weeks for it to arrive.
I'll definitely be working on a few of these beauties once I have some free time, and I imagine that the "usual suspects" will be adding some of these to their wish lists! A great opportunity to add some unusual, high-quality fine art puzzles to your collection.
Featured above, clockwise from top left: "In the Garden" (1914) by Konstantin Korozin, 1500 pcs.; "The Demon" (1890) by Mikhail Vrubel, 1500 pcs.; "Autumn" (1912) By I.I. Brodsky, 3000 pcs.; "Sirin and Alkonost: A Song of Joy and Sorrow" (1896) by Viktor Vasnetsov, 2000 pcs.
New puzzles day!
Lately I have been too busy to find any time for working on puzzles, so I thought instead I would share a recent discovery.
I stumbled upon a new Russian puzzle brand called Stella. Stella, an importer and distributor of jigsaw puzzles throughout Russia, has developed the Tretyakov Series under its own imprint.
If you live outside of Russia, the puzzles can be purchased through Russia's largest puzzle store, 1001puzzle.com.
Some searching around on the Russian puzzle site forum.puzzler.su revealed that Stella's inaugural series is comprised of 39 different art works exclusively licensed from the Tretyakov Gallery, the largest museum in Russia. So far, 22 titles have been released, with 1000 - 3000 pieces, and I'm told that the rest are expected to be available before the end of this year.
According to the person responsible for establishing the series, who goes by the name "Uncle Vova" on the puzzler.su forum, Stella is something of an experiment to see how successful this product line will be. Art puzzle fans on the Russian puzzle forum miss the Russian Museum Collection released by Step some 10+ years ago. I miss that series too, and hope this new brand succeeds.
Initially I was unsure about the quality of the puzzles, as an unknown, small start-up press may have inferior quality issues, i.e., Planet Puzzles' Grafika brand. But, after seeing reviews and photos of completed Stella puzzles - especially the contributions from a forum member called "ashk," who must have an amazing camera - I was convinced that these puzzles are the real deal.
Now, holding them in my hands, I can confirm the quality: dense, blue-backed cardboard, a bit thinner than Ravensburger but nowhere near as thin as Step; a nice soft feel to the pieces that reminds me of Castorland; and most importantly, exceptional print quality that really highlights the canvas and the brushstrokes.
Reviews can be seen here and here and here, and more on this thread.
I had never made a purchase from Russia before, and was not quite sure what to expect, but I am really pleased with every aspect of my order from 1001puzzle. They speak English, accept Paypal, ship worldwide, and the shipping was via EMS and tracked. Alex, my contact at the store, was helpful in answering my questions about both the puzzles and the ordering process.
I might add that Stella pricing is very good - about in line with Castorland or Dtoys. You'll also find very cheap Step puzzles, and if you're into Pintoo, 1001 has the lowest prices of this plastic puzzle brand that I've seen.
As I usually do when ordering from afar, I made a large order and tried to fit as many puzzles as I could into one large box. This helps decrease the shipping cost per unit. In this case, I bought 18 Stellas and 3 Steps, and the shipping was about $140 - not much more to send this 22 kg. package than a similar sized box from the Western U.S. (domestic shipping in the States has become ridiculous, but that's a topic for another post). It took them a few days to pack the order, and then 2 weeks for it to arrive.
I'll definitely be working on a few of these beauties once I have some free time, and I imagine that the "usual suspects" will be adding some of these to their wish lists! A great opportunity to add some unusual, high-quality fine art puzzles to your collection.
Featured above, clockwise from top left: "In the Garden" (1914) by Konstantin Korozin, 1500 pcs.; "The Demon" (1890) by Mikhail Vrubel, 1500 pcs.; "Autumn" (1912) By I.I. Brodsky, 3000 pcs.; "Sirin and Alkonost: A Song of Joy and Sorrow" (1896) by Viktor Vasnetsov, 2000 pcs.