Barbie: Fashion Icon!

Brand: Ravensburger

Pieces: 1000
Size:  70cm x 50cm

Product Code: 175185

I thought I'd put up this beauty today - a workspace devoted to Barbie and her various fashions. 

It features blueprints and photos of Barbie and her clothing throughout history, and was really enjoyable to do. 

I had to purchase this one from a UK-based website, as good Barbie puzzles for adults are unfortunately really hard to come by in Australia. There is such a market for them though! I sold it straight away when I attended a puzzle sale day.

I'm hoping to find some more over time, but for now I'll have to curb my puzzle spending and complete some of the ones I have in anticipation of the next puzzle sale (next month, to be held in Melton). 

Sydney 2000 Olympics Historical Posters Puzzle

Brand: Mattel
Pieces: 1000
Size: 70cm x 49cm
Product Code: 53562

Well we're currently five days into the 2016 Rio Olympic Games,and the competition is certainly fierce as our athletes vie for top position and a chance at gold. 

Held every four years, the Olympic Games pits the best of the best from each country against one another for the ultimate glory in their sporting field- a gold medal and the adoration of a worldwide audience. So far, at the time of writing, the United States is leading the medal tally, with China, Hungary, Australia (yay!) and Russia not far behind. Time will tell who will be the ultimate winner of the Games, but at this point, anybody could come up best. 

In commemoration of the Olympics, I decided to dig out this puzzle which I purchased, completed and framed just before the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. Released prior to the event, and intended as a 'fundraiser' of sorts to contribute to the staging of the Games, this puzzle features the historical posters of all the Games of the modern era (from Athens 1896 to Sydney 2000). The posters are laid out in a clockwise circular direction, leading into the Sydney 2000 poster at the centre of the puzzle. 

This was a great puzzle to complete, not just for the historical value, but to see how each country's poster advertised the Olympic Games and how the styles of each varied. It was quite easy to do, as I was able to sort the pieces into sections and almost complete it a block (or poster) at a time. 

It's not that easy to find Olympics memorabilia like this puzzle, and while it doesn't have any posters of the more recent games of the last 16 years, at least it portrays a small piece of the Olympic Games' rich history.