Balloons Away Jigsaw Puzzle

The Balloons Away Jigsaw Puzzle was discovered to really be titled New Guild / Golden Albuquerque New Mexico Hot Air Balloon Race 1000 Pieces Puzzle. It's amazing that it can still be purchased on eBay (link below) in a sealed box too. It just goes to show you the value of the puzzles in this era really do not carry a whole lot of value. However, the image is not photoshopped to the degree puzzle images are today. Don' get me wrong, I certainly do appreciate the artistry that's available in today's market as it is amazing the level of detail, colours and designs the digital enhancers bring to the table these days. Just sometimes its nice to step back and appreciate the older images. This one has so many balloons sprinkled  against the perfect blue sky . I'd say it was a big seller back in the day as it seemed balloon images were common then too.

Th Balloons Away Jigsaw Puzzle is my 2nd oldest 'preserved' puzzle. It is very thick with very large random cut pieces which is why it is roughly the same size as the 1000 piece puzzles. It was assembled in the early 1980's so I do not have much information on it although it does have numerous Springbok similarities to it (but I do not want to assume). I just named it Balloons Away myself.

However, I can even remember assembling this one with all those bright colours, not to mention the big gaps of blue. I am quite certain the attraction to this puzzle was the bright colours and the sense of freedom the picture projects.

This puzzle has been with me for over 30 years. It is mounted to press-board and has window shrink wrap plastic sealed on it. It has kept very well.