Bloons
Mobi C Disc Replacement. Hopefully these words don’t mean a lot to many of you - but at the end of July, I ended up having this surgical procedure performed to alleviate pressure on a nerve in my neck, which has been causing a numb hand and mild pain radiating down my right arm for a year. Thankfully, as I’ve been recovering, I’ve been able to puzzle and puzzle and puzzle, and it has been a great way to pass the time!
However, waaaay back when this first started- June of 2022, the pain that accompanied the compressed nerve was so bad! Most meds didn’t help, and I lost about three weeks of my life to sitting as still as possible trying not to inflame the nerve anymore. What helped me pass the time? The crazy and completely addicting game Bloons Tower Defense 6! You know- the game where you employ monkeys to shoot down all sorts of crazy bloons that keep coming faster and faster, and getting harder and harder to pop with each ascending level!
Since it only really involved moving my fingers- I looked forward to playing this game daily while I was trying to cope with the pain and pass the time between doctors visits. Puzzling was out of the question for me at that time, but I’d be lying if I said Bloons weren’t weaving their way in and out of my dreams day in and day out. So is it any surprise that, when I started puzzling again, I 100% gravitated towards puzzles that featured balloons? And wow- apparently this is one of the most prominent themes that puzzlers like to employ!
The first puzzle that made it onto my puzzle board featuring balloons was this steam punk meets hot air balloon in this amazing Cat Balloon Race by Buffalo in 750 pieces. Buffalo puzzles are just some of my favorites- I love their generally standard grid cut with the unique squiggle pieced shapes thrown in. The colors and details in this puzzle are phenomenal, and I noticed so many more details as I was piecing it together.
I also did my first Blanc puzzle, Eiffel Tower Balloons in 500 pieces, and whoa, this was a super cool puzzle! Blanc puzzles is actually a small premium puzzle brand under Buffalo, and you can tell because they have the same standard grid cut with the unique squiggle pieces too! However, these pieces felt a bit more upscale- they’re made out of premium chip board, but somehow they feel plasticky (in a very good way) and really snap into place well!
Last but not least, I puzzled this perfect mini wooden Dowdle puzzle. Dowdle is another brand that loves to feature balloons in their puzzles. I’ve had this adorable wooden puzzle in my to do stash for quite some time, and while we don’t currently have any of the wooden puzzles in stock, you can find this same image in the 500 piece version. Eric Dowdle is one of my favorite puzzle artists, and even in 250 pieces, this little puzzle had some very challenging areas!
If these balloon puzzles didn’t tickle your fancy and have you floating on cloud nine, check out some of these other balloon puzzles:
Oh Happy Day by Ceaco
Tower Bridge by Anatolian
Happytown by Heye
Winning Throws by Masterpieces
Jupiter by New York Puzzle Company
Until next time, my jigsaw junkies, happy puzzling!
Amanda @600hoursofpuzzle
New to puzzles, less than 3 months. Had surgery, started reading again and also puzzles. So addicting and fun! Time flies and before you know it’s 3 am. Finished my first round one (only my 4th puzzle) and looking forward to doing more. Have 4 others waiting, 1 with glitter. Any one do a 3-D puzzle? Just wondering?
I'm having neck surgery next month the same thing you had. I was hoping I would be able to just bury myself in puzzling till I go back to work. Thank you for sharing your story.
