Schimmel

A friend of mine is also a frequent thrift shopper, every once in a while he’ll DM me a photo of a puzzle that he’s found. He doesn’t really do puzzles himself but I think he enjoys trying to find thrifted items for people, he also likes to look for music for Joe from time to time.

I think what stood out to him was the text on this box – it’s so reminiscent of 1980s Hair Band albums. It’s absolutely amazing! When I saw the box, I didn’t even notice the Milton Bradley logo on the front of the box. Of course the cats drew me in, but wow…. this space theme had me sold immediately!

Look at this amazing finished picture! The artist is a man named Schim Schimmel, his father was also a painter and as a kid, Schim used to watch his father paint until he finally started to study at his father’s art school. Over about a decade he found his unique style of painting and I have to say it is right up my alley!

Ok, it’s not just the cats, it’s the entire composition of this picture. Are they in space? Are we on another planet or in a dream? Is that planet Earth in the background? When I visited Schimmel’s website there was a quote on the homepage.

“My hope is that when you see my artwork, you feel a sense of this oneness, and in turn, feel the same love and passion that I feel for this planet, it’s animals, and this incredible universe we all call home.”

I really feel like that quote sums it up! As I mentioned a bit earlier, this was a puzzle released by Milton Bradley. It was manufactured in 1999 and I have to say this was the nicest quality Milton Bradley puzzle I’ve ever done! The pieces had a linen finish similar to Ravensburger or Cobble Hill and they were almost as thick as Vintage Tuco pieces, that’s right friends Triple Thick cut!

Now, you all know that I love vintage Milton Bradley puzzles – but this one must have been part of a special release, considering that this was the late 90s, I am impressed!

You might be able to see in the photos that there were a couple pieces missing, which was too bad. It also seems that one small section of the puzzle got wet, maybe? The pieces had kind of come apart, but that really didn’t bother me. It was a great experience overall and I learned about a new artist, Schim Schimmel!