Big Attack by Ryba

Big Attack

1000 pieces – published 1984
The Flying Dutchman is a legendary ghost ship that can never make port and is doomed to sail the oceans forever.   Ryba has his Flying Dutchman literally flying through clouds of angels in his first cartoon puzzle for Heye.

Merry Christmas by Ryba

Merry Christmas

500 pieces – published 1984
Santa’s sleigh is being held up by angel-burglars in the sky who are having a lot of fun opening the presents.

 

The Seventh Day Of Creation by Ryba

Seventh Day of Creation

1000 pieces – published 1985
This whimsical scene shows the workshop of the Creator, where stars are being made from molten gold and fixed in the heavens by angels.

Holiday On Ice by Ryba

Holiday On Ice

1000 pieces – published 1986
Ghostly sailors from a sunken ship try to figure out where exactly they’ve landed…

Romantic Town by Ryba

Romantic Town

1500 pieces – published 1985
This wonderful Bavarian-style town could not be any charming in design but it is peopled with sloshed policemen, bank robbers, panicked milkmaids, and other questionable characters.  A part of this puzzle was released under the name “Nocturno“.  The puzzle was also re-released in 2006

Schlaraffia by Ryba

Schlaraffia

1500 pieces – published 1985
Ryba is ‘doing’ Bruegel in this Dutch-inspired scene.  On the left the snow-covered landscape features sledders, reindeer and a ski-lift.  On the right, the scene includes a Christmas tree and an Oktoberfest-like celebration.  This puzzle was later re-released under the name “Paradise on Earth“.

Gloria Porci by Ryba

Gloria Porci

1000 pieces – published 1986
“Gloria Porci” is the “commercial title” for the puzzle that Michael chose. His complete, humorous title was “The Attempt to Introduce the Potato into Italy. Fresco in the Vatican’s central heating basement by a painter called Michelangelo”.

Nouvelle Cuisine by Ryba

Nouvelle Cuisine

1000 pieces – published 1987
A wonderfully warm and fuzzy picture with rabbits galore getting up to no good in a kitchen.   I believe Ryba used this style in his German children’s books about farmer Hubert.

Let's Rock by Ryba

Let's Rock

1500 pieces – published 1988
If pigs could be rock stars, their world would look something like this.  This detail scene includes long-haired pig rockers and a large audience of fans from all walks of life — including other animals.  A subsection of this puzzle was later released called “Pig Band

 

For Sale by Ryba

For Sale

1000 pieces – published 1992
This ‘for sale’ house is a real ‘fixer upper.’  It’s completely fallen down and chaos prevails.  Everything is broken — doors, window, etc.  The furniture is scattered all over and the entire place is overrun with mice.

Free Climbing by Ryba

Free Climbing

750 pieces – published 1992
A hoard of mountain climbers invade the territory of mountain goats and jet planes.

Fire Brigade by Ryba

Fire Brigade

1000 pieces – published 2000
Firemen drive into the sky to put out fireworks.

Action Park by Ryba

Action Park

1000 pieces – published 2000
Outdoorsman Comic Paradise!  White Water Rafting, Hiking, Campfire and Bungee Jumping?! Lions and Bears too, oh my!

Surfing In Heaven by Ryba

Surfing In Heaven

500 pieces – published 2000
Surfers enjoy the waves in heaven.

Rembrandt by Ryba

Rembrandt

1500 pieces – published 1992
Ryba liked taking old masters and, shall we say, putting a new spin on them? In this scene, Rembrants chracters stand side-by-side with Ryba-style pigs, ducks and Deutchmen. Add in such conveniences as modern cameras and SUVs and you have an extremely unique puzzle.

Fool Billiard by Ryba

Fool Billiard

1000 pieces – published 1995
Colorful characters and sight gags abound in this pool hall.

Funny Farm by Ryba

Funny Farm

1500 pieces – published 1995
Farm animals steal the scene on this Bavarian farm.

Show Biz by Ryba

Show Biz

1500 pieces – published 1998
This image features a gigantic stage, on which quite a few television shows are being filmed. There’s a Blind Date show, a Sport Studio and so on.  Each has tons of cameramen and many crazy actors/contestants.

Cat Dreams by Ryba

Cat Dreams

500 pieces – published 1999
Kitty dreams of delectable food dishes, a posh litter box, an amourous Tom and a dog-shaped punching bag.

Happy Birthday by Ryba

Happy Birthday

500 pieces – published 1998
The parents try all they can to please the birthday girl, all in vain – while the guests are entertaining themselves.

American Fast Food by Ryba

American Fast Food

500 pieces – published 2001
One of a set of six extremely colorful and funny food puzzles. In this scene, a drive in burger joint is filled with screaming kids, hungry dogs, skating waitresses and large Americans! Complete series: ‘Peking Duck’ (Ryba), ‘Wurst Mit Kraut’ (Jabo), ‘Paella Espanola’ (Prades), ‘Cuisine Francais’ (Ruyer) and ‘Pasta Italiana’ (Degano).

Peking Duck by Ryba

Peking Duck

500 pieces – published 2001
One of a set of six extremely colorful and funny food puzzles. In this scene, the mysteries of the orient include Wok cooking, hungry Buddhas, temples, tigers, and kimono clad beauties.

Complete series: ‘Peking Duck’ (Ryba), ‘Wurst Mit Kraut’ (Jabo), ‘Paella Espanola’ (Prades), ‘Cuisine Francais’ (Ruyer) and ‘Pasta Italiana’ (Degano).

The Roaring 60′s by Ryba

The Roaring 60′s

1500 pieces – published 2006

Mathmaniacs by Ryba

Mathmaniacs

2000 pieces – published 1996
An example of the wonderfully clever and original themes found in Ryba’s puzzles. This large puzzle features the history of math, from counting cavemen to Egyptian hieroglyphics to Galileo and the Inquisition to space travel and the digital age. The entire puzzle looks like a Windows screen.

Sports Festival by Ryba

Sports Festival

2000 pieces – published 1999
In this beautifully-colored puzzle, the Olympics in Sidney, Australia have been invaded by kangaroos. They bound their way over the track course, box their rivals into outer space and take every gold metal. The wonderful border at top and bottom shows kangaroos in all of the various sports along with national flags. The scene itself is filled with activities, Olympic and otherwise, and avid spectators -all in the Sidney harbor.

Who Did It? by Ryba

Who Did It?

2000 pieces – published 1998
This masterpiece has a mystery-horror theme.  Five magnifying-glass inserts show various scenes of mayhem.  In one, Granny lies in bed oblivious while various attempts are made on her life.  In another, a band plays on while arrows and bullets whiz by.  In a third, dinner guests are blithely poisoned.  In a fourth, the detective arrives, escorted by Igor and a doctor checks a corpse under a fallen chandelier.  In a sixth, a maiden runs screaming from an ax-wielding ogre.  All of these are overlaid on a large landscape of a haunted English manor.  This puzzle was later re-released under the name “Crime Scene

Robin Hood by Ryba

Robin Hood

2000 pieces – published 2004
A storyboard cartoon puzzle where Robin Hood is the theme.  Ryba’s art is exquisite.

Bavarian Dream by Ryba

Bavarian Dream

4000 pieces – published 1987
Hilarious riff on King Ludwig’s castle, Neuschwanstein, complete with Wagnerian opera singers and assorted other giggles.   Parts of this puzzle been made into smaller puzzles like ‘R. Wagner: Opera Bavaria’ and ’Blind Date Nathalie’.

Trafalgar by Ryba

Trafalgar

4000 pieces – published 1987
This is a wonderful large puzzle, in dramatic colors, of the naval battle of Trafalgar.  Although a heroic, nay, tragic scene in anyone else’s hands, Ryba makes it something else — full of surprises and laughs and reams of detail.   A puzzle masterpiece.

Go West! by Ryba

Go West!

4000 pieces – published 1991
Wonderful scene of life in the Wild West.  There are buffalo, wagon trains, attacking Indians, cavalry and the railroad…    One of the first really complex 4000 pieces by Ryba.  A part of this puzzle has been made into a smaller puzzle, ‘Blind Date Wanda‘.

Amazonas by Ryba

Amazonas

4000 pieces – published 1993
Enormously complex and difficult puzzle filled with the kind of detail only Ryba can create.   Parts of this puzzle have been made into smaller puzzles like ‘Jungle Life‘, ‘Jungle Tourist‘ and ‘Blind Date Jane‘.

Opera Germanica by Ryba

Opera Germanica

4000 pieces – published 1997
This red and gold scene shows an opera house invaded by dragons.   Audience and cast members alike panic and a waterfall engulfs the stage.   This large puzzle is quite a challenge.  A subsection of this puzzle was later released as a smaller puzzle ‘Blind Date Olga’.

The Pig in Art by Ryba

The Pig in Art

4000 pieces – published 2014
A brilliant parody on the history of art!  We encounter previously unknown works by Dürer , Botticelli , Toulouse- Lautrec, Van Gogh , Chagall , Dali, Picasso — to Joseph Beuys, Roy Lichtenstein and many other great artists.

New York by Ryba

New York

8000 pieces – published 2000
This is one of Heye’s amazingly huge puzzles — but if you love Ryba, this is the biggest, coolest puzzle imaginable.  Don’t let the piece count intimidate you.  The puzzle comes broken into four bags — each bag is one quarter of the puzzle.  So you are actually working four 2000 piece puzzles and then joining them together.  Very doable.  And the art is wonderful. The puzzle features a huge panorama of the New York skyline, featuring the Chrysler and Empire State Buildings.  There’s a street scene in a large border running the length of the puzzle at the bottom (Times Square) and insets of various other New York locations such as Central Park.

Berlin by Ryba

Berlin

8000 pieces – published 2002
Following the success of ‘New York,’ this puzzle is a huge, detail-filled tribute to the Love Parade in Berlin.  Detailed borders and lots of insets make this puzzle workable.  This puzzle is one of Ryba’s most brilliant ones and if you have visited Berlin you wonder why this beautiful homage to this historic capitol isn’t it’s official poster.  You see all the great landmarks of Berlin and when you look at it, it almost feels that you are visiting this stunningly beautiful and friendly capital of Germany.  A little known trivia:  the originals of both New York and Berlin were too large for Ryba’s drawing board.  That is why he turned the paper up-side down and finished both drawing and coloring up-side down!  This man was a true genius.