Selling my Chess set

I acquired this chess set in a garage sale about a year back and loved it ever since the pieces are huge and made of porslin. The pieces and table were made by hand supposively by this women grandfather but I have no clue what a set like this would be priced at and really I want it to go somewhere good where it will be played and taken care of.

Anyone have a baseline for this?

Sorry if this is the wrong fourm for this I have no clue where to put this.

[Moved to Chess Books & Equipment]

Wow, its awesome!

But I dont have money atm, and sending it from the states would probably be expensive to.

Why do you wanna sell it?

Have to move around and cannot take it with me and do not want to leave it somewhere it might get damged.

Have you tried an antique dealer?

Pawn shop.  They get all sorts (selling & buying stuff).  Something that's visually appealing and has 'quality', would make a good display (lots of people would see it, especially if it ended up in their window).  See what you could 'borrow' (pawn) on the set and don't bother redeeming it?  Or maybe they'd make you an outright offer.

Else, eBay.  I anticipate packaging it properly would be tedious.   And, if you've not been using eBay you'll not have an established 'reputation', so there are credibility issues (you'll not get as much as you might otherwise get).

Maybe you've a local used "stuff for sale" website?  Such as craigslist or kijiji for your community.  That way buyers can visit to see what they're getting for their money (oh, take cash only).

sftac

ps.  Now's a good time:  people are starting to think of Christmas shopping (gifts for others, and for themselves).

 Pawn shops won't give you near what it's worth cause they need to make a profit. So that would be a last resort.

That a pretty good idea..never even crossed my mind.

 Sure, but the original poster is NOT a retail store specializing in this product line.

Marketing is a huge component of an item's "value" (the retail industry spends Billions of dollars targetting and reaching buyers so they can get top dollar per item, the seller here does not have that 'overhead' to contend with). 

Taking your chances with the public masses is likely to almost always end up in not getting "near what it's worth", unless it is a very common commodity where the value's well known and appreciated.  I suppose you might counter this if you're prepared to be extraordinarily patient (think:  years, maybe decades), or spend considerable time (not just hours but days or weeks) promoting a novelty item amongst a target audience.

sftac

I think my sister had a set like that back in the 70's.  I don't think hers was painted, though, I think they were stained different colors.  Could you post a picture of the king & queen?  I'd probably know for sure then.  IIRC, her set was pretty big, too, but I was just a kid back then.

The more I look at that picture, the more convinced I am that this is the same set my sister had back in the 70's.  There was a woman who sold plastercrafts that you painted yourself, and my sister may have gotten this set from her.  As far as I remember there wasn't a board with it, but she definitely had these pieces.  Instead of painting them the colors above, she painted one side a light color and the other side a dark brown, IIRC.  Of course I'm going off of 30 year old memories, so I may be mistaken on a few of the details.  But I'm quite certain she had the same set you've got.

I can't say that the set is really worth much, probably whatever you can get for it.  If it was someone's hand made plastercraft set like my sister's was, then it wasn't something that was mass produced by a well-known chess distributor.  And I wouldn't call it an antique unless you consider stuff made in the 70's old.  But I'm guessing that someone else might have more information on these sets.

Well, another way of looking at it is how difficult / expensive would it be to duplicate such a set?  I'd guess something like $50 latex molds & plaster plus a weekend puttering around with plaster casting and painting the end result.

Example chess set mold (for chocolate!  can you imagine?  white & dark chocolate chess pieces!):  http://www.ebay.com/itm/Games-Chess-Set-Chocolate-Mold-/250889592038?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a6a2f5ce6

Now that's the sorta chess game I'd really like!  I want white!!  (That way, I get to eat the chocolate/dark pieces.)

sftac

I'm going to email this picture to my sister to see if she remembers it and where she got it.  I'm kind of interested in learning more about it as well.  Looks like farvan's set is in really good shape, no chips in the pieces which can be common in plaster sets. 

I will get the picture of the king and queen and post here later today for you.

To get an idea of the value, search eBay, to make it easy for you (plus I was curious) I found one: http://www.ebay.com/itm/CHESS-SET-Hand-Painted-Packer-and-Lions-team-colors-/270325230647?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3ef0a3ac37

Best

Here's what my sister had to say:

"I can't remember that mine had faces on each piece.  I think I made them in Ceramics class  30 years ago.  I don't have them anymore since some of them were broken so badly.  Yes, ceramics were very popular then.  I took classes at Arma (KS), but that cermamic shop has been out of business for years!"

So I was right in thinking that she painted her set, but I'm fairly convinced that this is the same set she had because I remember them all being heads. 

It is called a Duncan chess set. You should be able to buy the molds on ebay. Anyone can make one, even today. I have one and the pieces are made out of a thick heavy plastic instead of ceramic. 

I would keep it. Its aesthetic value is much higher than its monetary value.

And interesting, N2UHC. Arma is only 35 miles from where I live. Do you ever get to go to the Joplin chess club?

I'd have to argee with emmett4077, that is a nice paint job on your set. Can't you wrap each piece in bubble wrap, place them in a box with packing peanuts and store it somewhere, say with a family member or friend? Speaking from personal experience, years from now you'll wish you had kept it. Years ago I traded my first nice wood chess set to a guy for several chess books, I regretted it within a week. Fortunately for me we were at the American Open one year and he bombed, he was so disgusted with chess he sold it back to me for dinner money. Forty years later I still have it, and even though it's packed in a box, it's not for sale.

Best

Received a second email from my sister:  "Disregard my previous answer.  I got to bed and started thinking about the chess pieces.  I think you are right.  I did make them in the 70's and bought them at Louise XXXXX's Plastercrafts.  I do think they are like the ones in the pic and are made out of plaster.  I painted them and then sprayed on a stain and wiped off to get an antique look.  Mine did get used and broken. "

Emmett:  I don't live in Arma, but am about 30 miles west of there.  I haven't made it to the Joplin chess club, but I have on occasion gone to the Chanute, KS chess club at the library.  But I've had a lot of busy weekends lately so haven't been for a while.

thanks for telling me.