More Soviet Sets

Following up on Goodknightmike's earlier forum, here are some shots of the most recent additions to my Soviet collection. Both sets came in boxes that convert into boards, though, in the Soviet way, the squares are far too small for the pieces. Both sets are unweighted, and the king heights exceed four inches with the finials.

Set #1 is from the forties or fifties, before they started molding the knight heads in plastic. I recollect that the Chess Museum refers to the finish on these as "sticky varnish," and it certainly is sticky. The board is absolutely gorgeous, and worth playing on with a 3" set. Note the thickness of the knights--substantially thicker than the plastic-headed knights depicted below.

Set #2 from the seventies or eighties, complete with the requisite plastic knight-heads.

Thanks, Bob. Me, too, especially those thicker, all wood knights.

I expect they still have some good moves left in them, but it would be up to you to find them.

Great sets.  I've looked at some Soviet sets but still haven't found the right one.  Where did you find these?  I've checked out Etsy and Ebay.  Are there other places I should be looking?

Many thanks, Moriarty. I got these on Etsy, both from a store called Retro Russia, I recall. My other three I bought on eBay.

Really mean nasty Knights in the first pic.! I like em...!

Chuck, thanks for the many great pictures of your Soviet sets. Its tough to pick a favorite out of these beauties, but I'd guess #1 gets the nod by a hair.

I like set #2! I wish there were more sets like this available these days. 

Perfect board for those sets! With all these great sets on this forum I am always interested in what board people pair them with, as the board can really enhance the look of the set.

The sets look really good. Initially I wasn't a fan of that design, but now it has really grown on me. It's now added to the list!

Keep an eye on Etsy and Ebay. I've had luck on both and both currently have a couple interesting sets for sale. Good luck!

Many thanks, QK! I refinished the orginal insert to the table and sprayed on a much larger, 2.5" square board.

I'll keep looking. All I ever seem to find are ones with broken finials. :)

This is a good looking set currently offered on eBay.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/181709597971?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2648&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

One from Etsy, looks like an original that Chessbazaar reproduced.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/229842923/ussr-wooden-chess-set-soviet-made-chess?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=russian%20chess&ref=sr_gallery_25

Wow, I actually own the one from ebay. Didn't pay that much for it! 

Thanks, I'll keep an eye to etsy as well. 

How long did it take for your "Retro Russia" sets to arrive via "Russia Post"?

Maybe two weeks. Not bad.

Wow! How could that possibly happen?

In my only experience in buying something from Russia, directly, I expressed my concern to the seller regarding Russia Post's notoriety, prior to making my purchase from him. He assured me that I really shouldn't worry since, as well as I recall, "It nearly always arrives. It just takes a long time." He was quite right. It took four and a half months, from Moscow, of which, according to the tracking, nearly four months were spent knocking or sitting around various Moscow locations, and it only took another three weeks once it finally got out of Russia. That was the "it just takes a long time" part. The "it nearly always arrives" part meant that two of the two dozen books that I purchased were missing from the crushed and mangled package with a huge hole torn open that I was surprised to find most of the books were somehow still contained in. When I contacted the seller about this, he told me that the two missing books had been returned to him (?!) and resent them to me. Three years later, according to their tracking, Russia Post is still working on getting them out of Moscow.

The USPS claims that their "Registered Mail" is their "most secure" option. I've only had one package sent to me via USPS Registered Mail. They got it to within 20 miles of me, and never found out what they did to it after that.

However, the USPS' "Priority Mail" is great. Two business days from anywhere in the lower contiguous 48 states for dozens of packages without fail, the following early morning from the previous afternoon to New York, three business days to Alaska, and four from Hawaii, all to Maryland, and all with nothing ever lost or damaged.

Great world power Russia invades poor disarmed Ukraine, whose postal service gets a package from near Russia and its "DPR" to New York in two days, but whose own "postal service" takes two weeks to eternity to do the same. Go figure.

I've yet to have a problem with a parcel from Russia or Ukraine. This one was sent May 10 and was delivered May 21 by Russia Post. Eleven days. Believe it or not!

HI Chuck, regarding Esty, do they offer the same buyer protection as Ebay?