My experience with Chess Bazaar
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Reproduced Lardy sets belong to the economy range and they are very common because they are very cheap. The original Lardy, in contrast, is very elegant and well-made from very tough boxwood that lasts for many decades, howevet, original Lardy is rare and expensive and not affordable to many.
I would rather agree with Haverumwilltravel as he is right again: Lardy sets are highly collectible. They are surely rare and expensive compared to repro lardies that are at the bottom of cheap chess sets. A 3.75” original lardy set with its box costs around $200 as opposed to repros that could be bought for as low as $30. Many grandmasters still use the original lardy sets because of their harmonious and proportionate pieces and balanced weighting.
Nov 14, 2019
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#143
I have an original Lardy set. I knew nothing about value or whether they were collectible when I bought it a "long time ago".......When I had a full head of hair!
Paid $15 bucks for it.It's a nice style,but I far prefer so many other types of sets.Even a good repro.
Just sayin'.
TundraMike wrote:
Please refrain from personal attacks.
Nov 15, 2019
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#146
TundraMike wrote:
Please refrain from personal attacks.
Tundra Mike I wish all the moderators around here ran a tight ship like you do. Thanks for what you do to keep this place civil.
Haverunwilltravel knows a lot about chess. Thank you for your expertise.
Nov 15, 2019
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#148
I never took the offer of $15 bucks as anything but and attempt to be humorous.However it was kind of "Sound" to stick up for me......We are ALL in the same boat of appreciating the hobby/sets......It's all good!
Sorry to interrupt but speaking of Chess Bazaar's quality, does anyone have any experience with their "Imperfect Chess Sets" series? If so, what is your impression? How imperfect are they compared to their production model?
For example, CB has two versions of Zagreb Sheesam wood 3.9" King listed for sale at the moment. One is their Exclusive model and the other is their Slightly Imperfect model. I am hoping the imperfections are mainly aesthetics and do not affect their playability. Whereas, I have found pieces with loose weights or those that do not stand up straight to be a distraction that diminishes their overall playability.
sound67, thanks for responding. I hadn't realized you had posted earlier in this thread about an imperfect version from CB. Your old vintage english set looks awesome. It seems satisfaction will be greater when you lower your expectation.
zagryan wrote:
... It seems satisfaction will be greater when you lower your expectation.
This statement is true about so many things in life.
Nov 17, 2019
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#152
I bought some chess from them. These were all "Imperfect Chess Sets"
2 chess were good. At 2 there were cracks in the figures, as if the wood was not dry enough.
If you are interested I can show the photo here later.
Nov 17, 2019
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#153
sound67 wrote:
Cracked pieces shouldn't be sold even for "imperfect" sets. A few tool marks, okay. Minor inconsistencies e.g. in the size of the pawns, okay. In old sets, these were the norm rather than the exception. But cracks? No!
Also, with those imperfect sets one has to carefully consider if the discount is high enough in comparison to the regular set minus the discount. If it comes down to just 30 bucks or so, I would go with the regular set.
Agree, especially since chessbazaar has a lifetime guarantee against cracks. It could be that they cracked while in transit. Cracking can happen without warning, especially with changes in environment as would happen in transit.
Nov 17, 2019
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#154
Having purchased 11 sets from C.B.(not without problems....which were all resolved) I can say that there are times when I felt it was the in transit/packaging that caused the issues of cracking.
Other mfgrs that I have bought from package their pieces with separate cutouts,or pieces that are packed so that the weight of the pieces are not seated directly on each other.
Just imagine,even if each piece is wrapped,how much pressure is exerted on a set during the bumping around and possibly dropping off a belt,or being thrown by an employee,during the transit process.
magictwanger wrote:
Having purchased 11 sets from C.B.(not without problems....which were all resolved) I can say that there are times when I felt it was the in transit/packaging that caused the issues of cracking.
Other mfgrs that I have bought from package their pieces with separate cutouts,or pieces that are packed so that the weight of the pieces are not seated directly on each other.
Just imagine,even if each piece is wrapped,how much pressure is exerted on a set during the bumping around and possibly dropping off a belt,or being thrown by an employee,during the transit process.
I agree completely! HoS provides such a quality shipping container that I have saved those containers and used them to ship sets I have sold to others. The CB packaging I received this year would never serve that purpose, and the pieces were no where near as protected in transit. Of course, you get what you pay.
Nov 17, 2019
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#156
I appreciate your input Sounds,but I shipped many products over 35 years in my own business.All of the C.B. sets I received had individual wrappings,but some were packaged quite differently than others.
Violins weigh very little and usually have a cut out for the instrument in the case.Like the Mandolin I had bought at one time.
It is not the same thing as shipping weighted chess pieces,where if the additional weight of the overall set is taken into account and is packaged with each piece overlapping the other(basically just leaning on each other) you have a real possibility of the handling issues contributing to a crack....from pressure.I am not stating this is definitively the case,but I would far prefer C.B.(I have some nice sets from them)to package their sets like my O.S. set came to me.
I simply "knew" that I was not going to have the angst of a possible crack when I saw how O.S. packed their product.
Also,violins are an individual product(fantastic instrument,btw) and are not loaded on top of each other when shipped....Chess pieces,especially from much of what I have seen from C.B. can be kinda' crammed in on each other......Drop a box often enough and I can see where the pressures building up inside can cause a crack.....This is simply my opinion and certainly not definitive.
Nov 17, 2019
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#158
Btw,though those dismal plastic boxes may have been used to store sets,they may have also been responsible for the cracking issues as well.
Thirty two/Thirty four weighted pieces crammed into such a small space.Seated on top of one another (even with wrappings) was quite heavy.Just imagine the potential pressures those pieces may have been under,during transit....Every time i got a set packed like that my blood pressure would go up upon inspection.......I used them to do arm curls,before unpacking.-
Nov 17, 2019
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#159
I think cracking is normally more related to swelling and shrinking if the wood due to temperature and humidity changes.