2021 Official FIDE World Chess Set.

I don't have any experience with Chess Baron but, wow, some of their customers got an absolute steal on the Studio Set! $129 including free shipping. O_O At that price, if it was still in stock I'd buy another set!

@lotsoblots Thank you for the info, very interesting. Do you think the two versions differ that much that it would be a problem to get "the other" version knight (1 piece) for a replacement? Is it noticable just playing with it?

Hm.  As of 20211128 1925 GMT it (X2077) appears to be in stock and on sale.

@felonet This set  has everything to become collectible in 20 years. However as a golden rule, I suggest You buy the set you like the most and do not speculate.

I feel this set is more delicate than for example the timeless german set, or the chavet set, and the white pieces will get darker in couple years, the black paint will wear off, chipping will happen, so I feel this set will gain patina sooner than I would like to experience

Thank you for the insights @dobtom!

I think I'm generally more annoyed by fidgety things like this and it does bother me in some sense that the variation exists ... even though these are handmade, the neck width and angle seem *to me* as a quality control issue more than natural differentiation or artistic license. IMO, if you can't get it "right" fix it or toss it and do it again. These are relatively expensive pieces, after all.  However, all that said, even I don't think it's much of a problem to have both variations as part of a set. Once the game starts, I don't expect anyone is going to notice any of these differences.

I was just watching a mini documentary about The Chess Empire in Amritsar and what do I see? World Championship knights staring back at me:

https://youtu.be/5I0qArmHABk?t=176

Interestingly, they both (especially the white knight!) are on the thicc side. I've been speculating that TCE is the carvers behind this set and, while this is no means conclusive, it seems that might be the case.

It's not just you.  I noticed the Chavet resemblance in the knights - that may have been the final straw that prompted me to order an Academy set.

How durable to you think this set will be over time? The Queen's crown in particular looks a bit delicate / brittle. Thoughts?

Reviewing @dobtom's photos in post #17 I don't believe the design of queen's crown is at any more risk than the king's or the rook's details.  But I don't play the blitz or bullet abominations so none of my pieces will be exposed to that abuse.  As far as being dropped is concerned, we'll see...the quality of the Academy set's plastic is the key for that case.

Yes, Sir!  It was the extra queens and the "ships from the USA" that drew me in.  Although I'm still waiting for the shipping notification, hahaha!

Fascinating...the Academy Edition is the same as the Starter Set except that it has spare queens and is $12 (almost 40%) more? I suppose World Chess has families to feed, too. The Academy photos don't display a knight side profile at all so it's not clear if it's closer to the Championship set or if it's the same as the Starter. 

I suspect the Academy knight is exactly the same as the Starter.  The only significant differences seem to be the extra queens, the board size, and the shipping from this side of the pond.

I'm a bit confused since they already *have* been shipping from this side of the pond ... they have a US Fulfillment Centre in, I believe, Ohio. All my orders have shipped from there via UPS, though all replacement pieces have shipped from Germany (!) via DHL.

There are none now for some reason :>... I should receive the package in the upcoming days.

Ah, more sloppiness at their web site.  Among the sets I looked at the Academy was the only one with the ships-from-US note.

The whole world is coming apart!   Seriously, though, I'm not surprised at this sudden change.  Some sing their praises but their web site is a complete mess.  I've asked directly about a few problems I noticed and the attitude was basically, "Oh, well".  Seems odd for a web-based business to be so cavalier about their primary/only customer interface.  (I can only hope that the set I ordered matches the photos, hahaha!)