Plastic Chess Sets - Reviews

I thought I'd start a thread where people can review some of the various plastic sets available...

Here are some I have lying around for OTB play. First off, the HOS Collector (4"):

I don't really enjoy playing with this set. The bases are too big for regular 2.25" boards, and the set is really heavy, making it annoying to carry around. Especially for Blitz, the pieces are just too heavy, IMO. Plus, it's really expensive for a plastic set. On the plus side, the pieces have real felt, and the set comes with extra queens.

Here's one I like:

The pieces have just the right weight, are well balanced, real felt, and good grip. Fun to play with.

My favorite HOS plastic set:

This is the 3.75" Marshall. I like the design much better than the Collector, and the set is really fun to play with. Well proportioned, good weight but not too heavy, quality material, real felt. Love the knights...

The USCF tournament set:

Not recommended. Pieces feel lightweight and topheavy. It's a shame, I like the design (the knights in particular), but the pieces almost feel like they'll tip over. 

Here's a sentimental favorite for North Americans:

I've never shared the attachment many people feel to the old Drueke Players Choice. I think the pieces are almost ugly, but the quality of the plastic used is good, the bottom is real felt, and the pieces have a nice weight. A matter of personal taste, perhaps.

Standard German tournament set:

Love the knights on this one, good material, real felt, light but still sufficient weight, nice to play with...

Typical Spanish set:

Also fun to play with. But the plastic is a bit too shiny, ie sometimes too much glare. Bottom felts are made out of something almost resembling sandpaper. Still, good for Blitz...

HOS Reykjavik:

I like this set, and it seems pretty popular. Good weight, extra queens, real felt. Recommended.

I really like my HOS collector, but my set is the 3.75" height with a 1.75 base making it perfect for a "standard" 2.25" square board.  Sets with 1.875" bases are a bit of a pain although it's not that hard to find a matching board.  I'll certainly admit that in the transistion from ebony/boxwood to plastic the Collector has lost some of its' charm, but I still find it the most attractive alternative to wood.  The deep cut mitre on the bishop and the elegant design of the knight do it for me.

are those Collector Hos pieces natural or ivory?

Not my collection obviously but my guess is ivory.  HOS offers both colors and you can see the Reykjavik set appears natural.  We'll have to wait for Frank to wake up to get the final word though.

Here's a plastic set I know nothing about, got it from some online action. Can anybody pinpoint a name or anything here? Not weighted:

These are from a German webstore, very popular pieces, I see them everywhere. Again, do these have a name? Probably best plastic pieces for the money. Weighted:

Finally, the plastic Dubrovnik. Generously weighted, good looking, but not durable. These have weights glued in with wax that melts when left under direct sunlight. The felting is stiff plastic that tends to warp and unglue:

-Izmet

Yes, the Collector is Ivory, and the Reykjavik is Natural.

Here's a familiar set:

These have been the mainstay at tournaments for many years. I grew up playing Lardy sets so this mold feels very natural to me, and I like these slightly better than the current modified variation sold by USCF. I got these from Wholesalechess.com. Very nice, extra queens, my only criticism would be that the plastic used on these is very brittle, chips easily, and the black pieces in particular start looking very scratched right away even with careful handling.

Very nice looking, though. Are they regulation-size? And where might one be able to get these?

Here's a dealer from Slovenia, drop him an email, he'll accomodate surely:

http://www.muba-bk.si/index.php?c=13&p=62

-Izmet

Wow..! Really nice plastic set reviews! Thanks everyone for sharing. I am going to wait for Frank to test out the plastic Dubrovnic pieces out first though.

Yes, nice review, Thanks.

Frank how do you decide which set you use, you have so many of them, lol. I think I'll play the Ruy Lopez (spanish game) today so I'll use my Spanish set, or maybe my Reykjavik. I'll flip a coin.

From time to time people are asking for help on deciding about which set to buy. I never liked the USCF pieces either. I bought a wooden one way back when from them, thru my chess club that was really expensive, it was horrible, saw marks in some of the bases of the pawns, I think someone switched them when they came in. I never bought from them again.

I like that they are doing the plastic ones in different styles now. People have a lot more choices. Anyway thanks for the review.

I have the HOS collector set in plastic (3.75" king) and I must say that I'm disappointed with it.  One of the mitres is signifcantly narrower than the rest of them, like a production defect or something.  And the plastic work seems to be shoddy in some places .. around the ears of the knights, the seams, etc.  It's still better than the typical club special set but I expected more out of HOS, at that price point for a plastic set.

I know this thread is about PLASTIC sets -- but I just bought a very cheap wood set for tournament play, Chesscafe international (german knight) in rosewood, weighted.  I only paid $22 for the set (the sale is over, but they're still only $33), and I'm very happy with them.  At that price point, it can compete with the higher end plastic sets.  Of course it is a very basic design but seems like it will be very durable which is exactly what i want.

@ kponds: It is true unfortunately that the HOS Collector plastic has had some issues with quality control.  I just happened to luck out with mine, but yours is not the first post complaining about them.  They also had a price drop in the last year or so; I hope that doesn't mean they're giving up on quality control.  Hey, I got mine...