Post your Travel Chess Sets

another reason to ban mammoth ivory is that they are very close to producing elephant/mammoth dna hybrids jurassic park style, and with some careful breeding every succeeding generation can be closer and closer to pure wooly mammoth.  And if they do so, it will probably be a protected species for a very long time, or maybe forever.

Robert, is that only raw ivory that's illegal to sell or ivory in objects, vintage as well as modern?  I know eBay won't even allow a seller to list an ivory object for fear it is made from post-ban material.

Wow......Guess I opened up a can of worms!!

Sorry about that guys.

No Fault No Blame, FightingBob, or anyone.   it's about Choice...Awareness... and a conversation that needs to happen regarding human habitation in relationship to the rest of the Natural World.  i appreciate your postings...thanks

Thanks for the link, Robert.  A lot of rules and regulations on that website.

I recently talked with my custom pool cue maker who sometimes uses ivory in his cues, specifically for the ferrules -- the end of the shaft on which the leather tip sets -- but sometimes for decoration when requested.  He's an honest guy and said there is enough legal ivory from die off that cue makers are not affected.  However, he went on to say that contemporary cues with any ivory whatsoever, legal or not, cannot be shipped over seas.  Some cuemakers have gone away from ivory all together, especially the commercial cuemakers.

By the way, you are right about eBay.  When the Kita Shoji K K set was listed on eBay, the description said it was "acquired at an estate auction" and "detailed information is written inside the lid."  No other information was given.  Here is the photo

I was quite surprised it was ivory, but there it was inside the lid.

That's a very nice set RC.

You can definitely see the Schrager lines.

Really fascinating and cool at the same time..

Hi Benjamin. Can you tell me if there are any markings on your plastic magnetic K-mart set or if you know anything else about it? After seeing your pictures I remembered owning this set as a child and I'd love to try to find one on ebay or something just for nostalgia's sake.

Anyone else ever seen one of these sets from post #216?

Hi nestoc.  No visible markings other than a "Made in China" sticker.  I really wish I knew more to tell ya.  I haven't seen one since then, and I've spent a good deal of time searching "travel chess", "travel magnetic chess" and "magnetic chess" on eBay (for other sets that catch my fancy) and have yet to come across one on there either.  I'm sorry I couldn't bring better news.  Maybe one will turn up eventually though... I'll certainly keep on the lookout.

I don't have much information on this travel set. Can anyone give me any ideas??

The set is on Evil Bay.....Here's what they say  .....

The Elephants "gave" Their Lives ?

The milled leather travel chess set just got back in stock at chesshouse.com today... just ordered mine and it's shipping Tuesday ☺

I did order one of these as well after seeing it in this thread. I didn't like how large the pieces look in the photos though, so I ordered just the board. I purchased one of these sets to use the pieces from: https://www.wholesalechess.com/shop/chess-sets/wood-chess-sets/10-magnetic-drawer-chess-set

Here's how they look together:

There are a few quality issues with the pieces, mainly inconsistent sizing and color of the light pieces. Also if you compare closely the pieces on the website photos are not exactly the same as what they sent me. But for portable analysis I am happy with the set.

I'd consider returning the pieces to Wholesale Chess, Nestoc; their size and color should not be this variable  It appears pieces from another set found their way into yours.  That would bug me no end.

I'd also question the company's truth in advertising.  I've seen other companies fail to modify their online photo though the sets they're receiving from India have changed.  This also bugs me no end.

Just my two cents worth.

Best,
Bob

 Just got my Milled Leather set from Chesshouse.com earlier this afternoon.  Here's my two-cents after just a few hours (opinion might readjust after weeks, months, years, of course):

The board:  Love it... no two ways about it, just love it!  The leather feels of good make and quality.  The outer brown leather is soft and supple, and has that premium Bible leather feel (if you're so inclined), and yet sturdy enough that I would not cringe if laying the board on an outdoor coffeehouse table or park picnic table.  The action side of the board feels very durable, and could probably be easily cleaned with a soft, slightly damp cloth if ever it needed it.  When the board is open and laying "flat" on a surface for playing, there is a definite ridge along the backside middle, and so it does not truly lay perfectly flat.  Instead it lays what I will call "haphazardly flat"... which, believe it or not, I'm going to count as a plus rather than a negative.  The resulting slope of each side is negligible, the strong magnets of the pieces further diminish the negative, and the "haphazard flat" thing is something I actually like for a change, because it gives it that casual, devil-may-care, nonchalant Indiana-Jones-Equipment feel, like an "I'm not here for nit-picky perfection, I'm here to analyze a game on any surface I can find even if it's a fallen tree near an ancient temple" kind of vibe (yes, I know I'm insane).

The pieces:  True to the current images on chesshouse.com, they are a bit on the squat side of the spectrum, but not jarringly so.  The base-to-square ratio is actually quite proper.  For some reason I had it in my mind that the short stature of the pieces would equate to bases too wide for the squares, but this is not the case.  The pieces are extremely light-weight, so thank goodness the set is turn-it-up-side-down magnetic.  The knights, which I have heard some complaints about, are far from what you would call detailed, but on these utilitarian sets I actually prefer "representative" knights over "hey, that's museum-quality horse!" knights.  My one true complaint about the pieces, though, is the green felt... this is the cheap stuff, and on some of the pieces is actually even mis-cut or mis-placed and sticks out beyond the edge of the base (a quick trim with a small scissors took care of this, but who wants to need to do that?).  I'm guessing, however, that if thick, expensive felt had been used, the power of the magnets would have been shielded and diminished a good bit.

Overall:  I'm pleased with the purchase.  I would rather see this priced around $30 to $40 instead of the going rate of $50, but I'm guessing a good bit of the cost is going towards the board itself (not to mention that you get a bag for the pieces and a bag for the whole shebang).  The magnets are out-freakin'-standing, and the whole set weighs about as much as a Burger King Whopper.  The 9" size of the set makes it small enough to put on even a semi-cluttered desk (like mine) but large enough for the pieces to be easily grab-able in a casual game.  It's a handsome and seemingly rugged set (time will tell), and the bags give it a nice throw-and-go touch.  Going back to the ancient temple thing (sorry!), I do feel that if the bags were leather or leatherette, this would easily be a set Indiana Jones would toss into his satchel if he were a chess player.

Congrats on the acquisition Benjamin. 

I love my set, I originally swapped out the pieces but then started using the pieces that come with it and they have grown on me. 

I agree with the assessment of the board, it is a very nice board, the feel is very nice.

I also like your "throw-and-go" comment - I have used it as my throw-and-go set for my travels for work, I throw it in my suitcase and go.

Congrats Ben, have the same set with the broad pawns and enjoy the set.   I agree on the leather bag and may look for one to go with the set. 

I've ordered this little set from Serbia. It is nothing special, but I enjoy collecting pocket sets.