Best Plastic Pieces

I'm putting together a plastic set for tournaments and travel playing. Which do you recommend?

1) Legend  Alegria Natural Tournament, now $34.95 plus shipping on Ebay, or

2) American Chess Equipment Ultimate, now on special for $24.95 plus shipping. (I know the light pieces are yellow!).

Why?

Thanks for the advice.

For $10 it's tough to beat the regular triple weighted tourney pieces:

https://www.uscfsales.com/chess-pieces/plastic-chess-pieces/triple-weighted-regulation-plastic-chessmen-3-75-king.html

Our club uses those $10 sets. They will last and last and I haven't seen a loose weight in them either.  They aren't that much to look at but for travel and getting banged around, they are great. The $10 price tag is also reasonable. 

HOS Marshal,. I prefer them to the Ultimate. can't speak about the Alegria, as don't have it.

Alegria set...

https://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-equipment/plastic-legend-tournament-alegria-staunton-chess-and-carrying-bag

Chess Sets for Club & Tournament Play....

https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell/chess-sets-for-club-tournament-play

I think the Marshall set is one of the better sets...

These are a very nice clone of the Drueke Player's Choice for the price.  I recently got two sets (they are also available in red/white although they aren't listed) and they are heavily weighted,   

https://www.chessusa.com/product/61-206.html

Here are the red/white ones:

https://www.chessusa.com/product/RDTCS.html

(The checkout system has a glitch where you can only put the red/white ones in the cart if you add  a board - you can email customer service and they can fix you up with an order of just the red/white pieces.)

The Protourney set from the Chess Store because the finish is matte, the pieces are nicely weighted, and it has the most appealing knight design to my eyes. The dark pieces are available in black or maroon.

https://thechessstore.com/protourney-plastic-chess-set-black-camel-pieces-3-75-king/

If you're looking at the ACE Ultimate you may be interested to start reading here at post #574.

Drueke Player's Choice were all I used in my tournament days in the '90's .

Well I own each of the above mentioned sets, except the Red Drueke clone.

Last night we had a Game 20 event and what I used was the Chessusa.com Drueke clone.  And I received 3 compliments on it.

My new Algeria set was too detailed for this faster play.

My New Ultimate set is too yellow for my tastes.

My original Ultimate set was my second choice.

My HoS Marshall and others are just not as nice.

I have already given away my The Chess Store and The Chess House plastic sets.

And now thanks to NattyBumppo I just ordered the Red version, looking to use it for next Monday’s Game 15 event.

 I ordered three sets total - when I got the package I only opened the outer package to make sure everything was there.

I left the bags unopened since I didn't have any boxes - opened them about six weeks later and discovered that the red king's cross was missing (wasn't broken - there was just an empty slot - apparently those are inserted afterwards as part of the manufacturing process).   I emailed them and they sent me a replacment king with no problems.   

I have an original red and white set - aside from the value of the original I like the clone more since it is much more heavily weighted.

I agree with a style similar to the Antique Jaques sets, like the fat rooks, knight and bishop style, and relative proportions of king to queen. 

https://www.amazon.com/House-Staunton-Marshall-Plastic-Pieces/dp/B078K4HGGP/ref=sr_1_7?crid=2I9SBMEA9RDB6&keywords=marshall+chess+pieces&qid=1551814330&s=gateway&sprefix=marshall+chess%2Caps%2C191&sr=8-7

The Marshall Plastic set looks very nice in the pictures.  The Chessusa.com Drueke clone and the original Ultimate set handle and play a lot better.

Thanks for the great advice. Anyone have the ChessHouse Inspiration pieces? Opinions?

Well it got great reviews but they are out of stock. Plastic sets come from China and most chess vendors buy wholesale from someone buying many hundreds of sets. When they go out of stock, best to ask them when and if they except them in again.  

Thanks. I was thinking of the ChessHouse set because I could buy one for myself and one for my grandson and avoid shipping costs. I think a nine year old would really love that camo deluxe bag. Eyechess , do you know of any reason to avoid that particular ChessHouse Inspiration set?

Actually I bought that set a couple of years ago and gave it to a local high school student.

I like that set also and it appears to be holding up quite well for the young man.

I have no experience with it, but that ChessHouse Inspiration set does look good from the photos on the website....and it does get good reviews there...

https://www.chesshouse.com/collections/plastic-chess-pieces/products/3-3-4-inspiration-chess-pieces-triple-weight

Eyechess - from your many posts, I've noted that you have given away many sets to children.  You're obviously a kind person.  That's a good thing!... 

I also enjoy and appreciate all the knowledgeable, useful information you provide regarding chess sets on these forums.  Just wanted to say thank you for that.