Review: HOS Collector Series Luxury Chess Set

I am an admitted gear-hound. I like stuff. While that in and of itself isn’t a problem, I suffer from a more sinister condition; I like nice stuff.

I blame my dad...

Read the whole review here:

http://www.gad.net/Blog/2010/06/20/house-of-staunton-collector-series-luxury-chess-set/

I love it

Makes me glad I settled for a set at Wal-Mart for $19.95. Also I don't think a company could legally charge a restocking fee if the product was sent back because it was defective.

I would have loved to have seen the original board (the holly one).  Nice set and kudos to HOS for standing behind their product.  It must have been equally frustrating on their end dealing with inconsistent craftsmanship from their suppliers.

This is a pic of the board from their website. Even now I think it's the sexiest board I've ever seen.

Hi GAD,

Thanks for the careful review. A few years ago I also wrote up my experiences with HOS dealing with defective pieces in my Collector and the return process.

Your review sounded very familiar in the trying to get that nice set up to standards.

In my case, much of the problem could have been fixed had they just inspected the goods upon receiving them from their supplier and before handing it off to me. Several boxwood pawns were red and blackened from excessive rouge bar use. So obvious. Bad QC for them to have even been boxed up in the first place. There were a few pieces turned off center that also got replaced. A couple with pitted and cracked collars.

I'm surprised that the quality of your ebony isn't up to snuff. My budget Collector II from a few years ago seems perfect in the quality of its ebony. I hope HOS hasn't let their standards slip.

Their customer service was good for me too, although I should probably stop waiting by the phone for them to get back to me a few years now after I'd asked about replacement pieces for my slightly leaning bishops in my plastic Collector. I eventually concluded that the moulds were defective in that way and all of the replacements would have been the same. Still, not responding to me at all was not good customer service HOS.

I think the lesson is to use the exchange and return policy to its fullest until you are satisfied. Other places just won't have the patience of HOS, so take advantage to end up with the set you really had in mind in the first place.

I will soon be back in Georgia and its my understanding that the HOS is near Huntsville Alabama which will be easy driving distance for me. I may decide to get a really nice HOS set/board and if I do I will drive there and check it out first hand before buying. I just dont trust ordering nice stuff through the mail these days as I have heard too many horror stories......

 Those junky plastic sets with the red and black checker board ( cardboard ) have reached 19.95 ?!!  What a rip off ! 

I should write up and make available as a blog the process of inspecting a fine chess set.

It's not as easy to do comprehensively as you might think, and in cases like Reb's would be handy if inspecting the set on site.

I already know the first rule: Sit at a table with good, strong light.

 Good idea and I would certainly be interested ! Let me know when its available.

 You could if you like to drive !  I believe Huntsville is about 12 hours driving time from DC but from where I will be in Ga only about 4 hours.

Both the cocobolo and the purpleheart boards you bought are Signature Traditional boards.  This line was previously made overseas, and quality on these boards was spotty, at best.  Please do not judge all of the higher-end Staunton chess boards on the quality of the Signature Traditional line.  The Signature Contemporary, Signature Contemporary II, and Custom Contemporary lines are all hand made in Evans City, Pennsylvania.  I will personally guarantee that you will NOT have the same quality control problems with any of the chess boards in these 3 lines. 

If you plan to visit the House of Staunton showroom, please keep in mind that HOS no longer stocks any of the chess boards in the three product lines mentioned above.  These boards ship directly from the builder's inventory in Evans City.

That's unfortunate. The Signature Traditional line was the only high-dollar boards that had on their site that I really liked.Very good point though that they are not in HOS's current offerings.

Very cool to know that they've got good US-based people working on the newer models though.

Joelwill, would you mind posting that comment on my blog page as well? Very nice counterpoint, and since the page will be hit by people doing searches, it would be a great addition.

Thanks