This is very hip.
My first set. Remember these?
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Yep. I remember!
They’re lovely. Great find, to get the spare set.
If you still have a record of the game your dad played with Koltanowski, keep it together with the set. A good piece of history you have there!
Yes I still have the game. We were both still beginners (obviously, based on the set), so Kolti won easily.
I got to see Koltanowski three times. Once at this local simul, once at the Paul Masson tournament, and once at the US Open. His three-board blindfold knights tour was amazing. Instead of calling out the moves, he called out the words people had written on the squares shortly before the exhibition. And with each move the knight would switch to the other board.
Four dollars. That is awesome. Seems like the only things left at the garage sales around here are the pink pyrex dishes like my Mother had. Good job finding this set. I had to laugh about the white army man tale, why not?
And here, by popular demand, is THE ROOK !!!!
Complete with tape no less! Speechless really, so I’ll just type “Well done soldier, well done!”
Indeed, with the arrival of the replacement rook, army man has been retired with full military honors. We thank you for your 40+ years of service!
In my opinion, the Kingsway Florintine chesspieces are the most beautiful plastic figure pieces .I first saw them in 1950-1. I was given my first set for my 16th birthday, in 1952. I have collected these sets for many years, so here is some information for collectors. These sets came in 3 sizes- tall base, short base and minature. The tall base king measures 4 1/8" @ total height . The base measures 1 3/8 "@. The short base is 1/2'' @ high . The king is the same figure as the tall base king. Their crowns ( hats ? ) have the same shape, but only the short base king has a cross. It has a smooth brim, but the tall base kings crown ( hat ) brim has 12 small and 2 large circles ( jewels ? ) . The short base pawns do not have lower legs. ( as in the picture at the head of this post). The short base knight and rook do not have legs. The miniature king measures 1 !0/16 @ " tall and his crown has a bump instead of a cross. These pieces have short bases, but have the same legs as the tall base pieces. These chessmen were made in moulds that used push pins to remove them from the moulds. The pins left round scars on the front of the tall base pieces. a letter ( K for king, Q for queen , etc. ) is in the center of the pin mark. T he small base pieces used a pin in the back of the figure, and are not marked with a letter. These chesspieces ware made in 5 colors--black , red white . Gallant Knight also made thess chessmen, in dark and light woodgrain. There was a cheap copy made in a very brittle plastic. They were covered in "bumps" (jewels?). I know that they were in black and white, but they might have been made in green and white. The rooks in some of these sets may have dimples, depressions in the side of the elephant. Either the mold did not ger enough plastic, or the pieces was removed while too hot. In either case, the side shrank, leaving a dimple. By now , the original sets may have become brittle. I have seen many broken knights and rooks. If you have a set, enjoy playing with it, but remember that old plasic can break.
minor differences).
I have just seen the Gallant Knight version of this chess set in metallic silver and gold. It is on Ebay for $100 +shipping. In my 70 @ years of collecting these sets, I have never seen or heard of these chessmen in a metallic finish.
ZIMBABWAEED1989 wrote:
In my opinion, the Kingsway Florintine chesspieces are the most beautiful plastic figure pieces .I first saw them in 1950-1. I was given my first set for my 16th birthday, in 1952. I have collected these sets for many years, so here is some information for collectors.
<etc.>
Thank you, ZIMBABWAEED1989 for all the details! I just now noticed your posts. Now I am even happier to have run across this second set, and managing to pick it up for a scant $4.
Knights of Doom---- I use my Florintine sets when I am teaching children. Some children learn the basics faster, when I uae figure sets instead of abstract designs.
ZIMBABWAEED1989 wrote:
Knights of Doom---- I use my Florintine sets when I am teaching children. Some children learn the basics faster, when I uae figure sets instead of abstract designs.
Interesting. I find most decorative sets difficult to play with, but for this one, the differentiation of the pieces is very clear and it is easy to play with.
I do remember these, especially the rook and the knight. I think these were the only set in the house when I was little, in the early sixties.
My first set of my own was the E. S. Lowe plastic Renaissance set. You can still find these on eBay. They were vaguely similar to yours in that the pieces had faces, and the castle was a tower with brick details. The knight was on a rearing horse as well. No elephant though.
CringeBlunderman wrote:
My first set of my own was the E. S. Lowe plastic Renaissance set. You can still find these on eBay. They were vaguely similar to yours in that the pieces had faces, and the castle was a tower with brick details. The knight was on a rearing horse as well. No elephant though.
I remember those, a couple of my friends had them.
Sorry to reply so much later, but I just want to say that I found one of these sets at a Goodwill just last week. Paid about $10 for it! I absolutely love the design of the rooks. Really cool finding out the history behind this set. And I agree with ZIMBABWAEED1989, this is the most beautiful chess set I have ever been lucky enough to find and have the privilege to own.
BigOleBoy--What is the color of the "black" pieces? The red colored pieces are more beauriful than the black ones. The wood grain version is also more attractive than the black & white set. I showed my red & white set to a new neighbor (last week). The sun was shining on the set, and he thought that it was an ivory set ! It took me 35 years to finally find my red & white set. This was before the internet. I searched many pawn shops , garage sales & flea markets before I found it. I began my search in the 1960,s , long after they were out of production. Now it is much easier to collect these sets. Be carefull, some of these sets have become brittle with age. I do not know if this is because they were the early sets, or because of the storage conditions, or if different resins were used during production.
Actually my father's, probably from the 1940s. "Kingsway Florentine". Plastic.
We had lost one of the rooks years ago, and we used a white army man in its place. Then, last week at an estate sale, I saw an entire identical set in mint condition and picked it up for $4. Woohoo! Although I have no idea what I'm going to do with them. But I'm glad I got them, because when I got home and compared them, I noticed that the kings on my set both had their crosses broken off. So what you see above is my dad's original set from when he was a kid, but with the "new" replacement white rook, and the "new" kings with their crosses.
Of course they're aren't suitable Staunton design for serious play. But the design is sufficiently clear that they are very easy to play with and see the position. My dad actually used it in a game against Koltanowski for a simul - Kolti allowed it.