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LOTR chess sets.

Crowfield

Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2021
Messages
47
There are lots of choices, the official sets that tie into the Jackson movie:
Return of the King.
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Two Towers.
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Fellowship.
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Noble pewter set, the figures are very small but very expertly detailed. The board is a showpiece in itself, and the little windows on the sides around the edges are where the major pieces are stored. So you can see them even if the board is not set up.

The-Lord-of-the-Rings-Chess-Set-658.jpg



Addon Two Towers pieces to augment the above Noble set:
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Addon Return of King Noble pewter

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The latest Noble set is cheaply made and not pewter.

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The following set by Eaglemoss is still in production

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United Labels a.k.a. Comicware 3D chess set (it is very nice). Rook: Gimli atop a treestump welding a hammer. It doesn't show too well in this image, but it great. The opposing rook (ork) also has a hammer. Legolas is reaching for an arrow.
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I will post another message for these two cases:
Some older sets are being reproduced on a custom cast basis. The guy doing this (on Etsy) will alter the set to your liking free. Such as substituting a piece from one set for another (that you like better).
And one other older set (Studio Anne Carlton) which SAC warehoused, has been rebranded and now sold under a new brand name. They are new. I will post another message for these two cases.

Etsy seller is: TheRegencyChessCo
This set is now branded Regency but it is the Studio Anne Carleton set rebranded. Regency purchased SAC's remaining stock when SAC discontinued this set. This set can also be found unpainted (cheaper). Not tall but wide and very heavy pieces. Impressive. The 'good' side Queen is Galadriel.
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This seller on Etsy (MourneStudios) is located in Northern Ireland.
First of 3 sets have very tall pieces and I think are wonderful. This is the guy who will do custom work (exchange pieces between sets, change colors, etc.). King is over 6" tall. Takes a big chess board to place these pieces. The 'bad' side Queen tower has Shelob climbing up on it (can't really see it in the pictures). This was designed by Dennis Fairweather in the 1980s.
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Another set by the same seller on Etsy (Kings 4 inches tall). The rook is Shelob. (I believe this is the very first LOTR chess set ever made (1970s).
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On the next set, the third set, King is only 3" tall. Great for a small board.
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A fourth set by MourneStudios is an unpainted set that is a copy of the out of print SAC LOTR set.
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Off topic: The same seller (MourneStudios) on Etsy also casts these...

C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe chess set. <== (I don't think you can find a LWW set anywhere else).
English Civil War chess set (Cromwell's Roundheads vs. King Charles' Cavaliers).
Beatrix Potter set (Peter Rabbit etc.).
Winnie the Pooh.
 

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The Original Noble ones of Pewter (with the three player sets from each of the three books) goes for big bucks on the Used Market.
 
So here are some LOTR chess sets by Berkeley (Britain). I think Berkeley and Mascott are as good as Studio Anne Carlton chess sets, but much cheaper.

Berkeley makes two versions, the pieces are the same characters buy styled completely different. ChessBaron sells them (they have 3 sites USA, UK, and Canadian).
Shop owned by xxxx Baron. I bought the large Mascott Columbus set not too long ago from ChessBaron. Took 4 days to mail and then 2 more days to get here in USA. Extremely well packed. Outer box, Inner box. 2 more even smaller boxes inside those (one for each side),. Each piece wrapped in foam individually. The Mascott Columbus is more detailed than the Berkeley. But in other sets, Berkeley is better.

I don't own one of these sets. Both of the 2 Berkeley sets have the same characters:

Berkeley 3032 (VERY LARGE SET KING IS ALMOST 7" HIGH)
king and queen: Aragon and Galadriel
bishops: Gandalf and Treebeard
knights: Frodo and Bilbo (not Sam)
pawns: generic Hobbits.
rooks: one is Hobbit Hole. And the other is ?? (probably Minas Tirith)??

king and queen: Mouth of Saruman and Shelob
bishops: Nazgul (both different)
knights: Smeagul and Saruman
rooks: Barad-dûr. and Tirith Ungol with Shelob there too.
pawns: Orks.

Frodo, Gandalf, Aragon, Galadriel, Treebeard, Bilbo
BC3025-7-scaled.jpg


king Mouth of Saruman, bishop Nazgul, knight Saruman.
BC3025-12-scaled.jpg


You can see other pictures on ChessBaron site.



-----------------------------------------------
Berkeley ST2040 (SMALL SET KING IS ONLY 3.3" HIGH)
The other set (all these are the same)
king and queen: Aragon and Galadriel
bishops: Gandalf and Treebeard
knights: Frodo and Bilbo (not Sam)
pawns: generic Hobbits.
rooks: Hobbit Hole land MInas Tirith (white tower) for sure

king and queen: Mouth of Saruman (seated) and Shelob
knights: Nazgul (both different)
bishops: Smeagul and Saruman
rooks: Barad-dûr. and Tirith Ungol (I think)

ST2040-28.jpg


Bishops: Gandalf and Saruman. Saruman looks odd, almost like wormtongue. He looks more realistic on the bigger 3032 set (a picture way above)
ST2040-14.jpg



kings Strider and Mouth of Sauron

ST2040-15.jpg


You can see othe pictures on their site, Chessbaron
 
In case anyone is interest, the Columbus set (Mascott set, not the more generic characters Berkeley set), both are sold at Chessbaron): ST2015
Very large, Kings are 6" high
Europe
King Columbus
Queen Isabella of Castille, Queen of Spain
Bishops are Amerigo Vespucci and Fray Diego de Deza
Knights are Martin Pinzon (rolled up scroll) and Vicente Pinzon (his brother, spread out scroll)
Rooks: Santa Maria ship
Pawns: Rodrigo de Triana, a seaman on Pinta. first spied land and called out

The Americas
King Montezuma, Aztec Emporer
Queen Inca Sun Maiden
Bishops are Mayan Priest (long hair) and Aztec High Priest (round hair)
Knights are both Mayan warriors (different images)
Rooks: The famous Mayan pyramid at Chechin Itza.
Pawns: Carabbean Island warrors

You can look up these names on the internet if you don't know who they are.

Inca Sun Maiden, Montezuma, Mayan Priest, Mayan warror:
ST2015_2_lg_lg.jpg


----
Knight, Bishop, Rook: Martin Pinzon, Amerigo Vespucci, Santa Maria ship
ST2015_5_lg_lg.jpg
 

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