This was definitely priced at a "we're getting rich from this or nothing's gonna happen." Well, nothing's gonna happen.

 

Looking back at it again really...the 700 price tag isn't that bad. Look at 700 dollar chess sets...size wise they're all 20" or bigger boards and the biggest piece, the King, is anywhere from 3.5" to 4.5" tall. The 6" pieces of the Eaglemoss set is excessive but really the overall size is in line with pricing of expensive chess sets.

The difference here is that this doesn't look or feel like a 700 set. Chess sets that expensive are made of often hand carved wooden pieces of often rare or high quality woods. They might have rare metals on them or customized blends of alloys.

But just in general you look at a super expensive chess set and you can tell it's a luxury good. I don't get that feeling from this set. If it was half the price then sure, but as far as luxury chess sets go it doesn't have that feel or look that tells me I should crack out the money Eaglemoss is asking for.

I think if exotic metals were used then I feel the price could be justified.

 

I'm late to this thread, but I remember hearing about this a while back. I knew it was expensive, but I didn't realise just how expensive! Why would you even want a single chess piece? This was $600 USD or gtfo, basically.

At that price point, this Kickstarter could have launched last year during the aftermath of The Queen's Gambit and amidst the online chess boom and still wouldn't have been funded!

 

But if that were the case, what would it matter? The pieces are entirely painted. They could literally be made of gold and it wouldn't actually change anything tangible about the set. Like you said, expensive chess sets are based on fine craft and materials. There's no fine craft here, just rudimentary 3D models of the cartoon characters and some exceptionally poor quality paint jobs, not to mention the generally tacky design.

 

I should've specified. The exotic metals could be used on the board itself. So white squares could be one metal, and black squares another. Save the paint and let the metals "speak." Hell, the border around the board itself could be another exotic metal too.

 

Absolutely. There are a lot of ways that this could have been a truly premium product with a magnificent presence. But it wasn’t. Not even close.

 

I'm glad to see this chess set with 16 characters on each side. I do suggest that they release it in S1, S2, S3, Dinobots exclusive set and Beast Wars exclusive set. The pieces can be detached from the square stands so that characters can switch roles. Eg. Bumblebee can be a knight or pawn. The king and queen can exhange roles. The King can move many steps while the queen only move one step. This is in line with the role of playing Optimus Prime as the most powerful Autobot capable of moving in every direction and distance. The 'single step queen' can be Elita One or Teletran One or Primus or the Matrix. It would not be matching of their powers when Wheeljack and Ironhide become pawns while Thundercracker and Skywarp become knights.
My suggestion:
Season 1 set:
Optimus King, Teletran 1 'Queen', Jazz and Prowl Bishops, Bumblebee and Wheeljack Knights, Ironhide and Brawn Rooks, Hound, Ratchet, Cliffjumper, Windcharger, Gears, Huffer, Sparkplug Witwicky, Spike Witwicky as Pawns.
Megatron King, ? 'Queen', Starscream and Astrotrain Bishops, Blitzwing and Barricade Knights, Shockwave and Soundwave Rooks, Thundercracker, Sky Warp, Ravage, Rumble, Frenzy, Ratbat, Lazerbeak, Buzzsaw as Pawns.
Season 2 Set:
Optimus King, Spike with Matrix or Elita One as 'Queen', Sideswipe and Mirage as Bishops, Mirage and Smokescreen as Knights, Warpath and Blaster as Rooks, Cosmos, Seaspray, Beachcomber, Powerglide, Eject, Rewind, Steeljaw, Ramhorn as Pawns.
Megatron King, ? 'Queen', Nightbird and Thrust as Knights, Dirge and Ramjet as Bishops, Runabout and Runamuck as Rooks, Seeker jets as Pawns.
Season 3 set:
Rodimus as King, Arcee or Primus as 'Queen', Kup and Blurr as Bishops, Wreck Gar and Blaster as Knights, Ultra Magnus and Perceptor as Rooks, Wheelie and the Junkions as Pawns.
Galvatron as King, Unicron as 'Queen', Cyclonus and Scourge as Bishops, Bludgeon and Scorponok as Knights, 2 Quintessons as Rooks, Sweeps and Sharkticons as Pawns.
Dinobot exclusive set:
Grimlock as King, ? 'Queen', Sludge and Slag as Rooks, Swoop and Jetfire as Bishops, Snarl and Dinobot velociraptor as Knights, ? Pawns?
Predaking as King, ? 'Queen', Apeface and Snapdragon as Rooks, Razorclaw and Rampage as Knights, Divebomb and ? as Bishops, Constructicons and Insecticons as Pawns.
Beast Wars set:
Optimus Primal as King, Blackarachnia as Queen, Tigatron and Cheetor as Knights, Rattrap and ? as Bishops, Rhinox and Dinobot as Rooks, ? Maximals as Pawns.
Galavar as King, female Predacon as Queen, Skold and Jetstorm as Knights, Waspinator and Terrorsaur as Bishops, Scorponok and Tarantulus as Rooks, ? Predacons as Pawns.

 

Not to be the bearer of bad news, but this set isn't happening.

 

You can get a very nice tournament quality weighted Staunton style chess set for a fraction of this price. This set was ludicrously overpriced. No serious Chess player would want to play with this set consistently, and only the most die hard TF fan would want to display this.

I like Chocolate and I like Pickles. That doesn't make chocolate covered pickles a good idea. For a novelty sure. Here bud try this Piccolate. For 700$, NO, that's just stupid...

 

I’d pay 89$ retail and that’s seriously pushing it.