[REVIEW] LEGO 853373 Kingdoms Chess Set

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How would you rate this set?

Excellent
15
63%
Average
7
29%
Poor
2
8%
 
Total votes: 24

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atmail35
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[REVIEW] LEGO 853373 Kingdoms Chess Set

Post by atmail35 » Sat Jun 02, 2012 11:12 am

Indexed

Set Name: LEGO Kingdoms Chess Set
Set Number: 853373
Year: 2012
Ages: 6+
MSRP: $49.99 USD $59.99 CA
Pieces: 328
Number of Minifigures: 28
Price per Piece: $0.1524 USD $0.1829 CA
Price per minifig: $1.79 US/$2.14 CA

Description on LEGO.com
Play chess with minifigures in regal LEGO® Kingdoms’ style!

Build all 32 royal characters, then the black and white baseplate board! Put your army in place with their weapons and accessories, then battle with your opponent in a classic game of chess – LEGO® style! Includes a storage box!

•Features 32 minifigures with assorted weapons and accessories
•Includes storage box
•Play chess with royal minifigures and weapons!
•Makes a great gift for fans of LEGO® Kingdoms building sets!

The Box
The front shows the set in action (complete with "movement").
Image

The back shows each chess piece:
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The Contents

You get the following:
Storage box
green 32x32 stud plate and gray base
Image

5 bags
ImageImage

cardboard sheet showing each figure
Image

Instruction booklet:
Image

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The Build:
If you or your child enjoys building minifigures, this is a set for you! You basically assemble all 32 chess pieces and are finished. The LEGO.com description says it contains 32 minifigures, but I do not believe the Rooks should count as minifigures.

Let's look at each chess piece:

Pawn:
Image

Excuse the tile...that goes with the green King. It reads, "You are far more powerfull than you would ever imagine..." Although "powerful" is misspelled as "powerfull". :shock:

back
Image

Rook:
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Knight: the red knight/jester has an alternate face (crying)
Image
back
Image

Bishop:
Image

back
Image

Queen:
The queen comes with a happy and mad face.Image

Image

King:
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back - The green king has a plain back under the cape.
Image

The complete set:

Will you be GREEN?
Image

or RED?
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Final thoughts:

NOTE: I myself have never played chess so I can't really comment on the figures themselves and how they represent a true chess board. My father-in-law saw it and had some negative comments on the "authenticity" of the pieces, but I wasn't really listening to what he was saying ;-)

My husband plans on using this to teach my daughter chess. She built it herself (and is 7).

If you like chess or Kingdoms, this set is for you! This set is a fun way to teach a new chess player the game. Overall, I am pleased with the set.

I do think it might be difficult to play if you don't have "smallish" hands/fingers. The weapons can get in the way if not placed properly.

The gray "tray" is not that bad. It is not as flimsy as the Ningajo spinner battle arena. It actually is quite sturdy.

Pros:
NO Glued parts
NO Stickers
Lots of printed fronts and backs for the minifigs
Lots of minifigs
Sturdy storage box

Cons:
Some of the minifig hands were hard to turn
The red king's helmet is very loose...this is one we cannot move by its head.
The pieces are a bit hard to move on the board, you have to be careful to properly place the weapons or the piece won't fit properly on the board. A smaller child learning to play may get frustrated with moving the pieces because of this.
There are no instructions on how to play chess, I guess they assume you know how. It would have been nice to include a booklet with playing instructions. Mind you, I have no idea how long those instructions would be. :lol:

Rating:
Build: 4/5
Pieces: 4/5
Price: 4/5
Play Features: 5/5 (as minifigs) 3/5 as a chess set
Overall: 4/5

DarthPaka
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Re: [REVIEW] LEGO 853373 Kingdoms Chess Set

Post by DarthPaka » Sat Jun 02, 2012 3:53 pm

Looks pretty sweet, although I think Im goina wait for a CW chest set :mrgreen: NIce review tho, thnx!

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Re: [REVIEW] LEGO 853373 Kingdoms Chess Set

Post by MrDisco » Sat Jun 02, 2012 3:59 pm

I like your review and your photos. Good to see your happy with the set, but your FIL is right - the pieces are absolutely horrible from a chess perspective :( I think this would appeal more for lego/kingdom collectors rather than chess enthusiasts.

On the upside it would be fairly decent to play with on a car trip owing to the brick nature of the board and pieces.

i would give this a 2/5 myself.

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Deathleech
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Re: [REVIEW] LEGO 853373 Kingdoms Chess Set

Post by Deathleech » Sat Jun 02, 2012 4:29 pm

I have a feeling most people will be buying this for the minifigs and for army building rather than to play chess with. It being a chess set seems more like an added bonus than the main feature almost...

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legohunter
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Re: [REVIEW] LEGO 853373 Kingdoms Chess Set

Post by legohunter » Sat Jun 02, 2012 9:12 pm

The worst of this set is that no horses are available, and there are number of cons in this set. In short, 852001 Fantasy Castle Chess Set was better than this.

dilbert12
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Re: [REVIEW] LEGO 853373 Kingdoms Chess Set

Post by dilbert12 » Sun Jun 03, 2012 10:13 am

legohunter wrote:The worst of this set is that no horses are available, and there are number of cons in this set. In short, 852001 Fantasy Castle Chess Set was better than this.
Definitely looks cheap compared to earlier chess sets, but as a battle pack this is the best one ever. I think price should be considered too though when making the comparison. I just recently got back into LEGO and this will fill my void of medieval minifigures.

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Re: [REVIEW] LEGO 853373 Kingdoms Chess Set

Post by Cimmerian » Sun Jun 03, 2012 7:07 pm

I'll definately pick up one set, and maybe two, to use as army builders. At under $2 a minifig, it's the best bargin I think I've ever seen.
I used to play chess, and I agree that this doesn't look very 'playable'. But that's okay, I don't intend to play chess with it.

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Re: [REVIEW] LEGO 853373 Kingdoms Chess Set

Post by knightrider56 » Mon Jul 16, 2012 3:17 pm

Hi. I built a Kingdoms Chess Set of my own 1 1/2 years ago. I have an alternate method to building the Rooks that look more like rooks, and I use the "Knights" both Black and Red (white) from the Kingdoms sets for my "chess knights" instead of the "Jokers" they used. I also used Wizards for my Bishops. If anyone likes I can attach a photo of my chess set to a reply. I also built a "Pirates" chess set.

I was looking at the photos and the base for the set is a "molded" gray outer square that looks like castle walls with a green square inset. Is that correct ?

I contacted Lego about buying those parts and they replied that it was made up of parts that had to be assembled. From your photo of the base It looks like a single molded piece. Is that correct?

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atmail35
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Re: [REVIEW] LEGO 853373 Kingdoms Chess Set

Post by atmail35 » Thu Jul 19, 2012 7:35 pm

Knightrider56 the grey piece is one piece of molded plastic, you do not have to assemble it. I can try to see if the stamped a part number on it.

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Re: [REVIEW] LEGO 853373 Kingdoms Chess Set

Post by jeffmace » Wed Aug 01, 2012 12:53 pm

Good review. I love the chess sets. This is not my favorite, but I would give it a fair 3/5. For the price you get a large amount of minfigures and you can never go wrong with that.

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Re: [REVIEW] LEGO 853373 Kingdoms Chess Set

Post by Brickmythic » Wed Oct 24, 2012 12:37 am

great little set here that is easy to overlook! 28 quality minifigs, green baseplate, unique grey molded base, and lots of weapons. As a chess set its ok, but as an army builder/battle pack it is amazing.

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Re: [REVIEW] LEGO 853373 Kingdoms Chess Set

Post by simplylemonade » Mon Dec 17, 2012 11:41 am

Will more of these chess sets be released in the near future, or are they done? :(

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