I have wanted to get a Mah Jongg set, but have hesistated because I don't know what to look for in a set so I don't buy something flimsy.
Can anyone suggest what makes a good (or bad) Mah Jongg set? (e.g. materials, printing, etc.)
Tell me more
×
Board & Card Games Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for
people who like playing board games, designing board games or modifying the rules of existing board games. It's 100% free, no registration required.
|
|
|
Good but inexpensive set: Decent weight bakelite or similar plastic pieces, readable "engraved" (molded, really) figures. I've a set I paid $15 for back in 1988; it's got a few thousand hands on it (I used to play a full game of 16 hands every week, sometimes more than one), and it's still in great shape, but the vinyl over cardboard snap case is about dead. Replacing it would be about $25-$35 now. Higher end plastic sets run to about $50-$75 For the simplest "traditional" game, you need set with just the 7 honors (4 each: N, S, E, W, C {Red}, F {green}, and blank). You should hold out for one with 4 flowers and 4 seasons. For the American game, 8 "big jokers" are also needed. It's nice if the set has a deal marker and round marker; many times, this is a die for the round, and a carrier which the die fits into as a round marker. Almost all sets come with 3 pretty poor quality dice. It's generally worth it to make certain at least the suit of 10,000's (characters) is marked with western numbers as well; it isn't needed, but is nice, on the suits of bamboo and coins (balls). The better looking the winds and seasons, the easier they are to tell from the 1 bamboo. Some have marked extra tiles, usually marked "B"... I use these as my 7th honor, and reserve the blanks as replacement tiles. More expensive set Look for the wood or bamboo to be slotted, and the ivory or bone to fit that slot tightly; you should see no space, and normally, the slot is dovetailed. Bone will have visible pores, and is pretty opaque; Ivory has a different pattern, and is slightly translucent. In both cases, look for paint only in the engraved areas, even pieces, and consistent size and color. If you find an ivory set for under $100, suspect that you're being had. Inexpensive ivory sets just don't exist... many that claim it are bleached bone, or even plastic. Bone sets can look very nice. But they also run $50 to $150 depending on a lot of factors. Paper Sets Mah Jongg cards (often spelled kards) are available for under $25. Most are only the traditional set, usually with both the four winds and four seasons, and the blank is replaced with a white dragon image. So long as the set is a comfortable size, and is plastic coated, it should work fine. One can make a passable set using a Mah Jongg font, and an business card template. If you laminate the cards with contact laminate, they come out feeling like lightweight japanese cards... And play just fine. One other word of warning: when searching for Mah Jongg Cards, you'll get some hits that are the scoring combinations for the American Game, rather than cards with which you play the game itself. Kards almost always refers to playing pieces. Final Thoughts
|
||||
|
|
|
http://www.sloperama.com/mjfaq/whereg.htm has all the answers you need.
The site also links to a reliable list of sellers as well as lots of information about buying sets. It also helps in selecting which kind of set (Japanese, American, ...) to chose. |
|||
|
|
