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I wanted to get your thoughts on a topic of the large Castle Chess Set that I posted on brickset.com and see if you knew anything about this.

The issue is with the packaging not working properly once the set is assembled. I’ll copy the entire posting below for you. Sorry, it’s a bit lengthy.

Here it is:
I wanted to chime in on this amazing set. First off, I agree with everything the previous posters stated so I’m not going to repeat all of that. This is a stunning set.

I can’t explain how wonderful the presentation of this entire set is. And what I mean by that is not just the finished assembled set, but the entire process of opening the set up. The storage box is beautiful. When you open it the checker board is displayed on the left and all the pieces are individually presented in their own custom shaped space to fit the piece. These are all behind a clear sleeve that holds them in place. Once you remove the sleeve, the inside portion of the box (which holds the pieces) lifts out to reveal the assembled chess set. There are grooves in the base of the box to lock the chess set in place so it doesn’t slide around. It essentially stays in the middle so you can store the chess set in the box without getting damaged.

This is how it is supposed to work…The problem is that some packaging engineer made a mistake and when the set is assembled and placed in the box, once the inner box with the figures is placed on top, the lid (which holds the checker board) will not close. Basically the box is not deep enough by about 1.5 inches therefore not allowing the top lid to close.

An otherwise flawless execution in design and presentation is flawed by this mistake. Don’t get me wrong, this is an amazing set. And you can still store the set in the box with all your chess player pieces thrown loosely into a ziplock bag in with the base of the set, then close the lid. But the beauty of it was how it all should have worked together.

I thought I was an idiot so I actually dragged my entire set (assembled with the box) into the Lego store at King of Prussia Mall (PA) to have one of their people tell me where I went wrong. This part may get confusing for you (if you’re not familiar with the packaging)… but the manager proceeded to rip the box portion (that is behind the area where the characters are supposed to be stored) off. She grabbed it with her hands and started to try to pull it off. She got it half way off when I told her to stop and that I didn’t think that was going to solve anything. They brought their display sample out of the back room and they had destroyed their box to make the thing fit. It was a sloppy mess.

My point is that the packaging is horribly flawed, which might not normally be a big deal. But with a set like this the storage box is essential so you don’t have to rebuild the set every time you want to play.

Please let me know if anyone has heard more about this or if their are any other solutions. I would hope that with the popularity of this set, Lego will go into more manufacturing and additional printings of the boxes and presumably fix the mistake. For a set as expensive as this I would hope Lego would issue replacement boxes to those who request one.

Sorry for the rant but I’m hoping for some answers from anyone.

I wouldn’t have been so disappointed if they never attempted to make a storage solution for the set. But for them to come so close to perfection and then making a mistake like this really stings.

Don’t let this posting deter you from getting the set. If you are a chess fan/Lego fan/Castle fan this is a must have. The packaging issue just took a bit of the shine off an otherwise stunning experience.

That’s the end of my posting. Thanks for your thoughts.
Love the show.
Chris Rankin.