Top positive review
4.0 out of 5 starsGood 19x19 magnetic set for the price
Reviewed in the United States on September 9, 2014
As others said, this is a good enough item for the price ($13.99 from YMI).
I picked this set after trying the larger model and returning it because the board surface had too many scratches uncovering the metal underneath. I think I could have eventually found a large model with less issues, but I also thought I'd have better chances of getting less defects with a smaller playing area.
The board I got has just two scratches showing the metal of the playing surface and looked pretty good otherwise. The size of the board is just about right - a smaller one might have led to problems handling the correspondingly smaller stones.
There are 183 black stones and 182 white stones, so I got 2 extras for each color, but one of the black extras is missing its magnet. Some magnets are set in a crooked fashion, some are chipped, and some are weak, but I see this as a minor issue. The stones in the larger model looked nicer (smoother, magnets seemed to fit better inside them), but the ones you get here are very usable too.
The plastic bowls actually have a nicer design than shown in the product picture - the lid depicts a fragment of a goban with a few stones set on it. I was surprised to see that the bowls fit better inside the board than expected and that the board is closing with a satisfying snap - the locking mechanism is actually good enough that I can lift the board by the upper half and the lock will hold the weight of the bowls resting on the lower half. The grooves that can catch the bowls and the locking mechanism were better than those I've seen in the larger model.
As a warning, if you want to prevent scratches of the playing surface, pick each stone one by one rather than trying to shove them aside.
This is not a heirloom item, but it is the least expensive 19x19 go set you can find on the market and when it comes to magnetic sets, I have not seen any majestic jump in quality even when you end up paying almost double. If you're wondering about whether to pick this model or the larger one and a larger size is not something you're interested in, then get this one - there isn't much difference in quality between them - you're just paying for the extra material.
