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Looking for a set

Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2012 8:58 am
by Napa
Hello, made an account just for this and I hope you can help me a bit.
I've been looking through amazon UK, ebay UK and some smaller sites for 3-4 hours now and getting desperate.
The set i'm looking for is a modern japanese riichi mahjong set that has 35mm-40mm tiles.
I'm even ready to buy the tiles without a case, I just want those sturdy red fives!
If you could give me a push to the right direction, I would greatly apriciate it.

It's amazing how many manufacturers forget to say the size of their tiles :/

Re: Looking for a set

Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2012 9:49 am
by Ignatius
On e-bay, look for Yellow Mountain Imports. All japanese mahjong tiles have the same sizes. Oh and here, Reachmahjong has a shop: http://reachmahjong.com/en/products-page/

Hope this helps you.

Re: Looking for a set

Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2012 10:16 am
by gemma
I think the two different sets that RM.com stocks has a few mm difference between them. They do have significantly different weights. Also, the more expensive set has a red five with a plastic jewel that is not to everyone's liking. I'm at work now but I can give you some more details later today.

Re: Looking for a set

Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2012 11:13 am
by Napa
"All japanese mahjong tiles have the same sizes."
So I reckon chinese tiles are the larger ones.
Hmm

Re: Looking for a set

Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2012 11:25 am
by gemma
Yes... the Chinese ones are the ones you can build a house out of. 35x40 sounds pretty big to me. Are you located in the UK?

Re: Looking for a set

Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2012 11:55 am
by wavemotion
Ignatius wrote:On e-bay, look for Yellow Mountain Imports.
A smaller portion of the Yellow Mountain Imports stock is also sold by Amazon here in the USA and the prices are usually even a bit cheaper than you can get from YMI on ebay or direct. I have a YMI Riichi set (with the fake-bamboo back) which I really like and also a green-backed Chinese set from YMI which is larger and has a nice feel as well (but no red 5s).

Re: Looking for a set

Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2012 12:06 pm
by gemma
If you're in Europe and looking for a larger tile set, Dot1 is a good bet. The gentleman who runs it is very nice.

They also include the tile dimensions in their descriptions.

http://www.mahjongshopdot1.nl/contents/ ... ellen.html

Re: Looking for a set

Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2012 1:00 pm
by Napa
"Yes... the Chinese ones are the ones you can build a house out of. 35x40 sounds pretty big to me. Are you located in the UK?"
Finland, I have played with only tiny tiles and it wasnt for me.

"A smaller portion of the Yellow Mountain Imports stock is also sold by Amazon here in the USA and the prices are usually even a bit cheaper than you can get from YMI on ebay or direct. I have a YMI Riichi set (with the fake-bamboo back) which I really like and also a green-backed Chinese set from YMI which is larger and has a nice feel as well (but no red 5s)."
Yellow mountain has some very nice sets indeed.
Starting to have ideas of just removing the paint in some of the fives and replacing it with red to get my dream set :D

"If you're in Europe and looking for a larger tile set, Dot1 is a good bet. The gentleman who runs it is very nice."
And thats a bingo!
Mahjong set Green XXL pure in aluminium case
Tiles: 38x28x19 mm
Shame it doesnt tell if it has chips or sticks.

Needs a little research on my part, thanks for the help!

Re: Looking for a set

Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2012 6:11 pm
by Shirluban
gemma wrote:If you're in Europe and looking for a larger tile set, Dot1 is a good bet. The gentleman who runs it is very nice.

They also include the tile dimensions in their descriptions.

http://www.mahjongshopdot1.nl/contents/ ... ellen.html
Looks like they sell only chinese sets, WITHOUT red fives.


Japanese-games-shop have interesting stuff:
http://www.japanese-games-shop.com/mahj ... e-mahjong/

Re: Looking for a set

Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2012 7:55 pm
by wavemotion
Shirluban wrote:Japanese-games-shop have interesting stuff:
http://www.japanese-games-shop.com/mahj ... e-mahjong/
Some beautiful sets there (some similar to the YMI Riichi sets and some even a step up) but the shipping might be prohibitive. Not sure what it would be to Finland, but just for laughs I added the nice US$70 heavy green tile set to the cart and it calculated US$100 shipping! 1.5x the cost of the set to ship... thank goodness for places like Yellow Mountain Imports :) (which has free shipping on several sets - I got my Riichi set shipped for free)

Re: Looking for a set

Posted: Thu Oct 11, 2012 2:37 pm
by Napa
"US$100 shipping!"
Yup, shipping is gnarly :D
+customs on top of that :p

Re: Looking for a set

Posted: Thu Oct 11, 2012 9:39 pm
by wavemotion
Just for informational sake... here are the 5 tile sets I have

Image
Image
Image

The left-most is a junk set from Chinatown NY. It is the largest tiles I have but doesn't have the 2-tone and has the Arabic numerals printed on the Wan tiles (and the White Dragon is boxed in... poor little fella). I don't use this set anymore. I got it before I knew better.
The next in from the left is the basic US$40 Chinese 'Pro' set from YMI. I like this set. It has no Arabic numerals printed on it.
The middle green-backed tile is a set I got on Ebay - claiming to be a 'Taiwanese' set. It was roughly equivalent to the Chinese set only a little smaller. It has Arabic numerals printed on it - I use this set with new players.
The fourth tile in is the standard US$50 YMI modern Riichi set - with red 5s and while a little small, I've been told this is a standard size for Japanese sets (roughly 26mm tall). I like this set quite a bit though it took me time to adjust to the smaller size.
The last tile is an old bone and bamboo set I got used which has curved backs (so the tiles rock ever so slightly) and while this is of Japanese origin is old enough that it does not have red 5s (but has the all-blank white dragon, etc). This tile is roughly the same height as the modern Riichi tile but not quite as deep (see final pic). The seller thinks he picked it up in the 50s in Japan. Or maybe not - but I do like the feel of the tiles.

There is also a AA battery and a standard point stick. I have no idea if a AA battery is common world-wide, but figured it might provide some sense of scale.

Re: Looking for a set

Posted: Fri Oct 12, 2012 1:48 pm
by Napa
Purchased that 38mm chinese set and got some counting sticks to go with it.
Learned a lot about the different sets these past few days.
Now I just need to gather the courage to paint the fives red (no spare tiles)
I still wish there would be atleast somekind of mahjong shops around here :D

Thanks for helping me out!

Re: Looking for a set

Posted: Fri Oct 12, 2012 3:05 pm
by wavemotion
Napa wrote:Now I just need to gather the courage to paint the fives red (no spare tiles)
I did paint my original Chinatown set. Fortunately, since the tile designs are grooved the red paint will not rub off easily but I found my red paint didn't cover 100% over the pre-painted blue/black. So it didn't look super nice and professional - but is totally functional. It is possible, I suppose, to use a mild solvent to try and remove/lighten the existing paint before you add your red paint.

Good luck! I'd love to see the results of your work.

Re: Looking for a set

Posted: Fri Oct 12, 2012 11:55 pm
by Napa
WIll do :D