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A 144 tile set with numbers printed alongside the characters, kept in an antique styled box that is meant to be left out.
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Flat $9.95 shipping · 30-day returns from delivery
The 3 suits in mahjong run one to 9, and on a traditional set the number is shown only in Chinese characters. For anyone who does not read them, that means memorising twenty seven symbols before the game makes any sense, which is where most beginners stop.
Numbered tiles print the arabic numeral alongside the character. A new player reads the corner, plays the tile, and learns the character over the following weeks by association rather than by study.
Experienced players stop seeing the numbers entirely. There is no cost to having them.
Sets that live in cupboards get played on occasions. Sets that live on shelves get played on Tuesdays. An antique styled box is the difference, and it is a usage argument rather than a decorative one.
It also keeps 144 loose objects together, which is the actual failure mode of mahjong sets: not breakage but dispersal.
144 tiles: 108 suit tiles, 16 winds, 12 dragons, 8 flowers and seasons. No jokers. This is the Chinese game, not the American one, and the two do not share equipment.
Numbered tiles and a presentable box make this one of the few mahjong sets that works as a present for somebody who does not yet play. The usual failure of gifted games is that the recipient cannot start without help; here they can read the tiles from the first evening.
Worth knowing: the set contains tiles and box, not racks or a cloth. A recipient starting from nothing will want a mat before the tiles begin sliding on a bare table.
Barely damp cloth for the tiles, dry cloth for the box. Keep the box out of damp. Count the tiles back in every time.
| Tiles | 144 |
|---|---|
| Numbering | Arabic numerals alongside characters |
| Box | Antique styled |
| Weight | 1.3 kg (2.9 lb) |
| Age | 14 and over |
Orders are processed within 1 to 2 business days, with tracking on every parcel. Delivery across the United States takes 10 to 25 days and costs $9.95, one flat rate charged once per order whatever the number of items.
Changed your mind? You have 30 days from delivery to request a return, unused and in its original packaging. Approved refunds go back to your original payment method within 3 business days.
Play tonight
Tiles, and everything the case holds, in one box. Unwrap it, deal a hand, and your table is running.
The sound alone
Shuffling a real set is half the pleasure. Weight in your hand, that clack across the table: you can hear it before you see it.
Yours for twenty years
A set outlasts the group it started with. Choose one you'll still want on the table when someone else is dealing.
Many are, though the spread is wide. A bone and bamboo set from the 1920s in its original chest draws real interest from collectors, particularly when all 144 tiles, the dice and the counting sticks are still there, while a later plastic set is usually worth playing value only. Condition and completeness decide most of it. This one is current, made for the table rather than the cabinet.
Too variable to quote honestly. A worn mid century set with a missing flower changes hands for very little, while a complete bone and bamboo set in its original chest with dice and sticks is appraised on its own and sits far higher. Age alone moves nothing, completeness and material do. If the plan is to play rather than collect, a current 144 tile set is simpler and can be replaced.
Start by counting. A complete traditional set is 144 tiles and an American one is 166, and a gap of even one tile changes the answer. Then look at a tile edge, since bone laminated to bamboo shows a join that plastic does not. Photograph the box, the lid and any label inside it, then take the set to an auction house or a specialist. Online listings show asking prices, not sale prices.
Sets described as ivory are usually bone laminated to bamboo, which is far more common and much simpler to sell. Genuine elephant ivory is another matter: trade in it is restricted or prohibited in many countries, including across most of the United States, so an appraisal and legal advice come before any sale. On either material, completeness and the state of the case set the value.
A mahjong set is handled more than almost anything else in the house: every tile passes through four pairs of hands, several times a game.
That is what we select for. Tiles that read clearly from the far side of the table, edges that stay clean, and a case that still closes after a few seasons of being carried around.
Sets differ in ways that only show at the table: the weight of a tile in the hand, how a crak reads from three seats away, whether the case survives the trip to a friend’s house.
When we have the figures, we publish them: tile count, tile size, weight and material. When we do not have one, we leave it out rather than guess.
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