It seems to me that when it comes to the game of Scrabble, there are two kinds of people in the world.  Those who can't get enough, and will play it any hour of any day.  And those who have to be dragged into a game, kicking and screaming.   I am in the first group.  And, since my husband is a devout member of the second group, I have to look outside the home for my "fix".  Luckily, I have nearby friends who enjoy the game as much as I do, and we have regular Scrabble sessions.

A few basics about the game, in case you're unfamiliar (feel free to skip this paragraph): Players have a "hand" which consists of seven lettered-tiles.  When it's your turn, you must lay some of those tiles onto the board such that you make a valid word, connected to at least one other letter already on the board.  Think of a crossword puzzle - each word must touch at least one other word.  Not just any word will do, though.  They have to be legal, valid words.  No proper nouns, no hyphens, nothing considered slang or foreign.  Each letter comes with a point value.  So the easily-placed vowels are worth 1 point whereas the Q,X, and Z are worth 10 points.  After laying your tiles, you pick new ones, to replenish your hand back to seven tiles. The board is a 15x15 grid, and certain spaces contain special point-boosters so that laying letters onto those specific spaces can cause letters (or entire words) to double or triple in score.  Play continues until there are no more tiles left to draw, and either a player lays out their remaining tiles, or no one can make any more moves.

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The game, as described above, has been unchanged for 80 years or so.  So the only way to "change things up" is to make the boards, the pieces, and the accessories unique.  There are many editions of the game out there.  Lately I've enjoyed playing on my friends' beautiful set called The Premier Wood Edition.  And let me tell you, it is gorgeous.  The "luxury model", in my opinion!

The game is made from a beautiful stained wood with brass-toned highlights.  The board, itself, sits atop a cabinet where you can store all of the game pieces and the accessories.  On most sets, people keep the cardboard box that the game comes in, for storage, and those boxes show their age after a while.  I know I have some game boxes that are decades old and every corner is torn!  But with this model, you could toss the outer box, because everything is self-contained, inside the cabinet.

Of course the board swivels as most Scrabble sets, these days, come with a swiveling board.  This is a nice feature, because when it's your turn, it's nice to turn the board so that the words are facing you.  And, each space on the board has a raised border, so the tiles don't slide around.  (I remember in the old days, the board was a flat piece of cardboard.  No swiveling, no space-borders.  So if you wanted to rotate the board, the pieces would likely go flying.  Similarly, it was easy to accidentally knock pieces around when you're taking your turn, and everyone had to try to remember where everything was).

The tiles in this set are called faux-ivory.  In other words, they're white, with a smooth feel.  I actually don't prefer this look.  Other sets have tiles that are a cherry-wood, which I find much more attractive.

The accessories that come with this set are nice.  A leather pouch to hold all of the tiles.  In the old days, Scrabble sets didn't come with any pouch.  You either supplied your own (a brown lunch bag would do), or you laid all the tiles face-down on one side of the table, from which to draw.  It's much easier to simply use a non-see-through bag.  Just stick your hand in, and take out whatever number of tiles you need.

The racks that hold your tiles are a definite upgrade in this set.  The wood and brass racks look nice, and feel nice.  And, they've added a metal "end cap" which serves two purposes.  It prevents your tiles from slipping off the side of the rack and it supposedly helps prevent your neighbor's eyes from accidentally getting a glimpse of your tiles.  I say "supposedly" because it doesn't really work.  I have had plenty of times where racks are accidentally viewed because they're placed at an angle instead of straight in front of the person.  Still, I guess the endcaps help a little bit.

This set includes a timer which I never use... I use the less official but more fun approach of yelling "ANY DAY NOW!!!!" when someone's taking too long to take their turn.  There's also a book of score sheets and a pencil.  Yes, that's right, they actually supply a pencil.  Hey, they have to do something to justify charging an arm and a leg for the set, right?

OK - so how much do they charge for this set?  Well, that's a funny question, because I've seen it listed for anywhere from $70 to over $400.  I have no idea why there's such a big discrepancy.  As for my friends who own this set, they received it as a gift, and have no idea how much it cost.

Let's face it - Scrabble is Scrabble, no matter what color the tiles, or how fancy the pouch is.  As long as the board swivels, and the spaces have borders, I don't really care about all the rest of the stuff.  However, I think this particular set makes a lovely gift for a Scrabble-lover, as it is certainly durable, and looks nice enough to keep out, at all times.  While there's no way I would spend $400 on a Scrabble set, I would spend $100 on a set such as this one.   After all, I've been playing Scrabble for 40 or so years, now, and I intend to play it for another 40 years!  I might as well have a set that will last!


Official Scrabble Players Dictionary Third Edition

Official Scrabble Players Dictionary Fourth Edition

Scrabble For the Computer
 

Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): ?
Type of Toy: Game