Fat Five & Friends Animal Chess Set

Meet the Fat Five & Friends, a beautifully designed African animal chess set based on the Big Five animals of Africa that would make an ideal gift for a loved one. The Fat Five chess pieces are made from polystone and hand-painted by our South African artists. The wooden chess board is framed out of polystone with detailed African art design.

Playing pieces consist of adorable elephant, buffalo, rhino, zebra, hippo, lion and leopard - a must-have for lovers of African wildlife.

This chess set would make an ideal gift for a family member or friend or spoil yourself with this collector’s item.

• The king - lion
• The queen - leopard
• The knight - hippo (light)/rhino (dark)
• The bishop - buffalo 
• The rook/castle - elephant
• The pawn - warthog (light)/zebra (dark)

Amazing Africa Gifts crafting and material details

Both the set’s chess pieces and board frame are cast by hand in polystone (a unique mixture of crushed stone and resin) and painted by hand in incredible detail by our exceptionally talented team of South African artists using high-quality Winsor and Newton oil paints. The wooden chess board itself is also carved by hand, as are the molds that are used for the chess pieces.

The board squares are hand carved from koto and cherry wood, and then treated in accordance with international import standards and requirements. The board is then set in its polystone frame which boasts a stunning African design.

Set sizes

The tallest chess piece is the king with a height of 56mm. The chess pieces have a base diameter of 26-34mm meaning they perfectly on the 50mm2 chess squares.

• Chess board size playing square: 42mm x 42mm
• Chess board material kiaat/ koto/ maple wood
• Chess board frame material Ground stone (polystone) - hand painted
• Chess board size 390mm x 390mm
• Chess set packaged weight 4kg
• Chess set packaged dimensions 470mm x 470mm x 110mm

Packaging

We take the utmost care in packing our gorgeous chess sets, such that they are delivered to you safely and in their entirety after the shipping process.

Every individual chess piece is set in their own box-dye cut foam holder, accompanied by extra foam top and bottom covers for the set as a whole. Additionally, the wooden board is wrapped in bubble wrap so that it can absorb any shock while in transit, without sustaining any damage.

The complete set is placed in a sturdy double-walled cardboard box which contains polystyrene packing peanuts which further protect the chess set during shipping. While we take the greatest care to ensure that the set gets to you in one piece, we know that accidents do happen – so, if any pieces arrived damaged, we will replace them entirely at no cost to you.

Shipping Information

All Gala Star products are manufactured in South Africa and therefore shipping takes some time and incurs some costs. Shipping costs to the USA, UK, and Europe from South Africa vary in terms of time and cost.

For Kumbula iAfrica (Gala Star) orders under $150, please note that shipping is still to be added to your order.

We are currently offering free shipping on orders over $150 using EMS but upon order will also offer a shipping upgrade for speedier and more accurate shipping times for orders over $150.

Please refer to our shipping policies page for further details.

Sales tax, VAT, and customs duty

Please note that for all our customers outside of USA and outside South Africa, we do not calculate sales tax, VAT, import or customs duties and these may be due upon the product arriving at your customs office.

For our South African customers, please note that all prices including shipping are quoted excluding VAT (15%) which will be added to the price at checkout. Gala Star is a registered VAT vendor in South Africa.

For our USA customers, we will add any sales tax to your orders where we qualify for Sales Tax registration.

THE STORY BEHIND THIS CHESS SET

Aptly named the Fat Five Chess Set, this unique themed chess set ads a bit of humour to the game of chess with a whimsical take on the Big 5 African game animals. The most assiduous attention to detail, brings life to each facet of our Fat Five African Animal themed chess pieces. From the mane of our lion, the spots of our leopard, the horns of our buffalo, the hide of our rhino, to the stripes of our zebra, every hand moulded piece, will make your chess experience feel as though it takes place right at the heart of the magical African Wild. With exaggerated features and quizzical facial expressions these chess pieces and board, which have been fashioned out of ground stone, kiaat and koto woods,  make for a stunning collector’s item.

All the pieces in this unique chess set are sculptured by our in-house artists, then produced from custom made, hand-designed moulds, followed up with hours of the finest attention in hand-painted colouring, with the focus on intricate detail, to give realism to this Fat Five African Animal themed chess set. The tallest chess piece in the collection is the uncontested Lion, sitting in leisurely at 56mm tall, with all the chess pieces having a base diameter of between 26-34mm. This fits perfectly on the 50mm2 chess squares on our ground stone chess board. As always, great care has been taken to neatly and securely package the 4kg chess set to prevent damage while transporting or storing.

The King chess piece:

The lion (Panthera Leo), true King of the African Jungle, sits on his rock throne, as head of this chess board. Will his rule stand unbroken? These cats are social animals and are the largest of the cat family. Males have manes and are larger than the females. Mainly nocturnal, but seen at dawn and dusk. The pride consists of one, or occasionally, more than one male, a dominant female, mature and young animals.

The Queen Chess piece

Fast and far-moving the Leopardess, (Panthera pardus) is Queen to our Lion King. Will her agile leap be halted in its tracks? These nocturnal cats with their black spots are shy, yet cunning and dangerous. Leopards are generally solitary animals. They are very good tree-climbers and often pull their prey up the tree to protect it from scavengers. They breed throughout the year and can live for +/- 20 years. They mainly live along streams, rivers or mountains and have large hunting grounds.

The Knight Chess piece

The Rhino (White Rhino -Ceratotherium simum –and Black Rhino - Diceros bicornis)is a formidable force in the African wild. Females weigh in at around 1600kgs with males weighing up to 2400kgs. Their armour like skin and stout horn make them a fierce contender in this game of chess as the knight chess piece.

The Bishop Chess piece

The wise buffalo waits for the right time to strike from his home as Bishop on our chess board. Could there be strength to pull down this sage beast? The light reddish-brown buffalo is fond of wallowing in mud. Both male and female have horns. The male is more heavily built and his horns are bigger than the females. The habitat is generally in savannah regions, close to water.  They are inquisitive animals that have an acute sense of smell, poor eyesight and hearing.  They are very dangerous animals to hunt

The Rook/Castle Chess piece

The heavy African elephant (Loxodonta Africana) sits unmoving as our Rook/Castle chess piece. These huge, heavily built creatures are diurnal and nocturnal. They have a trunk, flat ears and tusks of varying length. The trunk serves as nose and “hand” to break off branches. They also use it for showering and the drinking of water. They swim well and enjoy splashing about in mud. Their diet consists mainly of grass, leaves, branches, bark of trees and fruit.

The Pawn Chess piece

The Plains Zebra (Equus quagga) with its distinctive black and white stripes are the Pawn Pieces of this chess set. The black and whites stripes are not just for show though, but rather plays a vital role in their defence from predators as well as boasts a unique cooling attribute which comes in very handy in the hot African sun.

FREE SHIPPING FOR USA:

We offer free shipping for USA customers for order over $50. Please note that for customers in other countries shipping will be calculated on checkout. Please refer to our shipping policies page for further details.

SALES TAX, VAT, AND CUSTOMS DUTY

Please note the above price excludes sales tax, VAT or customs or import duties. United States customers will have sales tax added upon checkout where required, and South African clients will have VAT added. For the rest of the world you may incur import duties that are for your account.