WCIF Vintage Mah Jong Set

Apologies in advance for stepping on the “WCIF a nice mah jong set” thread but this one is tweaked slightly different.

I need a vintage mah jong set. Hear me out…please.

(1) I went looking for the place mentioned in this thread on Yanji St. [url]Where can I buy a chess set? - #5 by daniel_han and couldn’t find it – it’s supposedly between Renai and Zhongxiao… sandman mentioned it and gave it high marks. Perhaps it wasn’t open on Sunday. Can anyone get me there a little more precisely?

(2) A nice mah jong set will not do. This one has to be old, as in made somewhere around the time many Forumosans were born or before.

(3) I’ve run this past dozens of people, mostly locals, and the first words out of their mouth are, “What do you want that for?” I’ll get to that in a minute. Apparently, most folks like new sets and when they’re done with the old one, they do what many folks do with shit they’re done with – they throw it out and buy new. OK, fair enough. Somebody on this island has got to be into vintage stuff! Where is it? I’ll go anywhere, island-wide, money is no object, it’s that desperate.

(4) Made a run up to the supposed “flea market” in Tienmu and one of two things happened. Either somebody gave me bad directions (how can you mess up the intersection of Tienmu E/W Rd. and Zhongshan?) or the weather put a damper on the show and nobody came out. I did not see anything that resembled the buying and selling of second-hand goods. This of course could completely be my fault.

(5) You’ve made it this far so I’ll satisfy your curiosity and at the same time, ask another question. Why does this mah jong set have to be vintage? :ponder: Honestly, I dunno, but I have had three people ask me from home if I could get them one, like, they’ve assumed these things are readily available all over the island. My suspicion is that there was some stupid TV show that featured vintage Taiwanese stuff and that triggered the flux of requests. By and large, people rarely ask me to bring stuff back home. This however is odd. Three people all wanting the same thing that I didn’t even know existed (and may not exist) until they asked for it. Now, in the case of the third individual, this person did me a massive favor and I owe her something. I don’t care if it costs me 20,000NT, the request must be honored. She won’t accept money. Her lone request for payback was…the vintage mah jong set. This individual is a vintage collector of everything. Clothes, records, cars. She’s living in 1945, swear to God. Anyway, my impulse was to tell her what the locals told me but I thought that would be rude. Since she won’t take the money, I said, “Done.”

Thanks for reading. We’ll see what happens. :popcorn: Oh, and actually, I’m also interested in perusing some second-hand shops for kicks, but haven’t found much. Any tips in that direction would also be appreciated. :bow:

There’s a second hand place that has a lot of vintage stuff right outside exit 7 of Guting MRT.

May I ask who or what you are buying the Mah Jong Set for? If you are buying for you folks local Mah Jong club back home, you may be disappointed. The Mah Jong that is played in America is a bit different and the tiles are not the same. I searched all over the NJ Chinese Community for a nice set. Bought it for my mom, then found out that the Chinese game was incompatible.

They were nice and took the game back. I bought a nice western set instead.
Good luck…

[quote=“Taiwan_Student”]May I ask who or what you are buying the Mah Jong Set for? If you are buying for you folks local Mah Jong club back home, you may be disappointed. The Mah Jong that is played in America is a bit different and the tiles are not the same. I searched all over the NJ Chinese Community for a nice set. Bought it for my mom, then found out that the Chinese game was incompatible.

They were nice and took the game back. I bought a nice western set instead.
Good luck…[/quote]
Hahaha… :roflmao: the set will never ever ever be used to play the actual game of mah jong… It’s for a fairly well-off Southern California attorney who likes/covets/obsesses over old crap. But thanks for checking in. I actually wondered if I’d have a better chance of finding it in the U.S., but unfortunately, I’m going to see this individual pretty much the moment I step off the plane.

BAM!:

goods.ruten.com.tw/item/show?21108018970287

The front is made of ox bone, the back is made of bamboo: goods.ruten.com.tw/item/show?21101193956367

40 years old: goods.ruten.com.tw/item/show?21012079972820

Ivory and bamboo: goods.ruten.com.tw/item/show?21005277149299

50 years old: goods.ruten.com.tw/item/show?21002020942710

Ahhh… this guy has a store and website: goods.ruten.com.tw/item/show?21001298672660
tw.myblog.yahoo.com/rare-curios
博古軒地址:台北市信義路2段60號 歡迎參觀 電話: 23971779
Tai’pei City, Hsinyi Road, Section 2, No. 60: g.co/maps/8y5r9 (there it is on Google Maps… you surely can find it)

HOLY… these look the oldest of all: goods.ruten.com.tw/item/show?11090816261365

The question is now… who are you going to find to help you order these? Some of the people have phone numbers, too.

[quote=“shawn_c”]BAM!:

goods.ruten.com.tw/item/show?21108018970287

The front is made of ox bone, the back is made of bamboo: goods.ruten.com.tw/item/show?21101193956367

40 years old: goods.ruten.com.tw/item/show?21012079972820

Ivory and bamboo: goods.ruten.com.tw/item/show?21005277149299

50 years old: goods.ruten.com.tw/item/show?21002020942710

Ahhh… this guy has a store and website: goods.ruten.com.tw/item/show?21001298672660
tw.myblog.yahoo.com/rare-curios
博古軒地址:台北市信義路2段60號 歡迎參觀 電話: 23971779
Tai’pei City, Xinyi Road, Section 2, No. 60: g.co/maps/8y5r9 (there it is on Google Maps… you surely can find it)

HOLY… these look the oldest of all: goods.ruten.com.tw/item/show?11090816261365

The question is now… who are you going to find to help you order these? Some of the people have phone numbers, too.[/quote]

Hey, Forumosans, you see? THIS is what it’s all about. Skip the forums about foreigners and towels and mods who have no business modding. Super_kudos to shawn_c. It’s guys (or girls) like shawn_c that make this site worth being a member of.

Try Cherry Hill Antiques in Taipei cherryhill.antiques.com.tw/about.html

Good suggestion, I happened into there some time back, I think I saw some there.

Hi

VINTAGE MAH JONG GAMES FOR SALE

I just wanted to mention that I am a vintage Mah Jong collector and have set up a web site mahjongmahjong.com selling vintage bone & bamboo and Bakelite games. I also showcase some of my personal collection if you are interested in taking a look.

I have many more personal games to add to my museum and also many games that I have yet to photograph and add to the “for sale” section of my site.

I do have a friend that travels to Taiwan on business - so if you are worried about the games reaching you safely in the mail it might be possible to ask my friend to take the games to Taiwan and mail them on arrival - I’d have to check :slight_smile:

If you have any questions or have a wish list of games you are seeking just e-mail: help@mahjongmahjong.com - I’d love to help.

Thanks !