Enter Mr. Lazy...
United States
Gurnee
Illinois
Are you pondering what I'm pondering Pinky?
I think so, Brain, but if we have nothing to fear but fear itself, why does Eleanor Roosevelt wear that spooky mask?
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The Background:
My gaming adventure has just begun. Merely a year ago I found myself inducted in to the world of board games. I was immediately interested in all things games, found BGG, and started going off to conventions. Crokinole was not even on my radar until a fateful day at Fire & Ice Con in Manitowoc, WI, when a fellow gamer brought and left out to play his very own Crokinole board. From that moment I was hooked...I researched the game, found a board, and had one of my own made. I fell in love, and am now venturing to find the range of Crokinole board options out there and inform the masses. I'd love to see Crokinole popularized throughout the USA. Here is the first of my reviews on the topic. Look forward to a more in depth comparative video review of additional boards (currently in the works) in the future.
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The Company:
Muzzies' Crokinole is a company run out of Nova Scotia, Canada by a husband and wife duo who operate a woodworking business. The boards are hand made by the couple, and distributed through some fairs, stores, and via the internet at http://www.muzzies.ca/
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The Board:
Well I know this is the part that you are all here to find...the real meat on the board is what you REALLY want...and I'm going to give you just that. My Muzzies' Crokinole board arrived well packed in a cardboard shipping box all the way from Canada. Shipping took approximately a week (not too bad for "International") and arrived unharmed! So far so good!
Upon opening the package I was surprised with the quality! I have seen boards ranging from $30 to $300 and I must say, the quality of this thing is second to none (but more on this later). Inside the box comes:
1) A 24" playing area board (this is the "Traditional" size of Crokinole board, not the tournament standard) with an Octagonal ditch area.
2) 26 Biscuits (13 each Black and White, 12 each needed for play + 1 extra of each color)
3) 1 Cloth Bag for carrying the Biscuits
4) Rules sheet describing game play
|Box Contents. Sorry for the Dark Image! They Get Better!|
The board is made of high quality wood through and through, no MDF or pressboard to be seen. The board lines appear to be painted on to the board with some type of paint pen, and then sealed over with lacquer. The surface is made of a high quality wood, sanded to a smooth finish, then lacquered and sanded further. This results in a fine, smooth, and outstanding play surface which is easy to maintain and looks wonderful. It feels perfect to the touch. The plays surface of this board is 24", a Traditional Board size, as compared to the 26" play surface of the Tournament Style boards (more on this later).
In addition, the board comes pre-waxed and ready for play. The ditch is also constructed of high quality wood, in an octagonal, rather than round, fashion. This is purely an aesthetic quality, which I rather like the look of. The area within the ditch appears to have been sanded down and finished similarly to the play area of the board. The color of the ditch matches well the color of the discs and the color of the play area lines, a nice quality touch to the look of the board.
|Full Board Shot. Note the color match between the board lines and the ditch.|
The board surface, as mentioned earlier, is nice and smooth...reflective when waxed, but not overly so. The center hole is surrounded by the typical 8 pegs, which are made out of some type of brass screw (sorry I'm no carpenter). The look nice with the board, but are not overly decorative. The could perhaps be finished with some plastic tubing, but it holds no concern to the appearance or the playability of the board. As opposed to other boards I have seen, including those done by Hilinski brothers, the pegs on the Muzzies' board are straight up and down with no tilting, bending, or separation from the board. These are perhaps the best pegs I have ever seen both in functionality, in overall continuity with the board style, and in application.
|Here you can see the center region of the board with the brass screw posts. Overview and up-close images included for your viewing pleasure.|
The center 20 point hole is well constructed and deep enough to fit discs easily, while maintaining a flat surrounding surface so as to prevent influencing the disc when it comes near the hole. This means that the disc will not merely fall in to the hole when you come close to the center, but that the shot must be well placed and is not influenced by a downward slope towards the center. The discs, shown earlier, fit nicely in to the hole and are not difficult to remove after a successful 20 shot. The bottom of the hole is not slanted, as is common on some boards, but discs are still easy to remove. I believe that I prefer this design to the slanted version, but purely for aesthetic reasons.
|Image of the center hole of the board without and with a disc. Note the snug fit of the disc and the flat bottom of the hole.|
Enough about board specifications though...how does it play!?!?!?
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The Game Play:
Well I've played on a few boards since that fateful February in Manitowoc, and I must say that I've seen a few nice boards, a few bad boards, and a few in-between. The Muzzies' board, I'm glad to say, falls with some of the best. These boards aren't designed to be the artistic pieces that are the painted, $400 Hilinskis, but are more designed to fall in to the quality area of the $200 Hilinski boards. This, I believe, the accomplish quite nicely. The board is smooth and the discs glide well across the board. The discs, while not convex/concave, have a nice slide to them and I feel in control of my shots. I broke the board in with my first shot as a 20, which made me feel real good! The pegs give a nice bounce when a disc hits them, but no more so than a good plastic or wood peg. As the board arrived waxed, I have not yet had a need to wax the board...even after several dozen plays. This is a nice quality, and attests to the smoothness of the play surface, the discs, and the quality of production. I also must admit i notice very little difference in the board size as to how it affects play. 24" or 26", both a blast. As for fun? Well thats a function of the game, not the board. If you haven't played Crokinole...go out and get it...its a blast!
|A game in mid play. Currently Black is up 5 points on this round.|
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Overall Thoughts:
The quality of these boards is second to none...thats really all there is to say about it. If you are looking for a traditional board, with a nice look and feel, with phenomenal construction quality and great game play...a Muzzies' is the board for you. They aren't flashy, they aren't painted works of art, but they are an affordable, high quality, top notch board for a reasonable price of around $139 plus S+H. Additionally, even though they may not be flashy, they are still works of art. We use ours as a decorative piece in our dining room, hanging directly across from our Hilinski board! Crokinole all over! And I must say, it looks outstanding. For all of you who are interested in Crokinole, but don't want to dip in to the $200-$400 range, take a look at Muzzies', I assure you that you wont' be disappointed.
|Board hanging in our dining room. Its nice, and garners a LOT of questions, and thus a LOT of games!|
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Dan Conley
United States
Enon
Ohio
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Re: Muzzies' Crokinole Boards: An In-Depth Pictorial Review
Thanks for a great review, Ryan! I've threatened to pick up a board for some months now. This looks like the perfect purchase for me!
*I'm back! Just checked out the website and I believe I'm SOLD!  I take it from the pics that you went with the antique cherry, correct?
Also, knowing just about nothing about the game  , I have to ask about board storage. You have yours hanging on the wall. Is this the preferred method of storage or simply something decorative?!?
THANKS!*
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Enter Mr. Lazy...
United States
Gurnee
Illinois
Are you pondering what I'm pondering Pinky?
I think so, Brain, but if we have nothing to fear but fear itself, why does Eleanor Roosevelt wear that spooky mask?
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Re: Muzzies' Crokinole Boards: An In-Depth Pictorial Review
To both of you I must say that it is a good choice. I've had nothing but compliments on the board, including another potential order from a woman who grew up in Canada and has been looking for a nice traditional style board. I promised to email her a link to the Muzzies' site and just remembered that I should really do so.
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Jordan Stewart
Canada
Saint John
New Brunswick
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Re: Muzzies' Crokinole Boards: An In-Depth Pictorial Review
I received a Muzzie's board for Christmas last year and I absolutely love it. I haven't used a lot of different boards and so I didn't really have much to compare to. It's interesting to read your review, and I agree on all your points. A really solid board for a REALLY good price.
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Len Stemberger
United States
Spring
Texas
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Re: Muzzies' Crokinole Boards: An In-Depth Pictorial Review
I'm most curious about how you hung it on the wall. I can't imagine you modified the board in some way so that it could be hung, right? 
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Enter Mr. Lazy...
United States
Gurnee
Illinois
Are you pondering what I'm pondering Pinky?
I think so, Brain, but if we have nothing to fear but fear itself, why does Eleanor Roosevelt wear that spooky mask?
-
Re: Muzzies' Crokinole Boards: An In-Depth Pictorial Review
LStemberger wrote: I'm most curious about how you hung it on the wall. I can't imagine you modified the board in some way so that it could be hung, right?
In all honesty all I did was drill a small hole in the rail of the ditch and put a nail in to the wall for it to hang on. Nothing special.
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Re: Muzzies' Crokinole Boards: An In-Depth Pictorial Review
I purchased my crokinole board from Muzzies more than 18 months ago as a gift for my wife, and have been immensely pleased with it.
The two styles Muzzies currently offers are Original and Antique Cherry. At the time when I made my purchase, they offered Mahogany instead of Antique Cherry. Ours is the Mahogany finish, although we affectionately call our board: "Butterscotch Ripple".
The accessories have stood up well. The leather drawstring does have a tendency to come out of the bag, but that's just a minor quibble. The discs are good quality - they can accumulate dirt over time, but that's no fault of the components, and would be true of most crokinole discs over time. One thing somewhat peculiar about our discs is the white ones had the usual distinct concave/convex style expected of quality crokinole discs, while the black ones did not - at least, not discernibly.
Of all the games I own, this Crokinole board is easily the one single game that has seen the most hours of play over the last couple of years, and it's been played by the largest amount of different people. And it's always been a big hit!
 Highly recommended!
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Michael Fredericks
Canada
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Re: Muzzies' Crokinole Boards: An In-Depth Pictorial Review
I'm Murray Skaling's son in law as well as a proud Muzzies board owner. For those who are fans of Muzzies you may be interested to know they now have a Facebook fan page. Search for Muzzies Crokinole then "like" the page. This will help spread the word about their great work. Also it will be the best way to keep up to date about new board designs and colors that may be in the works in the near future...
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Dan Conley
United States
Enon
Ohio
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Re: Muzzies' Crokinole Boards: An In-Depth Pictorial Review
Ryan-is your board the antique cherry?
Also have to ask about hanging the board. Is this the preferred storage method or purely decorative on your part?
THANKS!
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Enter Mr. Lazy...
United States
Gurnee
Illinois
Are you pondering what I'm pondering Pinky?
I think so, Brain, but if we have nothing to fear but fear itself, why does Eleanor Roosevelt wear that spooky mask?
-
Re: Muzzies' Crokinole Boards: An In-Depth Pictorial Review
yosemite wrote: Ryan-is your board the antique cherry?
Also have to ask about hanging the board. Is this the preferred storage method or purely decorative on your part?
THANKS!
Yes sir, definitely the Antique Cherry. As for storage, the boards should be kept flat, be it on a flat surface or against a wall, so as to prevent any potential for warping. However, the hanging is decorative 
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Dan Conley
United States
Enon
Ohio
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Re: Muzzies' Crokinole Boards: An In-Depth Pictorial Review
Thanks, Ryan! This is getting to be a must-have for me!!! 
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Enter Mr. Lazy...
United States
Gurnee
Illinois
Are you pondering what I'm pondering Pinky?
I think so, Brain, but if we have nothing to fear but fear itself, why does Eleanor Roosevelt wear that spooky mask?
-
Re: Muzzies' Crokinole Boards: An In-Depth Pictorial Review
yosemite wrote: Thanks, Ryan! This is getting to be a must-have for me!!!
Glad to hear it!
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Red Rook
United States
Tucson
Arizona
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Re: Muzzies' Crokinole Boards: An In-Depth Pictorial Review
Nice review, you may have just gained them another customer.
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Mayday Games
United States
Layton
Utah
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Re: Muzzies' Crokinole Boards: An In-Depth Pictorial Review
Wow! I wonder if Mayday should make a smaller 24" board like this, seems to be a lot of interest. So 17% less play area doesn't hurt the gameplay Ryan?
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Re: Muzzies' Crokinole Boards: An In-Depth Pictorial Review
I would imagine the size difference isn't particularly noticeable unless they are side by side or you are very used to one size or the other.
I found the reference to "traditional" size amusing since the traditional size was whatever the maker of the board felt like making at that moment. 
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Enter Mr. Lazy...
United States
Gurnee
Illinois
Are you pondering what I'm pondering Pinky?
I think so, Brain, but if we have nothing to fear but fear itself, why does Eleanor Roosevelt wear that spooky mask?
-
Re: Muzzies' Crokinole Boards: An In-Depth Pictorial Review
maydaygames wrote: Wow! I wonder if Mayday should make a smaller 24" board like this, seems to be a lot of interest. So 17% less play area doesn't hurt the gameplay Ryan?
Honestly, no it doesn't. Unless I were playing side by side I'd not notice much of a difference. It certainly doesn't change the strategy or game play.
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Mayday Games
United States
Layton
Utah
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Re: Muzzies' Crokinole Boards: An In-Depth Pictorial Review
I know a guy who has a 24" board, I'll make a point to try it out over Thanksgiving if I get the chance .
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