Nixie tubes used to be considered a dying art, but if the recent trend of Nixie watches and clocks we’ve seen on Yanko Design provide any indication, it is that retro will always be in demand! However, the Nixie Chess Set takes the cake for being by far the coolest looking product to be given a Nixie-upgrade.
Not one, not two, not even four, but rather thirty two Nixie Tubes sit atop this grand chess board, each painstakingly and manually crafted to represent a signature chess-piece. The conductive chess board supplies power to the Nixie chess pieces. When the pieces are lifted upward, they switch off, but as soon as they are placed back on the checkered chess board, they light up with that warm glow that Nixie enthusiasts love! The tubes look the same, but are differentiated by their symbols, as well as the wooden bases. The lighter bases are white chess pieces, the darker one are consecutively the black pieces.
At its price tag, the chess set is clearly for the Analog enthusiast. However, if you’re a Nixie lover who doesn’t want to cough up that kind of money, there’s a DIY Nixie Chess kit available for $250 (less than half the price) for you to tinker with and build on your own. I’m guessing it’s well worth the effort though!
Designer: Anthony Adams (Lasermad)
BUY IT HERE: $639.20
