Franklin Sports Expert 6 Player Croquet Set

I love it! We had such fun playing it with kids and grandkids. We need to get a smaller set for the little ones but it was perfect for adults.

I rate this a horrible purchase, barely functional, and not that great to look at.First off, the look. It is made to look vintage but the finish on it is inconsistent/cheap, and pieces came already scratched and marred.Do not be fooled by this looking like the many other "Amish made" sets yo see for sale here on Amazon, this one is "Made in China" and clearly stickered as such.For functionality, the wheels are to small to roll well, and the washer set up on the axles is inadequate. When the set is rolled, even on smooth/short carpet, the small wheel diameter causes the set to rock, vibrate, and shimmy to where the balls and even the mallets fall out. When you actually try to roll this on grass, you know, where the game of croquet is generally played, the caddy is prone to fall over and the balls and mallets are all over the place. Every 5 feet of progress is halted by having to reassemble everything back onto the caddy. And then after a bit, due to poor axle design, the wheel on one side will over-tighten and seize up.I solved a majority of this by going to the hardware store and buying two larger rubber wheels and axle hardware and replacing everything myself.Another note on assembly: when installing ball holders, use a few drops of Elmers or epoxy to anchor them in, even though the instructions don't say to do so, as they will pop out when it is rolled.The brass/metal hardware on the mallet, to assemble to handle to the head is aesthetically pleasing, but horrendous functionally. First, the set screw on the handle hardware was not flush, and prohibited the handle from even being screwed into the head socket, until I filed them down. Once the brass adze on the handle could be screwed into the socket on the head of the mallet, even when screwed in completely, it was still loose and would jiggle, making the mallet vibrate horribly when striking the ball, and even spin loose/off.It is not fun to play with AT ALL.The only plus is, the wickets are very sturdy, well constructed from heavy gage metal with a nice finish.Even after all my efforts to improve/fix the set, I am sending it back for a refund, as I have no desire to continue trying to fix the issues with the mallets.

Surprisingly, this croquet set (mostly) survived my son's 8th birthday party. It's a budget set, nothing fancy. The mallets remained unbroken with a dozen kids who've never played croquet before whacking balls around. The balls are still in good shape. They did manage to break one of the stakes, which is a bit of a wonder because it was firmly in the ground and they snapped the top off. I wasn't watching, but I've got the feeling it didn't happen through normal croquet activity. I was looking for an inexpensive croquet set, specifically for this birthday party, and the Franklin brand was the decider when comparing to similar sets. Franklin makes some quality backyard games. I love my Franklin horseshoes.This set includes a bag for carrying everything, but you have to take the heads off of the mallets. With the wooden threads, screwing the heads on and off isn't something I would want to do often, as I'm afraid they'll strip pretty easily. I might carry around the assembled mallets separately from the bag of balls, wickets and stakes.

When it came time to replace our old croquet set, I with the well known Franklin brand. The wood is a bit thin, pretty light weight.The mallets are tall enough for adults to use without being bent halfway over (and much cheaper than buying the longer mallets). We had no issues with splinters, all of the parts are sanded smooth.The balls are lightweight resin, they are not clay. They do show some signs of wear after being smashed around the yard, which is to be expect.Once the mallet heads are put on, do not expect to remove them for storage. The threads will strip out, but they all fit together just fine. We keep the mallets assembled and stored standing, they don't take up that much space.We use the handy bag to store the other pieces of the set.A wide age range of kids have played with the set a few times with no damage yet. Could they be sturdier, sure, but having priced multiple sets, the quality seems on par for the price point. So I feel it was a good purchase and it made for some fun leisure time in the yard.

Gave it to my grandchildren and I have not played with them yet, but my son said the quality was not great.

Very well built, great present to give.

The design of this set is great! That's where the positives end. I like the way the cart holds all the balls and mallets. Balls are solid and truthfully are the best part of this set. Typical poor Chinese material and quality control on the rest of the set. Wood is soft and I fear it won't last many seasons. Handles of the mallets have splits, giving a poop playing experience. One mallet was missing a screw holding the metal threaded end on, so I had to drill it and add my own.Would be fun for kids, but I don't think it would last. I guess I will just have to use these as templates and turn my own on my lathe. :(

This is the nicest croquet set I've ever owned. The wickets are solid steel and the mallets have steel connections. Got a great price on a used set, and I'm really happy about this purchase.