Cap Dash, Web Mold, Cards Mold, Feax RHC's...........

[The Chip Spa]

As everyone may know, I am a Club TRK guy, To me the old school leaded TRK chips are the Rolls Royce of poker chips. I received a message from a chipper the other day telling me that I was single handedly destroying the chip market with the ceramic's (plastics or whatever) to which I had to laugh a bit.

Besides the 1000's of other chips being bought in the hobby our cap dash chips are a small portion of the chips being sold. I looked at some threads on the other site and it seems newer chippers are going all in on tributes! Its funny to see fakes of the ES, AS, tiger, rpc etc. I hold out hope that the prices on these IAGB's are affected! Interestingly I have seen all these IAGB chips either selling at reasonable or value pricing so indeed it may not be just the economy affecting chips but the realization of the profit scraping by the creators that have dupped Angel Playing Card Company into making their over priced fantasy chips.

Don't get me wrong, there's nothing like a real clay composite poker chip but Tina and others have come a long way and I see now that they are going to dabble in some kind of clay(ish) composite chip with a mold charge around $4,000. interesting indeed. The only thing I see being affected with all these ceramics is the profit gouging on real classic casino chips that the regular person cannot afford anyway, at least by the playable set. Now we can play with "almost real" historic chips from eras gone by and have just as much fun!

 

[The Chip Spa]

I have noticed over the years that some have sets tucked away that may or may not ever see the felt. To me, as a sets collector, that seems really weird. 10 year old sets of IAGB chips for sale in never used condition. Why after 10 years are they in never used condition?

I have a few sets that I have chipped together 1 or 10 or 50 at a time and I am proud to own them. These sets do not make me any better than anyone else or a higher grade collector. We're all chippers. whether singles or sets we're in the same hobby. It's a bit disheartening to hear other chippers regarded as "respected" in the hobby because they can afford to buy rarer chips or bigger sets, or dealers posing as true collectors....... I have respect for all chippers who forward our hobby and share their knowledge with each other whether your collecting chips from the chip room sales to play poker with or the collector who owns a one of a kind chip and reveres it not for what profit it may bring but the meaning of the chip and what it means to them.

I see a distinct difference in the collector who unearths chips as a true collector and the dealer who is on the constant search to find chips to resell for profit, and indeed there is a few somewhere in the middle. To me if you're a dealer/collector you would be posting on the sites about your collection AND your sales. Sadly some only post sales and promotions with the guise of it being "For the Community" or "The Hobby". Help the new chippers in our hobby out and "Be Real". If your interest in chipping is solely for profits its really OK! I'd rather not have to "figure you out", although most of the time it's pretty easy.

Nicer to deal with a respected dealer than someone who's posing as a true collector selling some chips.

 

[KingZilla]

As everyone may know, I am a Club TRK guy, To me the old school leaded TRK chips are the Rolls Royce of poker chips. I received a message from a chipper the other day telling me that I was single handedly destroying the chip market with the ceramic's (plastics or whatever) to which I had to laugh a bit.

I think it's naive to think that no one else would try to find reasonable alternatives to chips which have become unaffordable to a lot of people. If it wasn't you, it would be someone else and really it is... Justin sells a lot of "tina" chips and frankly, I'm glad he does. These are not counterfeit collector chips, they are completely different and they are affordable to those of us who want a decent quality chip set at a fair price. I don't think your "friend" has anything to worry about. I think the collector market will remain intact for original casino chips. Collectibles of any kind fluctuate in value, that's the nature of it. Generally the value goes up over time.
I'm really interested in "Tina's" attempt at clay formulated chips although I think they will just be another version of "China clays". If they can perfect those so that they don't physically break down so easy, I'd be in.