China Clay Observations after 6-9 yrs ...... (1 Viewer)

[Blaster]

I haven't hosted @ my place in a while, & my china Clays have been sitting in birdcages and boxes for a few years ...
I had a few different customs made around 08-09 , & I also was part of the original "Private Cardroom" CC group buy ...

Pulled them out recently, and I see that many have noticeably faded their colors ...
They still feel just fine.

Below is a pic from my starting stack thread, the $50's when new were a near very perfect match to the yellow label, now in person the chips are very faded, and on their way to being almost washed-out white.
Likewise, the 1K has faded noticeably as well, not sure on the 5K. ( 100/500's are of course Paulsons)..

I dug out & took a look at my ( never used) Private Cardroom CC's this morning before work, and sure enough, faded as well. I wonder if this fading will stabilize, or the chips will continue to fade colors over time ......
I will have to check my greens, blues and others, & may post pics when I get a chance.
I also plan to snap one in half, as I suspect the fading does not go all the way thru the chip, but who knows?
This effect is probably nothing that any importers could have foreseen.....

 

[BGinGA]

Storage conditions? Subject to sunlight, direct or otherwise? Any UV protection used?

 

[Blaster]

Storage conditions? Subject to sunlight, direct or otherwise? Any UV protection used?

I never put any Coppertone on the chips ..
The chips have never been in the sunlight, direct or indirect.....
Some were boxed, inside another box, in "room temp" conditions inside the house at all times.
Some were in racks in Birdcages in the garage, which is unheated in winter ( and can dip below freezing), & is generally cooler than outside in summer.

 

[Trihonda]

the $50's when new were a near very perfect match to the yellow label

Not trying to be funny, but is it possible the label yellowed or aged in some fashion? Seems just a likely, but if you think the chips were yellower, it's likely the chip fading (or both possibly).

 

[KingZilla]

Observation on China clays after all these years: After being put into play for a while the chips become slippery, much more so than "real" clay chips. I don't like that. My very first set of CC's were pyramids casino chips (sprint mold). I broke one in half and the edge spots went all the way through the chip, much to my surprise. I liked that. The newer versions of CC chips have the spot colors injected around the base so that the spot colors do not go all the way through, and some are very shallow to the point where I'm inclined to believe the spot will wear off with heavy use (although I've never actually seen chips like that). All in all, CC chips are much better in coming close to "real" clays than anything else out there. A good value, but no longer my cup of tea. I do keep an eye out every time new ones are introduced to see if improvements are made. Oh, and I never noticed fading colors, but then again, I've never kept a single set for more than 2 years.

 

[RussB42]

I still have a large set of the Originals ( cracks &splits) all over them, just the way Joe received them.