Custom Set Advice/Set Ideas (1 Viewer)

Notre Dame fan and in Law Enforcement? If you don't go with a Nuns with Guns theme - you're doing life wrong.

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I'll let myself out.....
 
Congrats! You're about to embark on the chip equivalent of a roller coaster ride, but in slow motion. Enjoy!

Get samples.

As to which comes first, it's basically a chicken-and-egg thing. I found the process to be iterative -- you might start out with chip colors and spot patterns, but then your inlay design looks better with different colors/spots, and then that requires a change in your inlay -- lather, rinse, and repeat.

Get samples.

Oh, did I mention that you should get samples? No? Well then -- get samples.
 
So do you think something more along the lines of what I said earlier like "The Locker Room" or "Hall of Champions" to avoid the alliteration to Notre Dame?

As for samples. I have them in route, just trying to feed the need for ideas in my head till I can play with the samples.
Referencing Notre Dame is fine. The conspicuous repetition of identical initial consonant sounds in successive or closely associated syllables is where it turns terrible. It simply sounds like a nursery school, not one of the nations highest learning institutions.

Of the names I've seen posted, @allforcharity 's "Our Lady of Victory" is the best, though it reminds me of a high school.

I might not even name the card room. ND theme. The flag below for a felt.
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Then let the name come from the players, which may very well be "Notre Dame Club".
 
Referencing Notre Dame is fine. The conspicuous repetition of identical initial consonant sounds in successive or closely associated syllables is where it turns terrible. It simply sounds like a nursery school, not one of the nations highest learning institutions.

Of the names I've seen posted, @allforcharity 's "Our Lady of Victory" is the best, though it reminds me of a high school.

I might not even name the card room. ND theme. The flag below for a felt.
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Then let the name come from the players, which may very well be "Notre Dame Club".
That sign is one of my favorites. I'm actually going to have dealer buttons made with that on them.
 
Class of '01 here, when we started playing years back, we called our card club the Golder Domer Poker Club. Still going strong :tup: Here's the logo still on my rule book

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With the copyright issues I never got any nice chip sets made with this theme, aside from personal labels for a set of nexgens when I first got into chipping (just something to keep in mind if you end up going the CPC route)

That being said...



This is an absolute home run of an idea if you are an old school ND fan. Could also go with a Rudy theme....

If you end up going the fully custom route (CPC), check out this thread for some great tips: https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/first-custom-set-cpc-dos-and-don’ts.41932/
So I'm guessing you're saying that CPC wouldn't use any ND imagery because of copyright issues? That might throw a wrench in the gears.
 
So I'm guessing you're saying that CPC wouldn't use any ND imagery because of copyright issues? That might throw a wrench in the gears.

I would check in with David at CPC to ask before you get too far down a particular design path.
 
I would check in with David at CPC to ask before you get too far down a particular design path.
I was under the impression that as long as I wasn't try to sell it that I was in the clear. Basically as long as it's for personal use.
 
Of the names I've seen posted, @allforcharity 's "Our Lady of Victory" is the best, though it reminds me of a high school.

I don't know anything about the Notre Dame football club or its traditions, but I remember in an old movie ("Rudy" with Sean Astin, if anybody knows it) where it has a scene with the chaplain saying a short prayer with the team before the game, which was "Our Lady of Victory, pray for us" with the last three words being shouted by the whole team. Somehow that scene stuck in my head.
 
So now that I just closed on our house (just 2 hours ago :wow:). My mind has turned to the possibility of creating my own custom set for my poker room. My felt will be in and my table done in the next couple weeks and I'm in the process of decorating things all of which including the chips would be a long term project.

So my first question to everyone is this. I've been mulling the idea of either doing a full custom set (CPC, custom labels designed etc) or just doing a relabel with custom labels matching my poker room theme over some nicely selected Paulsons and piece together a set that way. After doing some research it doesn't seem like I'd be too far out on price going with either, with the cost probably going a little higher on the relabel just depending on which chips I choose for my project. Which option do you think would be better? With the CPC route I'm terrible at selecting good looking spot patterns and such so I'd have to find someone to either do it for me or help. With the labels I'd for sure need someone to design them with either route.

My second question is this. Would it be best to get the labels designed now and then either design the chips around or at least taking the design into consideration for both or would it be best to get my chips and then have someone work on the design.

My third question is about the poker room itself. My theme of everything is Notre Dame University. I'm a huge Notre Dame fan, have been my whole life. I want a "name" for my poker room like so many others have for their rooms. My friends have resorted to calling it "The Golden Dome Lounge" after the nickname that Notre Dame players have as "Golden Domers" or just "Domers" I'm not sure if I like it. SO I was wondering if you guys had any good ideas. :)

I have a distinct idea/theme I want but thats about it. I'm very open to ideas.
Rockne Card Room
 
I've been playing with the samples since yesterday afternoon. I've got a couple questions.

The colors...they seem really muted. Do I need to oil these to get a real idea of the colors?

Also the weighted colors, how visible are the brass flakes in finished chips. I honestly was unaware of these till after I'd already ordered samples and after finding out I was worried, but now that I actually see them I'm more worried. I'm not a fan right now of the flakes. It looks too much like glitter. As much as I love true authentic Vegas stuff I don't want my chips to look like they came from a strip club.

So that brings me to my 3rd question. If I choose to avoid the weighted colors (if I can even do that) how much is that going to affect the weighting of my chips? I can already feel the difference in just a stack of 10 or so chips the weight and feel is different. Maybe I'm imagining it who knows. I'm sure a lable will add a finite amount of weight to the chip as well.

I've always been a sample guy but this is the first time I've ever dealt with doing a custom set on my own and my first time dealing with CPC. I want to be happy with what I get so I'm glad I've got them in hand to see if they grow on me but if I'm being honest I'm not sold on them at the moment. What other options do I have to make a custom set besides ceramic and plastic basically outside of CPC? Obviously I could relabel like I'd mentioned before but that does remove some of the "custom" aspect.

Open to suggestions and advice.
 
I've been playing with the samples since yesterday afternoon. I've got a couple questions.

The colors...they seem really muted. Do I need to oil these to get a real idea of the colors?

Also the weighted colors, how visible are the brass flakes in finished chips. I honestly was unaware of these till after I'd already ordered samples and after finding out I was worried, but now that I actually see them I'm more worried. I'm not a fan right now of the flakes. It looks too much like glitter. As much as I love true authentic Vegas stuff I don't want my chips to look like they came from a strip club.

So that brings me to my 3rd question. If I choose to avoid the weighted colors (if I can even do that) how much is that going to affect the weighting of my chips? I can already feel the difference in just a stack of 10 or so chips the weight and feel is different. Maybe I'm imagining it who knows. I'm sure a lable will add a finite amount of weight to the chip as well.

I've always been a sample guy but this is the first time I've ever dealt with doing a custom set on my own and my first time dealing with CPC. I want to be happy with what I get so I'm glad I've got them in hand to see if they grow on me but if I'm being honest I'm not sold on them at the moment. What other options do I have to make a custom set besides ceramic and plastic basically outside of CPC? Obviously I could relabel like I'd mentioned before but that does remove some of the "custom" aspect.

Open to suggestions and advice.

1) Oil does bring out some richness with CPC's, yes. However it's not a savior. If you aren't happy with the color, some oil is not going to change your opinion by a lot.
2) Brass flakes - after a warm bath and some oil (or some play), the flakes become more subtle. But they will still be there.
3) Unweighted chips are about 0.5 grams less. Just get a food scale and weigh it yourself since you have samples in front of you. But in general, ALL CPCs are light, about a gram less than Paulsons. I play with CPCs a lot and have gotten used to it. It's fine for me.
4) You have no other options for clay chips, except if you are able to do a secret buy directly from Paulson. CPCs right now are way way better than any other option though. Real clay chips IMO are just way way better than any plastic or ceramic chip.
5) Re label is a good option. I vote for Aurora Star cash chips for cost reasons. They are damn cheap for mint/new Paulson chips.
 
I've been playing with the samples since yesterday afternoon. I've got a couple questions.

The colors...they seem really muted. Do I need to oil these to get a real idea of the colors?

Also the weighted colors, how visible are the brass flakes in finished chips. I honestly was unaware of these till after I'd already ordered samples and after finding out I was worried, but now that I actually see them I'm more worried. I'm not a fan right now of the flakes. It looks too much like glitter. As much as I love true authentic Vegas stuff I don't want my chips to look like they came from a strip club.

So that brings me to my 3rd question. If I choose to avoid the weighted colors (if I can even do that) how much is that going to affect the weighting of my chips? I can already feel the difference in just a stack of 10 or so chips the weight and feel is different. Maybe I'm imagining it who knows. I'm sure a lable will add a finite amount of weight to the chip as well.

I've always been a sample guy but this is the first time I've ever dealt with doing a custom set on my own and my first time dealing with CPC. I want to be happy with what I get so I'm glad I've got them in hand to see if they grow on me but if I'm being honest I'm not sold on them at the moment. What other options do I have to make a custom set besides ceramic and plastic basically outside of CPC? Obviously I could relabel like I'd mentioned before but that does remove some of the "custom" aspect.

Open to suggestions and advice.

Do you know how old your sample set is? It seems as if the unweighted colors at least are much less muted in the last couple years. As far as actual weight, i think it's probably in your head. I have both weighted and unweighted chips and haven't noticed much if any difference. I'll post a couple pics of mine after oiling so you can see what the flakes look like. In each chip there is a weighted and unweighted color:

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Do you know how old your sample set is? It seems as if the unweighted colors at least are much less muted in the last couple years. As far as actual weight, i think it's probably in your head. I have both weighted and unweighted chips and haven't noticed much if any difference. I'll post a couple pics of mine after oiling so you can see what the flakes look like. In each chip there is a weighted and unweighted color:

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They do look better oiled like most chips do. As far as age of my sample I just ordered them from CPC and got them yesterday. So I'd say not too old.

I don't have a food scale or I would weigh them. You're right it could be in my head, or the fact that they're lighter across the board and even a slightly lower weight will be more noticeable.

Like I said it's only been a day of playing with them. I'm gonna keep looking at them and playing with them but if I had to choose off my initial reaction it would be to explore different options.

Some of these issues I knew going in and hoped having the chips in person would help the others were unknown to me till recently. Just sharing my thoughts looking for guidance is all.
 
Brass, by its very nature, will lose it's sparkle over time due to tarnishing and taking on a patina.

As for weights...
10 Paulson (mint ES)
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10 CPC with unweighted base color
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10 CPC weighted
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Yes there is a difference, but it is a gram per chip or less. You may notice when comparing them side-by-side, but will not notice during a game.
 
With the molds. I've for sure narrowed down the molds I like through simple elimination (don't like figure headed molds and want at least a 1 inch inlay) so I'm down to the small crown mold, hourglass mold, and Fleur-De-Lys mold. Anyone have any distinct opinions or advice on those 3 in particular?

Something else that is strange. The small crown sample they sent me has no recessed inlay...is that standard or just an error on this particular chip? If it's standard how do they put an inlay on it without it causing stacking or thickness issues?
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I 've not handled s-crown molds.
Aesthetically / pictorially, go with what you like, but be aware of the fact that only molds with two concentric round lines around them (like Horsehead - by far-, Jockey, Diamond Square, A crest and B diamond or Large Crown) sound best or better, and feel "heavier" for some reason.
It seems that, in general, the smaller the inlay/label, the better the physical feel.
As with everything, you can't have both your cake and eat it :)
Of course, rinse the sample chips clean and oil them. That's the true finished CPC product and it requires some labor and ideally a (chip-) loving partner :D
 
All the other blanks have a recessed area for the inlay, this one and the blank one are the only ones that don't have one.

Well, all I can say is that there have been many many custom sets made since the Small Crown mold was made available, and if they all made spinners because the inlay stuck above the chip surface, then there would already have been a bloody revolution.
 
All the other blanks have a recessed area for the inlay, this one and the blank one are the only ones that don't have one.
Although I haven't handled the mold samples I've seen pics of them in other threads... none of the blanks have recesses as far as I know, except for maybe a slight recess on the FDL mold. Pics of the mold samples you received would help.
 
Although I haven't handled the mold samples I've seen pics of them in other threads... none of the blanks have recesses as far as I know, except for maybe a slight recess on the FDL mold. Pics of the mold samples you received would help.
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After looking more closely at all of them I did find that the 4 molds to the right in the first pic are all completely flush on the inlay area, no indentation at all. However all of the molds to the left of those have at least a slight indentation where the inlay would be which is most pronounced in the Fluer-de-lys
and the hourglass mold. It's very difficult to photograph.

The indentation is slight, I don't have my micrometer with me or I'd tell you how slight but it's there. Some of it could be just a raise on the chip where the mold cuts the circle for the inlay and pushes material up but the best pic I got was of the FDL.
 
I’d you go back and look at pics of any TRK monogrammed solids, none of them has a recessed inlay area.
 
I’d you go back and look at pics of any TRK monogrammed solids, none of them has a recessed inlay area.
Does CPC make those? I know my pics aren't great and it's hard to tell but there is without a doubt a recess on some. The others like I said could be a raise of the material on the lip of where the chip is pressed.

The best pic I got was of the FDL there's a very visible recess from the outer edges of the chip.
 
Does CPC make those? I know my pics aren't great and it's hard to tell but there is without a doubt a recess on some. The others like I said could be a raise of the material on the lip of where the chip is pressed.

The best pic I got was of the FDL there's a very visible recess from the outer edges of the chip.

It seems that you might have misunderstood. What I meant was, if you look at all the original TRK scrown chips, they’ve never had a recessed inlay area. The CPC version is no different.

All the other CPC chips are the same as they’ve always been. Some have a recessed inlay area, some don’t
 

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