The partners of "Classic Poker Chips" revealed themselves on their new web page last night, announcing that they own the equipment of the former American Standard Molding, and plan to be producing custom clay casino chips in April, 2014.
The new owners are David Spragg of Marlow Casino Chips in the UK, owner and operator of The Chip Board, a website which focuses on collector casino chips. He is a member of the board of directors of the Casino Chip & Gaming Token Collector's Club; and his business partner, David Sarles, past president of the CC>CC and has one of the largest collections of Nevada casino chips in the world.
The company will enlist Jim Blanchard, former owner of ASM in Portland Maine, as head of production. Blanchard, who owned the company for more than two decades before retiring, will return to run day-to-day operations at the plant, which will re-open in Portland.
Spragg posted for the business, noting that they chose to announce now, rather than leave other chip enthusiasts waiting for news of what happened to ASM's equipment. He called the target launch date of April, realistic, and hinted they could be making chips sooner, but did not want to commit to an earlier date until more details are worked out.
They chose the new name, "Classic Poker Chips," to avoid the issues of explaining that ASM, Las Vegas, has been turned back into what they called "The Old ASM."
Classic Poker Chips has pledged to offer all the former ASM molds which can still be used, and to add four new molds to their available list. They're finalizing colors as part of their set-up process, and have said they plan to create a price schedule for custom clay chips which will be realistic.
The take-away from their announcement is clear: ASM's former assets are safely in the hands of real casino chip experts who intend to make custom clay chips for the home market. This is great news for anyone who has considered a set of custom clays, as it is for the Key West Resort & Casino.
I've already reached out to David, and have been in touch with Jim. We congratulate the new owners, and look forward to working with them on the future production of Key West chips!
The new owners are David Spragg of Marlow Casino Chips in the UK, owner and operator of The Chip Board, a website which focuses on collector casino chips. He is a member of the board of directors of the Casino Chip & Gaming Token Collector's Club; and his business partner, David Sarles, past president of the CC>CC and has one of the largest collections of Nevada casino chips in the world.
The company will enlist Jim Blanchard, former owner of ASM in Portland Maine, as head of production. Blanchard, who owned the company for more than two decades before retiring, will return to run day-to-day operations at the plant, which will re-open in Portland.
Spragg posted for the business, noting that they chose to announce now, rather than leave other chip enthusiasts waiting for news of what happened to ASM's equipment. He called the target launch date of April, realistic, and hinted they could be making chips sooner, but did not want to commit to an earlier date until more details are worked out.
They chose the new name, "Classic Poker Chips," to avoid the issues of explaining that ASM, Las Vegas, has been turned back into what they called "The Old ASM."
Classic Poker Chips has pledged to offer all the former ASM molds which can still be used, and to add four new molds to their available list. They're finalizing colors as part of their set-up process, and have said they plan to create a price schedule for custom clay chips which will be realistic.
The take-away from their announcement is clear: ASM's former assets are safely in the hands of real casino chip experts who intend to make custom clay chips for the home market. This is great news for anyone who has considered a set of custom clays, as it is for the Key West Resort & Casino.
I've already reached out to David, and have been in touch with Jim. We congratulate the new owners, and look forward to working with them on the future production of Key West chips!
