Best example I can give you is the Kings Crown chips made by TRK. Many permutations of those chips were made (by TRK), and the originals are somewhat difficult to tell from the later copies. The originals still command a significantly higher price, and I don't think anyone would attempt to argue that reproducing more on the CPC scrown mold will devalue either the originals ~or~ the TRK copies. Maybe you disagree, but the market generally just doesn't work like that unless the copies are extremely close to the originals -- and in this case, that's simply not possible.
It's sorta like saying the value of a real Ferrari would diminish and Ferrari sales were going to decrease because Volkswagen kit cars were introduced that sorta looked like real Ferrari's. Everybody knows that didn't happen, either, no matter how good the copies were. They still aren't Ferrari's.
I suspect that
@Seeking Alpha Social Club will gladly welcome new CPC scrowns into the chipping community, as it will make it incrementally easier for him to acquire more originals (Deadwoods, Rounders, Mapes, whatever) -- it will certainly lower the volume of emails begging for him to sell his sets.
And he'll always be able to find a buyer, because the CPC chips in no way diminish the value of the unique set of originals that he has. Just like the Ferrari's.
What if the kit car had 90-95% of the performance of the Ferrari for 50%-75% of the cost of a Ferrari? There will always be a demand for the real thing (Ferrari, Rolex, etc.), but companies and products thrive on finding that spot where they are providing near-peer level products at substantial savings. Yes, it's not a Ferrari or Rolex, but it looks slick, functions as well, and costs less. Seems like that could be applied here to affect demand, which can affect price. I also know a lot of people who buy well-produced knock-off Rolex's at 1/5 the cost of a real one because most people can't tell the difference. Doesn't seem to be an issue here, but just another anecdote that if the cost difference is significant a lot of people will go elsewhere.
Overall, the values of sets change, and are significantly affected by availability of other sets, it seems. When the chip room, or others, dump tens of thousands of Paulsons on the market, it appears that has an effect on overall pricing, at least initially, and then for the mid-range/regular chips for an extended period, whereas "grail" sets seems to hold their value better. If (its the middle word in life) Paulson somehow came back into the home market (extremely unlikely, yes...) that would also, presumably, affect the value of existing Paulson sets pretty significantly.
Doesn't seem out of the realm for the prices of existing scrown chips to flat line, or even decline slightly, with
CPC getting into the action, but I guess we'll see. The addicts on here will always be addicts and will pay up for the
TRK stuff, if available. The rest of the folks may now be tempted by the high quality option that
CPC is offering.
The more fundamental element of the question/concern raised really seems to be about the value of an investment in poker chips and if there is a reasonable expectation that limited edition chips will hold/increase value. Based on my limited time/presence here (just moved up from 3 of a kind to a straight!), while there has been a general trend upwards in pricing, this seems like an unsure premise. But, if you're using poker chips as an investment, I presume folks have done their research and accept those risks and understand that the market has and can/will change unexpectedly, just like any other investment sector.
Also, just for the record, I'm not referring to anyone specifically or calling anyone out, just commenting generally on the possibilities previously presented.
Exciting times in pokerchipland!
