Evolution of Chip Preferences (1 Viewer)

[MegaTon44]

When I first started collecting 5 years ago, I turned my nose up at custom sets. In my mind, I felt like having the ability to buy more chips diminished the experience for me. I wanted chips that had limited quantities, and I wanted them all.

Fast forward 5 years and I've nearly done a complete 180 on the subject. Sure I value some casino sets, but the bar has been raised so high that only the top echelon sets have me looking at my savings account thinking about making a move.

I want chips that mean something to me. Designing my Mad Duck (Sunfly Hybrid) chips with @BGinGA and @p5woody was the highlight of my chipping experience. The center design, the base colors, the spots, the filler art - all of it was a blast to ponder. Then I made my El Rey CPC cash chips (official pics coming soon) and @AK Chip is working on stamping a Roman mold set for me. I have a tourney El Rey set lined up and am considering a Mad Duck Tourney set.

I guess I'm just at a point where the custom chips mean more to me than the casino sets. I don't know if this means the hobby is not as fulfilling for me or simply that my tastes have evolved/matured.

Have any of you experienced similar during your chipping journey? Thanks!

 

[Psypher1000]

Have any of you experienced similar during your chipping journey?

I find that making custom sets is a bit like tattoos - they're a bit addicting and they're super personal. I have not less than six custom design concepts in the hopper right now in various states of progress. The odds of all of them getting made are slim (the odds of at least one of them getting made are pretty good, but I couldn't say which one that will be yet). I started out loving Paulsons mostly, and not particularly high on CPC's because of the differences in weight and feel between them. As time has gone on, I've grown a greater appreciation for CPC's. I've also come to enjoy what the hybrid ceramics can offer. But as much as I love my Paulson sets - from casino used to fresh out of a box unplayed - none of them have the emotional experience of creating the set, of seeing it come to life in front of my eyes, and of opening the box for the first time and finally see your creation in front of you and in your hands. It's really, really cool. So I can't say that I've cooled on casino sets, but I've definitely grown in appreciation for CPC's and customs in general.

 

[SteveHNo96]

BCC are a great option if you can find them as well. Paulson>BCC>CPC>Sunfly 43/25> everything else

When I first started collecting 5 years ago, I turned my nose up at custom sets. In my mind, I felt like having the ability to buy more chips diminished the experience for me. I wanted chips that had limited quantities, and I wanted them all.

Fast forward 5 years and I've nearly done a complete 180 on the subject. Sure I value some casino sets, but the bar has been raised so high that only the top echelon sets have me looking at my savings account thinking about making a move.

I want chips that mean something to me. Designing my Mad Duck (Sunfly Hybrid) chips with @BGinGA and @p5woody was the highlight of my chipping experience. The center design, the base colors, the spots, the filler art - all of it was a blast to ponder. Then I made my El Rey CPC cash chips (official pics coming soon) and @AK Chip is working on stamping a Roman mold set for me. I have a tourney El Rey set lined up and am considering a Mad Duck Tourney set.

I guess I'm just at a point where the custom chips mean more to me than the casino sets. I don't know if this means the hobby is not as fulfilling for me or simply that my tastes have evolved/matured.

Have any of you experienced similar during your chipping journey? Thanks!

What I found is the longer I come here, the more strict I get in choosing chips. When I started the chip journey, I'm not kidding, I actually thought about buying either the Eclipse or the Black Diamond sets and put them in an aluminum case.

As time moved on, I got samples and became a bit more strict. I quickly ditched all dice and dice-quality chips. Even now I don't really look too fondly on China Clays, but I will admit the ones from Apache have piqued my interest. The first set I got was a well-used Chipco set with some mockups and they look okay but it's just not the same for me.

I heard people fawning over Paulsons and figured one day maybe I'll get a used casino set. The first set I customized was a ceramic Wicked Spades after a couple of 20-somethings at a poker game gushed over them. My Wicked Spades 39's are in a beautiful black mahogany case and have been there since 2017.

I came back just recently because of getting a settlement from disability and saw the sale on the chips so I went ahead and took another plunge into ceramics, this time buying a DDLM 43's, and then the dream thing hit me, a chance to get a set of Paulsons and MINT Paulsons. I put $1000 away. I went a bit over budget because I messed up but I'll live, I guess.

I am planning a custom set and will probably use Sunfly's hybrids for them but I still hold a soft spot for Ceramics and of course my Paulsons.

 

[sheikh617]

When I first started collecting 5 years ago, I turned my nose up at custom sets. In my mind, I felt like having the ability to buy more chips diminished the experience for me. I wanted chips that had limited quantities, and I wanted them all.

Fast forward 5 years and I've nearly done a complete 180 on the subject. Sure I value some casino sets, but the bar has been raised so high that only the top echelon sets have me looking at my savings account thinking about making a move.

I want chips that mean something to me. Designing my Mad Duck (Sunfly Hybrid) chips with @BGinGA and @p5woody was the highlight of my chipping experience. The center design, the base colors, the spots, the filler art - all of it was a blast to ponder. Then I made my El Rey CPC cash chips (official pics coming soon) and @AK Chip is working on stamping a Roman mold set for me. I have a tourney El Rey set lined up and am considering a Mad Duck Tourney set.

I guess I'm just at a point where the custom chips mean more to me than the casino sets. I don't know if this means the hobby is not as fulfilling for me or simply that my tastes have evolved/matured.

Have any of you experienced similar during your chipping journey? Thanks!

I've only been chipping a year and for me I'm already more interested in high quality customs than I am casino sets. Not to say I don't LOVE the old school leaded, shaped inlay chips... they're the nuts. But for me I'd rather have a very cool Paulson set that has meaning to me and my poker theme vs a casino set. Also some of the casino sets I want are asinine money because I have expensive taste so doing customs are a good way to get sets at a better price. An example is my recent Cali cash solids build where the chip cost is right around only 1-1.1k for about 800 total chips which is stellar.

 

[SteveHNo96]

I've only been chipping a year and for me I'm already more interested in high quality customs than I am casino sets. Not to say I don't LOVE the old school leaded, shaped inlay chips... they're the nuts. But for me I'd rather have a very cool Paulson set that has meaning to me and my poker theme vs a casino set. Also some of the casino sets I want are asinine money because I have expensive taste so doing customs are a good way to get sets at a better price. An example is my recent Cali cash solids build where the chip cost is right around only 1-1.1k for about 800 total chips which is stellar.

You got a deal. I was told that between labels and milling and all that it would be about $1500 for 600 chips.

 

[kmccormick100]

I discovered early (good or bad) that leaded THC casino Paulsons were the nuts. I’ve dabbled in literally everything else, my custom CPCs stuck because 100% custom is awesome, but everything else has come and gone and I’m back to 100% leaded casino THC aside from my bicycle shack customs.

 

[sheikh617]

You got a deal. I was told that between labels and milling and all that it would be about $1500 for 600 chips.

So my raw chip cost was about 1050 for 800 various solids. The milling cost was about another 400 and the labels a couple hundred. So the project itself is ~1600-1700 when you factor every cost in. Even then having a sharp minty semi custom THC solids is a awesome. I'd pay $2 a chip all day lol.

 

[SteveHNo96]

That makes a little more sense. I am at the point where I need to hire/request an inlay guy. Yeah, your guy said it would be about $1500 for 600 chips, and I suppose $2.50 a chip isn't terrible.

 

[slisk250]

I find that making custom sets is a bit like tattoos - they're a bit addicting and they're super personal. I have not less than six custom design concepts in the hopper right now in various states of progress. The odds of all of them getting made are slim (the odds of at least one of them getting made are pretty good, but I couldn't say which one that will be yet). I started out loving Paulsons mostly, and not particularly high on CPC's because of the differences in weight and feel between them. As time has gone on, I've grown a greater appreciation for CPC's. I've also come to enjoy what the hybrid ceramics can offer. But as much as I love my Paulson sets - from casino used to fresh out of a box unplayed - none of them have the emotional experience of creating the set, of seeing it come to life in front of my eyes, and of opening the box for the first time and finally see your creation in front of you and in your hands. It's really, really cool. So I can't say that I've cooled on casino sets, but I've definitely grown in appreciation for CPC's and customs in general.

This is pretty much how I view it. Here is my personal progression.

I started collecting Terrible's for a playable set before joining chip sites. In the beginning I just bought up everything. Shortly after I designed my first custom set. Then I made the decision to get away from any TR King chips as building those sets was exceedingly expensive and difficult. After that I decided to get rid of everything that would never get put into a set including any RHC chips regardless of how much I loved them. Having 20+ sets was more than enough so I sold off several really nice sets and tons of racks. Here are the things that I completed and/or work on now

1. - I made two solid Paulson THC sets (cash and tourney) I have gear mill and put inlays on about 2000 chips over a 3 year period.
2. - Mostly done with my Paulson THC mixed casino set but need more Players Club fracs and a hundo replacement for the casino used Empress. In a perfect world the spotted birds are replaced with 4 queens quarter pie 1s but the set is really nice as is.
3. CPC customs - I continue to support the only vendor of compression clay poker chips in the market. - I've made several: Exit Only Lounge primary and secondary tournament, Exit Only Lounge cash, Mike's Casino cash and tourney. Three Ring Circus cash and tourney. Rosie's Bayou cash tourney & limit with a few secondary low denom chips. There is another coupe of sets dancing in my head...maybe I'll make them but not sure just yet.
4. Custom labeled Paulson THC sets - Susie Q's Saloon, primary and secondary. These are only mint chips and highly sought after...mostly only the best chips from NAGB sets.
5. I only have one ceramic set (Muertos) but for the most part I'm no fan of ceramics...plastics are also inferior in every way IMO.

So currently only chasing more Players Club, a THC gear shaped inlay hundo, 4 Queens 1s, and any new THC racks that could improve the Susie sets.

 

[allforcharity]

I started out with customs because I wanted security first and foremost for my charity fundraising. But once I got a dedicated set for that, I could spend all the time I wanted looking at (and purchasing, and sometimes reselling) all sorts of chips.

I'm all for diversity. I think everyone who collects lots of sets should not only have compression clays, but also some good quality ceramics and plastics as well.

 

[SteveHNo96]

I started out with customs because I wanted security first and foremost for my charity fundraising. But once I got a dedicated set for that, I could spend all the time I wanted looking at (and purchasing, and sometimes reselling) all sorts of chips.

I'm all for diversity. I think everyone who collects lots of sets should not only have compression clays, but also some good quality ceramics and plastics as well.

If you have one set of Paulsons, two sets of ceramics, a set of China Clay, and a set of compressions or ceramic hybrids, then you're all set for life.

1. - I made two solid Paulson THC sets (cash and tourney) I have gear mill and put inlays on about 2000 chips over a 3 year period.
2. - Mostly done with my Paulson THC mixed casino set but need more Players Club fracs and a hundo replacement for the casino used Empress. In a perfect world the spotted birds are replaced with 4 queens quarter pie 1s but the set is really nice as is.
3. CPC customs - I continue to support the only vendor of compression clay poker chips in the market. - I've made several: Exit Only Lounge primary and secondary tournament, Exit Only Lounge cash, Mike's Casino cash and tourney. Three Ring Circus cash and tourney. Rosie's Bayou cash tourney & limit with a few secondary low denom chips. There is another coupe of sets dancing in my head...maybe I'll make them but not sure just yet.
4. Custom labeled Paulson THC sets - Susie Q's Saloon, primary and secondary. These are only mint chips and highly sought after...mostly only the best chips from NAGB sets.
5. I only have one ceramic set (Muertos) but for the most part I'm no fan of ceramics...plastics are also inferior in every way IMO.

I admit I am interested in compression clay and ceramic hybrid samples but the ceramics aren't that bad. You can customize the shit out of them and unless you shuffle them as many times as say someone in a casino does, I don't think you'll ever have a problem with them. I like that you're super selective but I kinda like where I am now.

 

[BarrieJ3]

then you're all set for life

In every sense:

 

[SteveHNo96]

In every sense:
View attachment 426771

I'm talking chip-wise.

 

[viet rounder]

Don’t kid yourself, you can easily get sick of your customs and have buyers remorse just as easily. As I always say in life... the chase is way more interesting than the catch. Or as my dad would say.... they’re only beautiful when they don’t belong to you. That goes for everyone and everything in life; women, cars, girls, chips, etc

 

[pltrgyst]

....they’re only beautiful when they don’t belong to you. That goes for everyone and everything in life; women, cars....

Gonna have to disagree with you on those two. My wife is far more beautiful than when I met her thirty years ago, and I like my race cars more and more with every mod that improves track/autocross times.

(And no, she's not looking over my shoulder as I type!)

 

[allforcharity]

I'm disturbed that anyone would consider another person as a piece of property, never mind for their "beauty" or not.

Philosophically, I'm a deontologist. Always treat people as ends, and never as means.

 

[viet rounder]

I'm disturbed that anyone would consider another person as a piece of property, never mind for their "beauty" or not.

Philosophically, I'm a deontologist. Always treat people as ends, and never as means.

It’s a guy joke man. The point still remains that as human beings we always desire something new (in reference to chips)

 

[BGinGA]

LOL at owning one paulson set as being 'all set for life'.

Somebody should have told me that twenty sets ago.

 

[SteveHNo96]

LOL at owning one paulson set as being 'all set for life'.

Somebody should have told me that twenty sets ago.

My finances would scream bloody murder if I tried to buy 20 sets. (Also that would take a long time because even with Paulsons, there are only 5-7% of sets I even show any interest in wanting to own.). Seriously, at some of the prices here you could put a down payment on a home for that.

 

[viet rounder]

My finances would scream bloody murder if I tried to buy 20 sets. (Also that would take a long time because even with Paulsons, there are only 5-7% of sets I even wanted to own.)

I agree. There are many enthusiasts on this site that own multiple sets. If that makes them happy and they can afford it more power to them. Personally I’m quite selective on which set I pursue. Aside from collecting chips I also feel the need to put them in action. And that’s the problem. I’m still trying to break in a custom set I purchased ten years ago. There’s just simply not enough time/games to break in every set I own.

 

[jr8719]

I haven't been chipping for long, but my preference has been the same since the start: I love semi-custom. For me, there is nothing hugely appealing about having a particular casino's chips.

Instead, I love the creativity of sourcing ones I like, then curating them into a set with custom labels that mean something to me. It's all about the creative process for me — which is why I'll no doubt end up with a custom CPC set eventually.

 

[SteveHNo96]

I agree. There are many enthusiasts on this site that own multiple sets. If that makes them happy and they can afford it more power to them. Personally I’m quite selective on which set I pursue. Aside from collecting chips I also feel the need to put them in action. And that’s the problem. I’m still trying to break in a custom set I purchased ten years ago. There’s just simply not enough time/games to break in every set I own.

For sure. The Paulson set I got fit what I was looking for -- I had planned at one point in time to get some Paulsons and said I would spend up to $1000 on it. I went a bit over but that's because I made a mistake and got caught up in the moment and by the time I realized this, oops, I screwed up. They're not the perfect design, but I figured I'd never get a set of mint Paulsons at that price again so I pulled the trigger on it.

I'm extremely selective, when I first came here people were going ga-ga over the Horseshoe chips and I was like "Meh". Then I saw what the Jack Casino chips were and those were even less appealing to me. I honestly don't think I'd find 20 sets that would call to me, unless I customized them. I only really get appealed to chips if they're the kind that would make a 20-year old girl take one look at it and say "I gotta get me one of those". If I owned 20 sets, I'd probably end up with 10 sets of Bicycle chips just because so few actually call to me.

A custom set is one I had thought about since coming here (the Starlight Club), but that never got out of the concept phase. This one, Midnight's Casino, has a few more legs on it, I may be able to make this a thing. I might go CPC or I may go Sunfly Hybrid but if I do it would be a tournament set and I would probably just do one.

 

[viet rounder]

There are several positive notes about real Paulsons. One is that you can resell them pretty easily after you’re bored of them. Second is that there is no greater feel than a stack of Paulsons in your hand. There’s just something special about their weight, feel, and sound. CPC, BCC, and TRKs are all great but they simply are not on the same level in those criterias.

I think if you are going to go for a Paulson set seek something unique. I’ve always loved the Dunes set. There’s just something historical about owning such a set

 

[SteveHNo96]

There are several positive notes about real Paulsons. One is that you can resell them pretty easily after you’re bored of them. Second is that there is no greater feel than a stack of Paulsons in your hand. There’s just something special about their weight, feel, and sound. CPC, BCC, and TRKs are all great but they simply are not on the same level in those criterias.

I think if you are going to go for a Paulson set seek something unique. I’ve always loved the Dunes set. There’s just something historical about owning such a set

That's the one thing I will say. Thankfully I've never been bored with most of my sets. The first set I bought was a chipco set from a casino that switched to Paulsons. They're still good chips, they just are extremely well worn. My second set was Wicked Spades 39's and I love them to death, because of the heavy metal motif.

The third set I bought was the GPI Monacos. The colors are extremely bright and vivid and I like how they're in the same factory as Paulsons, plus they make a great low-stakes set.

I bought two more since then: A DDLM 43mm because of the sale and the Paulsons Lucky Lady. I may eventually get bored with them but IDK if I will. It seems to be all the rage to make these chips 43's, and I can see that. I had the money for one set of Paulsons. Right now very few other sets call to me. *Maybe* I will sell them in time, but at this time I see no need to.

 

[allforcharity]

I think everyone's appreciation for all types of chips will improve the more you get exposed to them, especially if they are in play. There is no such thing as a bad chip as long as it's appreciated and used.

 

[SteveHNo96]

I think everyone's appreciation for all types of chips will improve the more you get exposed to them, especially if they are in play. There is no such thing as a bad chip as long as it's appreciated and used.

Does this mean one day I'm going to start loving these chips again?

 

[allforcharity]

Does this mean one day I'm going to start loving these chips again?

Perhaps, perhaps...but I don't wish any type of dementia on anyone.

 

[Steamtrain]

I’m currently at the custom stage.
Custom Ceramic

Can be a nice guy offer samples.

being ceramic nobody wants them so we all win.

 

[Josh Kifer]

I kinda followed the same journey. Started all about custom ceramics.. Then to ASMs.... Then moved to used casino Paulson’s.... Was all about mint casino chips from the Tonks.... Then to worn THC with the Antique Rose... Now have two CPC orders and doing the customs route.

 

[Steamtrain]

I kinda followed the same journey. Started all about custom ceramics.. Then to ASMs.... Then moved to used casino Paulson’s.... Was all about mint casino chips from the Tonks.... Then to worn THC with the Antique Rose... Now have two CPC orders and doing the customs route.

samples?