Hybrid Ceramic Options (2 Viewers)

B2rad

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So I'm looking into getting a custom ceramic set. I've got a sample set of the cards mold, which I really like the feel of but their hybrid hasn't been "perfected" as far as I'm aware. I'll likely get a cards mold set anyways but I also do want a hybrid set with a physical inlay label.

I've heard there is a new hybrid mold coming in the near future being worked on by a PCF member with the Tina vendor, but haven't heard any news on it in the last few months based off of the last time it was referenced in a thread.

I have a barrel of SunFly hybrids which I like aside from how slippery they were. If they were a bit more textured or didn't slip and slide around on each other so much while handling this would be my easy choice. I love the "glass" look of the inlay and everything else, but the slickness bothers me a bit. Maybe buffing them with high grit sandpaper? Though I don't want to mess up the finish on the label/chip.

I'm going to get a sample set of a couple from BR Pro Poker but I know their ceramics aren't hybrids, but still interested in seeing what all is out there.
Now with that said and being new, I haven't really found any other places that do the ceramic inlay thing. Is anyone able to give me any reasonable options?

Maybe I'm being picky but that's the point of samples, right? Otherwise I'd have just ordered.
 
Card mold chips aren't hybrids
I know that. I have a barrel of them lol. There's somebody working with the vendor specifically to make a hybrid chip is what I'm saying.
That vendor currently offers hybrids but they aren't good on their current mold.
 
I know that. I have a barrel of them lol. There's somebody working with the vendor specifically to make a hybrid chip is what I'm saying.
That vendor currently offers hybrids but they aren't good on their current mold.
Do you really want ceramics or just blanks? Because there are blanks out there that are not ceramics in the same price range.
 
So I'm looking into getting a custom ceramic set. I've got a sample set of the cards mold, which I really like the feel of but their hybrid hasn't been "perfected" as far as I'm aware. I'll likely get a cards mold set anyways but I also do want a hybrid set with a physical inlay label.

Per this post, the current Tina hybrids are fine if using the unlaminated matte finish labels. Going by the two pictures @BGinGA posted, I don't think the textured labels add much to the appearance of the chip. You might be very happy with a Tina hybrid if you used a matte label and a suitable design.

Reach out to @Eloe2000 for contact information and general advice regarding an individual order. I'm not sure how easy it is to get samples, but I imagine he can help you figure that out.

I have a barrel of SunFly hybrids which I like aside from how slippery they were. If they were a bit more textured or didn't slip and slide around on each other so much while handling this would be my easy choice. I love the "glass" look of the inlay and everything else, but the slickness bothers me a bit. Maybe buffing them with high grit sandpaper? Though I don't want to mess up the finish on the label/chip.

Sandpaper has worked well with slippery plastics like Matsuis. They'd probably work well here too. You have some samples, so by all means do a test. Common advice is to use 7000 grit sandpaper, do wet sanding, and just do a few strokes per side per chip. You'll want to be especially careful with ceramics; plastics like Matsuis have the spot design running through the entire chip, whereas the artwork on ceramics is only printed on the surface (although because they use dye sublimation printing, the ink penetrates a very small distance into the chip, which helps keep the art from fading as the chip wears).

Since the label is within the recess, you probably won't do any damage to the label by sanding the surface of the chip.

Give it a try and report back with your findings! :) You too can contribute to Poker Chip Science!

Now with that said and being new, I haven't really found any other places that do the ceramic inlay thing. Is anyone able to give me any reasonable options?

I'm pretty sure the only widely-known options for a ceramic hybrid - a ceramic dye-sublimation printed chip with a lithographically printed decal adhered within a recess molded into the chip - are Sun-Fly and Tina. But there could be other vendors on Ali Baba that the PCF community simply hasn't encountered and/or done much business with yet.
 
Do you really want ceramics or just blanks? Because there are blanks out there that are not ceramics in the same price range.

So far from the samples I've gotten the ceramics just feel the nicest to me for the price with the ability to have a full custom chip.

Check out the 43mm hybrids (with the 7/8 inlay, Tommy had this mold made) from sunfly. No slip probs with those.

This is what I've come to I think. I love the Sun-Fly hybrids but I'll probably have to get the 43mm in hand to see. I've heard others say that the 43mm hybrids with the 25mm inlay is the way to go. I'd prefer 39mm but if it's that big a difference I'm sure I could get used to a 43mm cash set.

Sandpaper has worked well with slippery plastics like Matsuis. They'd probably work well here too. You have some samples, so by all means do a test. Common advice is to use 7000 grit sandpaper, do wet sanding, and just do a few strokes per side per chip. You'll want to be especially careful with ceramics; plastics like Matsuis have the spot design running through the entire chip, whereas the artwork on ceramics is only printed on the surface (although because they use dye sublimation printing, the ink penetrates a very small distance into the chip, which helps keep the art from fading as the chip wears).

Since the label is within the recess, you probably won't do any damage to the label by sanding the surface of the chip.

Give it a try and report back with your findings! :) You too can contribute to Poker Chip Science!

I'll most likely have to give this a try if I find them too slippery in the end. I've read a few other times outside of the above post that the 43mm Sun-Fly hybrid isn't slippery since it has more chip to chip contact... I may opt to try that out. They seem to be the most solid overall chip for me in terms of look with an inlay with the cost.
 
Per this post, the current Tina hybrids are fine if using the unlaminated matte finish labels. Going by the two pictures @BGinGA posted, I don't think the textured labels add much to the appearance of the chip. You might be very happy with a Tina hybrid if you used a matte label and a suitable design.

Reach out to @Eloe2000 for contact information and general advice regarding an individual order. I'm not sure how easy it is to get samples, but I imagine he can help you figure that out.



Sandpaper has worked well with slippery plastics like Matsuis. They'd probably work well here too. You have some samples, so by all means do a test. Common advice is to use 7000 grit sandpaper, do wet sanding, and just do a few strokes per side per chip. You'll want to be especially careful with ceramics; plastics like Matsuis have the spot design running through the entire chip, whereas the artwork on ceramics is only printed on the surface (although because they use dye sublimation printing, the ink penetrates a very small distance into the chip, which helps keep the art from fading as the chip wears).

Since the label is within the recess, you probably won't do any damage to the label by sanding the surface of the chip.

Give it a try and report back with your findings! :) You too can contribute to Poker Chip Science!



I'm pretty sure the only widely-known options for a ceramic hybrid - a ceramic dye-sublimation printed chip with a lithographically printed decal adhered within a recess molded into the chip - are Sun-Fly and Tina. But there could be other vendors on Ali Baba that the PCF community simply hasn't encountered and/or done much business with yet.
Wonder if sanding nexgen dunes will work without destroying them.
 
Wonder if sanding nexgen dunes will work without destroying them.
The injection-molded plastic Dunes chips aren't Nexgens, but they do share common materials, design, and performance with the NexgenPro chip series.

The recess for the laminated label on those isn't very deep, so keep that in mind when sanding to improve surface friction. Unlike sanding high-end plastics (like Matsui, Bud Jones, B&G, or Abbiati), it won't take much to begin eroding the label lamination since it's much closer to the chip's surface level.

I have a barrel of SunFly hybrids which I like aside from how slippery they were. If they were a bit more textured or didn't slip and slide around on each other so much while handling this would be my easy choice. I love the "glass" look of the inlay and everything else, but the slickness bothers me a bit. Maybe buffing them with high grit sandpaper? Though I don't want to mess up the finish on the label/chip.
I do not recommend sanding printed ceramic chips. The dye-sub printing process only embeds the color a few microns into the chip, and will be easily removed during any sanding process.

A better option (though with much more complicated logistics) might be to sand the ceramic blanks  before they are printed. No way to tell what effect that may have on the subsequent print quality, however.

But given the nature of ceramic chips with varying degrees of surface texture across different manufacturers, sanding them may actually make the surface smoother and thus more slippery. It's not quite the same as roughing up the surface on plastic chips.
 
The "hybrids" mentioned in the OP are on the long slow ship as we speak. I have had the new Tina Hybrids in hand but they had to go home to papa @Himewad . I am really looking forward to these as I am NOT a fan of cards molds.

I also own a set of 43mm Sunfly Hybrids from when we did a group buy for the Midnight casinos
20201115_003228.jpg

I have never found these to be slippery at all, so I am guessing @B2rad is in refrenceto 39mm versions... I mean sure a little slip but nothing like Matsui or used Card Molds.

Personally my only gripe with Sunfly is that which is praised above... the glossy inlay. Many of the inlays are too large for the recess and they don't sit perfectly flat. With them being high gloss it gives and awful reflection when the light hits them.

The new Tina Hybrids are a textured inlay, I am sure they are stuck in afterwards but they sit perfectly flat and almost seem like they were pressed into the chip.

Picture credit to @Himewad and will happily remove if asked to do so
Screenshot_20220712-154427_Samsung Internet.jpg

Again I only handled the sample but I honestly believe these are going to be the "nuts" of lower end (cost) hybrid ceramics.
 
@BGinGA aren't you the member the OP is referring to regarding the molded/hybrid design? I tried bumping a thread not so long ago looking for any update, looks like this might be the perfect opportunity.

Edit - the thread I bumped was the one linked by @CrazyEddie above (thought I'd navigated this maze before).
 
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The injection-molded plastic Dunes chips aren't Nexgens, but they do share common materials, design, and performance with the NexgenPro chip series.

The recess for the laminated label on those isn't very deep, so keep that in mind when sanding to improve surface friction. Unlike sanding high-end plastics (like Matsui, Bud Jones, B&G, or Abbiati), it won't take much to begin eroding the label lamination since it's much closer to the chip's surface level.


I do not recommend sanding printed ceramic chips. The dye-sub printing process only embeds the color a few microns into the chip, and will be easily removed during any sanding process.

A better option (though with much more complicated logistics) might be to sand the ceramic blanks  before they are printed. No way to tell what effect that may have on the subsequent print quality, however.

But given the nature of ceramic chips with varying degrees of surface texture across different manufacturers, sanding them may actually make the surface smoother and thus more slippery. It's not quite the same as roughing up the surface on plastic chips.
Huh. I've heard them mention as NexGen plenty of times. I thought they were NexGen, but not NexGen Pro.
 
Naming around these chips is confusing. The Dunes are related to NexGen Pro, not to be confused with the earlier line of NexGen 8000 chips, or the completely different Progen 80 chips. See here, here, and here.
 
Naming around these chips is confusing. The Dunes are related to NexGen Pro, not to be confused with the earlier line of NexGen 8000 chips, or the completely different Progen 80 chips. See here, here, and here.
Correct.

The original Nexgen chips (four different molds -- Las Vegas, River Poker Tour, and Lucky Bees in two configurations) were 12g metal slugged plastic with almost a rubbery hockey puck feel.

The Nexgen Pro chips were 9g plastic (no slug) with sharp edges and rather slippery (many different molds made using this formula, including the Dunes and Desert Palms sold by TCR).

The Progen80 chips were low-end china clays that used a Greek key mold (reverse-J) that mimicked the higher quality china clays produced on a reverse-L Greek key mold and imported by Palm Gaming (PGI).

And to add to the confusion, those Progen80 chip designs were later used to produce similar but heavier 14g slugged plastics.
 
So I'm looking into getting a custom ceramic set. I've got a sample set of the cards mold, which I really like the feel of but their hybrid hasn't been "perfected" as far as I'm aware. I'll likely get a cards mold set anyways but I also do want a hybrid set with a physical inlay label.

I've heard there is a new hybrid mold coming in the near future being worked on by a PCF member with the Tina vendor, but haven't heard any news on it in the last few months based off of the last time it was referenced in a thread.

I have a barrel of SunFly hybrids which I like aside from how slippery they were. If they were a bit more textured or didn't slip and slide around on each other so much while handling this would be my easy choice. I love the "glass" look of the inlay and everything else, but the slickness bothers me a bit. Maybe buffing them with high grit sandpaper? Though I don't want to mess up the finish on the label/chip.

I'm going to get a sample set of a couple from BR Pro Poker but I know their ceramics aren't hybrids, but still interested in seeing what all is out there.
Now with that said and being new, I haven't really found any other places that do the ceramic inlay thing. Is anyone able to give me any reasonable options?

Maybe I'm being picky but that's the point of samples, right? Otherwise I'd have just ordered.
I’m getting a set done by jacks poker from australia
 

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