Idea: Shuffle Stack Samplers (SSS) (1 Viewer)

[Taghkanic]

I’ve had this idea for a while... Not sure if it would fly at all, and some details might need ironing out, but...

We’ve all got that random barrel sitting around that we don’t need, but haven’t gotten motivated to post for sale or trade, for whatever reason. Why not convert it into a Shuffle Stack Sampler?

Here’s how it might work:

• 20 people each contribute a barrel plus $8 for USPS shipping
• Barrels are sent to a coordinator
• Each contributor gets back a mixed shuffle stack of 20 unique chips

So for the price of a barrel, you get to see, handle and collect 20 different chips.

It would be a little bit of a pain for the coordinator to do all the mailing, but I think it could be a fun community idea. Thoughts?

 

[Taghkanic]

Notes:

1) I had originally thought there should be 21 participants, with each getting back 20 chips minus the type they contributed. But that creates a giant headache for the coordinator to make sure each person gets back a correctly customized stack.

2) Obviously, there is a wide variety of chip values and interest out there. So some participants might be contributing a little more value than others. However, such differences should be evened out by the broader value returned (a 20-chip sample set/shuffle stack).

3) To help even things out more, SSSes could be tailored to chip type (solids, ceramics, THC, RHC, etc.)

 

[Nanook]

I’ve had this idea for a while...
It would be a little bit of a pain for the coordinator to do all the mailing, but I think it could be a fun community idea. Thoughts?

I think it sounds like fun, but I do have a few thoughts:
For me, I would not participate as outlined as I feel like I need at least 6 and ideally 10 chips to evaluate how I feel about them. 2 reasons for that, 1) I like to see how chips look when they are stacked and 1 chip just by itself is not all that telling and 2) I like to see what I think about the feel of the chips & to to that properly I like to be able to shuffle the chips which means I would ideally like to have 10 or more of them

I could see a coordinator doing this 1x or 2x, but probably not more than that. This is going to be a bit of work for the coordinator, which is not all that big a thing, but would get old quickly.

 

[CrazyEddie]

I second Nanook. Kudos for the idea, and it might have some value for some folks, but I wouldn't participate.

a) If I'm curious about a type of chip, I want a stack of at least five, preferably ten, in order to handle them.

b) If I'm only getting one of a chip, it's got to be a chip of my own choosing that I want to add to my collection because of something particularly interesting about it; a set of twenty random chips that other people are letting go of isn't all that appealing to me.

But if this arrangement works for other people, go for it! It's a neat idea. Good luck.

 

[FestiveKnight]

I am new to this, but from buying samples and then shuffle stacks I agree that having at least 10 of a chip is necessary to actually get a feel for them. That being said, maybe there is still a way to make something like this work? On another forum I participated in a "box pass" that was a lot of fun.

Basically there would be a box full of shuffle stacks (could be 1/2 barrels) and it gets shipped around the country. When it gets to the next person they post in a thread that they received it safe, they get to hang on to the chips for a week and then they get to take a barrel out and put a barrel in. They post what they took out and usually leave it a secret what they put in which will be revealed by the next person.

A coordinator keeps track of a list of who is due to receive the box next the individuals pm each other when it is time to get shipping addresses and move the box on.

In the case I participated in, because of the fun of participating and public view of it (a long thread that everyone was a part of) people often ended up putting in more than what they took out and over time it became a really refined mix.

 

[Taghkanic]

I guess I would disagree about needing multiples of most standard chips, unless one does not already have any chips of that mold.

If for example a group put together an RHC or THC sampler, I have tons of chips on those Paulson molds. I know how they shuffle and feel, including variations such as LCV or SCVs. The differences are due to a particular offering’s condition, and very occasionally age (e.g. older leaded THCs vs more newly-produced chips).

I’d be looking mainly at the colors, spots, labels, etc. And would be glad to have a wider sampler either as a collection, or to help make decisions about future sets.