I got the hotstamped color samples on A-mold thinking it would simplify things, but it's astonishing how... wrong... they feel and sound. I expected them to be different from Paulsons, but it's a cheapness kind of sound.
For everyone with more CPC experience, were you also disappointed with the hotstamps, but then blown away by how good they are with inlays on the right molds?
I have
CPC samples of inlaid chips on all molds they offer, and hotstamps on many of them. I also have sets or have plaid with chips from every major manufacturer or mold out there. I can say that
CPC chips, in general, are their own beast, and often times initially feel/sound inferior to other chips - particularly Paulsons circa 1992-1996. They are also all distinct, and each mold will offer considerable differences in the look, feel, and behavior of chips due differences in molds. I *highly* recommend that you reserve judgement on any given mold/hotstamp combo until you see and feel it in your hands. Perhaps you're not a fan of hotstamped A-molds, but inlaid DIASQR's may be your jam. You can't know until you see and feel a sample.
Here are some of my favorite combinations. Your mileage may vary.
- Inlaid jockey molds. While not the same, the feel of these chips are the closest I think you can get to chips on one of the
THC molds. The first time I got a sample set on that mold my brain immediately noticed a difference and for the first time I thought "These feel right!"
-
CSQ mold with 1" inlays/DIASQ mold with 7/8" inlays. These feel like good and appropriate mold/inlay combinations to me and, while not Paulsons or TRKs, have a classic look and feel about them that sems "right".
- Inlaid small crown. The
CPC materials are different, but for my money, outside of linen inlays and/or sawtooth inlays on the old original TRKs, these are a reasonable facsimile to the originals.
- Hotstamped large crowns.
CPC will not stamp these themselves and it will take an aftermarket stamper a bit to get their machine dialed in to stamp these properly, but the resulting product can be quite similar to unscraped
TRK hotstamps (again, material difference aside). The Vesper Club set by
@gopherblue is the premier example of this, IMO.
- Hotstamped scroll molds. These feel very reminscent of their European bretheren once broken in a little bit. In fact it was a simple hotstamped scroll mold fractional from England that sold me on that mold.
All that said, one thing to keep in mind is
CPC's endure normal wear and tear better than Paulsons. Paulson chips take flea bites easier and wear down sooner. I can shuffle a stack of paulsons into oblivion far faster than
CPC chips, and that's not nothin'.
