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Is TRK Popularity Waning Among New Chippers? (4 Viewers)

It's availability that keeps me away. Also I've had good luck cleaning leaded Paulsons. I tried to clean and oil a leaded TRK single once, and it did not go well at all.
 
There aren't enough TRKs to go around, if your goal is to put together playable sets. Expensive because there's enough competition among the hoarders and other people in-the-know. Look how many people jumped on Scrown customs once CPC made known it was available.
 
I don't know if it is as bad as the OP thinks. But there is a small movement away from not just TRK, but Paulson altogether. People want the chips they see in use in casinos. There are 6 casino I can drive to (most people would consider the last 2 out of normal driving distance) and how many of them use clay chips? ZERO. One uses ceramics and the rest use plastic. I love my ceramic set and I hate the plastics used in the casinos. So since no casino near me uses them ................................. you can see now how some of the younger people don't have interest in those TRK or any Paulson chip. The casinos popping up in every other zip code nowadays don't use it.
 
Some good points already made. I do think if more sets were made available for sale and if it were easier (quicker) to build an old Nevada set there may be some additional interest. However, the "instant gratification" of ceramics and hybrids or even a relabel job can be more appealing to those with less time in the hobby.
 
When I joined and attended our first meet up I asked a long time member what all the TRK fuss was all about... he said it's about the colors not the feel of TRKs. Being a singles collector I decided that I needed to make that decision myself. He lied.... there isn't anything out there with the same feel In my opinion as an old school leaded TRK, It was absolutely love at first sight.

There are some absolutely beautiful TRKs out there but obviously the brighter, better looking chips are very expensive and difficult to find... especially in quantity!!

For me I decided that the Pick Hobson chips were affordable and obtainable, mostly with the help of my good friend John @JWC. Without him I would still be serching to make this dream a reality. While not the quality of many higher end TRK sets they are still leaded, bright and beautiful! Unfortunately like many casinos back then, they did not offer a $1 chip so it is a bit of a mixed set.
20200421_131100.jpg


The point, they are amazing. Difficult but possible to build, definitely high on the price side but totally worth it for enthusiast.
 
Ben8257 said:
He lied.... there isn't anything out there with the same feel In my opinion as an old school leaded TRK, It was absolutely love at first sight.

There are some absolutely beautiful TRKs out there but obviously the brighter, better looking chips are very expensive and difficult to find... especially in quantity!!
Click to expand...


They are butter. Absolutely agree. I feel like I could take a bite out of one and it would feel like an ice cream sandwich.


Sick set. I would absolutely love a set like that, Pick hobsons are sweet
 
Speaking from the noob perspective I'd say it's rarity. They don't seem to come up in quantity very often, aren't readily available in the classified's, and aren't well represented in the PrOn threads.

My progression is probably very typical.
1. Decide I want some nice chips.
2. Google and find Hobbyphilic
3. Watch all vids at all hours of the day.
4. Decide WTHC are the best chips.
5.Find PCF and go down the rabbit hole.
6.Decide I'll never pay that much for a set of chips.
7.Buy HS Cleveland set and love them.
8. Need Fracs.
9. Get a mint rack of Leaded THC fracs.
10. Adjust budget and buy all the chips I can justify.
11. Rinse and repeat.

Anybody got some TRK's for sale?
 
Last edited:
PinDoc said:
They don't seem to come up in quantity very often, aren't readily available in the classified's, and aren't well represented in the PrOn threads.
Click to expand...
I’m doing my best on the pr0n. As for whether they come up in the classifieds...someday I will split off a small playable set of the Riversides.


Someday.
 
PinDoc said:
Speaking from the noob perspective I'd say it's rarity. They don't seem to come up in quantity very often, aren't readily available in the classified's, and aren't well represented in the PrOn threads.

My progression is probably very typical.
1. Decide I want some nice chips.
2. Google and find Hobbyphilic
3. Watch all vids at all hours of the day.
4. Decide WTHC are the best chips.
5.Find PCF and go down the rabbit hole.
6.Decide I'll never pay that much for a set of chips.
7.Buy HS Cleveland set and love them.
8. Need Fracs.
9. Get a mint rack of Leaded THC fracs.
10. Adjust budget and buy all the chips I can justify.
11. Rinse and repeat.

Anybody got some TRK's for sale?
Click to expand...
1593998833403.gif
 
PinDoc said:
Speaking from the noob perspective I'd say it's rarity. They don't seem to come up in quantity very often, aren't readily available in the classified's, and aren't well represented in the PrOn threads.

My progression is probably very typical.
1. Decide I want some nice chips.
2. Google and find Hobbyphilic
3. Watch all vids at all hours of the day.
4. Decide WTHC are the best chips.
5.Find PCF and go down the rabbit hole.
6.Decide I'll never pay that much for a set of chips.
7.Buy HS Cleveland set and love them.
8. Need Fracs.
9. Get a mint rack of Leaded THC fracs.
10. Adjust budget and buy all the chips I can justify.
11. Rinse and repeat.

Anybody got some TRK's for sale?
Click to expand...
Strange how you know me without knowing me. :tdown::unsure:
 
Unavailability is a problem because it also encourages people to hoard when they do get hold of some. But the best thing about TRKs is that they'll never be made again so unless someone finds a warehouse with tons of these chips, they'll hold their value.

I always thought that market prices for new Paulsons like the boat chips was silly, especially because all it would do is for Paulson to open back up to selling to the home market to crash the prices. Can you imagine is someone brought to market a "anti viral" chip material - the casinos would dump their clay immediately!
 
:
  • Too rare/hoarded by old heads YES/YES
  • Too expensive MEH - I’D SAY SEE ABOVE - GOOD SETS JUST DONT COME UP FOR SALE
  • 500k+ of NAGB chips added since 2016 (even if only a certain % have been released by original owners) EFF THOSE CHIPS. BUT YES, NEWBS WITH DEEP POCKETS ARE DRAWN TO THEM
  • Emergence of Sunfly as an affordable, and quality, custom option YES
  • CPC putting Scrown and Lcrown molds into production PROBABLY NOT
  • A bunch of quality TCR sales with mint secondary RHCs (though I presume this has been a consistent pattern over the past 10-15 years) YES - MINT PAULSONS FOR SHORT MONEY - NEWBS LOVE THEM
TRKs are kind of an acquired taste to begin with - they’re smaller and their spots are subdued. And if you don’t love retro looking inlays, you might just overlook them entirely. For a while, Spinetti’s had supply’s of TRKs, so they were at least accessible. But now that they’re gone, where are you gonna get TRKs?
 
When they were in business, they weren't attractive to me. The small crown mold was uninteresting - even if you know what it is, it is hardly recognizable as such. Very few chippers had them made custom, so too few "role models" for others to follow. The consumer sets were not that interesting either. King's Crown and Deadwood. And this was in a time when opportunities opened up with ceramics and perhaps the first Paulsons (not sure about that though). ASM and vendors of other quality chips were interacting better with the community. The golden age of TRK is perhaps too far back tovreach into the present. Too few chips out there and only moderate demand.
 
As a moderately new chipper that can't afford just about anything, for me it's not just price.

I'm also just not a fan of vintage chips. I don't like subdued colors, limited colors, or the types of spots they have. I also much prefer the feel of Paulson.

But that's just my opinion.
 
So... Uh... Now I have 1700 coming... So... Yeah.... Crap. What have I done....
 
Jambine said:
It took me a few years to get a playable set together (milled & labeled by @Gear)
Recently I was able to add another 100 white for just over 1,000 total. It's now my go to $0.25/$0.50 set
Reading this thread seems to justify my most difficult set to build. Totally worth it

View attachment 486501
Click to expand...

I’ve gone a similar route. Taken about 2 1/2 years, some are getting milled as we speak and still looking for more. No label yet either
 
allforcharity said:
I do not particularly like the Scrown mold either. Lcrown, on the other hand, looks fantastic, and I'm going to use it.
Click to expand...

Have you tried samples yet? My blank samples don’t feel great to me but holding off final judgement until I try the inlaid versions
 
RichMahogany said:
Have you tried samples yet? My blank samples don’t feel great to me but holding off final judgement until I try the inlaid versions
Click to expand...
I don’t know how anybody could handle TRK scrowns and not love them. But I think that’s more to do with the material than the mold itself. I haven’t handled the CPC versions yet, but I don’t expect them to feel much like the TRKs, because the clay is so different.
 

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