Making your own inlay stickers (1 Viewer)

[mickeym7]

I don’t have the money to make a custom order for clay or ceramic chips, especially since I would like to have a set of 1,000 chips. The regular group I play with ranges anywhere from 5 to 20+ at a time, at any time, and we always play tournament style. I can, howver, and over time, get a set of either Milanos or Majestics. I’m not against using their stock chips and inlay stickers but it is also tempting to create my own.

I saw HobbyJon’s videos on making his own stickers and he recommended using palmgaming, who can do non-laminated vinyl stickers for .09 cents per sticker. That still equates to $180, notnincluding extras on top of my chip total though.

I recently saw that Hobby Lobby and Michaels sells printable vinyl sheets. They’re sold in packs of 10 sheets for about $6. Depending on how you print them, that could be 35 or more inlays per sheet. I could potentially by 6 packs and print 2,100 inlays. That then only be $36, almost a 6th of the cost of using palmgaming. I can also buy a 24mm circle paper punch tool from Amazon which is about .5mm smaller than the space you have to work with on a Milano or Majestic chip. It would be perfect.

Has anyone ever considered or tried using those printable vinyl sheets? The vinyl of course is a sticker that can be printed and then cut to size. The possible issues I foresee are how durable is the ink once printed on the vinyl, and would something like super glue be needed in case the glue on the vinyl isn’t strong or durable enough? Any thoughts on this?

 

[MatB]

I have never tried using the vinyl printable sheets. The DIY method. So i cant speak to how good they are.
I would be interested to see if they are any good.

What i have used and know are fantastic are Gear labels. Look them up in the vendor section.
They will work with you on getting the color exact and sizing. The glue is also very strong and cant easily be picked off. But not super glue strong so you couldn't remove the label without damaging original chip.

Sorry i wasn't helpful in reviewing the DIY labels and turned your thread into a rave review of Gear Labels !

(also i dont think they are not really that much more in cost, especially if your doing just 1 set of chips)

 

[Beakertwang]

Don’t forget your printer cartridge costs, which could be substantial, depending on how much color you use.

 

[MykL316]

Sounds like a lot of uncertainty regarding color, quality, and durability. Also factor in the time to get everything just right i.e. the cut, etc.
For the extra cost and piece of mind, I’d rather let an experienced and recommended person do it for me.

 

[allforcharity]

The quality and durability of vinyl stickers is leaps and bounds better than paper. But Gear offers lamination, which truly protects the sticker.

 

[MykL316]

Also take into account the possibility of not being happy with the results. Then you are faced with either living with them like that, buying more supplies with the hope of getting better results, or spending to have someone like Gear do it exactly the way you’d want it.

 

[mickeym7]

Well the design idea I have is actually just gray scale, so ink cost wouldn’t be a major factor. Here is a mockup, inspired directly from the Bellagio:

I already got sample sets of the Milanos and Majestics, I took photos of the chip colors I’d get and photoshopped the inlays on them to see what they look like:

The Milanos

The Majesctics

I’m leaning toward the Milanos over the Majestics. I really like how brite and bold the colors are on the black and yellow Majestic chips, but I really like the way the Milanos look and only really wish the yellow Milanos were bolder. I’ve also toyed with the idea of combining both, where I’d use the blue and purple Milanos and the yellow Majestics for sure, but then use either a black Milano and red Majestic combo, or the other way around. I like the look and color of the red Milanos better than the Majestics, and while I love how much bolder and brighter the colors of the black Majestics are, I still really love the look of the black Milanos so much more for some reason. I also thought of doing just the yellow in majestic and the rest in Milano but that looks too tacky, I think. Plus, the molds themselves don’t match and flow together well so really, mixing them doesn’t seem all that great an idea. It’s all just for thought for now.

 

[mickeym7]

What the hell, just for conversation, here’s the Milano/Majestic mix ideas:

FYI, I really don’t like how almost plain the blue and purple Majestics look compared to red, black and yellow, which is why I’m leaning very strongly toward the Milanos. I do like how the green Majestics pop, but I love the real and current Bellagio blue $1 and red $5 chips and I want to keep those colors as a sort of tribute/inspiration. I also almost never, as in only one time ever, play cash games with my group of friends so I don’t see a need for the smaller values.


If only HobbyJon could have given the printable vinyl a shot and posted his results on youtube.

 

[BGinGA]

Get samples before you get too far down this road. Milano chips have quality control and consistency issues (uneven chip thickness and stack heights, etc.).

Some would consider spending extra money for relabeled china clays as putting lipstick on a pig. Might be a bit prettier, but still a pig.

 

[andy699669]

Get samples before you get too far down this road. Milano chips have quality control and consistency issues (uneven chip thickness and stack heights, etc.).

Some would consider spending extra money for relabeled china clays as putting lipstick on a pig. Might be a bit prettier, but still a pig.

43mm hybrids is the way to go then, if you are willing to pay for shipping, tho. You can pick whether you want the 1 inch or 1.25 inch decals, depending on your artwork needs.
P.S. The Bellagio actual font used is Trajan Pro.

 

[johnjohn]

Interesting thread and following. Get samples. PM me your address and I'll send you some milanos and majestics. You cover shipping.

 

[Poker Zombie]

1) If you are looking to save money, you dont need the $50 chip. It's completely unnecessary.

2) Here's a stack of 20 Majestic chips and 20 Milanos. The difference in heights is staggering and can lead to miscounted stacks.

3) When my first tournament set needed 20 more chips (the group grew) It wasn't going to be close to the minimum order for customs. I decided to do DIY labels. It was a lot of work. Labels needed to be cut down to the exact size diameter. This required a special tool I didn't own so I meticulously trimmed the circle with an exacto. The final result was "Meh" at best. I have since used PGI and Gear for labels, both which blew my home-made labels out of the water. Even though Gear labels cost more, the communication was superior. I have since used Gear for 2000+ labels.

The money you save on the useless - and I cannot emphasize useless enough - $50 chips, you can (and probably should) roll with Gear labels.

 

[zo121179]

I was going to start my own thread but it looks like this one is already going. I'm going to share my story because it could answer a lot of unanswered questions.

For starters I love your design. I'm not a very creative and am not very good with photoshop or paint. Plus I'm a father of 3 young kids. I don't have either the time or the money to get a quality product. So a year back I started watching @Hobbyphilic and scored on the NEXGEN Pro's from Amazon. I bought a 1,000 chip set and a 650 chip set Oct of last year when on amazon there were $$65-75/set. I joined the forum and started looking for help and everyone said to go to @Gear. Being a DIY'er I wanted to at least try to make my own. You'd be surprised how fast a year goes by and how much money goes with it getting pissed off. Being a stubborn SOB I wasn't going to fail.

About the time I finally settled on both a cash set design and tourney set design I found another great deal on a real pretty looking set of the cheap Desert Palms non denoms. 595 chips for $60 is a helluva good deal for this site, so I jumped on them. Thanks again @Mace. I went from printing my labels on paper and punching them all out just to have the ink run when they got wet. (That really sucked and pissed me off) Then I had my wife teach me how to use a cricut and began making labels on sticker vinyl. This is by far the best quality especially when you coat the labels with matte modge podge. It give the sticker a nice feel and protects the ink from wetness and use. Plus it's cheap.. The paper I went a step further because I hated using my wife's cricut. I began using Avery 6450 1" white labels. The software at avery.com is very simple to use and you can save your work in case you fuck up. The bitch about this is getting your printer to line up with your work. This is a process but once you get it's super slick. I did waste about $25 in paper trying to learn, 11 months of my life learning how to get a good (not great) product that I'm happy with.

For me it was something to do. A hobby. Not an easy way out. I wish I had the dough to buy from gear and buy a nice set of Paulsons but I don't. I only have about $40 a paycheck to have fun with. Sure I could have saved and I would saved a lot of heart ache but my kids got involved, I learned a new trade and at my future home game I won't be using those damn dice chips. Cash set isn't done yet but were just a few weeks away. If you have any questions please feel free to PM at any time.

 

[mickeym7]

I don’t mean to be rude, but as I said already, I have sample sets. The photos are of my own sample sets and I then photoshopped my design on.

As far as the $50 chip goes, I have my own oersonal reservations and love, but I do fully respect hearing and seeing everyone’s opinions because I’m still open minded at the end of the day.

My own personal opinion is, that from what I’ve seen and experienced, many find it useless but I’ve found that most are trying to be excactly like Vegas tournaments with a starting stack of 10k, and/or they like seeing a ton of chips and big numbers in front of them when they first start out. We only play with a starting stack of 5k, it’s a good round solid number for us, not too many chips and not little either, and the $50 chip is not only useful, it goes a long way, and is a lot easier to work with when not needing almost half the chips of the entire tournament to be $25 chips to account for not having a $50 chip. We’ve been doing it this way for a decade now. Not to mention, everywhere else I’ve played outside of a casino, has employed the $50 chip. I also love the added chip color variety in one stack as opposed to the standard 3 or 4 color chip stacks you get in casinos. Everywhere I go, everyone I’ve played with, even tournaments hosted by people I’m meeting for the first time, all use $50 chips as well (maybe it’s a regional trend thing or something). I’m used to it, it’s what i know, and the same goes with everyone I’ve played poker with personally, outside of a casino of course. Bottom line, I both love and want the $50 chip.
Add on top of that, 1,000 chips is still 1,000 chips regardless of the denominations, which is still the target size based on the number of people I play with and not the denominations. So while I do respect and appreciate the opinion and advice to eliminate the $50 denomination, it won’t save me money, because I’d still need more chips ofnthe other denominations to make up for it, possibly even more. It wouldn’t save me money in that sense.

Zo, thanks for chipping* in with that very helpful info! (*Cut me some slack, I’m new and couldn't resist, had to get it out of my system!) I’m not so worried about cutting the labels out when I can get a 24mm punch for $8. The inlay space on the Milanos is about 24.5mm so if perfectly centered, there’d be a .25 mm gap around the edge which I doubt anyone would really notice. The matte modge podge is great advice! I might just give this a try over the next month or so. I’ll play around with the labels and matte, get a punch and see what happens. If I like it, then I’m going to order a sample set and maybe also an additonal roll of blanks and give it a whirl.

I take it the glue was okay and nothing more was needed?

Of course the dream is to have my own set of Paulsons, but not only is it expensive, but I’m also VERY picky. My personal preference is that I’m not going to go out and spend that much money for used chips that I’m also going to relabel. If I’m going to spend that kind if money, I’d go through a full custom, full clay producer for brand new chips, and create my own colors schemes (ok, maybe still directly and even more Bellagio inspired, then) and pick a mold I really like to go with it, and have my own design fully embossed just like a Paulson. Basically, as close to a Paulson as possible without actually being made by Pauslon, but on my terms, lol.

That same picky side of me has also been considering shelving my Mellagio design and taking the long time to save up for that custom premium clay chip and use it then, and come up with something else for the Milanos, something more unique and personal to me but also still elegant and fitting for that Milano design. As HobbyJon said, a true chip lover will have more than one set, and I can easily see myself eventually having more than one (I really love those Tiki Kings ceramics and can get a $50 chip for only couple pennies more per chip than their stock chip prices!). Wouldn’t it be nice to start poker night off by asking, “what set shall we play with tonight?”

The funny thing is, I never would have even considered making a custom set of chips unless I won the lottery. I was content with going with stock Milanos first and then saving up for Tiki Kings, until I discovered the printable vinyl.

 

[zo121179]

The nexgens and the palms are jammed in so tight and the sticker is enough. They are a MF’er to get out

 

[Poker Zombie]

If you love the 50, then fine. I know, and have played in Arizona, but have never seen a T50 hit a table. Your personal preference aside, it is still as unnecessary as all those half-dollars you have in your pocket .

Also, you might want to poke around the site some more. Most here hate the way casinos make starting stacks, and other that the occasional attempt to replicate a WSOP event, typical starting stacks are built on personal likings, be that "lots of chips" or "optimal efficiency". They are not trying to replicate the casinos.

They do like money though. That's why you would be hard pressed to find anyone with a T50. I'd bet good money you won't find anyone with multiple sets with a T50, because nobody makes that mistake twice.

But you like the look, and your friends like it, so have at it. You are doing something quite unusual already, if you need 1000 chips for 20 players in a T5000 tournament, but it sounds like your region is used to a very specialized chip breakdown, as 600 chips easily covers 20 players for T15,000 tournaments everywhere else in the world.

 

[mickeym7]

I will read around, thank you. It is still apersonal prefernce lol. And I should add that we’ve had closer to 30 people on many occaisons as well so I’m pretty set in 1,000 just to be safe. It’s beter to have and not need then to need and not have.

 

[Poker Zombie]

I agree, it is better to have and not need.

I bought chips to cover more players than I have chairs. I had to build 2 more tables, buy many more chairs, but never needed to worry about chips after I learned from @BGinGA what a proper breakdown looked like. Even before you started this thread, I had posted in the custom chip regrets thread that one of my regrets was buying too many chips that I did not need. My group loves them, so I still use them, but my money has already been spent.

Sets I have bought since have cost me much less than they would have otherwise. Not Paulson vs Milano savings, but custom ceramic vs custom labeled Milanos savings.

 

[gopherblue]

Hmm

 

[BGinGA]

Using chips that are 2x the previous denomination is very inefficient (on multiple levels) and a huge waste of money on chips that aren't only not needed, but generally make the game play worse. Fact, not opinion or preference.

The number of chips actually need to efficiently run an event is dependent upon the denominations used, stack breakdown, and number of players, not the other way around. And it's almost always fewer chips than people think (provided proper denominations are chosen). More isn't always better. 500 and 1000 chips aren't magical numbers. Only more of the 'right stuff' is actually beneficial.

 

[ChipTalker]

Fyi, i did the same design for my Philagio chips and @Gear knocked it out of the park printing with an awesome design from @p5woody.

 

[mickeym7]

Using chips that are 2x the previous denomination is very inefficient (on multiple levels) and a huge waste of money on chips that aren't only not needed, but generally make the game play worse. Fact, not opinion or preference.

The number of chips actually need to efficiently run an event is dependent upon the denominations used, stack breakdown, and number of players, not the other way around. And it's almost always fewer chips than people think (provided proper denominations are chosen). More isn't always better. 500 and 1000 chips aren't magical numbers. Only more of the 'right stuff' is actually beneficial.

Not to be argumentative or anything, but do you have the research and numbers to support how this is hurting the games I play with my regular crew and friends? I’d like to see it if so. It’s just that whether you meant to or not, you’ve made a very strong statement that has a negative implication toward my own personal opinion and preference and further emphasized it by quoting it as fact. Basically, you just outright implied that my personal opinion is not only wrong but pointless and that the style of poker I’ve regularly been playing with my friends for a decade is also both wrong and inefficient. I’d think that how my friends and I play our regular poker games amongst each other would in fact come down to preference, especially since we’re not professional tournament hosters/planners, don’t plan on being any, don’t plan on opening a casino or poker hall, and certainly don’t plan on hosting any major events of any kind or even anything beyond our weekly poker nights or impromptu get togethers. But if the implication here is that how we’ve enjoyed playing is both wrong and a waste of time, and personal opinion is now being outed as pointless in the face of fact, then I’d like to see the full research and numbers that support this and run it by my crew. We’ve had plenty of new comers come, go or stay, including having 3 current long time dealers, and never once have we ever had any criticism, accusations or even an ounce of negativity on our tournament style games, our chip denomintaions, or stack breakdowns, so this is all news to me that opinion and preference on running a weekly poker night among good friends and other friends they wish to invite shouldn’t matter.

I see that you are tourney director, and I greatly respect your position and the knowledge that both comes with and is required for that position. I don’t at all doubt what you are saying when it comes to a more formal or professional setting. But I’d think that there are other factors such as informal circumstances and settings where a full, strict and professional set of standards should be strongly imposed and enforced. I personally think it relates to a group of guys playing an annual “turkey bowl” game of football, tackle for men, 2-hand touch for the women, on Thanksgiving morning. I don’t believe they should be fully held accountable for following NFL regulations or ridiculed if they don’t. The same goes for kids playing wiffle ball on their street, or a large family with friends playing during Labor Day weekend, in relation to the Major Leagues.

While I thank you for your more professional approach, I personally and respectfully disagree in it’s application here.

 

[BGinGA]

you’ve made a very strong statement that has a negative implication toward my own personal opinion and preference and further emphasized it by quoting it as fact.

Your opinion really has nothing to do with provable facts regarding chip set efficiency and the effects it has on game play. If your opinion does not align with the facts, it's your choice to change it or not.

I’d think that how my friends and I play our regular poker games amongst each other would in fact come down to preference,

Of course it does. But that doesn't change the fact that your preferences are inefficient, and that game play could be improved by use of a better chip set breakdown that is also less money wasteful.

the style of poker I’ve regularly been playing with my friends for a decade is also both wrong and inefficient.

Just because you've been doing something for a long time doesn't make it correct or efficient. Duration has absolutely nothing to do with either one.

I don’t at all doubt what you are saying when it comes to a more formal or professional setting.

It's true for any setting. Chip set inefficiency is not dependent upon the group or specific type of setting.

While I thank you for your more professional approach, I personally and respectfully disagree in it’s application here.

And you are certainly entitled to your opinion, no matter how incorrect it may be. You asked for advice, and are pretty entrenched in refusing any that flies in conflict with your previously-held opinions. That's also your choice.

I would like to have a set of 1,000 chips.

1,000 chips is still 1,000 chips regardless of the denominations, which is still the target size based on the number of people I play with and not the denominations. So while I do respect and appreciate the opinion and advice to eliminate the $50 denomination, it won’t save me money, because I’d still need more chips ofnthe other denominations to make up for it, possibly even more. It wouldn’t save me money in that sense.

This is the crux of your argument, and exactly where the logic fails. 1000 chips should be the 'target size' only if that is the number of chips actually required to efficiently meet your needs. The counterpoint to this is that it is pretty likely that you really ~don't~ need 1000 chips, if denominations and breakdowns were calculated and selected correctly. That's where you'll save money, or be able to afford fewer but better chips that still meet your needs for the same cost.


Nobody is trying to belittle your preferences -- but they are trying to educate you as to how and why those preferences can be improved upon. If you'd prefer to stay in the dark, that's your choice.

 

[mickeym7]

Wow, your closed-mindedness to people in general and everything about your stance on this is absolutley accusatory and insulting. How many various games have you ruined when you were a kid becuase they weren’t “efficient” or right and everyone stopped having fun? I bet you’re “forced” to deal with a lot of people that most everyone else likes a lot, except you, and on a daily basis. All you’re you’re saying is “I’m right, everything else is wrong and there are no circumstances or variables that can ever change that. Anyone else who chooses to do otherwise is stupid.” You may not have said those exact words, but that’s exactly what you’re directly implying. “If you’d prefer to stay in the dark, that’s your own choice.” And there is no “they,” that is trying to “educate” me, it’s just you. Anyone else who has spoken against a $50 chip has both confirmed that it’s a preference and also respected and supported if I still choose to go with it. And not once have you provided any evidence on specifically how the way my friends and I conduct our poker games is a waste or inefficent. I haven’t even given you enough paramaters on our game structure where “efficiency” can be correctly evaluated. All you’ve given is nothing hut conjecture. If you’re going to preach something as “fact” and then use that to further ridicule someone’s opinion, then you had better support with very specific, direct and accurate evidence. Where is the research for your facts and the direct correlation to my poker games? Where are the specific numebers and calculations exploring all possible tournament situations, formats, blind levels, stacks, denominations, break-downs, etc.? If you’re tyring tocall me an ingnorant fool by stating it’s “fact” then you need that specific type of support to show excactly how. If not, then you’re only being nothing more than a closed-minded, egotistical, bigot with nothing more than conjectures.

I showed you respect after you first belittled and scoffed at my opinions, and instead of accepting that I have my own opinions and preferences that I am fully entitled and are 100% applicable in the matter, and just leaving it at that, you instead further insulted me and picked part every instance where you could add to your insults. And then the one moment where you started to implyas if that it is my rightful choice and I’m free to go with it, you insead used it to deliver your most direct and unquestionable insult. I lose respect for people who are intolerant to anyone that isn’t them. I will no longer comment in this thread. If anyone else would like to share their own perosnal opinions in a respectful and courteous approach while still maintaining and accepting and tolerant respect of others’, feel free to message me directly.

Thank you to everyone else for your advice, opinions and courtesies.

 

[Beakertwang]

@mickeym7, you should probably tone it down a bit. BG knows what he’s talking about, and while he may be more blunt than you like, he’s giving you good advice. He has a ton of experience and knowledge, and is well respected around here. I’m guessing almost all PCF’ers would tell you the 50 is inefficient, both in cost, and gameplay. Doesn’t mean your game is bad, just that your chip selection could be better.

 

[jja412]

Please give us the proper parameters of your game, so that we can address it's efficiency using actual data and examples.

 

[Beakertwang]

But since you asked, here's an example:

You want T10,000 starting stacks:
denoms: 25/50/100/500/1000
Stacks: 8/8/9/7/5 37 chips total

denoms: 25/100/500/1000
stacks: 8/8/6/6----->28 chips total
stacks: 12/12/5/6--->35 chips total (with more t25 and t100)

Plus, fewer denoms means quicker pot counting and easier color ups, with no loss of flexibility. Probably other advantages that I'm not thinking of at the moment.

 

[BGinGA]

Wow, your closed-mindedness to people in general and everything about your stance on this is absolutley accusatory and insulting. How many various games have you ruined when you were a kid becuase they weren’t “efficient” or right and everyone stopped having fun? I bet you’re “forced” to deal with a lot of people that most everyone else likes a lot, except you, and on a daily basis. All you’re you’re saying is “I’m right, everything else is wrong and there are no circumstances or variables that can ever change that. Anyone else who chooses to do otherwise is stupid.” You may not have said those exact words, but that’s exactly what you’re directly implying. “If you’d prefer to stay in the dark, that’s your own choice.” And there is no “they,” that is trying to “educate” me, it’s just you. Anyone else who has spoken against a $50 chip has both confirmed that it’s a preference and also respected and supported if I still choose to go with it. And not once have you provided any evidence on specifically how the way my friends and I conduct our poker games is a waste or inefficent. I haven’t even given you enough paramaters on our game structure where “efficiency” can be correctly evaluated. All you’ve given is nothing hut conjecture. If you’re going to preach something as “fact” and then use that to further ridicule someone’s opinion, then you had better support with very specific, direct and accurate evidence. Where is the research for your facts and the direct correlation to my poker games? Where are the specific numebers and calculations exploring all possible tournament situations, formats, blind levels, stacks, denominations, break-downs, etc.? If you’re tyring tocall me an ingnorant fool by stating it’s “fact” then you need that specific type of support to show excactly how. If not, then you’re only being nothing more than a closed-minded, egotistical, bigot with nothing more than conjectures.

I showed you respect after you first belittled and scoffed at my opinions, and instead of accepting that I have my own opinions and preferences that I am fully entitled and are 100% applicable in the matter, and just leaving it at that, you instead further insulted me and picked part every instance where you could add to your insults. And then the one moment where you started to implyas if that it is my rightful choice and I’m free to go with it, you insead used it to deliver your most direct and unquestionable insult. I lose respect for people who are intolerant to anyone that isn’t them. I will no longer comment in this thread.

Yeah, pretty much what I expected. Laughable, really.

Mickey, you should probably go back and read my actual responses, instead of throwing your erroneous implications and interpretations on top of them. Sad that you are so thin-skinned that someone cannot tell you the truth (which which you do not agree) without feeling belittled, ridiculed, or insulted, none of which I did in any of my responses. Trust me, if I thought you were stupid, I would have said so -- I'm not shy with words. Ignorant, perhaps, but that's just a correctable lack of knowledge, and certainly not an insult.

And lol at bigot -- maybe you ought to look that one up in the dictionary before you start throwing personal insults at people.

 

[Meddler2]

I've had superb success printing my own labels using the avery.com template and round labels. The print quality has never been an issue and if a few labels don't look right, you can easily reprint from your saved project on Avery. As far as using up your ink, it doesn't take much ink to print out 2000 labels and now that HP printers can accept non HP cartridges, price is not an issue. I got a 4-pack of color and B&W extra capacity for under $25 on Amazon. The only issue is finding the right size label for the recess area. You may not be able to find ones that fit as perfectly as Gearx etc but will find something close enough.
As far as durability goes, I haven't noticed any color fading or wear from shuffling etc.; and liguid doesn't seem to make them smear or smudge either. But if it's a concern for you, I've also had great success spraying each sheet (after printing) with a light coat of clear high gloss enamel. Just let them dry for several hours to a day before applying. Good luck!

 

[Meddler2]

Mickey,
This should be the takeaway, the rest is unimportant:

1000 chips should be the 'target size' only if that is the number of chips actually required to efficiently meet your needs. The counterpoint to this is that it is pretty likely that you really ~don't~ need 1000 chips, if denominations and breakdowns were calculated and selected correctly. That's where you'll save money, or be able to afford fewer but better chips that still meet your needs for the same cost.

Sounds like you have a fun game going. It all boils down to you can either spend money on fewer higher quality chips/labels that really would be adequate OR spend money on more lesser quality chips that will be more than you may actually need and may have subpar results.

But I hear ya on believing you need a T50 chip. I have a $2 chip for all my custom clay sets mainly because I "thought" it would make cashing out easier and wanted to see extra color on the felt. But i could have saved a ton of money had I not spent it on an unnecessary chip and purchased more workhorse chips ($1 or $5).
I don't dislike my extra $2 chips but they're really not necessary. I think I could have saved myself approximately $1000 across 3 custom sets.