blu_in_green
Sitting Out
I thought it was worth sharing my experiences buying a new set of China Clays from Poker Chip Lounge in the late summer. Not so much to whine, but because I know I would have benefitted from knowing what I was getting into before spending about ~$200 USD on this set. In the grand scheme of things, sure this is nothing to get chuffed about, but since we are all chip hobbyists, I thought others might be interested as well.
So, the story:
I bought a set of 500 Great Walls in the late summer 2017 (100 x Red, White, Black 125 x Grey, 50 x Purple, 25 x Orange) mainly due to the positive reviews of high friction handling characteristics. I'm using them for primarily for heavy economic board games which require bank sizes between 60-100K and where large stacks of chips continually moving around the table from player to player over the course of 4-8 hours of gameplay (the reason high friction chips are lauded in this niche gaming space).
Disappointment #1: Upon opening the box, the wide stack hight differences between sleeves of 25 chips was immediately noticeable. 1.5 chip difference between 25xWhite and 25xPurple (shortest), 1 chip difference between white and black (2nd shortest).
Disappointment #2: The white chips also have a harsh edge bevel (similar to the standard edge consistent across my 400 Apache Majestics), while the 400x other chips have sharp edges (as advertised on PCL, and more appealingly similar to ASM or Paulson chips).
Disappointment #3: The purple chips are evidently from a different production machine/process/company(?), with a notably different look, feel, and size on both circumference and width from the other chips in my set. They have 4 dots from the injection/compression process, whereas the other 450 chips have 1 dot. It is hard to view them as being related to the other 450 chips; it is like I swapped in some Majestics or some Ceramics. There also seem to be more common and larger gaps between the edge spots and the body of the chip.
Disappointment #4: I've had significant flea bites on the Red and Black chips from what I consider fairly standard shuffling or dropping onto themselves from an inch or so above my table, whereas I've had none on my Apache Majestics after a year of use.
With the whites and purples looking to be from a different set/manufacturer, I've been try to arrange an exchange on these for a number of weeks now (or return of the full set) but have not had success thus far. I'm a bit concerned I'm now being ignored by their customer service, but maybe it is due to the holidays this time of year...
I would appreciate comments on whether my expectations are out of line here, and what you'd consider a reasonable resolution.
Tl;Dr: I ended up spending ~$200 (including shipping) on a chipset that that does not match well and is chipping disappointingly. If you are looking to complete a 500+ chip set of custom chips, be aware chips from the same order may appear very very different. Pictures of chipping and size issues can be found on page 36 and 37 of the BoardGameGeek thread titled "Poker chip recommendations."
So, the story:
I bought a set of 500 Great Walls in the late summer 2017 (100 x Red, White, Black 125 x Grey, 50 x Purple, 25 x Orange) mainly due to the positive reviews of high friction handling characteristics. I'm using them for primarily for heavy economic board games which require bank sizes between 60-100K and where large stacks of chips continually moving around the table from player to player over the course of 4-8 hours of gameplay (the reason high friction chips are lauded in this niche gaming space).
Disappointment #1: Upon opening the box, the wide stack hight differences between sleeves of 25 chips was immediately noticeable. 1.5 chip difference between 25xWhite and 25xPurple (shortest), 1 chip difference between white and black (2nd shortest).
Disappointment #2: The white chips also have a harsh edge bevel (similar to the standard edge consistent across my 400 Apache Majestics), while the 400x other chips have sharp edges (as advertised on PCL, and more appealingly similar to ASM or Paulson chips).
Disappointment #3: The purple chips are evidently from a different production machine/process/company(?), with a notably different look, feel, and size on both circumference and width from the other chips in my set. They have 4 dots from the injection/compression process, whereas the other 450 chips have 1 dot. It is hard to view them as being related to the other 450 chips; it is like I swapped in some Majestics or some Ceramics. There also seem to be more common and larger gaps between the edge spots and the body of the chip.
Disappointment #4: I've had significant flea bites on the Red and Black chips from what I consider fairly standard shuffling or dropping onto themselves from an inch or so above my table, whereas I've had none on my Apache Majestics after a year of use.
With the whites and purples looking to be from a different set/manufacturer, I've been try to arrange an exchange on these for a number of weeks now (or return of the full set) but have not had success thus far. I'm a bit concerned I'm now being ignored by their customer service, but maybe it is due to the holidays this time of year...
I would appreciate comments on whether my expectations are out of line here, and what you'd consider a reasonable resolution.
Tl;Dr: I ended up spending ~$200 (including shipping) on a chipset that that does not match well and is chipping disappointingly. If you are looking to complete a 500+ chip set of custom chips, be aware chips from the same order may appear very very different. Pictures of chipping and size issues can be found on page 36 and 37 of the BoardGameGeek thread titled "Poker chip recommendations."
