Process for custom chips (1 Viewer)

mkejohnson

Sitting Out
Joined
Dec 14, 2020
Messages
33
Reaction score
31
Location
Pueblo, CO
I apologize in advance if this has been beat into the ground. I am very new to the game and want a custom set for cash games at home. I am wanting to get different color chips than the standard white -$1, Red -$5, etc. Looking for clay chips rather than ecrylic. I am also not trying to spend a fortune, but would rather have nicer than Amazon, if that makes sense. Is it easier to deal with a company to do the whole process or is it easier to get blanks and have the inlays separate. Also, any recommendations on a company to use. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
For real clay chips, you'd have to go to CPC and the chips have to be inlaid or hot-stamped, you can't really just put a sticker on them. If you mean plastic china clay chips, then you can buy them blank and put labels on them, but you won't have full customization for edge spots like you would with real clay chips from CPC. Custom real clay chips cost about $2/chip, so if that's not within your budget, you may want to consider something like ceramics or ceramic hybrids, which can be fully customized but cost less than $1/chip. There are a lot of different options for buying custom poker chips, so some information on the number of players in your game, your stakes, and your budget would help to get you more specific advice.
 
Totally agree. Probably need a little better defined budget before I'd want to make a recommendation.

On the low end, you could do some blank Claysmith plastic sluggos and slap a sticker on it. You might end up in the 25¢/chip range
Mid end would include China Clays with Gear labels or custom Ceramics. Prob somewhere between 50¢ and $1/chip
Top end would be real clay: custom from CPC or Paulsons relabeled with Gear labels. $2++

Some vendors to start your exploration are ABC: http://abcgiftsandawards.com/ and Apache: https://www.apachepokerchips.com/
 
Last edited:
For real clay chips, you'd have to go to CPC and the chips have to be inlaid or hot-stamped, you can't really just put a sticker on them. If you mean plastic china clay chips, then you can buy them blank and put labels on them, but you won't have full customization for edge spots like you would with real clay chips from CPC. Custom real clay chips cost about $2/chip, so if that's not within your budget, you may want to consider something like ceramics or ceramic hybrids, which can be fully customized but cost less than $1/chip. There are a lot of different options for buying custom poker chips, so some information on the number of players in your game, your stakes, and your budget would help to get you more specific advice.
So my budget would be under $500 for the set. I'd be looking at:

175 - $1
225 - $5
75 - $25
25 - $100

The big customization id like is the colors. I've seen some very nice brighter colors i want to use. But I definitely like the classic look of clay poker chips.
 
Then I'd say your next step would be to get some China Clay samples (Majestic, Milano, Bank, Royal, etc) from Apache and see if there are any you like. Ceramics definitely have a different feel and real clay chips - especially in bright non-standard colors - are going to be over that $1/chip price point.

Then get with Gear for the custom labels.

Good luck - enjoy your chipping journey!!
 
So my budget would be under $500 for the set. I'd be looking at:

175 - $1
225 - $5
75 - $25
25 - $100

The big customization id like is the colors. I've seen some very nice brighter colors i want to use. But I definitely like the classic look of clay poker chips.
For $1 a chip your best option is probably China Clay with custom Gear labels, like @BSteck said above. If you upped your budget to about $1.50-2/chip you could get some custom CPCs or even relabel/mill and label some Paulsons, but China Clays are definitely a good start.

Have fun!
 
You would have to be pretty frugal to hit custom CPC chips with inlays for under $2 a chip. It depends on the complexity of the edge spotting. Some options will cost of $5 perchip and higher! Then you should pay a graphics pro to take your inlay concept into high quality graphic images, plus the cost of the inlays. Custom chips are NOT cheap. The 1K set I mocked up will cost around $3500 - $4000.
 
You would have to be pretty frugal to hit custom CPC chips with inlays for under $2 a chip. It depends on the complexity of the edge spotting. Some options will cost of $5 perchip and higher! Then you should pay a graphics pro to take your inlay concept into high quality graphic images, plus the cost of the inlays. Custom chips are NOT cheap. The 1K set I mocked up will cost around $3500 - $4000.
If you're just looking for bright colors you could use simple edge spots that are only level 1, which would come out to less than $2/chip as long as you don't use a very expensive mold.
 
And to give you some examples, here are some custom sets I did a while ago. Milanos and Majestics with Gear labels.
 

Attachments

  • 2017-05-31 15.41.15.jpg
    2017-05-31 15.41.15.jpg
    158.4 KB · Views: 181
  • 2017-06-01 15.45.17.jpg
    2017-06-01 15.45.17.jpg
    149.6 KB · Views: 178
  • 2017-08-01 15.22.45.jpg
    2017-08-01 15.22.45.jpg
    144.2 KB · Views: 182
  • 2017-12-31 11.37.27.jpg
    2017-12-31 11.37.27.jpg
    183.9 KB · Views: 193
If you're just looking for bright colors you could use simple edge spots that are only level 1, which would come out to less than $2/chip as long as you don't use a very expensive mold.
How do I even begin to know what mold there are and available edge spots?

And to give you some examples, here are some custom sets I did a while ago. Milanos and Majestics with Gear labels.
I would really like to talk to you sometime off line. I really like to CO set. Do you do labels?
 
How do I even begin to know what mold there are and available edge spots?
Go to http://classicpokerchips.com/pokerchips/realclay/molddesigns.htm for molds, and http://www.classicpokerchips.com/pokerchips/realclay/edgespots.htm for their edge spots. This is their chip designer tool: http://www.pokerchipdesigntool.com/ where you can design chips using those edge spots, molds, and colors. If you're seriously considering a set you should get mold samples and color samples to see what the colors really look like, as they can vary significantly from what you see on the screen.
 
How do I even begin to know what mold there are and available edge spots?


I would really like to talk to you sometime off line. I really like to CO set. Do you do labels?
Im just an amateur - there are several more experienced designers here that would probably be a better option.

But you’re welcome to use that CO flag design if you want. Gear has the artwork and you have my permission to use it. He could also probably do some easy tweaks to it for you as well.
 

Create an account or login to comment

You must be a member in order to leave a comment

Create account

Create an account and join our community. It's easy!

Log in

Already have an account? Log in here.

Back
Top Bottom