Progen 80 clays or Nexgen Pro? (1 Viewer)

[kikashi]

These are being sold as clay "Progen 80 Hi-Grade" chips. But I'm reading that those are no longer made and that only lesser quality Nexgen Pro 80 chips are still available. Any hints on how I can distinguish those two types of chips? I've tested them with a magnet and they don't seem to have a metal insert.

 

[BGinGA]

The Progen 80 chips are 10g injection-molded china clay, and are generally considered to be near the bottom of the barrel quality-wise when compared to other china clay chip offerings. They were sold with various label designs and as blanks, and used a interlocking reverse-J mold greek key style with 4D14 spots, emulating the style used by Paulson on their Classics line (and others). The mold actually copied the Palm Gaming interlocking reverse-L greek key mold, after PGI and their original Chinese manufacturer parted ways.

The NexGen Pro chips are 9.0g injection-molded abs plastic and are a much more durable chip than china clays, but they also lack the material components that provide 'clay-like' characteristics (feel and sound). They are quite slippery, and pretty unstable in stacks. All Nexgen Pro chips use the same arrow-P mold and were sold with 'Classics' labels and as blanks, although there are several similar chip lines with theme-specific mold variations and matching labels (four military versions, Pioneer Club, Desert Palms, Dunes Hotel, etc.). All of the different varieties share the same colors and 4TA38 spot pattern.

Neither chip has a metal insert, but they both look and feel completely different. Mistaking one for the other is impossible. The chips in your photos are Progen 80s.

 

[allforcharity]

Almost anything sold (new) at under 0.35 a chip is not going to be the best at anything, materials and physical play characteristics. Everything is marketed as "genuine clay" and at "official casino weight" but almost certainly are not. A good quality China Clay (new) will start at abot 0..40 a chip, as many of our forum-sponsored members offerings are (I recommend you check them out!). A little more investment will get you stock ceramics, then maybe the custom ceramics and the lowest priced true clays. In many ways, the current market price of chips does actually reflect the quality of the product you are getting.

Be very careful of eBay listings and their pricing. For every genuine good deal, there are at least 50 horribly overpriced ones.

 

[Metttyu]

Where can I buy these in Europe?

 

[kikashi]

I bought that sample set from: https://www.jokerchips.de/

In the end I went for a new boardgame-oriented set of chips from a reputable US supplier. And while they look nicer, they are quite slippery; bit of a disappointment there. Those cheap Progen-80's have a lot more grip.

That same shop also has "New Pharaoh's Club (big inlay)" chips which are quite nice IMO if you like the theme.

 

[Metttyu]

I bought that sample set from: https://www.jokerchips.de/

In the end I went for a new boardgame-oriented set of chips from a reputable US supplier. And while they look nicer, they are quite slippery; bit of a disappointment there. Those cheap Progen-80's have a lot more grip.

That same shop also has "New Pharaoh's Club (big inlay)" chips which are quite nice IMO if you like the theme.

Yeah, thanks. I found them, emailed them multiple times now, no response unfortunetely. I'll keep trying.
I found the Majestic's CC really nice but slippery, that's why I try to get some Progen samples.

What chips you bought? Bank chips from Apache or something else?
The Pharaoh's China Clay is the other set I really like the design of and want to get samples from.
Jokerchips would be ideal cause I can get Progen 80's and Pharaoh's CC samples from one place.

This shop also has Progen 80's in theory. http://pokershop.it/ Shoot them an email too.

 

[TheYeti]

If you liked the Majestics, get a sample of the Royals. They are my favorite of the China clay samples I got.

 

[kikashi]

Dug out my sample sets again. Top to bottom:

1. Horseshoe Cleveland. Heavily used Paulson chips. Rounded edges but still very good. Colours are nice & not slippery.
2. Mint Paulson Pharaoh's. Wow, what a difference with all the other ones. These things stick! And the colours pop. Really really nice.
3. Chinay clay Pharaoh's from jokerchips. I liked these, but I can't help but notice how much they have discoloured (look at the edges of the green $25 and salmon $1000). Not slippery. But they smell awfully :^).
4. Progen-80's. They feel softer & rougher; not slippery. They tend to get dirty easily & dropping them on a hard floor is not a good idea (see broken grey one on the right).
5. Apache Bank chips. I like the design very much; reminds me a bit about Le Paulson Noir; I'd _love_ to have a set of those. I think it's the same material as the Majestic's.

In the end, you get what you pay for. The differences are large, but so are the prices. And being outside of the US makes it even worse. Up to you to decide how much you want to spend on this.

 

[Metttyu]

Dug out my sample sets again. Top to bottom:

1. Horseshoe Cleveland. Heavily used Paulson chips. Rounded edges but still very good. Colours are nice & not slippery.
2. Mint Paulson Pharaoh's. Wow, what a difference with all the other ones. These things stick! And the colours pop. Really really nice.
3. Chinay clay Pharaoh's from jokerchips. I liked these, but I can't help but notice how much they have discoloured (look at the edges of the green $25 and salmon $1000). Not slippery. But they smell awfully :^).
4. Progen-80's. They feel softer & rougher; not slippery. They tend to get dirty easily & dropping them on a hard floor is not a good idea (see broken grey one on the right).
5. Apache Bank chips. I like the design very much; reminds me a bit about Le Paulson Noir; I'd _love_ to have a set of those. I think it's the same material as the Majestic's.

In the end, you get what you pay for. The differences are large, but so are the prices. And being outside of the US makes it even worse. Up to you to decide how much you want to spend on this.

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Thank you very much for the picture and infos about the chips!
I do worry about the durability of the Progens.
"In the end, you get what you pay for."
Exactly.
I'd look into these cards mold custom ceramics from Alibaba. Maybe I can track down some samples within the EU.

 

[DT84]

Did Someone have this Progen 80 Chips in Use and can say if they change in “touch and felt” terms.
Received a sample today and are impressed in considering the price.

 

[BIGLONCK]

Did Someone have this Progen 80 Chips in Use and can say if they change in “touch and felt” terms.
Received a sample today and are impressed in considering the price.

I've had a set for maybe 9-10 years that see regular use and have held up great!! I see the chips being bashed, but they have a nice soft feel, great sound, and stack easily. I bought blanks and stickered them myself, "knock on wood" I have yet to lose a sticker.

 

[Paulbozz19]

Where can I buy these in Europe?

Pokershop.it
In the last 5 years I’ve bought more than a thousands of these chips and I really recommend them.
The sound and the feel is comparable to some Paulson and you only pay 0,35€ X chips.
Only issue is that the black ones are a little bit softer than the other ones 9 gr vs 10 gr