Those are produced and sold by BBO Poker Tables:
https://www.bbopokertables.com/poker_table_supplies/poker-chips/
They have several interesting designs. Regarding the chip quality, though, I haven't seen much in the way of reviews here on PCF.
@Hairy_Crocodile if you'd like to give us your opinion on them you'd be doing the membership a favor!
@CrazyEddie I'd love to actually, it may save people some time.
I don't have samples from every set they offer, so I cant speak for some of the sets. I'm only selling these for people who are like me that have to see, feel, touch things to make their choices like I do, but if you just wanna read and are able to make judgements that way, I got you guys and gals. Idk if this needs to be a separate thread or not, but I'm happy to share my thoughts.
The chips themselves have some interesting designs, some more attractive than others, but I digress. There are some nice pros and some awful cons.
Pros:
Most of the designs have an attractive appeal and some nice modern take on edge designs, the western theme being my favorite. The designs on most really "pop" and are wonderfully colorful. The casino de paris and western themes are my favorites of their lineup when it comes to the chip faces.
They are relatively inexpensive at roughly 50 cents a chip (if you dont count the add ins they also give you, slightly above china Clay's from what I remember.
When you buy a set of 500, you can choose how many of each denomination you want, it comes with a case, and 2 packs of Copag cards, so its a cool package deal that's semi customizable. Want a cash set? What about a 500 chip Tournament set? You can order whichever fits your needs most.
Could be a Pro or Con.................Sharper corners and will stand up on edge. If thats your thing, then they have sharper corners than alot of other ceramics I have handled. May mean they will be more prone to chipping however.
Cons:
Some of the designs have a very huge problem: dirty stacks. The colors on some denominations are extremely difficult to differentiate from one another and would be a nightmare to play with. The zombie set is the worst offender probably, followed by the casino de paris ones unfortunately.
Some of the designs are neat ideas with bad execution. The zombie set just blends together and is really dark (no pun intended) and almost too busy. It seems hard to know what you are looking at sometimes. The casino de paris chips seem to be slightly brighter or darker shades of other denominations, so its difficult to instantly identify chips. The 25¢ chips, the $1 chip, and the $10 look way too similar, estimating the size of the pot would suck big time. The zombie ones are hard to read just looking at them sometimes with how small and thin the numbers are on them, and The Mint set denoms blend into the art a little too much for my taste.
Fixed chip count. You can only buy 500 at a time. If you want 600 or 700, you'll have to buy 2 orders of 500. It is annoying, but not the end of the world. When I sent them an email inquiring about ordering different chip counts and some other questions, they never responded.
Mid to low end ceramics. You are getting alot for $250 in my opinion, but with that price comes some downsides. Some are pretty slippery when stacked, and I even received 1 or 2 put of the package slightly chipped already. Some have a textured finish and probably would stack better than others. The ones with the texture have slightly muted colors and images as expected. Unsure if their texture makes stacking better, I don't have enough of a sample size.
Unsure if they chipped in transport or were a quality control issue. They sit above Nile Club ceramics, definitely below BRpro ceramics.
Fixed denoms. I would love a 5000 chip, but they just jump to a 10,000 chip for example. No customization, no larger denoms like 5k or 25k, or small ones like 5¢. Small gripe, but worth mentioning. Another set has a picture of 25¢ chips but doesnt have them as an option on the site for that set (I think it is the Secret Agent set).
Some spinner issues here and there. Hard to tell with a sample set though.
Final thoughts:
Honestly not a bad pick-up for the average player that isn't a freak like us. I have shown my poker friends my samples and they loved the BBO chips alot because they are modern and look nothing like the "boring old chips" most are used to (so they have personality), are above the quality they are used to with metal slugs/dice chips/etc, and have different designs to fit different personalities (some silly, some more serious, some are edgy). You get them for a poker player that isn't a stickler for chips, they will love them most likely.
Another huge plus is that they come with so much stuff. Already has a case, 2 decks of nice cards (I mean, I really like Copags IMO, not sure about you all), and is just playable and portable right when it hits your door. No researching what kind of case you need, no need to worry about researching poker chip racks, don't need to buy cards already....its just a convenient package all together.
If you want an inexpensive set of ceramics, they are decent. I'd put them above Nile Clubs.
After being corrupted by custom ceramics/paulsons/
CPC, I probably will never buy these. Had they answered my email, offered more freedom of chip set sizes, and added a couple denoms, I'd maybe be tempted to get a 1 table T5 base set of the cowboy themed ones for sh!ts and giggles.
