JustinInMN
4 of a Kind
My 1900th post and I am glad to introduce to PCF the next edition of chips for the Free River Club.
The 2020 Edition of the Free River Club checks come about a year and a half after the completion of the first edition which I introduced in my 200th post. These are 43mm ceramic hybrid Polyinno from Sun-Fly.
The first set had the express mission of figuring out how to do semi custom chips the least expensive way possible, and would be the birth of the "Free River Club" brand. However, I knew even then it was full customs I would want to chase.
I looked at all the options and from live casino play, I am most familiar with Bud Jones chips used at nearby Canterbury Park, where I was a middle limit regular until family happened. (Though my youngest is 17 years from adulthood, counting the years until I return to crush again
, in the mean time I find hosting games satisfying.) So it seemed to me the ceramic hybrids were a similar material, though obviously not the same. Thanks to @v1pe for being kind enough to send me a sample of "The Mayfair Club" chips from his extras. Unfortunately, we found out about Sal shortly after that. If he were still here, I surely would have sent this job to him.
I also start acquiring some other 39mm ceramics (from @navels and @pokerpig ) and despite these not carrying my home game brand, I find I prefer using these chips because of how they stack better than my ABS chips. Another sign I am heading toward ceramic hybrids.
Later in 2018, @Pete finishes his project and inspires me to keep thinking on this.
But unfortunately, in early 2019 my professional life took a pause. (I am a contract database developer by trade, so it happens.) Thankfully, this ended up leading to a wonderful new opportunity with a new company. Earning at the highest level that I ever had, I kind of knew this year was my chance to get this done.
So I wanted to make a go at teaching myself design software so I could at least do a very rough mock-up of what I wanted. However, despite my profession, turned out to be pretty difficult I was always going to solicit help from an experienced designer. However, this sketch ended up being the humble beginning, I couldn't even start from a computer file.
Even after things went sour with the first designer, I am grateful @p5woody was able to step up and help me get this to the finish line. Having looked at the first sketch and final product side by side for the first time today, I am so grateful for Woody's talent to close the massive gap between the low quality of the initial sketch and the high quality of the final product.
A few decisions I made early.
1) Stick with standard colors (and of course #TeamBlueDollar)
2) Superscript fracs (this idea borrowed from a design by @Chippy18 )
3) Stick with the photo centers, printing denoms and club name on the outer ring.
4) Three spot design on the face, unaligned edges with club initials, shapes and denominations.
5) Play both sides of the 20 vs 25 debate.
6) Get enough singles for a limit set.
Poor Woody and I have a conversation that goes well over 100 messages over 3 months before settling on the designs. He was super helpful and I am pleased with the final designs come October, but I am still not quite yet ready to order.
At this point, I appreciate seeing the "Mad Duck" poker set @MegaTon44 completes. This is the last kick I need to get this done, except I have one outstanding question. Is the dime-half-dollar breakdown credible? My thinking is 0.50-0.50 (or 0.25-0.50) is the typical game I host, and I really wanted to do an orange 0.50 in tribute to the "pumpkins" used at Canterbury Park, and I particularly like the picture of the train car with the Orange stripe I had picked out for the inlay. So if 0.10-0.50-1 works in the micro game, those would be the right denominations. Otherwise 0.05-0.25 would have to do. I ran a couple experiments with the clearance 8V hybrids I grabbed from @ABC Gifts and Awards at the end of 2018 and my findings were it was workable.
It was then time to send the designs to Sun-Fly. I have never made a deal with anyone overseas and for the amounts involved I was certainly nervous about navigating the process. I am going to make that a separate thread, but I was certainly pleased at the end with how everything turned out.
After settling on the denominations, I had to come up with the breakdown. My thinking on breakdowns is to come up with 800 chips sets for every game I would play with these denominations.
I ended up ordering 2000, adding extra singles to the mix, I am leaving room for certain add-ons I have in mind for the future. About 150 are reserved as extras, so my useable breakdown ended up as this, with my color and picture descriptions.
As with the original Free River Club set, the inlays are pictures of various Minnesota Landmarks, most taken by Mrs. JustinInMN, a few by me.
200 * 0.10 (Light green with tan spots, my "mint chocolate" chip, if you will. World's largest walleye - Rush City, MN)
100 * 0.50 (Orange with black spots, my "pumpkin" chip. Semi-cirlce for half. Lake Superior Railroad Museum - Duluth, MN)
800 * 1 (Blue with gray spots. #TeamBlueDollar. Minnehaha Falls - Minneapolis, MN)
550 * 5 (Light red with Tan spots. Triangle looks like V for five. Minneapolis Queen - Minneapolis, MN)
100 * 20 (Yellow with Purple spots. #Skol. XX for twenty. Viking Ship - Minneapolis, MN)
80 * 25 (Green with Orange spots. Diamond Shape. Big Green Lawn Chair, High Bridge Park - St. Paul, MN)
20 * 100 (Black with Yellow spots. Split Rock Light House. Two Harbors, MN)
The 1, 5, and 25 are reused from the original set, the other pictures are brand new.
I also went ahead and quickly built out a 800 chip case from an Apache 3800 from Harbor Freight. (25% off this week.)
So I am excited to have all of these and I am putting them in play for the first time Friday night. I am hopeful this will be a set that serves me well for the next 10-15 years.
Thanks again to everyone that inspired this.
The 2020 Edition of the Free River Club checks come about a year and a half after the completion of the first edition which I introduced in my 200th post. These are 43mm ceramic hybrid Polyinno from Sun-Fly.
The first set had the express mission of figuring out how to do semi custom chips the least expensive way possible, and would be the birth of the "Free River Club" brand. However, I knew even then it was full customs I would want to chase.
I looked at all the options and from live casino play, I am most familiar with Bud Jones chips used at nearby Canterbury Park, where I was a middle limit regular until family happened. (Though my youngest is 17 years from adulthood, counting the years until I return to crush again
, in the mean time I find hosting games satisfying.) So it seemed to me the ceramic hybrids were a similar material, though obviously not the same. Thanks to @v1pe for being kind enough to send me a sample of "The Mayfair Club" chips from his extras. Unfortunately, we found out about Sal shortly after that. If he were still here, I surely would have sent this job to him.I also start acquiring some other 39mm ceramics (from @navels and @pokerpig ) and despite these not carrying my home game brand, I find I prefer using these chips because of how they stack better than my ABS chips. Another sign I am heading toward ceramic hybrids.
Later in 2018, @Pete finishes his project and inspires me to keep thinking on this.
But unfortunately, in early 2019 my professional life took a pause. (I am a contract database developer by trade, so it happens.) Thankfully, this ended up leading to a wonderful new opportunity with a new company. Earning at the highest level that I ever had, I kind of knew this year was my chance to get this done.
So I wanted to make a go at teaching myself design software so I could at least do a very rough mock-up of what I wanted. However, despite my profession, turned out to be pretty difficult I was always going to solicit help from an experienced designer. However, this sketch ended up being the humble beginning, I couldn't even start from a computer file
.Even after things went sour with the first designer, I am grateful @p5woody was able to step up and help me get this to the finish line. Having looked at the first sketch and final product side by side for the first time today, I am so grateful for Woody's talent to close the massive gap between the low quality of the initial sketch and the high quality of the final product.
A few decisions I made early.
1) Stick with standard colors (and of course #TeamBlueDollar)
2) Superscript fracs (this idea borrowed from a design by @Chippy18 )
3) Stick with the photo centers, printing denoms and club name on the outer ring.
4) Three spot design on the face, unaligned edges with club initials, shapes and denominations.
5) Play both sides of the 20 vs 25 debate
.6) Get enough singles for a limit set.
Poor Woody and I have a conversation that goes well over 100 messages over 3 months before settling on the designs. He was super helpful and I am pleased with the final designs come October, but I am still not quite yet ready to order.
At this point, I appreciate seeing the "Mad Duck" poker set @MegaTon44 completes. This is the last kick I need to get this done, except I have one outstanding question. Is the dime-half-dollar breakdown credible? My thinking is 0.50-0.50 (or 0.25-0.50) is the typical game I host, and I really wanted to do an orange 0.50 in tribute to the "pumpkins" used at Canterbury Park, and I particularly like the picture of the train car with the Orange stripe I had picked out for the inlay. So if 0.10-0.50-1 works in the micro game, those would be the right denominations. Otherwise 0.05-0.25 would have to do. I ran a couple experiments with the clearance 8V hybrids I grabbed from @ABC Gifts and Awards at the end of 2018 and my findings were it was workable.
It was then time to send the designs to Sun-Fly. I have never made a deal with anyone overseas and for the amounts involved I was certainly nervous about navigating the process. I am going to make that a separate thread, but I was certainly pleased at the end with how everything turned out.
After settling on the denominations, I had to come up with the breakdown. My thinking on breakdowns is to come up with 800 chips sets for every game I would play with these denominations.
I ended up ordering 2000, adding extra singles to the mix, I am leaving room for certain add-ons I have in mind for the future. About 150 are reserved as extras, so my useable breakdown ended up as this, with my color and picture descriptions.
As with the original Free River Club set, the inlays are pictures of various Minnesota Landmarks, most taken by Mrs. JustinInMN, a few by me.
200 * 0.10 (Light green with tan spots, my "mint chocolate" chip, if you will. World's largest walleye - Rush City, MN)
100 * 0.50 (Orange with black spots, my "pumpkin" chip. Semi-cirlce for half. Lake Superior Railroad Museum - Duluth, MN)
800 * 1 (Blue with gray spots. #TeamBlueDollar. Minnehaha Falls - Minneapolis, MN)
550 * 5 (Light red with Tan spots. Triangle looks like V for five. Minneapolis Queen - Minneapolis, MN)
100 * 20 (Yellow with Purple spots. #Skol. XX for twenty. Viking Ship - Minneapolis, MN)
80 * 25 (Green with Orange spots. Diamond Shape. Big Green Lawn Chair, High Bridge Park - St. Paul, MN)
20 * 100 (Black with Yellow spots. Split Rock Light House. Two Harbors, MN)
The 1, 5, and 25 are reused from the original set, the other pictures are brand new.
I also went ahead and quickly built out a 800 chip case from an Apache 3800 from Harbor Freight. (25% off this week
.)So I am excited to have all of these and I am putting them in play for the first time Friday night. I am hopeful this will be a set that serves me well for the next 10-15 years
.Thanks again to everyone that inspired this.
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