Manufacturer: Classic Poker Chips (CPC)
Mold: MD-50 (DIASQUARE/DSQ)
Inlay Designer: @Johnny5
The Story: It's pretty much the same as the cash set linked here. This is the tournament set counterpart to the cash set that was made last year. With the exception of the T500 chip which has inspirations from elsewhere, this is the first project in which I designed the chips totally from scratch, with no feedback from anyone. I'm nervously excited to show my first foray into this aspect of my journey in this hobby! Just in case you don't want to click on the link in the first sentence, below is the concept of how "The Ironbound Lounge" came to be:
This is a project that I was very excited about when drafting ideas that had ties to where I first grew up in Newark, New Jersey. The theme of the set is based around the city of Newark, specifically, the Ironbound section of the city. My grandparents (father's parents) emigrated there from Portugal in 1970's. This is where my parents met, grew up, and went to school together. The Ironbound section of the city has the Portuguese culture ingrained as a result of the high numbers of Portuguese immigrants that arrived mostly in the 1960's and 1970's. It gets the nickname of "The Ironbound" due to the high number of factories in that area of the city and that manufacturing was the primary basis of the local economy that provided the most jobs for the residents of the city that provided livelihood for most of these Portuguese immigrants, including my grandfather, whom worked at a leather factory to support his family previously not knowing any English or otherwise having any other skills in any kind of trade.
I'm made this set on the MD-50 (DIASQUARE) mold for a few reasons. The first is that I like the aesthetics of the mold design itself (that's the most important, right?). The second is that the history and use of the hub mold (or "square" mold, cousin to the current MD-50 mold, I believe it's named the MD-33 mold something like that) can be traced all the way back to the Mason and Co. days back in the 1930's before they were bought by Burt and Co., the company that manufactured most of the current molds that CPC uses to this day. The hub mold has since been retired, but the MD-50 mold is very similar and was also made by Burt and Co. just after they absorbed Mason and Co. Mason and Co. had a factory and headquarters in the peak era of industrial Newark, guess where? The Ironbound.
This design was an absolute blast to work with John on, and he absolutely nailed it right on the head. I have very fond memories of taking the train into Newark, even after my family moved away into the suburbs, of walking down Ferry Street and taking a look at all of the local shops and restaurants. There are a lot of little restaurants where the locals get together and watch soccer games and have a meal or two that are called "clubs" or "lounges", sipping on beer, or sangria in warmer months. Sangria is a drink ingrained into Portuguese and Spanish culture, using red or white wine, brandy, lemon lime soda, orange juice, and infused with cut up fresh fruit (apples, oranges, berries mostly) served chilled and absolutely refreshing on a warm, humid New Jersey summer day. The inlay on the chips pays homage to his, showing a sangria pitcher and glass. Hence the name "The Ironbound Lounge" was born. I've had several people when I got the cash set into play in the past say that they looked up the name on Google just to make sure it wasn't a real place, which is a testament to J5's design work, as they thought that The Ironbound Lounge was a real place. However, for a night of cards, you can hang out, bust balls, and sip some sangria when I transform my basement into The Ironbound Lounge for the night.
I made this set initially with a T40,000 starting stack in mind that was T100 based. I also commissioned a T25 chip for the nights where the more common T10,000 base structure wins out. Initially, I ordered enough of chips for a two table game of 16 total players (8 at each table to start) as I've never had more players in a tournament at my place before. When I looked at the numbers, ultimately, it was only 180 chips more to give the set a capability to be utilized for up to a 30 player tournament. Easy choice to have that add on made, and David, as gracious as ever, allowed me to add on just before the mold cutoff. The ultimate breakdown of the set is below:
T25: 360
T100: 360
T500: 200
T1000: 300
T5000: 160
T20000: 40
Bounty: 60
Total: 1480
A lot of the chips in the set have New Jersey or Portuguese inspirations that I'll explain below. Keep these things in mind when you're looking at the chips...
T25: Obligatory @MrCatPants green chip weak chip of the set. This one's minty green like the Portugal alternate jersey
T100: Smoky like a cigar and a bourbon after the sun goes down
T500: Taj AC $500 chip inspired
T1000: Portugal Flag colors on an arc yellow base that goes well with the progression of the set
T5000: The colors of FC Porto, my late grandfather's hometown soccer team in Portugal
T20000: No notation of any real significance, just liked how this chip design fit best!
Bounty: "Fudido" is the Portuguese word that best translates literally to "fucked up", "messed up", intoxicated, et al due to alcohol
Without further ado, here are the chips!
T25: Base Color: Green, Spot Colors: Light Green, White
T100: Base Color: Gray, Spot Colors: Charcoal, Red
T500: Base Color: Blurple, Spot Colors: DG Peach, DG Pink
T1000: Base Color: DG Arc Yellow, Spot Colors: Retro Green, Retro Red
T5000: Base Color: Bright White, Spot Colors: DG Peacock, Black
T20000: Base Color: DG Pink, Spot Colors: DG Yellow, Blue
Bounty: Base Color: Red, Spot Colors: Maroon, Yellow
