TINA vs SUNFLY (3 Viewers)

[CarlosStorm]

As you may know, there is a GB offering a few great designs for TINA no mold texture, and another, SunFly Polynno hybrid ceramic.
So, the question here is not about the price, but what is worth more.
I'd love that the people who have both, comments PROs and CONs of each option.

Thanks!

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Sum up of this thread (if you don't want to read it)
TINA
PROs

• Low Price (affordable fat sets)
• A lot of cool designs are available here
• Good looking
• Colors

CONs

• Break quite easily
• Some color variation between chips
• You will probably get Spinners
• Chalky texture (some like it)
• Color and size consistency (a problem for add-ons in the future)
• They may / would use your artwork as their new stock design offering

SunFly
PROs

• Casino quality grade
• Durability
• Nice finish
• Polyinno option
• Stack like bricks
• Prototype phase with detailed pictures to make some adjustments included in the price
• Custom set possible from 300 chips
• Awesome commercial service (Susie)
• Color consistency
• You can order add-on chips from Sunfly that will look exactly the same even years after (possibility to have the exact same chips even years later)
• Offer more options (one additional mold, lots of options for hybrids)
• They won't use your artwork as their new stock design offering
• Forum sponsor

CONs

• Shiny edge finish (some don’t like it)
• Limited color selection
• Lack of vibrant colors
• Difficulties to get nice colors out of their color palette
• Higher price

 

[Fran]

Ok I try a comparison but of course that only my opinion … and I am a Sunfly fan

TINA

Pros :

• Low Price
• A lot of cool design available here
• Good looking
• good option to get affordable fat sets

Cons :

• Break quite easily
• Some color variation between the chips
• You will probably get Spinners
• Chalky texture (some like it)

SUNFLY

Pros :

• Casino quality grade
• Durability
• Nice finish
• Polyinno option
• Stack like bricks
• Prototype phase with detailed pictures to make some adjustments included in the price
• Custom set possible from 300 chips
• Awesome commercial service (Susie)

Cons :

• Shiny edge finish (some don’t like)
• Higher price

 

[Beakertwang]

One advantage Tina chips have over Sunfly is color. Sunfly has a limited color selection, and lacks the really vibrant colors available from Tina. I suspect color consistency from batch to batch would be much better from Sunfly.

 

[Fran]

And you can order add-on chips from Sunfly that will look exactly the same even years after

 

[Fran]

One advantage Tina chips have over Sunfly is color. Sunfly has a limited color selection, and lacks the really vibrant colors available from Tina. I suspect color consistency from batch to batch would be much better from Sunfly.

You are right more color option with Tina.
if you stick to standard Colors with Sunfly it’s limit but you get a good result, I guess you can try other colors too with Sunfly but you will need more adjustments during prototyping to get the expected results

 

[CarlosStorm]

Thanks, @Fran and @Beakertwang .
I think @Kid_Eastwood is an expert in SunFly. Do you want to give us your opinion?

 

[Kid_Eastwood]

I agree with @Fran .
Also to add for SF :
Pros :
- possibility to have the exact same chips even years later.
- they offer more option (one additional mold, lots of options for hybrids)
Cons : to get nice colors, it's safer to stay with their color palett

 

[Venturalvn]

Not to mention that Tina doesn't even have the same blanks one year later, meaning add ons I received are not the same dimension as my original order.

You won't have that problem with Sun-Fly.

 

[acehigh]

I'm a newbie wanting to build a set. Anyone knows what's the best way to get an SF sample set?

 

[Kid_Eastwood]

And SF won't use your artwork as their new stock design offering.

 

[BGinGA]

One advantage Tina chips have over Sunfly is color. Sunfly has a limited color selection, and lacks the really vibrant colors available from Tina. I suspect color consistency from batch to batch would be much better from Sunfly.

4-color printer capability vs 6-color printing.

 

[allforcharity]

Pro:
Sun Fly is a forum sponsor.

 

[CarlosStorm]

It seems SunFly is clearly a better option than Tina for more chippers here in PCF.
I want to sum up all the pro and con of each option.

TINA
PROs

• Low Price (affordable fat sets)
• A lot of cool designs are available here
• Good looking
• Colors

CONs

• Break quite easily
• Some color variation between chips
• You will probably get Spinners
• Chalky texture (some like it)
• Color and size consistency (a problem for add-ons in the future)
• They may / would use your artwork as their new stock design offering

SunFly
PROs

• Casino quality grade
• Durability
• Nice finish
• Polyinno option
• Stack like bricks
• Prototype phase with detailed pictures to make some adjustments included in the price
• Custom set possible from 300 chips
• Awesome commercial service (Susie)
• Color consistency
• You can order add-on chips from Sunfly that will look exactly the same even years after (possibility to have the exact same chips even years later)
• Offer more options (one additional mold, lots of options for hybrids)
• They won't use your artwork as their new stock design offering
• Forum sponsor

CONs

• Shiny edge finish (some don’t like it)
• Limited color selection
• Lack of vibrant colors
• Difficulties to get nice colors out of their color palette
• Higher price

Thanks for your time!

 

[upNdown]

Has anybody mentioned that Tina is a thief?
I realize we all make moral compromises every single day and none of us are perfect. So I’m certainly not condemning anybody here for doing business with Tina. We all pick our fights and causes - blah blah blah. But as long as we’re doing a straight up comparison here, it’s at least worth mentioning that Tina is a thief. She’ll steal designs from casinos, she’ll steal designs from forum sponsors, and she’ll steal designs from forum members. She’s a thief who will sell anything she can. (I get that some people count this as a pro. I just disagree.)

 

[Kid_Eastwood]

There is a mold (pattern mold) that does not involve shiny edges.

 

[CarlosStorm]

She’ll steal designs from casinos, she’ll steal designs from forum sponsors, and she’ll steal designs from forum members. She’s a thief who will sell anything she can. (I get that some people count this as a pro. I just disagree.)

I added 'They will use your artwork as their new stock design offering', but I have never heard about them copying casino 'live' casino chips. Is that true?

 

[upNdown]

I added 'They will use your artwork as their new stock design offering', but I have never heard about them copying casino 'live' casino chips. Is that true?

Probably an exaggeration on my part. But if you submitted an exact copy of a casino’s live chips, do you really think they wouldn’t print them?

 

[Nymor]

I added 'They will use your artwork as their new stock design offering', but I have never heard about them copying casino 'live' casino chips. Is that true?

They may use your artwork as their new stock design offering

would probably be more accurate

 

[Kid_Eastwood]

They may use your artwork as their new stock design offering

would probably be more accurate

One of my design is advertized on their site as stock offering.
Same for another design I made for another member.
And another member also had his own désigned used as stock offering.

 

[CarlosStorm]

They may use your artwork as their new stock design offering

would probably be more accurate

You are right, its my poor English...I'll edit correctly in OP

 

[CarlosStorm]

One of my design is advertized on their site as stock offering.
Same for another design I made for another member.
And another member also had his own désigned used as stock offering.

I suppose, if Tina likes your design, it will finish in her stock

 

[KHarp1]

Been playing this weekend with my SF Lucky Dragons, from years ago when they introduced them, and, they are nice, crisp, good art and colors, no spinners.
Also, been playing with the Tina no mold Bellagio's, for me, there is no comparison. Benefit to Tina's are they have a million cool designs, and they're cheaper. Drawbacks are there are quite a few spinners, and they just feel cheaper.

If the cost of Tina's are all your budget will allow then go for it, but, I'd rather budget the extra cash to get SF. And, honestly, is the two to three bills extra you're going to pay for SF initially really that much more in the whole scheme of things? SF will likely be a lifetime purchase.

 

[Himewad]

Tina does hybrid chips now (what Sun-Fly calls PolyInno chips). So they've got that going for them. Which is nice.

 

[Venturalvn]

Tina does hybrid chips now (what Sun-Fly calls PolyInno chips). So they've got that going for them. Which is nice.

View attachment 1084064

I will post a review soon, but they are not the same blanks, and IMO Tina's hybrids won't last as long as Sun-Fly based on the matte finish.

 

[liftapint]

The stickers on my Sunfly chips are, how shall I put this….less than ideal.

 

[Venturalvn]

The stickers on my Sunfly chips are, how shall I put this….less than ideal.

I also agree with this

 

[Fran]

The stickers on my Sunfly chips are, how shall I put this….less than ideal.

why is that ? @liftapint

 

[KHarp1]

When you say "stickers" on SF, are you referring to their poly-clay offerings?

 

[Fran]

When you say "stickers" on SF, are you referring to their poly-clay offerings?

No, Polyclay don’t have sticker it’s only on Polyinno

 

[TX_Golf_N_Poker]

I am just now discovering this thread, but I would like to add to it. Anyone who know me knows that I am pro Tina cards mold, so yeah, I'm biased. But I think my bias comes from a place similar to many others here who would consider these chips. I'm not a fan of most ceramic chips. When I first joined PCF, I did so looking for inexpensive chips that looked and felt as similar to real compressed clay chips as possible. I still think no "cheap" chip that is also readily available comes closer than TCM. (Tina cards mold)

So first off, who says that TCM chips break quite easily? What is the evidence supporting this point? I would STRONGLY disagree that there is any consensus on this point. I ran the first big Aria's GB and had 33,000 of them delivered to my house. I opened every box and handled about 75% of the shrink wrapped stacks. Zero broken chips from that shipment. I've also bought chips from several other GBs and I am an active participant on most of the TCM threads here on PCF. I know in some of the early shipments @SeanGecko noted a few chips broken in shipment. But I don't know of anyone who has reported chips broken in play. @justincarothers has run a number of GBs also, so I would like to hear if he has a different experience. I just haven't heard this from anyone. Honestly, I've only heard the opposite. That TCM chips are very durable. There are at least a couple hundred thousand of these chips owned on PCF. If durability were an issue, I think we would have heard about it.

I will stress that those of us who have run GBs for TCM always recommend getting a few extras, because yes, it's certainly possible that a few chips could get broken during shipment. That, and to cover for the likelihood of a few spinners. But the cost of these is so low that it shouldn't be an issue to add a few extras to the order. I'm monitoring a few CPC threads and that advice is given there as well. For chips that are 8-10 times more expensive.

Back almost two years ago I wrote a detailed review of Sunfly cards mold vs. Tina cards mold. Here is the complete post.
https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/sunfly-polyclay-poker-chips.77029/post-1566675

I'll repeat two of my major points here as to why I prefer TCM over Sunfly:

Edges: SF cards mold edges are rounded and have a glossy finish. They will not stand up. TCM edges are flatter and have a matte finish. They will stand on edge. For me, both of these are a major mark against SF. I hate the gloss and prefer a chip that has flat edges and a matte finish. For others, it may not matter at all. I purchased polyclay style chips because they emulate real clay chips. The rounded and glossy edges defeat that look completely.

Vibrancy of Colors: The colors on the Tina CM chips are far more vibrant and striking than the colors on any of the SF chips that I have seen. The colors just seem muted to me on all SF CM chips that I have seen and handled.