Vesper Clubs -- Old-School Large Crown Hotstamped Cash Set (2 Viewers)

I'm going to offer sample sets once Pat is done stamping. At this point, the failure rate was somewhat high on certain chips even with Pat's superhuman efforts, so I don't know how many "full" sample sets I will have. But I will definitely have some "seconds" which I will likely offer for the cost of shipping.
dibs and predibs on a full sample set and some seconds. im trying to be quiet so no one else gets in on the action. :whistle: :whistling:
 
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You know have *two* sets of chips I want. It is rare that I covet someone’s customs. This is one such set. Kudos for you for having the stones to order on spec and the patience and determination to see it through.

FWIW, I’m going to send Vesper an invoice on her 18th birthday for the emotional pain, suffering, and lost wages endured in her name during the design process. Don’t worry. It’ll only have a few zeros at the end. I‘m sure she’ll be able to cover it with ease.
 
You know have *two* sets of chips I want. It is rare that I covet someone’s customs. This is one such set. Kudos for you for having the stones to order on spec and the patience and determination to see it through.

FWIW, I’m going to send Vesper an invoice on her 18th birthday for the emotional pain, suffering, and lost wages endured in her name during the design process. Don’t worry. It’ll only have a few zeros at the end. I‘m sure she’ll be able to cover it with ease.
Seriously. If you charged a design rate for the texting time alone...I'd be very, very broke. But I know you loved it. (At first.)
 
The journey to this set was, to put it mildly, an ordeal.

I am, if nothing else, a TRK guy. Like many of my TRK fellow-travelers, I love scrowns. The truth is, many of us look down our noses at large crown TRKs, mostly, I suspect, because there aren't that many playable sets available. However, the scales fell from my eyes the day I met Glen O'Neil at his home workshop in early 2016. He showed me the beauty that lcrowns possess--hotstamps in particular--and after spending time browsing the old-school goodness and vintage fonts of 1940s and 1950s hotstamps, I have been enamored with the idea of a playable set ever since. Hell, I even mocked up a daydream cash set of large crowns, just for sh!ts and giggles, using colors and spot patterns that would evoke a 1940s card club. I already even had a name picked out--named for my daughter born in 2016. I already could envision the hotstamps: an art deco club name on one side, classic TRK denominations on the other. Period-appropriate colors and spots.

Alas, my dream was for naught, as TRK had gone the way of the dodo. Or so I thought. But then a little birdie told me in late 2017/early 2018 that CPC had acquired the lcrown and scrown molds. I reached out to David Spragg, who gave me a non-denial confirmation, but wouldn't say anything more until October 2018, when he formally announced that he had the molds. I immediately called @Johnny5 and, using some classic TRK hotstamps as inspiration, commissioned him to give wings to my very specific dream. Which he did.

But only a month or so later, my dream was dashed, as David Spragg announced that, despite herculean efforts, there was no way for the lcrowns (or scrowns) to be stamped. My dream set was not to be. By then I had a fully formed set of mock-ups, with finished artwork, spot patterns and colors.

The artwork and mock-ups made for a great screen background on my iphone, since now, according to CPC, that was the closest I'd ever come to my dream set.

And then along comes @AK Chip, and a little post on PCF about buying a hotstamping machine. I PM'd him to see if he thought he could stamp lcrowns. He said he was game to try. I cannot stress this enough: without Pat's dedication and insane willingness to make this set happen, it never would have been made. Pat, you drink for free whenever I'm around.

Pat had CPC send him some lcrown blanks to try stamping, and the results, while FAR from perfect, showed a tiny bit of promise. I asked Pat for his honest assessment about whether he could stamp the lcrowns, and he said he thought maybe he could, but he was honest--it was a risk and I'd need to buy many more blanks than I needed, due to stamping problems. So, I emailed CPC and pulled the trigger in November 2019...on a maybe.

It took the better part of a year, with many unforeseen bumps in the road, but Pat (and J5) brought my dreams to reality. I cannot stress enough how hard it was for Pat to stamp these chips, and the amount of work involved. Again: without Pat's unbelievable dedication, this set could not exist. Thank you, Pat.

I also want to thank several folks who gave me sage advice and encouragement along the way: @Psypher1000 (my design guru), @AfterTheFact, @bentax1978 and @PAZ. My sincere gratitude to all of you.

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tl;dr:

My fellow degens, I present to you my 1940s-cardroom-inspired large crown set: the Vesper Clubs.

100 x 25c
200 x $1
400 x $5
200 x $20
100 x $100

(Pictured is the bulk of the set--Pat is still working feverishly on the remaining chips.)

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retro blue $1 and dg arc yellow $5?

Set is turning out amazing. Congrats.
 
This set is another perfect example of simplicity and sophistication winning the day. That blue dollar followed by the orange fiver might is a truly heavyweight, one-two combo! Congrats, dude — these are nothing short of perfection.
 
Lovingly perceived and executed. No wonder the result is great. Congratulations!
 
Congrats my friend! As predicted, they were well worth the wait. Every tweak you made was destined to get you to the final, amazing product.

The nod to the El Rancho was brilliant and your choice of a 1940’s color palette is not lost on me. These chips are now the benchmark for CPC lcrowns. My hat is off to you and the dream team for taking this over the goal line. I look forward to many years of seeing your splashed pots and action shots.
 
The execution on these is awesome and the colours are spot on. Also love the practical joke! Well done!
 
The nod to the El Rancho was brilliant and your choice of a 1940’s color palette is not lost on me.
where any other colours considered?
PAZ nailed it. Primary influence for the hundo:

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I was pretty certain of colors from the get-go, but toyed around with light chocolate for the $20, a few greens for the $5's spots and blurple for the hundo's spots.

...but that doesn’t mean I didn’t make a meal of it and drive @Psypher1000 crazy with “what if’s”....
 
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PAZ nailed it. Primary influence for the hundo:

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I was pretty certain of colors from the get-go, but toyed around with light chocolate for the $20, a few greens for the $5's spots and blurple for the hundo's spots.
was an alternate spot pattern considered for the hundo to potentially keep the progression going?

more importantly when is the tourney set coming?
 
was an alternate spot pattern considered for the hundo to potentially keep the progression going?

more importantly when is the tourney set coming?
I wanted to keep the spots as close to what TRK offered as possible. Thus, no 614, which would've been better for progression. I tried (hard) to get a 514 punch made by CPC, but it would've cost a fortune, so no dice.
 
Nice work. I will admit out of all the CPC offerings the two crown molds are top of my list for a custom for this exact vintage feel/design.
 
That Vesper Club stamp design is amazingly perfect. I mean, literally, perfect. Very possibly the greatest hot stamp design of all time, especially coupled with this specific mold.

Kudos to all involved in getting these made -- great vision, design, and execution. Perfect.
 
I wanted to keep the spots as close to what TRK offered as possible. Thus, no 614, which would've been better for progression. I tried (hard) to get a 514 punch made by CPC, but it would've cost a fortune, so no dice.
group buy for everyones benefit when all the vesper club tributes start rolling of cpcs factory floor ;)
 

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