To the best of my knowledge:
A-mold: outer ring: yes, textured inlay: no
B-mold: outer ring: yes, textured inlay: yes
CSQ: outer ring: yes, textured inlay: mostly no, some light texture on some chips
DSQ: outer ring: yes, textured inlay: no
Elephant and crown: outer ring: no, textured inlay: yes
FDL mold: outer ring: no, textured inlay: no
H-mold: outer ring: no, textured inlay: 50/50ish textured or smooth
HHR: outer ring: yes, textured inlay: 50/50
Jockey: outer ring: yes, textured inlay, 50/50
Large Crown mold: outer ring: yes, textured inlay: no
Small crown: outer ring: no, textured inlay: yes
Scroll: outer ring: no, textured inlay: yes
There are some idiosyncrasies with each mold, like that only certain molds (A,
CSQ, FDL, and small crown) can fit a 1 inch inlay, the rest can only accommodate 7/8 inch inlays). Each mold feels different based on whether there is an outer ring or if there's a textured inlay or not. It impacts how the chips shuffle and stack.
Your mileage and experience may vary, but in terms of feel, my favorites are B-mold,
CSQ, DSQ, and Jockey in no particular order.
CSQ and DSQ just feel very balanced to me. Jockey feels most like a
THC molded Paulson chip of any other mold. Small and large crown are old
TRK molds that go great with any vintage design or old Vegas theme.
Customs are an option. Trust me. It's totally worth it to save your money, get samples of each mold and see how they look and feel in your hands, designing your own custom chips, submitting the order, waiting months for them to come, but once they do, youll be glad you waited. You'll be selling your stock designs if you get those first and kick yourself for spending the money when you could have put it towards your customs instead.
Case in point:
Welcome!