As I’ve been hunting for chips, I’ve tried all kinds of strategies. I’ve placed tiny classifieds all over the world; I’ve spent time at estate sales; I’ve made friends with collectors and casino owners.
But no matter the avenue, my best results have come from establishing genuine relationships with people who used to be connected to some of the casinos that used leaded chips with shaped inlays.
A few months ago, one such relationship tipped me off about a gentleman, now in his early 80s, who was once considered the “Saul Bass” of boat / cruise casino design. For about 30 years, his design shop was responsible for the visual identity, design/re-design and development of thousands of artifacts for hundreds of boat casinos, including what their chips looked like. It’s actually why so many of the boat chips from the late eighties and early nineties are so similar looking to each other.
I was able to track him down to Delaware, where he is now retired, curmudgeonly, and frustrated with his inability to do anything because of COVID. I made friends with him, and paid him a total of 6 visits so far, sometimes just sitting on his porch with him in silence.
We discussed the evolution of the design industry, what’s happening now, what’s changed and what hasn’t. Through those discussions, I discovered that as part of his compensation, he was able to secure small live sets (1500 - 3000 chips) of almost every set his firm designed. Of course, he also has all kinds of other artifacts, but the chips had to be handled differently because they would have been live at the time of him getting them for his portfolio.
These chips have never seen the inside of any of the boats, cruises, or casinos they were intended for. They have just been in his possession for decades. He had no idea there was even a group or a community that collected them, and considered them just nostalgia since all of the casinos are now defunct.
I convinced him to sell me his entire portfolio / inventory of chips. There are 48 boat casinos in the collection, between 17-22 of which I am fairly certain no one has ever seen on PCF before.
So that’s the story.
EDIT: FYI — He was responsible for the Starlites, RVCLs and Regency Cruise Lines.