Someone tell me about custom chips

[bigslickwood]

So, I'm thinking about getting a set of custom chips to go with the new table I'm building. I'm embarassed to admit that all I have are a set of 1000 'dice' chips. I see the ones Guma is making, and got the sample PMC one.

What am I looking for in chips? I hear about ceramic chips and clay chips, inlays, etc. What am I looking for? Pros and cons of different styles? Any brands to look for or avoid?

If someone could give me a quick course on custom chips, it'd be cool...

[Guma]

Quick course? dunno know, but here goes nada

Three basic materials:
Clay
Ceramic
Plastic Composite

Clay chips manufacturers:
Paulson
ASM
Blue Chip (BCC)
Customs in this area run over $1 a chip and be ready for long waits. 3 to 6 months or longer. IMO ASM clays are some very nice chips. You are limited to certain colors and edgspot configurations for home games. You can not order custom Paulsons unless you order at least 100K chips.

Ceramic manufacturers
Chipco
Lucky Aces
Palm Imports
ABC
Nevada Jacks
Custom ceramics range between $.60 to over $1 for Chipco. Chipco is the lead dog in this pack. Making ceramic chips mostly for casinos. Full graphics, edge and face. Your design, no restrictions for the most part. Chips do differ from each manufacturer, the blanks are what makes or breaks a ceramic.

Plastic Composites
Not too familiar with the prices. Again not familiar with the manufacturers here, I think Joe at Palm Imports does some. You are basically getting a chip that you put a sticker on. You custom design the sticker and pick from set of premade chips. They are injection molded chips and some even have a metal slug in the center of the chip for weight. Just like your dice chips.

That is the short story, but if you really want to do some research hit up Chiptalk and start reading.

There are a lot of inexpensive chips people swear by. Some names that come to mind are
Sopranos
Progens
Nexgens
Faux Clay

The material you choose for chips will have to be based on your likes or dislikes. First rule of thumb when looking for custom chips...

GET SAMPLES!

Get them from anywhere or anyone you can. Get them in hand and feel the differences for yourself. Beware, if you get caught by the poker chip bug, your wallet can and will suffer!

[bigslickwood]

So, what is the PMC chip that you sent? Is that a ceramic?

[Guma]

Yes, that is one example of a ceramic chip

[bigslickwood]

Sorry for all of the questions...

How much can we customize those chips? Are we limited to the basic 'primary' colors, or can we completely go with whatever colors we want? Gradient colors? I'd love to do a set to go with this table using earth/metal type gradient colors instead of the bright colors you typically see.

Maybe a black/charcoal, mahogany/walnut brown, copper, brick/dark cherry red, etc...

[Guma]

Sorry for all of the questions...

How much can we customize those chips? Are we limited to the basic 'primary' colors, or can we completely go with whatever colors we want? Gradient colors? I'd love to do a set to go with this table using earth/metal type gradient colors instead of the bright colors you typically see.

Maybe a black/charcoal, mahogany/walnut brown, copper, brick/dark cherry red, etc...

Keep the questions coming...

You can use the full RGB color spectrum! Gradients can be tricky to print sometimes, but for the most part they come out really well.

Here is a scan of a chip with a gradient in the center.
http://gumataotao.albumpost.com//albums/Hoffa-Chips/image1.sized.jpg

The colors you mention are definite options to put on a custom chip. Jess is working on design right now that actually looks like a racetrack style poker table, along with cup holders in the racetrack. Its really cool looking. When she is done with it, I will post it on here for you to see.

[Guma]

Here is one I thought you might be interested in seeing...

http://gumataotao.albumpost.com//albums/chips/image1_001.jpg

[bigslickwood]

The golf ball is very cool. I'm definitely getting interested in a custom set, just need to convince the boss. Ballpark, how much are we talking about for a full custom setup for 500 chips in 4 denoms. You can PM me, if you'd prefer.

Thanks for answering my questions...

[Guma]

We are offering chips to PMC members at $0.59 a chip plus shipping. So 500 chips would run you $295 plus $15 shipping, total $310.

Trann would be a great person to contact about designing the chip, as we are not quite prepared to start offering our design services. We do have a freelance graphic artist working with us, but she charges $45 an hour.

[big0mike]

I noticed on the Man Cave chip we all received there is a small band around the outside edge of the chip that is "glossy" for lack of a better description. If you are looking for it you can see it on the picture of the Hoffa chips. What causes this and can it be avoided? I might not have even noticed except that the Man Cave chip design extends far enough into the glossy area that the difference is noticeable in the text's color. Plus, it's shiny and reflects light differently than the rest of the chip.

[Wedge Rock]

The choice between ceramics and customs is a personal choice. Ceramics offer full customization. Clays are much more limited (generally, just a 1" center, plus colors and edge spots).

Guma gave you most of the info on ceramics. As for clays, ASM has somewhat of a limited selection of colors, but their chips are very nice. ASM is starting to offer more edgespots. the most expensive chip is about $1.50 per, and now they have added artwork charges of $50 to each order (which really is reasonable, I only mention it because it was previously included in the price). ASM has several molds to choose from. You can get hotstamps from ASM, but not custom hotstamps. A+++ for customer service.

Blue chip has many more base colors available and many more edgespot options, but they have only one mold -- the clamshell. Prices are closer to $1 per chip. Wait time is less because I think BCC is slower. Mike and Dave are slow to respond to emails (a day...if it takes longer, you probably have to re-send), but I hear that they are better by telephone. Bluechip will do custom hotstamps ($100 die fee, which is pretty standard). I got a 700-chip custom set out the door for just over $500, including shipping and stamp. If you went with a stock denom stamp, it would have been about $400, which is just south of 50c per chip. Blue chip also offers heavyweight and lightweight chips.

If you want to go the labeled route, I really like Nexgens. They are cheap, but a nice chip for the price. The only downside is that you are locked in to their colors/molds... but both are palatable. These chips costs about 12c each, before labels.

Above all, get about 20 samples of whatever you are considering (I know ASM will send you 3 or 4 samples for free). You need enough to hear them in a splashed pot and also shuffle them, IMHO.

[Guma]

I noticed on the Man Cave chip we all received there is a small band around the outside edge of the chip that is "glossy" for lack of a better description. If you are looking for it you can see it on the picture of the Hoffa chips. What causes this and can it be avoided? I might not have even noticed except that the Man Cave chip design extends far enough into the glossy area that the difference is noticeable in the text's color. Plus, it's shiny and reflects light differently than the rest of the chip.

The Sunfly blanks we are using right now are textured. What you are seeing is the end of the textured pattern on the face of the chip. This is part of the blank.

If you do not like the textured chip we will soon be using linen smooth blanks as well. This will get rid of this small band around the face of the chip that you see. We should have these in a few weeks.

My personal preference is the linen smooth.

Also all the blanks we use have a Hi-gloss finish on the edge of the chip.

[big0mike]

The Sunfly blanks we are using right now are textured. What you are seeing is the end of the textured pattern on the face of the chip. This is part of the blank.

If you do not like the textured chip we will soon be using linen smooth blanks as well. This will get rid of this small band around the face of the chip that you see. We should have these in a few weeks.
I'd be interested to see the linen smooth. I like the texture but don't like that transition. But, if the art is constructed to take into account this edge it's really a moot issue. If you can, put me on your list of people for samples of the linen smooth. I won't lie and say I'm gonna be buying them anytime soon but I will definitely use a forum member over anyone else when the time comes.

[Guma]

I'd be interested to see the linen smooth. I like the texture but don't like that transition. But, if the art is constructed to take into account this edge it's really a moot issue. If you can, put me on your list of people for samples of the linen smooth. I won't lie and say I'm gonna be buying them anytime soon but I will definitely use a forum member over anyone else when the time comes.

We would definitely appreciate your loyalty!

The artwork is not gear towards either blank, so using the artwork will be fine on the linen smooth.

I have some sample chips of the linen smooth that I could shoot your way just so you can see first hand the difference between the two.

Like you, I do not like that transition part either. It bugs the hell out of me, which is why I asked to get the linen smooth blanks too.

Shoot me a PM and we can discuss getting you some linen smooth samples.

[bigslickwood]

So, if I wanted to start playing around with designs, is there a template or something that you can provide? Sizes?

Thanks again.

[Guma]

So, if I wanted to start playing around with designs, is there a template or something that you can provide? Sizes?

Thanks again.

Sure is...

Edge design - Image and Canvas size should be 5.04 in x .133in at 300 PPI
Face Design - Image and Canvas size should be 1.57 in x 1.57 in at 300 PPI

Assuming you are using Photoshop, any version is fine. We work in PS CS2. Work in RGB/8 color mode and do not embed any color profiles.