An era is really over (2 Viewers)

Big Brother Bbb GIF
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I provided the chips for a 2 table tournament.
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I'm not sure what chips or denominations this gang was used to but it took them an hour to stop saying "I bid one dollar" as they put in a 100 chip. So I guess it doesn't matter much if there's a $ present or not. Chips are markers and they can either represent equally in currency or an imagined amount.
 
That’s not how I see it, Jim has always been fair, there’s been a sprinkling of times when he has auctioned off stuff like this recent tourney sets, where there’s literally only 1-2 sets… what else is there to do with a lot like that? Makes zero cents to discount them and have a chip room sale where it’s just luck of the click to one or two random guys?

Totally depends on the haul he gets… I’ve been around a long time, and all of the classic chiproom sales were from LARGE Hauls of chips, where there is enough to actually do a “classic chiproom sale” I started with Grand Vic’s, I bought HSI… and I bought Sahara dunes, all classic chiproom sales.

I don’t even get where you are coming from, I can just look back at the last couple years, there’s been plenty of big casino hauls… plenty of regular TCR sales… there needs to be volume for a TCR type sale though…

Realistically, there’s been probably 1-3 big sales a year on average, some years there’s slim Pickens.

Anyways bro, I guess you really liked those hotstamped chips and are mad @Gorbash bids everything so high. You are lucky @Windwalker is gone. Between those two and @doublebooyah85 … the ultra rare stuff is just out of reach for some people…

I bet you if you would just tell Jim what type of stuff you are looking for he would probably give you a call if he comes across them… haha… probably not any more…

Bro, you gotta have patience… I bought killler HSI secondary tournament set for a SONG from Jim a few years ago… but nobody is really going to drool for another decade… just like nobody really drooled about PCAs for a good decade..

Sorry about the empty nest… chipping has changed, a bit… but basically it’s still the same.

Thanks for the perspective "Bro", but I've been around a bit longer than that.

In regards to these specific chips - I have less than zero interest. I remember when the GOAT hot stamped THC hit the market...and I didn't want any of them either!

Again, I don't care about pricing, what people sell their chips for, what a few wealthy people will pay, or do I have any regrets about chipsets sold.

I'm talking about the end of an era.

I remember when we could buy from ASM, BCC and TRK. I remember having conversations with Jim B. (and Sallie), Mike Endy, as well as Dennis from TRK.

When we could no longer buy from them, it was the end of an era.

I remember the sense of community when the hobby could still be a community. People helping each other out, sending chips for free, swapping as needed.

As the group got bigger, that died and it was the end of an era.

I remember buying my first hot stamp machine and stamping anything I could. I'd make custom addons for peoples sets and surprise them. I'd make tourney sets (no T1) for gifts. I made some classic sets that older members still cherish.

When I sold the machine, it was the end of an era for me.

I remember TCR sales with no limits and no restrictions. Sales that would take weeks, even months to sell out with ever declining prices. I remember buying PCA $1's for $0.49/chip.

When the flippers came and broke the system, it was the end of an era.

I remember all the different ways that Jim tried to figure out a fair system for chips to get to everyone. Each one was defeated and broken by the flippers.
Every sale was closer to market value, and that is fine. The person doing the work should get the reward.

It's still the end of an era though.

That's what I was trying to say. That we've likely seen the end of an era, and are heading to something new.

On the bright side, if there is more money to be made on the "wholesale" level, there will likely be more competition, and more competition means more people looking, and that may result in more sets getting to market.
 
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As a relatively new chipper, while I don't blame Jim at all due to supply and demand, the new prices are disappointing. There's already a lot of gatekeeping to this hobby and this all but eliminates the best source of cheaper Paulson chips.

When I first visited the forum I was shocked at how high some of the resale prices are. Then I figured out that many of these sets hit the market via The Chip Room. I wasn't aware of this source of chips while any sales were live. I figured that I would bide my time & wait for a new casino to be "raided" and would be able to have a nice set at a reasonable price. Womp womp.
 
I remember the sense of community when the hobby could still be a community. People helping each other out, sending chips for free, swapping as needed.

As the group got bigger, that died and it was the end of an era.
Number of people I've sent chips to for less than a penny the past ~30 days: 5
Number of people who have sent me something or helped out in the same time-frame for the same cost: 3
(estimates - not actually keeping track)
The community is still here, it just depends if you truly want to partake in it and make some genuine friendships along the way.

This hobby is what you make of it and that has always been the case. You can focus on meet-ups/local poker, be strictly transactional, collect, share pron, share ideas, share hands, design cards/buttons/chips/inlays/3D-printed things, politics (gross), shit-post in a Kifer thread, a mix of some or all of it, and much more. Sure, kind of sucks when things change and not for the better, but you have the power to make your own experience enjoyable instead of miserable (especially since everything is pretty damn optional). It's not that serious. GL to all in the sale!
 
Number of people I've sent chips to for less than a penny the past ~30 days: 5
Number of people who have sent me something or helped out in the same time-frame for the same cost: 3
(estimates - not actually keeping track)
The community is still here, it just depends if you truly want to partake in it and make some genuine friendships along the way.

This hobby is what you make of it and that has always been the case. You can focus on meet-ups/local poker, be strictly transactional, collect, share pron, share ideas, share hands, design cards/buttons/chips/inlays/3D-printed things, politics (gross), shit-post in a Kifer thread, a mix of some or all of it, and much more. Sure, kind of sucks when things change and not for the better, but you have the power to make your own experience enjoyable instead of miserable (especially since everything is pretty damn optional). It's not that serious. GL to all in the sale!
 
I'm bored at work again... y'all be warned!! Incoming "Ben book"

Holly crap! Dang what a bunch of complaining... really $4 a chip for leaded THC is bad? I just sent $250 out the other day for this haul and happy to get it!
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Are prices what they used to be? Well how about I bought my house 9 years ago for $425k and now worth almost $700k.

Covid brought in a whole new generation of chippers by the thousands... tons more eyes looking for the "good stuff" plus one deep pocket person buying up all of the good stuff avaliable. Tons of demand with next to zero supply.

Hence why I'm into this set for over $9 a chip on average
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Not leaded... not THC! Sure you can say that's absolutely INSANE, you can say I'm never going to pay that for those "cheap chips" ... but the reality is you will never have a set because others ARE willing to pay those prices!

I have watched this hobby change in the short 5 years I have been around. But even back then I was paying $3 to $4 a chip for solid THC stamed quarters, some even more.
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Has the hobby changed? Of course, the economy and Influx of Tigers have balanced out the constant hunger for more chips... but again the good stuff is still going to cost. There isn't enough to go around.

Jim! JIM! JIM!! so what is he just supposed to sit back and act like prices haven't sky rocketed over the last couple years and continue selling at $2 a chip... just to see those same chips listed the next day for $8 or more? Get real

The market is what the market is... and luckily there is an answer for every single person who doesn't like it... TINA!!

I mean there was a time I bought my Artichoke $4s for $8 a chip... now I am offering $40 but doesn't stop this from happening
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You think I won that one? Absolutely not... I can't control what others are willing to pay. I just sit back and check 5 times a day hoping for another one to be listed (sometimes 6 plus months in between) hoping that eventually they will be in my price range. Does that mean I can get $60 per chip on this? Absolutely not...
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But think I should sell the ones I got for $8 each for $8? Lol... never going to happen! To be fair I wouldn't sell at $100 each... I'm not in this hobby for money. I'm a proud hoarder right @ovo ?

Like @Lil Tuna has said... I will leave a list of people who I know have the same beliefs as me that are not in this for profit and will hold on to my treasures and enjoy them, otherwise I have zero plans to ever let them go... so the market can go up/down/left and right... I prefer down so I can buy more! Lol

There is a huge range in people's wallets in this hobby. As long as the heavier wallets are still hunting the "good stuff" then regular folks will have to sacrifice and save up to get it... just the way it is.

I want gas for $1 a gallon too! But for some reason none of the sations want to take my offer! Lol

Keep serching those estate and yard sales... from time to time you find a real treasure for a steal! But coming to a market place specifically designated to a particular hobby... yeah you can expect closer to retail, most folks here know what they have!

Remeber the cheapest Tiger chip was $5.50 each and Ken sold thousands! Folks here have the money, and guess what... the Harrahs chips will sell out too! People will be paying that $4 a chip... think you can sit back and wait for prices to drop because they arent moving... again you will be left with empty racks on your shelves telling you grand kids about how "back in my days... a soda was 20 cents" instead of "check out these awesome old school chips from a real casino, think of all the people over time that used these!"

if you were around ro get the "good stuff" back in the day for $1 a chip... you should be happy with what you have. Most that have been around that lomg already have several sets (like myself) and just looking to "add to the collection" ... think of the guys coming in that never saw those prices and this is their only opportunity to get one of those amazing sets that used to change hands regularly. Or the Europeans who have to pay 25% more just to get them in their hands due to shipping.

life ain't fair... it's just life!
Number of people I've sent chips to for less than a penny the past ~30 days: 5
Happy to be one of those 5 people and will not forget it! Brother

Still a community just the cost per acre has risen!

Fellow Chipper
Ben
 
I'm bored at work again... y'all be warned!! Incoming "Ben book"

Holly crap! Dang what a bunch of complaining... really $4 a chip for leaded THC is bad? I just sent $250 out the other day for this haul and happy to get it!
View attachment 1351620
Are prices what they used to be? Well how about I bought my house 9 years ago for $425k and now worth almost $700k.

Covid brought in a whole new generation of chippers by the thousands... tons more eyes looking for the "good stuff" plus one deep pocket person buying up all of the good stuff avaliable. Tons of demand with next to zero supply.

Hence why I'm into this set for over $9 a chip on average
View attachment 1351621
Not leaded... not THC! Sure you can say that's absolutely INSANE, you can say I'm never going to pay that for those "cheap chips" ... but the reality is you will never have a set because others ARE willing to pay those prices!

I have watched this hobby change in the short 5 years I have been around. But even back then I was paying $3 to $4 a chip for solid THC stamed quarters, some even more.
View attachment 1351640

Has the hobby changed? Of course, the economy and Influx of Tigers have balanced out the constant hunger for more chips... but again the good stuff is still going to cost. There isn't enough to go around.

Jim! JIM! JIM!! so what is he just supposed to sit back and act like prices haven't sky rocketed over the last couple years and continue selling at $2 a chip... just to see those same chips listed the next day for $8 or more? Get real

The market is what the market is... and luckily there is an answer for every single person who doesn't like it... TINA!!

I mean there was a time I bought my Artichoke $4s for $8 a chip... now I am offering $40 but doesn't stop this from happening
View attachment 1351629
You think I won that one? Absolutely not... I can't control what others are willing to pay. I just sit back and check 5 times a day hoping for another one to be listed (sometimes 6 plus months in between) hoping that eventually they will be in my price range. Does that mean I can get $60 per chip on this? Absolutely not...
View attachment 1351637
But think I should sell the ones I got for $8 each for $8? Lol... never going to happen! To be fair I wouldn't sell at $100 each... I'm not in this hobby for money. I'm a proud hoarder right @ovo ?

Like @Lil Tuna has said... I will leave a list of people who I know have the same beliefs as me that are not in this for profit and will hold on to my treasures and enjoy them, otherwise I have zero plans to ever let them go... so the market can go up/down/left and right... I prefer down so I can buy more! Lol

There is a huge range in people's wallets in this hobby. As long as the heavier wallets are still hunting the "good stuff" then regular folks will have to sacrifice and save up to get it... just the way it is.

I want gas for $1 a gallon too! But for some reason none of the sations want to take my offer! Lol

Keep serching those estate and yard sales... from time to time you find a real treasure for a steal! But coming to a market place specifically designated to a particular hobby... yeah you can expect closer to retail, most folks here know what they have!

Remeber the cheapest Tiger chip was $5.50 each and Ken sold thousands! Folks here have the money, and guess what... the Harrahs chips will sell out too! People will be paying that $4 a chip... think you can sit back and wait for prices to drop because they arent moving... again you will be left with empty racks on your shelves telling you grand kids about how "back in my days... a soda was 20 cents" instead of "check out these awesome old school chips from a real casino, think of all the people over time that used these!"

if you were around ro get the "good stuff" back in the day for $1 a chip... you should be happy with what you have. Most that have been around that lomg already have several sets (like myself) and just looking to "add to the collection" ... think of the guys coming in that never saw those prices and this is their only opportunity to get one of those amazing sets that used to change hands regularly. Or the Europeans who have to pay 25% more just to get them in their hands due to shipping.

life ain't fair... it's just life!

Happy to be one of those 5 people and will not forget it! Brother

Still a community just the cost per acre has risen!

Fellow Chipper
Ben
Never seen your solid frac hot stamp collection. Badass!

And well said Ben, for everyone that complains how expensive chips have gotten count your blessings for how cheap you had it.
 
I'm old enough to remember the end of an era (or 2!!) myself:
View attachment 1351623
Haha I remember when it went over $1 for the first time. Gas stations everywhere were scrambling for new signs and marquees because their existing ones didn’t have enough digits.

That was also a time when odometers only went up to 100,000 miles then started over at 0 because there weren’t enough digits in the mechanism.
 
Never seen your solid frac hot stamp collection. Badass!

And well said Ben, for everyone that complains how expensive chips have gotten count your blessings for how cheap you had it.
And finished one of the partials there
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And NO they were NOT $4 per chip! Lol

Fingers crossed someday I will hit 2 racks of Rail Road Pass... but folks love their pink and don't give them up easily! Lol
 
As a relatively new chipper, while I don't blame Jim at all due to supply and demand, the new prices are disappointing. There's already a lot of gatekeeping to this hobby and this all but eliminates the best source of cheaper Paulson chips.

When I first visited the forum I was shocked at how high some of the resale prices are. Then I figured out that many of these sets hit the market via The Chip Room. I wasn't aware of this source of chips while any sales were live. I figured that I would bide my time & wait for a new casino to be "raided" and would be able to have a nice set at a reasonable price. Womp womp.

Plenty of Jumers, IG, and majestic star out there. Put up a wanted ad and you’ll see.

Two things I’m certain of:

1) If it was someone other than TCR selling, the prices would be even higher and/or not public at all.

2) New members here who’ve never gone through a TCR sale of highly desirable chips at “good” prices have no idea they have ten seconds to completely check out or the result will be nothing anyway.
 
I remember TCR sales with no limits and no restrictions. Sales that would take weeks, even months to sell out with ever declining prices. I remember buying PCA $1's for $0.49/chip.

When the flippers came and broke the system, it was the end of an era.

Honestly while I think there is a small minority which exploits the growing market for clays by flipping, to me it looks like a small percentage of members here.

I’ve never bought chips from TCR to flip them. I buy them to use them.

Now after some time, my taste or needs may change. People who post that they are “done” after making a big purchase are usually fooling themselves, either because their situation or their wants evolved... For example, I bought Jack Detroits in the TCR sale and added many more after. Post-pandmic, I don’t host tourneys (only cash), so I will probably sell most or all of those.

So sure, eventually some parts of any TCR purchases may get traded or sold. If/when I do, I will likely list them somewhere between what I paid and the new market. If I make a profit it will be pretty modest.

That’s very different than buying as much as you can in TCR sales just to flip. But again, I think that is limited to a few bad actors and not at all typical of the “new” community.

P.S. As stated elsewhere, though the number of members keeps going up and up, the roster of frequent/core posters here strikes me as pretty stable. It adds people over time, but mostly those who come to adopt the PCF ethos/codes of conduct.
 
Unless supply and demand counts as gatekeeping, I have no idea what you’re talking about. Can you explain the gatekeeping?
You're right, "gatekeeping" was a poor choice of wording. I should have said "financial barrier of entry". This can feel like gatekeeping sometimes but they are different. Financial barrier to entry is also highly subjective depending upon one's financial circumstances.
 
I remember 45 cent packs of cigarettes, $15 ounces of pot, not $15 grams, nickel full sized candy bars, $2 six packs of beer, 2 burgers, fries, and a drink with change back in your pocket at McD’s, but that just means I’m old. Chip prices have escalated much faster than all of these but that’s just life. And as long as I have been alive there have been groups of people better off and worse off than me. Just be thankful when you have enough.
 
$15 ounces of pot
Funny thing is that I came up in the late 80s, early 90s. 30 years later, weed it is sold retail, taxed at 20% and it’s actually CHEAPER! Not to mention ridiculously more potent.
 
I remember 45 cent packs of cigarettes, $15 ounces of pot, not $15 grams, nickel full sized candy bars, $2 six packs of beer, 2 burgers, fries, and a drink with change back in your pocket at McD’s, but that just means I’m old. Chip prices have escalated much faster than all of these but that’s just life. And as long as I have been alive there have been groups of people better off and worse off than me. Just be thankful when you have enough.
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$15 and NO "Labrodore" by product? Man... those were the days!
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@72o and I checking on @Irish broccoli plants!
 
Funny thing is that I came up in the late 80s, early 90s. 30 years later, weed it is sold retail, taxed at 20% and it’s actually CHEAPER! Not to mention ridiculously more potent.
WAITWAITWAITWAITWAIT...

Where you finding $15 ounces nowadays?
 
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WAITWAITWAITWAITWAIT...

Where you finding $15 ounces nowadays?
I’m not. But in the early 90s, a crappy z would cost you like $180.
I have no idea how far back you have to go to get to $15
 
After watching the TCR auctions, and then seeing the ridiculous prices it has resulted in has left me nostalgic for the old days, and with a realization that an era has really, truly passed.

I sure wish I knew I was in the good old days when they were happening…
After quite a few years, both around the chipping community and in the outside world, I’ve come to conclude that every day is a good old day if you’re lucky enough for more time. The $ prices have inflated, but the outrageous nature of some of them haven’t. 15 years ago I bought some large denom PNY chips for $5 each after l I bought most of the routine denominations for $0.79 to $1 each. When I couldn’t amass enough of them, I paid $10 each to make Matsui plaques. So the words change but the song still stays the same.
 

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