Thanks for those. I hadn't seen the issues with those Pharaohs before. The more I think about it, I also seem to recall possibly seeing some issues with Milanos as well. But yes, I did mean consensus regarding specific chip lines.
-
This site contains affiliate links. If you choose to make a purchase after clicking a link, Poker Chip Forum may receive a commission at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support!
China Clay Chips Comparison (5 Viewers)
- Thread starter Poseidon
- Start date
Kid_Eastwood
4 of a Kind
I thought that the Milanos were on the harder side hence more robust.
bucklesbets
Pair
I don’t know how I feel about the Spirit Mold CCs. I bought a bunch from chips and games (they are on clearance right now)…got about 1,000 for less than $100...and free shipping to boot. Shout out to the free shipping on chips…much appreciated.
That said, I am finding most of them to be fantastically brittle. I haven’t tested all the colors yet, but I have started with the blue ($1) chips…not great.
I have a handful of the blue w/ labels, the red blanks (both the tri-color and the two tone), some yellow labeled, some white labeled, and some pink blanks. I also ordered a couple stacks of green and the orange from the guy on eBay…though they are the 614 (i think) inlay design. I’m curious to see how those hold up.
In any case, after breaking a few juts from shuffling and toying around with them, I am started scanning to see what I might be able to do about this. I read the post about pressure oiling and I am doing that to a handful of each color I have…so far, I am not impressed. While they might be a bit more sturdy, they are difficult to shuffle, and there is a lot of friction between them. I understand the squareear edges will make shuffling difficult (though after some shuffling, all the edges are chipping off), but the friction is frustrating.
Bottom line: I don’t know if these are worth the work of oiling and labeling/relabeling or not. It would definitely be a labor of love, but I am just not sure I want to keep on with it.
A couple of final thoughts:
a) I could have taken everyone else’s words as true, but decided to find out for myself: you get what you pay for
b) in the end, I am only out a few bucks, so it isn’t a total loss; especially when you consider the value of what I learned from this
c) if anyone has any tips or tricks to make these things playable, I am all ears
Now to figure out what’s next: do I just buy some Dunes CCs (have a sample and am liking them), or do I save up and try to put a Paulson set together? Ideally, I’d like to find something like the Dunes, which I know are the Majestics, but I don’t like the edge spots on the Majestics…I do like the Dunes edge spots though. Finding the best of both worlds (or three worlds if you include price) is near impossible in the chipping game, isn’t it???
Anyone have thoughts? Looking for a small limit cash set (.50/1 blinds, 6-8 players)…maybe HS Cinci…
That said, I am finding most of them to be fantastically brittle. I haven’t tested all the colors yet, but I have started with the blue ($1) chips…not great.
I have a handful of the blue w/ labels, the red blanks (both the tri-color and the two tone), some yellow labeled, some white labeled, and some pink blanks. I also ordered a couple stacks of green and the orange from the guy on eBay…though they are the 614 (i think) inlay design. I’m curious to see how those hold up.
In any case, after breaking a few juts from shuffling and toying around with them, I am started scanning to see what I might be able to do about this. I read the post about pressure oiling and I am doing that to a handful of each color I have…so far, I am not impressed. While they might be a bit more sturdy, they are difficult to shuffle, and there is a lot of friction between them. I understand the squareear edges will make shuffling difficult (though after some shuffling, all the edges are chipping off), but the friction is frustrating.
Bottom line: I don’t know if these are worth the work of oiling and labeling/relabeling or not. It would definitely be a labor of love, but I am just not sure I want to keep on with it.
A couple of final thoughts:
a) I could have taken everyone else’s words as true, but decided to find out for myself: you get what you pay for
b) in the end, I am only out a few bucks, so it isn’t a total loss; especially when you consider the value of what I learned from this
c) if anyone has any tips or tricks to make these things playable, I am all ears
Now to figure out what’s next: do I just buy some Dunes CCs (have a sample and am liking them), or do I save up and try to put a Paulson set together? Ideally, I’d like to find something like the Dunes, which I know are the Majestics, but I don’t like the edge spots on the Majestics…I do like the Dunes edge spots though. Finding the best of both worlds (or three worlds if you include price) is near impossible in the chipping game, isn’t it???
Anyone have thoughts? Looking for a small limit cash set (.50/1 blinds, 6-8 players)…maybe HS Cinci…
Kid_Eastwood
4 of a Kind
You don't need a lot of chips for 8 players, NL100 (or 200 if you play 200BB).
0.50 x 80
1 x 160
5 x 160
25 x 80
100 x 40
With 520 chips you're good to go.
You can pick HSI which are affordable Paulson and try to get something for the 50c (ex : Starburst, Solid milled and relabelled as HSI 50c, ...).
0.50 x 80
1 x 160
5 x 160
25 x 80
100 x 40
With 520 chips you're good to go.
You can pick HSI which are affordable Paulson and try to get something for the 50c (ex : Starburst, Solid milled and relabelled as HSI 50c, ...).
@bucklesbets Wow I didn’t think any retailer was selling spirit molds anymore. Thinking about picking up a rack of yellows for $10 because I only have a rack. 
I have almost 800 spirit molds so I know what I’m getting into. I feel like the pinks are the most brittle, of the batch I have. But it might depend on how they were stored. Maybe the ones you got the blues are more brittle.
In my case, the blues have been decent, but hardest to remove the labels from. But they’re pyramid labels not Casino Davincis.
I’ve heard the 4D14s are sturdiest while the 614s 412s and solids are less so.
Do you like 8Vs? @SeanGecko can hook you up with maybe enough 8Vs for a limit set. They are much sturdier than spirit molds.
I have almost 800 spirit molds so I know what I’m getting into. I feel like the pinks are the most brittle, of the batch I have. But it might depend on how they were stored. Maybe the ones you got the blues are more brittle.
In my case, the blues have been decent, but hardest to remove the labels from. But they’re pyramid labels not Casino Davincis.
I’ve heard the 4D14s are sturdiest while the 614s 412s and solids are less so.
Do you like 8Vs? @SeanGecko can hook you up with maybe enough 8Vs for a limit set. They are much sturdier than spirit molds.
Last edited:
bucklesbets
Pair
Yeah…I think I am going to slowly build a HS Cinci set…only because a) I picked up a sample barrel from Apache and then got a good deal (I think) on 4/5 of a rack of 5s recently; and b) I like the colors better than HSI. But yes, this is the plan…little longer term than right now, but the plan nonetheless.
Thanks for the input!
Couldn’t agree more re: the blues…those labels are a beast to get off. I think, given their brittleness, I might end up scrapping most of them anyways. Was going to use them for the $100s for the set…can’t find any blacks anymore. But the other colors are turning out to be better in terms of sturdiness.@bucklesbets Wow I didn’t think any retailer was selling spirit molds anymore. Thinking about picking up a rack of yellows for $10 because I only have a rack.
I have almost 800 spirit molds so I know what I’m getting into. I feel like the pinks are the most brittle, of the batch I have. But it might depend on how they were stored. Maybe the ones you got the blues are more brittle.
In my case, the blues have been decent, but hardest to remove the labels from. But they’re pyramid labels not Casino Davincis.
I’ve heard the 4D14s are sturdiest while the 614s 412s and solids are less so.
Do you like 8Vs? @SeanGecko can hook you up with maybe enough 8Vs for a limit set. They are much sturdier than spirit molds.
I’d have to reference my cheat sheet again on the edge spots, but IIRC, I agree with your assessment. The solids and the two tone (412s??) are crap. The blues are crap, but it might be the batch I got. I can only assume these are older and have been sitting around for a while. It’s to be expected…and they were pretty cheap, so the loss is mitigated. I am hoping the greens (612s???) are good to go…keeping my fingers crossed there.
As for the 8Vs, I can’t say I am sure of which you are talking about…but I have read many times they are the sturdiest. Is the 8V a reference tot he edge spots?
Yes, I think what you're calling two-tone are these 412s, but with a single color for the edge spots. Looks like chipsandgames.com only has these in red w/blue edge spots.
I've also heard two-tone used to mean two edge spots colors, like 4D14s:
These are the spirit molds I have.
The
Last edited:
Yes, 8V refers to the edge spots, and the 8V China Clays were made by PGI, sold at some point by ABC, so might be known as PGI 8V or ABC 8V or more commonly just 8V CCs. They are very sturdy, less slick and waxy than the current generation CCs that Apache sells (Dunes, Majestics, etc.) and cheaper too than newly produced CCs.
There are several members with large collections that are selling. I've been in the process of procuring some as well, but I'm also building a Paulson set and just bought a bunch of cards mold chips. So I am uncertain about my own plans with the spirit mold and 8V CCs that I own.
bucklesbets
Pair
Sounds like you and I are nearly in the same boat. I am keeping an eye out for the next cards mold GB…and I will keep an eye out for the 8Vs. I bought the spirit molds originally as a label project (and because they were so cheap). Still debating if I am going to go thru with it or not, but I suppose the long game is why it is called a hobby and not a fleeting fancy. ;-)
Thanks for the info. I’ll keep my eyes peeled for some more to add to the collection!
This is rather helpful. I have the 4D14s as well. When I first bought them, someone referenced them as tri-color rather than two-tone. The two-tone was referencing The 412s.
Thanks for this. Hoping the 614s are a bit better than the 4D14s, but it’s really whatever…fun little project and awesome learning experience for a fairly decent price.
Thanks again!
CrazyEddie
Full House
Surprised to see that Chips and Games has spirit molds back in stock! I bought out nearly all they had a while back. I guess they moved more stuff around in their warehouse and turned up a few more boxes of them.
Regarding brittleness: in my limited experience the solids are worse than the spotteds, the blue 4d14 are pretty bad but the other 4d14 are pretty okay, and the solid greys are absolutely awful. I haven't handled any of the 614s because I hate that geometry so I don't know how brittle they are.
Putting a label on the blanks will go a long way towards mitigating the risk of them breaking in two, but they'll still be susceptible to flaking / chipping / flea bites.
Regarding brittleness: in my limited experience the solids are worse than the spotteds, the blue 4d14 are pretty bad but the other 4d14 are pretty okay, and the solid greys are absolutely awful. I haven't handled any of the 614s because I hate that geometry so I don't know how brittle they are.
Putting a label on the blanks will go a long way towards mitigating the risk of them breaking in two, but they'll still be susceptible to flaking / chipping / flea bites.
CrazyEddie
Full House
That's exactly how I look at these. Plus they really do feel great, and I think they're attractive as well. I even like the mold impression; it's an interesting shape.
ekricket
Royal Flush
@Felt_Lizard was using some sort of polish on chips, maybe a clear coat of a polish or something like that will help bind the edges together
CrazyEddie
Full House
That sounds like too much work.
Well I made the mistake of getting samples of everything. Used 1/3rd of my initial budget for chips.
I felt the difference between each option and decided THC Paulsons are the best for me. Currently I am sitting with zero sets cause Paulsons THC are waaay out of my budget and thinking I should have bought a Milanos set for 200€ instead of spending 70€ for samples!!!!
But after feeling both China Clay and "Real" Clay I can't compromise and get the China Clay chips.
PS. I now log in once in a while to avoid spending money out of budget for Paulson chips!
I felt the difference between each option and decided THC Paulsons are the best for me. Currently I am sitting with zero sets cause Paulsons THC are waaay out of my budget and thinking I should have bought a Milanos set for 200€ instead of spending 70€ for samples!!!!
But after feeling both China Clay and "Real" Clay I can't compromise and get the China Clay chips.
PS. I now log in once in a while to avoid spending money out of budget for Paulson chips!
LinkyBabe
Flush
What's stopping you from selling those samples and using that money towards the chips you want?
Remind us again, what samples did you get ?
Yes, but isn't there value in that to another European newbie who might also want to see the samples? From what I understand, a lot of chips are hard to find over there, so I image if you said you wanted 40-50 for them, that would be fair to someone who's only other way to get them is to do what you did and pay 70.
LeLe
4 of a Kind
That a +EV move
There are no rare samples in my possession, plus they all take their turns as suffle stacks!!
I got my hands on
Cheap Plastics with metal inserts
China Clay - Milanos & Majestic (liked the Milanos more)
Ceramic - Sunfly, BRPro and some old chipco (liked the chipco more)
CPC - Custom sets and sample set (Nice, but different from Paulson)
Paulson - Webmold(Is it Paulson? - didn't like them), RHC and THC.
After feeling some real Clay I cannot compromise with something less, and I cannot afford spending more than 200€ for 600 chips to be used twice per year.
There is a huge difference in feel and if you can afford Paulsons definitely try everything. If you are like me a poor guy with a game running twice per year and cannot justify the cost, buy a China Clay set and delete your account here - too many temptations
My favorite chip is a slightly used THC from the Outpost casino. I like the smooth surface and small inlay.
I wasn't saying that they are rare. Just that they can't be bought retail from European sellers, so anyone else who wants to sample similar chips has to go the same route you did and pay more for shipping than for the value of the chips.
I agree, no harm in putting them in a For Sale ad or an Auction. Likely someone will find them useful.
In that case, bro, work hard, save, and above all, hide your income from your wife.
I think you misunderstood. I don't need the money back and certainly I don't want to get "rid" of the chips. I like them and use them daily as suffle stacks.
The thing I regret about getting samples is that I ended up with no playable set, cause I don't have the budget for Paulsons and China Clay suck in comparison.
The thing I regret about getting samples is that I ended up with no playable set, cause I don't have the budget for Paulsons and China Clay suck in comparison.
Adelphe, (brother, in Greek)
I 'd love a Ferrari too. But YOU say you don't have the money.
Why the f* can't you settle for a basic Porsche (CPC, off-the-shelf)?
I 'd love a Ferrari too. But YOU say you don't have the money.
Why the f* can't you settle for a basic Porsche (CPC, off-the-shelf)?
Kid_Eastwood
4 of a Kind
Your best are used RHC then or wait for the next TCR sale.
I am definitely getting a Paulson set sometime in the future.
I just need to get married, have some kids, get them through college and then with my retirement money buy the Coke Giraffes and take them with me in heaven!
I just need to get married, have some kids, get them through college and then with my retirement money buy the Coke Giraffes and take them with me in heaven!
Create an account or login to comment
You must be a member in order to leave a comment
Create account
Create an account and join our community. It's easy!
Log in
Already have an account? Log in here.
Similar threads
