From 2002 until a year or so before Chipco closed down I was a re-seller for them. I had a good deal with them and providing my artwork was camera ready, or I would accept the results 'as they came'** I could get a minimum order 100 chips delivered in the US for around $125 shipped including edge printing, alignment etc.
** For those not familiar with the dyesub process, or at least the process as it was almost 20 days ago, your equipment and inks dictated that you had a fixed color palette. In Chipco's case it was 80 colors. They used to make a set of 'pie' color samples showing the 80 colors - I may still have a few sets for sale somewhere.
So if you provided artwork with a color that didn't match one of the 80 in the palette, their software would automatically adjust it to what it considered to be the nearest one, which was often not correct. If you wanted that adjustment process to be done manually, and see a proof to show the customer etc., then there was a $250 fee which made small orders impossible.
So, some Chipco employees knew there were financial difficulties approaching a year or so before they closed and jumped ship. This included the salesperson and artist I regularly worked with. All of a sudden I was expected to pay full price including a $250 setup fee. As a parting shot the artist sent me a copy of the 80 color Adobe Illustrator palette so I could at least get my artwork right before submission.
At almost exactly that time, a friend of mine in the UK, Martin Higham, went to work for Sunfly in China. Prior to that, Sunfly had merely been a supplier of blank ceramic parts (including chips) for other companies to print. Their main business was souvenir cups, plates etc. They had different technology than Chipco and were restricted to a 60 color palette which bore little resemblance to Chipco's and for those of you that can remember that far back, most colors were pretty dull. (They also had a sample 'pie' set of 20 chips with 3 colors each) Anyway, where the Sunfly product was suitable I offered that instead.
When Chipco stopped production Martin was very keen to try and improve the Sunfly technology and widen the color palette, to even match Chipco's if possible. I volunteered a copy of the Chipco palette file and after some tech upgrades they set about trying to produce Chipco colors.
There were full sets of 80 color samples made. I only had a couple and they are long gone. There was also a set of 20 Octagons made showing the color specs for 4 colors each.
I have 8 of those sets of 20 still available for those people that like to collect all samples. They are $50 including shipping/fees from the UK. I've also shown the common back.
Sorry they don't scan very well, they are brighter than they look in the image, and just for info there is a picture of the original chipco palette and the specs included below.
Moving on from that, Sunfly expanded into plaque production and attempted to replicate on ceramic the various background 'textures' B&G had on acrylic plaques. There were some plaque samples made also. I have a few odd ones available if anyone is interested, I'll post separately.
Some of those background designs were printed round the edge of sample octagons. 3 backgrounds x 10 colors for a set of 30. I have 2 of these sets available only. $75 shipped. I have a bunch of odd singles if anyone wants a random selection - PM me.
Send a PM if interested in any of the things discussed in this post.
** For those not familiar with the dyesub process, or at least the process as it was almost 20 days ago, your equipment and inks dictated that you had a fixed color palette. In Chipco's case it was 80 colors. They used to make a set of 'pie' color samples showing the 80 colors - I may still have a few sets for sale somewhere.
So if you provided artwork with a color that didn't match one of the 80 in the palette, their software would automatically adjust it to what it considered to be the nearest one, which was often not correct. If you wanted that adjustment process to be done manually, and see a proof to show the customer etc., then there was a $250 fee which made small orders impossible.
So, some Chipco employees knew there were financial difficulties approaching a year or so before they closed and jumped ship. This included the salesperson and artist I regularly worked with. All of a sudden I was expected to pay full price including a $250 setup fee. As a parting shot the artist sent me a copy of the 80 color Adobe Illustrator palette so I could at least get my artwork right before submission.
At almost exactly that time, a friend of mine in the UK, Martin Higham, went to work for Sunfly in China. Prior to that, Sunfly had merely been a supplier of blank ceramic parts (including chips) for other companies to print. Their main business was souvenir cups, plates etc. They had different technology than Chipco and were restricted to a 60 color palette which bore little resemblance to Chipco's and for those of you that can remember that far back, most colors were pretty dull. (They also had a sample 'pie' set of 20 chips with 3 colors each) Anyway, where the Sunfly product was suitable I offered that instead.
When Chipco stopped production Martin was very keen to try and improve the Sunfly technology and widen the color palette, to even match Chipco's if possible. I volunteered a copy of the Chipco palette file and after some tech upgrades they set about trying to produce Chipco colors.
There were full sets of 80 color samples made. I only had a couple and they are long gone. There was also a set of 20 Octagons made showing the color specs for 4 colors each.
I have 8 of those sets of 20 still available for those people that like to collect all samples. They are $50 including shipping/fees from the UK. I've also shown the common back.
Sorry they don't scan very well, they are brighter than they look in the image, and just for info there is a picture of the original chipco palette and the specs included below.
Moving on from that, Sunfly expanded into plaque production and attempted to replicate on ceramic the various background 'textures' B&G had on acrylic plaques. There were some plaque samples made also. I have a few odd ones available if anyone is interested, I'll post separately.
Some of those background designs were printed round the edge of sample octagons. 3 backgrounds x 10 colors for a set of 30. I have 2 of these sets available only. $75 shipped. I have a bunch of odd singles if anyone wants a random selection - PM me.
Send a PM if interested in any of the things discussed in this post.
