Hi there PCFers -- I've been following and reading up for the last year or so on this site and am finally breaking into chipping and this community.
I currently play with a china clay set, but am now looking to finally get a real set.
My current thinking is to buy a cash and tourney Pharaoh set and begin to buy Le Coves and others when they come available.
Curious to get your thoughts... if you were a brand new chipper today, what would you be most excited about and why?
Pay no attention to any of the purchase advice offered thus far in this thread. Your first order of business is to determine exactly what meets your needs and expectations in regards to high-end chips, ~before~ you spend a bunch of money. To accomplish this, the beginning advice is simple: get samples.
The problem is that what excites me, very well may be off-putting to you..... and vice-versus. And the only way to tell what
you personally like and dislike is to have actual chips in hand, so that you can evaluate not only how they look, but how they feel, how they sound, how they stack, how they handle during play, even how they smell. Note that I mentioned 'chips in hand' -- i.e. plural, because it is almost impossible to evaluate those characteristics based on just one or two chips. I recommend at least 8-10 of each type chip, so that you get a real-world idea of what's out there.
Not all high-end clay chips are the same. The manufacturer (and formula), the specific mold design, inlay composition, condition/age, and even sometimes colors can make a significant difference in the various chip characteristics.
Okay, so get samples. But specifically which ones? Well, if the Le Cove and Pharaoh's Club are two sets that have sparked your initial interest, I'd start with a barrel or half-barrel of each (10-20 chips of each type). Pay special attention to chip condition before buying, because those previously mentioned characteristics of worn Paulson chips (especially casino-worn) are much different than that of new or near-mint condition chips. Starting with those will provide you with two of the many variations of Paulson clay chips -- the
THC (top hat & cane) mold, and the PAULSON CHIPS mold, both of which have been used in the past for Paulson home market chips. Both examples will have round, glossy laminated inlays.
Other Paulson casino and home market chip variations include the
RHC (reverse hat & cane) mold, which is manufactured with several different inlay sizes (and inlay size makes a difference in the chip characteristics). Also available are home market chips produced on the card pips mold (also referred to as the suits mold), which usually have round, glossy laminated inlays, although there are card pips mold chips that have real shaped inlays (glossy lamination) or are hot-stamped with no inlays at all.
Older casino chips manufactured by Paulson prior to 2000 may have textured inlays, and in some cases, real shaped inlays. These older Paulson chips also used chip formulas containing large amounts of lead, which lends itself to different characteristics -- in general, they are heavier, softer, have a deeper sound, and handle differently than more recently produced chips.
Some people prefer the
THC mold vs
RHC or other house molds, some prefer real shaped inlays over round, some prefer textured vs glossy inlays, some prefer new chips vs used chips, and some prefer real casino chips vs home market chips -- and yet some people prefer exactly the opposite on one or more of those choices. The only way to determine what ~you~ prefer is to get samples, and enough different samples -- and an adequate amount of each type -- to make an educated comparison. Consider it cheap insurance that will help ensure that your subsequent large-dollar purchase is protected from disappointment. And don't worry, the cost of the samples can always be recovered by selling them to the next new chipper who comes along.
Get samples.
Sage advice
that will be the next project 
