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I'm Considering Buying CPC - Advise Me, Roast Me, Counsel Me (21 Viewers)

G

Gus

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Hello all, I'm Gus and this is my first post and it's a long shot, but I'm considering buying CPC. I am posting here to hear from the community which has been so well served by David & David at CPC over the years. This is a call for honest feedback, and I intend to reply to anyone posting in good faith. I have interacted briefly with @David Spragg via email and reviewed the sales package, and will of course not be sharing any confidential information. One cannot simply buy a company - any serious next steps would depend wholly on David & David's invitation and collaboration.

The below thread has collected hundreds of your comments regarding the sale and I hope you can spare a few words of advice for me.
https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/important-cpc-bulletin.125622/

Big Picture Goal:
  • Keep the core CPC product line alive and available
  • Absolutely no compromises on quality of the product (replicating the legendary customer service would of course be good!)
  • Continue production in America
Why it's Possible:
  • I am very fortunate to be in the financial position to do so
  • Despite intense competition in chips, CPC's product and reputation stand at the pinnacle of the industry
Biggest Challenges:
  • I live in Minnesota (CPC factory is in Maine)
  • I have a young family (I am a stay-at-home dad for the foreseeable future)
  • Manufacturing this product is not as easy as printing a PDF (rumors of strange alchemy, moon cycles... just kidding... but really)
  • There are real people with real jobs and a real factory to be responsible for (a business isn't simply a spreadsheet)
A bit about me. I'm not a "chipper." But I have kept a stack of $1 chips by my mousepad from around the world where I've played in cardrooms over the years. I am a casual player and play for the pleasure of getting together with friends and having the best night of the month.

After graduating from business school in Boston I spent my 20's working for myself as an architectural photographer. It was challenging, gratifying, and surprisingly lucrative. I'm in my 30's now and some investments have done well (while others have fared poorly). While parenting a toddler I've been searching for my next venture and CPC came on my radar while searching for a 'forever' set of poker chips to mark a celebratory milestone.

Rumors of turmoil at CPC popped up a few times during this evaluation of the chip market and then the announcement of the business sale was posted to the CPC website. For the past two weeks I've been digging deep into the chip industry trying to get a grip on its history, current status, and how CPC may continue to thrive in this time beyond the early 2000's boom.

Which has led me to start this thread. Nearly everywhere I search points back to Poker Chip Forum as the single most authoritative and thorough source on the industry by those most passionate about it. What would you tell me, what are your hopes for CPC, what does a bright future look like?

My primary motivation is not personal profit, but rather the stewardship of a niche but iconic American manufacturer into its next phase. Successful businesses create wonderful opportunities and continue to delight their customers, while struggling ones wither sadly and drain personal savings until the lights go out. The former is of course the goal.

Many challenges can be overcome by simply throwing more cash at them. The important challenges of course cannot be solved this way. Buying CPC is very much a long shot, but it's not yet an impossibility in my mind. Perhaps you can push me one way or the other.

I would prefer to chat in replies over DMs to keep things transparent where appropriate. If you are interested in being a part-owner I would love to hear your take and expertise.

Enough rambling! Like the thread's title, I invite you to advise, roast, or counsel me.
 
Welcome to the forum, Gus! I'm certain you will have a ton of replies, here and in DM's as well.

I've had (and still have) thoughts and ideas about things that CPC could do, both to help us greedy chippers, but also maybe stretch out a bit. As the inevitable flood of messages you are bound to get here in this thread is about to start, I'll pause on those and chime in over the coming days and weeks but wanted to say hello. Thank you for your interest in CPC, in chipping and helping that unique company survive.

Cheers!
 
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Gus said:
Hello all, I'm Gus and this is my first post and it's a long shot, but I'm considering buying CPC. I am posting here to hear from the community which has been so well served by David & David at CPC over the years. This is a call for honest feedback, and I intend to reply to anyone posting in good faith. I have interacted briefly with @David Spragg via email and reviewed the sales package, and will of course not be sharing any confidential information. One cannot simply buy a company - any serious next steps would depend wholly on David & David's invitation and collaboration.

The below thread has collected hundreds of your comments regarding the sale and I hope you can spare a few words of advice for me.
https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/important-cpc-bulletin.125622/

Big Picture Goal:
  • Keep the core CPC product line alive and available
  • Absolutely no compromises on quality of the product (replicating the legendary customer service would of course be good!)
  • Continue production in America
Why it's Possible:
  • I am very fortunate to be in the financial position to do so
  • Despite intense competition in chips, CPC's product and reputation stand at the pinnacle of the industry
Biggest Challenges:
  • I live in Minnesota (CPC factory is in Maine)
  • I have a young family (I am a stay-at-home dad for the foreseeable future)
  • Manufacturing this product is not as easy as printing a PDF (rumors of strange alchemy, moon cycles... just kidding... but really)
  • There are real people with real jobs and a real factory to be responsible for (a business isn't simply a spreadsheet)
A bit about me. I'm not a "chipper." But I have kept a stack of $1 chips by my mousepad from around the world where I've played in cardrooms over the years. I am a casual player and play for the pleasure of getting together with friends and having the best night of the month.

After graduating from business school in Boston I spent my 20's working for myself as an architectural photographer. It was challenging, gratifying, and surprisingly lucrative. I'm in my 30's now and some investments have done well (while others have fared poorly). While parenting a toddler I've been searching for my next venture and CPC came on my radar while searching for a 'forever' set of poker chips to mark a celebratory milestone.

Rumors of turmoil at CPC popped up a few times during this evaluation of the chip market and then the announcement of the business sale was posted to the CPC website. For the past two weeks I've been digging deep into the chip industry trying to get a grip on its history, current status, and how CPC may continue to thrive in this time beyond the early 2000's boom.

Which has led me to start this thread. Nearly everywhere I search points back to Poker Chip Forum as the single most authoritative and thorough source on the industry by those most passionate about it. What would you tell me, what are your hopes for CPC, what does a bright future look like?

My primary motivation is not personal profit, but rather the stewardship of a niche but iconic American manufacturer into its next phase. Successful businesses create wonderful opportunities and continue to delight their customers, while struggling ones wither sadly and drain personal savings until the lights go out. The former is of course the goal.

Many challenges can be overcome by simply throwing more cash at them. The important challenges of course cannot be solved this way. Buying CPC is very much a long shot, but it's not yet an impossibility in my mind. Perhaps you can push me one way or the other.

I would prefer to chat in replies over DMs to keep things transparent where appropriate. If you are interested in being a part-owner I would love to hear your take and expertise.

Enough rambling! Like the thread's title, I invite you to advise, roast, or counsel me.
Click to expand...
This HAS TO BE the strongest 1st post ever.
 
1732428266224.gif
 
I’m not sure if this helps or is what you were asking for but I personally think they could do with more stock options to purchase without waiting months and/or years to receive (custom chip timelines).

I personally do not like any of the stock options except Atlantic club, and even those I’m not rushing to purchase.

I think if there was say maybe a few more sets designed in a group setting (wink wink here) that everyone agrees on label design and colors/edgespots that could be a good avenue to get some extra income and attention to CPC.

May not be practical so I may just be talking out my ass on what I would like. But i have seen others mention this on here as well, so if company does get purchased this is one thing I am hoping for.
 
With my former company I was part of several company acquisitions. The knowledge and experience of the soon to be former owners is such a large part of the value of the company in many circumstances, especially this one. The willingness of David to possibly stay on for at least a year to teach everything needed to be able to properly run the equipment seems required. While we have a passion here for chips and CPC, David has been very secretive about much of the process involved and for obvious reasons. But he will need to reveal a lot of that to a prospective buyer. From everything we have seen this is more art than science to be able to make a quality product. Coming onboard now in some capacity seems prudent as well. The previous owner found out quickly how difficult it is try this.

Good luck if you go forward with this and we will be thankful if you are able to do it!
 
Gus,

First of all, welcome! Best of luck in your due diligence and hope it works out.

As a relatively new chipper compared to most folk on PCF, I initially started designing a custom CPC set last year. However I ended up going down a different path and buying former casino chips for my first proper cash set. I spent a lot of time on the custom design tool, and I think it can be overwhelming for most new customers. In retrospect, I think I’ve actually spent an equivalent amount on this set to what a new CPC set would have been.

I would therefore echo the above messages, and recommend you consider:

1. Stock redesigned standard cash set(s) with recommended denominations & quantities (make it easier for newer customers)
2. Stock redesigned standard tournament set(s)
3. I am not that attracted to the current CPC stock designs, and I’ve found there are more aesthetically pleasing sets and themes created by members here.
4. On the lower end of the market in terms of price there is a much cheaper alternative called Tina Hybrids, not equivalent to CPC, however what I like is that any member here can order already pre-designed cash or tournament sets that are well designed and have a theme/edge spot progression etc. I think outside of cost, the ease of selecting an overall pre-designed set from a large selection is a big plus.
5. In this line of thought, you may want to collaborate with some of the leading designers/contributors from PCF - potentially offer a type of Royalty if their CPC custom design is purchased by a customer.
6. Depending on your growth strategy, there’s likely some advertising required to help create visibilty of the brand and to help separate your unique selling points from every other chip stating to be ‘clay’ - there’s likely a few poker vloggers and livestream games that you could sponsor with chips to raise awareness of the brand. Lastly, almost everyone here is a fan of Rounders the movie - reach out to every prop dept. in Hollywood and offer them your services - all it takes is another Casino Royale etc and you’ll have another new customer/ fan base.

Lastly, I still plan to be a future customer.

Best of luck,

Kam
 
Welcome!

I clicked on this thread thinking it was about you buying a set of CPCs and seeking design feedback. Thank you for this wonderful surprise!

I’ll echo the mentions of more attractive stock options (using more different molds), we sure have some killer designers on PCF. Better breakdowns of said stock sets as well (we have the breakdown wizards as well).

Also, the current sample sets that ships seem to often consist of rejects or otherwise subpar chips. PCF people don’t care. We buy sample sets to get a feel for a mold or the colors, and know that the finished product is going to be awesome. But I suspect the average Joe would get turned away. Especially since this is such a premium product with a big price tag.
 
In the make believe world in my head where I have enough money to purchase CPC, the goal would be to produce chips for just under $1 per chip and have faster turnaround periods. None of which are logistically or financially possible most likely.

I just dont think there are enough people in the world looking to spend $1600+ on a home poker set and wait 8+ months for them to be produced especially now with cheaper and faster customizable options which are getting better and better in terms of quality.
 
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Welcome to PCF! Looking forward to following this thread. As a fellow Minnesota guy excited that you are considering keeping CPC alive and well. I have made several purchases through them and love the chips.
 
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Hello, Gus.

I think very few people in the world would be more welcome here than you are right now. Thank you so much for even considering what (I hope) you are soon about to do. I applaud your motivations and goals mentioned in your original post, and wish you a lifetime of success!

The biggest advice I can give you with a giant undertaking like this is, "Don't go it alone." In our community here, you may find people who are seriously interested in partnering or becoming investors in the business. (I'm certainly interested.)

I think there are more than a few people here who'd love to be a part of Classic Poker Chips and assist in the some way that matches their talents. Hell, I'd take a week's vacation every year if you'd let me work at the factory!

I'm sure you are already aware of the assistance out there for businesses from the Small Business Administration, your state, or, in this case, the State of Maine, where the factory is located. I believe Classic Poker Chips is incorporated (as an LLC, I think) in the State of Delaware. I live about 20 minutes away from Delaware's Department of State office in Wilmington. Please let me know if you need anything here in the First State. I've also written grants for my former government employer and for our local fire department. The federal grant process can be incredibly challenging and time consuming. State grants are usually easier and more straight-forward. Both have one specific goal -- to get rid of their money by giving it to you to keep the business running, create jobs, or achieve the goals you set. I would be glad to assist if the need arises.

Your position as the potential owner of an American business that is making a product and sending it worldwide is more important than words can say. Don't be shy about getting politicians involved in supporting the business. If it keeps Americans working, there's probably money to be found for it.

I've seen the process in person when it was ASM, Las Vegas. (I don't know the formula, but was able to watch chips being made from the time a batch of hot clay was being stirred around in the hopper through the final pressing. The process is very labor-intensive, there's lots of hands-on work and it takes a lot of time. I understood that the largest part of the cost was labor. Anything you can do to automate some mundane parts (mixing, pressing, cutting sheets into blanks) would speed the process and reduce costs.

Cleaning the hoppers was key. Red Ott, the former owner of ASM Las Vegas, who failed miserably, wasn't doing an effective job of cleaning the hoppers before mixing more clay. The result was little bits of dirt or tiny dots of the previous color mixing into the batch and turning up in the chips. He didn't care, and sent shitty chips out the door to customers. This basically drove us crazy and drove Red out of business. I actually went out to Las Vegas to talk to Red in person about this. He wouldn't budge. Now, I understand there is a separate hopper for each color. I hope that's true.

When I placed my first order (on Classic Poker Chips's opening day), the order took 90 days to arrive at my house. Now, I pay Classic up front and wait for some undetermined amount of time that is always a couple of months longer than the estimate. I think Classic has (only) two compression molding machines and keeps a specific mold (the A mold) in one all the time, rotating the other molds in the other machine. (People here have said there are three machines, but I only saw two at the factory when it was in Vegas.)

I know it takes about a day of work to change the mold. Adding a machine could cut production time and increase profits by reducing the day-long mold changing process. There may be other machines out there. Palm Imports bought the assets of another company when they went out of business. (I think it was Blue Chip Company (BCC)). I've always wondered where those machines are now. (Joe Daly, the former owner of Palm is still around and may know where the machines are.) Purchasing another machine would be the ideal target for a pretty straightforward grant.)

I have a few "cautions" to offer, but they would be better shared in private.

Long post, I know. But thank you again, and thanks for reading and getting the input from this group. PM me if you need anything!

Dennis
 
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I don't have any particular cousel or advise to give but I just wanted to say "hi and welcome to the forum" and I'm happy the order I just filed might not be my last one.

Also, I'm sure you'll find great support from this community and wishing you all the best and success if you decide to start this adventure !
 
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I have no skin in the game nor any expertise from a financial standpoint, I'm a medicine man and business is not my strong suit. But I will tell you one thing. From what I can gather, this is a passion business for the current owners, and the profit margins from what I can gather are very minimal to make any kind of "real" money off of the business. Perhaps it could work well for someone in your position with a diversified portfolio of businesses that bring in more cash, but I'm skeptical that from a financial standpoint, the juice would be worth the squeeze if your primary goal is to make money here.

Sure, I am almost positive that there are specific things that I'm not privy to. I haven't seen the books. But let me get down to what I think you made this post for, which is to get a pulse of the most passionate and what will likely be the majority of your customers, perhaps not in volume, but in total orders. Your customer base knows their stuff. But a lot of what it being asked for may not be feasible (things like a fuller body yellow base color, a blue in between DG Peacock and light blue, a brighter orange, new edge spot patterns), but could conceivably be possible if lots of money and energy is brought into making it a reality.

Your gut feelings are mostly correct. A lot of us would be happy with the current operation being as close to the current one as possible without a drop off in quality. The responses are correct here so far. One of the biggest complaints is the turnaround time for a custom set, which could exceed a year depending on order volume. A couple of stock options made in bulk designed by @JeepologyOffroad in both standard and California colors would go a long way to tapping more into the more casual home marker.

One thing I haven't seen mentioned, however, is what is going to be done with marketing in order to expand your customer base. As it stands, CPC is a very niche business with a very fixed and repeat customer base. I think there's a lot of potential to get into the more casual market with some effort being put into marketing and advertising. Market the product as American made. Try to upsell the premium quality of the goofs compared to the inferior plastic and slugged options out there. Advertise the game security aspect of making your own set of custom chips. IMO, there's a huge untapped market of more casual poker players that play stakes high enough that can more than afford $3000 for a custom set to bolster the security of their game.

Offer the willing designers here as "consultants" for their projects that get paid and billed on a third party basis outside of your umbrella. Ultimately, however, someone within the company will have to have a final say on what can be made and won't be based on potential copyright and trademark issues. Counterfeits and fakes have been attempted and have been stopped at the door before they could be pressed.

Feel free to DM me with any other questions, but there are folks that are much more knowledgeable than me when it comes to some of the idiosyncrasies of the operation.

Best of luck!
 
Welcome to PCF Gus!
Hell of a first post :love: !
I'm personally very interested in following what's going to happen as I'm a big fan of CPC chips I already have 7 sets and prospects for at least 3 more :sneaky:
It's quite an adventure you're planning. Honestly, I think it should be seen more as a preservation of the American tradition in the art of producing authentic clay chips than a financial operation.
But if that's the way you feel, it could be a wonderful adventure!
I wish you all the best, whether or not you decide to take over CPC.
 
^^ Agree with all of the above and would add update the technology. Create a more user friendly customer web site. Make it easier to navigate, order, design, and price.

Offer on-line order tracking and management, etc.

Basically, bring the customer facing touch points to today’s standards.

The idea is to expand CPC beyond PCF. It needs to be way more accessible from a first touch perspective.
 
Currently we're contacting David individually to get info on molds in production and then the approximate timeframe for the one we're waiting for, and some of us are reposting the info here on PCF for the others.
Perhaps it would also be interesting to proactively communicate on the site which molds are in progress and which are planned for the immediate future.
 
I've seen so many good suggestions on this thread, I don't think I have much to add. Just wanted to say that, if you do decide to move forward, I'm rooting for your success. If it's an option, I'd love to know what it would take to invest in CPC moving forward. If not, best of luck to you!
 
JMC9389 said:
I have no skin in the game nor any expertise from a financial standpoint, I'm a medicine man and business is not my strong suit. But I will tell you one thing. From what I can gather, this is a passion business for the current owners, and the profit margins from what I can gather are very minimal to make any kind of "real" money off of the business. Perhaps it could work well for someone in your position with a diversified portfolio of businesses that bring in more cash, but I'm skeptical that from a financial standpoint, the juice would be worth the squeeze if your primary goal is to make money here.

Sure, I am almost positive that there are specific things that I'm not privy to. I haven't seen the books. But let me get down to what I think you made this post for, which is to get a pulse of the most passionate and what will likely be the majority of your customers, perhaps not in volume, but in total orders. Your customer base knows their stuff. But a lot of what it being asked for may not be feasible (things like a fuller body yellow base color, a blue in between DG Peacock and light blue, a brighter orange, new edge spot patterns), but could conceivably be possible if lots of money and energy is brought into making it a reality.

Your gut feelings are mostly correct. A lot of us would be happy with the current operation being as close to the current one as possible without a drop off in quality. The responses are correct here so far. One of the biggest complaints is the turnaround time for a custom set, which could exceed a year depending on order volume. A couple of stock options made in bulk designed by @JeepologyOffroad in both standard and California colors would go a long way to tapping more into the more casual home marker.

One thing I haven't seen mentioned, however, is what is going to be done with marketing in order to expand your customer base. As it stands, CPC is a very niche business with a very fixed and repeat customer base. I think there's a lot of potential to get into the more casual market with some effort being put into marketing and advertising. Market the product as American made. Try to upsell the premium quality of the goofs compared to the inferior plastic and slugged options out there. Advertise the game security aspect of making your own set of custom chips. IMO, there's a huge untapped market of more casual poker players that play stakes high enough that can more than afford $3000 for a custom set to bolster the security of their game.

Offer the willing designers here as "consultants" for their projects that get paid and billed on a third party basis outside of your umbrella. Ultimately, however, someone within the company will have to have a final say on what can be made and won't be based on potential copyright and trademark issues. Counterfeits and fakes have been attempted and have been stopped at the door before they could be pressed.

Feel free to DM me with any other questions, but there are folks that are much more knowledgeable than me when it comes to some of the idiosyncrasies of the operation.

Best of luck!
Click to expand...
Hi JMC9389, thank you for the helpful words. The opportunity as I see it is to build on the foundation of CPC as it exists today, bringing the product to a wider audience while keeping the quality at 100% and of course continuing to serve the folks here at PCF who appear to be the current core customer base. Your suggestion on specific stock set expansion is very helpful - these are the kinds of details I'm not fully tuned into yet.

Taking the reins without too much disruption and without any loss of product quality is the real first step with the most uncertainty. Everything's possible beyond that!
 
dennis63 said:
Hello, Gus.

I think very few people in the world would be more welcome here than you are right now. Thank you so much for even considering what (I hope) you are soon about to do. I applaud your motivations and goals mentioned in your original post, and wish you a lifetime of success!

The biggest advice I can give you with a giant undertaking like this is, "Don't go it alone." In our community here, you may find people who are seriously interested in partnering or becoming investors in the business. (I'm certainly interested.)

I think there are more than a few people here who'd love to be a part of Classic Poker Chips and assist in the some way that matches their talents. Hell, I'd take a week's vacation every year if you'd let me work at the factory!

I'm sure you are already aware of the assistance out there for businesses from the Small Business Administration, your state, or, in this case, the State of Maine, where the factory is located. I believe Classic Poker Chips is incorporated (as an LLC, I think) in the State of Delaware. I live about 20 minutes away from Delaware's Department of State office in Wilmington. Please let me know if you need anything here in the First State. I've also written grants for my former government employer and for our local fire department. The federal grant process can be incredibly challenging and time consuming. State grants are usually easier and more straight-forward. Both have one specific goal -- to get rid of their money by giving it to you to keep the business running, create jobs, or achieve the goals you set. I would be glad to assist if the need arises.

Your position as the potential owner of an American business that is making a product and sending it worldwide is more important than words can say. Don't be shy about getting politicians involved in supporting the business. If it keeps Americans working, there's probably money to be found for it.

I've seen the process in person when it was ASM, Las Vegas. (I don't know the formula, but was able to watch chips being made from the time a batch of hot clay was being stirred around in the hopper through the final pressing. The process is very labor-intensive, there's lots of hands-on work and it takes a lot of time. I understood that the largest part of the cost was labor. Anything you can do to automate some mundane parts (mixing, pressing, cutting sheets into blanks) would speed the process and reduce costs.

Cleaning the hoppers was key. Red Ott, the former owner of ASM Las Vegas, who failed miserably, wasn't doing an effective job of cleaning the hoppers before mixing more clay. The result was little bits of dirt or tiny dots of the previous color mixing into the batch and turning up in the chips. He didn't care, and sent shitty chips out the door to customers. This basically drove us crazy and drove Red out of business. I actually went out to Las Vegas to talk to Red in person about this. He wouldn't budge. Now, I understand there is a separate hopper for each color. I hope that's true.

When I placed my first order (on Classic Poker Chips's opening day), the order took 90 days to arrive at my house. Now, I pay Classic up front and wait for some undetermined amount of time that is always a couple of months longer than the estimate. I think Classic has (only) two compression molding machines and keeps a specific mold (the A mold) in one all the time, rotating the other molds in the other machine. (People here have said there are three machines, but I only saw two at the factory when it was in Vegas.)

I know it takes about a day of work to change the mold. Adding a machine could cut production time and increase profits by reducing the day-long mold changing process. There may be other machines out there. Palm Imports bought the assets of another company when they went out of business. I've always wondered where those machines are now. (Joe Daly, the former owner of Palm is still around.) Purchasing another machine would be the ideal target for a pretty straightforward grant.)

I have a few "cautions" to offer, but they would be better shared in private.

Long post, I know. But thank you again, and thanks for reading and getting the input from this group. PM me if you need anything!

Dennis
Click to expand...
Hi Dennis63, very helpful response! I came across Key West while googling around to learn everything about chips and immediately thought "Hey, those are CPC!" If I go deeper into this I will have to jump on the phone with you to hear more.

The history/lore you mention helps show the complexity of the business processes and the pitfalls from ignoring them.

I've copied down your advice re: gov assistance of various kinds. I'm frankly more concerned about possible arcane regulations that could come up unexpectedly. (I want to be very clear that the regulatory apparatus plays a broadly necessary role in preventing exploitation, ensuring safety, environmental protections, etc. That being said, the horror stories I've heard from entrepreneurs facing unexpected regulatory burdens seemingly disconnected from their business and with no clear beneficiary are many.)

Thank you and please add anything else that comes to mind.
 
Hi, sorry in advance because I don't actually know anything.

I'm gonna put myself up in opposition to Team Yellow for a minute. CPC doesn't need brighter flashier colors; those are for plastic toys that don't even know they're lying when they call themselves clay.
The earthy tones available help CPC chips feel like they are made out of some kind of actual....... stuff. Like a natural, finite resource. Wood, Leather, Metal, (CPC's clay).

Speaking of, the word 'clay' has been ruined by imitation garbage, and no one outside this website knows the difference.
Come up with a simple but fancy-sounding name for your clay formula, and trademark it. Like "berber" or "corinthian", but obviously not those specifically.

It's already been said, but you need more stock designs. The vast majority of users are not looking to create their own thing, and they shut down when presented with too many customization options. You want something simple, clean, and desirable that really leans into the richness. I saw (or thought I saw; can't seem to find them now) on the forum, a deep weighted red with 414 spots in (charcoal?) on the Ewing mold recently that looked like it could be ancient money with actual worth. Like a down-payment to Ea Nasir.
This isn't them, but it illustrates my point:
1732483469996.png

Something relatively low-cost to make, but *looks expensive*. Hot-stamps are literal gold foil, are they not?

Image is everything. The most popular home poker set on the web right now is metal coins with a pirate treasure motif because a bunch of idiots find the novelty of fondling gold and silver dubloons to be more appealing than the game itself. Every other ad for every other manufacturer on amazon shows a handful of photoshopped 20-somethings with fade haircuts, flat blinding teeth, and that weird AI-sheen.
You want to sell a sophistication. It's Maine. Go to the dock, grab a random sampling of grizzled boat captains to clean off for a photoshoot, then add a fireplace, cigars, and cable-knit sweaters. Stone walls with a deer's head mounted somewhere. There's your fucking "yes, I will spend a thousand dollars on something that is functionally replacable by a $40 off-the-shelf box from Target" aesthetic.
I'm sure there are executive whales out there who would pay top dollar for displays of wood and glass. Maybe you can get in touch with those woodworker people whose whole business is making $6,000 gaming tables and cabinets bafflingly stuffed with $20 worth of fake plastic trash.

Speaking of functionality: Stock breakdowns. The current offerings are in 3-5 rack lots, but none of them are turnkey playable breakdowns.
I do not want 40x $1 chips, 75x $5 chips, etc. If I'm buying 500 cash chips, I want two racks of a thing, two racks of a bigger thing, and then 4-5 barrels of even bigger things. 300 chips makes a fine T5 or T25 base. You can even have a little blurb explaining why the breakdown should be the way it is.


I guess that's all I can think of; thanks for reading.
 
Minus said:
Hi, sorry in advance because I don't actually know anything.

I'm gonna put myself up in opposition to Team Yellow for a minute. CPC doesn't need brighter flashier colors; those are for plastic toys that don't even know they're lying when they call themselves clay.
The earthy tones available help CPC chips feel like they are made out of some kind of actual....... stuff. Like a natural, finite resource. Wood, Leather, Metal, (CPC's clay).

Speaking of, the word 'clay' has been ruined by imitation garbage, and no one outside this website knows the difference.
Come up with a simple but fancy-sounding name for your clay formula, and trademark it. Like "berber" or "corinthian", but obviously not those specifically.

It's already been said, but you need more stock designs. The vast majority of users are not looking to create their own thing, and they shut down when presented with too many customization options. You want something simple, clean, and desirable that really leans into the richness. I saw (or thought I saw; can't seem to find them now) on the forum, a deep weighted red with 414 spots in (charcoal?) on the Ewing mold recently that looked like it could be ancient money with actual worth. Like a down-payment to Ea Nasir.
This isn't them, but it illustrates my point:
View attachment 1425684
Something relatively low-cost to make, but *looks expensive*. Hot-stamps are literal gold foil, are they not?

Image is everything. The most popular home poker set on the web right now is metal coins with a pirate treasure motif because a bunch of idiots find the novelty of fondling gold and silver dubloons to be more appealing than the game itself. Every other ad for every other manufacturer on amazon shows a handful of photoshopped 20-somethings with fade haircuts, flat blinding teeth, and that weird AI-sheen.
You want to sell a sophistication. It's Maine. Go to the dock, grab a random sampling of grizzled boat captains to clean off for a photoshoot, then add a fireplace, cigars, and cable-knit sweaters. Stone walls with a deer's head mounted somewhere. There's your fucking "yes, I will spend a thousand dollars on something that is functionally replacable by a $40 off-the-shelf box from Target" aesthetic.
I'm sure there are executive whales out there who would pay top dollar for displays of wood and glass. Maybe you can get in touch with those woodworker people whose whole business is making $6,000 gaming tables and cabinets bafflingly stuffed with $20 worth of fake plastic trash.

Speaking of functionality: Stock breakdowns. The current offerings are in 3-5 rack lots, but none of them are turnkey playable breakdowns.
I do not want 40x $1 chips, 75x $5 chips, etc. If I'm buying 500 cash chips, I want two racks of a thing, two racks of a bigger thing, and then 4-5 barrels of even bigger things. 300 chips makes a fine T5 or T25 base. You can even have a little blurb explaining why the breakdown should be the way it is.


I guess that's all I can think of; thanks for reading.
Click to expand...
Hi Minus, great feedback, I found myself nodding the whole time. It all broadly speaks to the opportunity to build on the solid foundation of CPC's proven chips.

Before any of that's possible however there's the transition/hand-off which presents the biggest challenges to overcome. If it can be done, I'll certainly reach out to you for more rants about how things could/should be!
 
Hi Gus,

Thanks for this post! My hope was to purchase three sets over the next few years. Custom chips are expensive, and if I’m going to do it, I want to do it right.

I would also suggest having updated designs. There are a lot of great designers on PCF that might willing to sell a design or to royalties. The current designs are nice, but dated. If someone buys a clay set, they want them to stand out. Bright colors and designs that have that wow factor.

I’m not sure what it takes to mix colors or create new ones, but more choices would be great. Retire the colors that most people dislike (DG Saturn, I’m looking at you).

However, even if nothing changed and everything stayed the same, I feel the PCF community would be grateful.
 

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