Milano set made as gift.. (1 Viewer)

[Robert Waite]

I put together a chip set for a buddy for their birthday. It's a 600 piece set of Milanos with a 200-200-150-50 breakdown. Meant for T1000s. Actually had some troubles with getting sent two different sets of stacks. For example... 4 reds were short and 4 were tall stacks... by about a whole chip. The short stacks of a denomination matched in height very well. Same goes for the talls. I tried mixing a sample and realized no friggin way. Even wrote a program to calculate what stack height diff I would see 95% of the time between stacks. In the end though... the seller fixed it by sending me a set of short stacks that matched properly.

Did learn a lot about product batches. The two types of chip were even different colors and had different features. The shorts actually have a defect where there is a smudge pattern on one side of many of the chips. The shorts also have a much more rounded bevel around the edges... the talls are rather sharper edged. My suspicion is that the talls are actually a newer batch but the greens do suffer from not being able to fit in a standard rack.

I had seen a post somewhere long ago where someone else had run statistical analysis of chip thickness and how it would affect random stacks. Just be cautious about getting mixed batches. Its okay to have variation... that is how we get china clays for such relatively low prices. But the variation between batches/manufacturers can def hit unacceptable levels. If a newer player tried to mix the set I got.. they would have a really bad surprise the first time they try to count more than 40 chips (comparing 20 stacks to count a bunch of chips).

 

[Tommy]

I had seen a post somewhere long ago where someone else had run statistical analysis of chip thickness and how it would affect random stacks. Just be cautious about getting mixed batches.

Welcome to PCF. I think it was @Trihonda who was talking about that too. The 600 chip birdcages are getting popular lately too.

 

[Robert Waite]

Yeah... had to get the 600pc birdcage from eBay. Sounds like they were 30 a piece at one point. Now kinda hard to find. 600 seems like a reasonable amount to have for most people that want to host games. Its not super common to be able to invite 16-20 people over for a home game. Was super surprised though at how heavy 600 10 gram chips were. Made the gift kinda like... hey.. here is a burden for your closet for years to come if you don't host many games.

Also was reading about the history of chips and how the clay composition process is hard to copy. I guess the difference in batches or manufacturer is a testament to the reason clay mixes were originally used. The chips look very similar on the surface but looking at them very clearly shows so many differences. With a handmade $2+ per piece chip (like a Paulson for example)... and hidden manufacturing processes... I bet the difficulty in copying is super difficult. Obviously uv reactive dye, holograms, microdots and RFID chips changes all that... but it is interesting the process is so hard to copy.

 

[MoscowRadio]

Welcome to PCF, and awesome gift! The Milanos were one of my very first chip purchases and I liked them a lot.

 

[MD Mike]

The Milanos were also my very first chip purchase and I love them. They have their imperfections but overall the value is extraordinary I think.

 

[12thMan]

but it is interesting the process is so hard to copy.

I have thought about this as well and had conversations with other members about it. With everything we can do in the year 2015 there are only a handful of companies, and exactly one available to the general public, that can do what they do with clay chips. When I gained an understanding of that fact I appreciated Paulson and CPC chips that much more, plus I quit looking at there price as lolyeahright and started thinking of them as handmade works of art and, yeah, I can see a buck or two a chip being worth it...

Cool gift by the way, the Milanos are my favorite china clay and everybody that plays with them loves them, your buddy will too. I hope to have many nice Paulson chips one day, but I don't think I will ever sell my Milanos, they get as much play as anything else!

 

[doakwolf]

Same company made the China Pharoah's, didn't they? Same problem with them. My 5c chips are way thinner than the rest. My 25c chips are heaps thicker. Recently added some additional $1s and $5s and they're also different colours and thickness to the originals. Oh well. QC in China will probably never be good.

 

[Robert Waite]

Same company made the China Pharoah's, didn't they? Same problem with them. My 5c chips are way thinner than the rest. My 25c chips are heaps thicker. Recently added some additional $1s and $5s and they're also different colours and thickness to the originals. Oh well. QC in China will probably never be good.

Not sure about how many different chinese manufacturers are out there making injectopression chips. The US based dealers are diff I think.. claysmith for the milanos and thechiproom for the pharaohs?

Actually about to pull the trigger on 800 pharaohs. I can deal with cross denomination stack diffs.. but not within a single denom.

The shorts that made up the gift though were very close to each other between denoms. They also properly fit a standard rack. The talls greens though would not.. only 19 would fit. The greens and other talls were generally around .138 thick. The shorts around .132.

I got a sample set of pharaohs and all denoms $5-5000 were close to .132. Here is hoping that the sample set matches stock.

 

[MD Mike]

Not sure about how many different chinese manufacturers are out there making injectopression chips. The US based dealers are diff I think.. claysmith for the milanos and thechiproom for the pharaohs?

Actually about to pull the trigger on 800 pharaohs. I can deal with cross denomination stack diffs.. but not within a single denom.

The shorts that made up the gift though were very close to each other between denoms. They also properly fit a standard rack. The talls greens though would not.. only 19 would fit. The greens and other talls were generally around .138 thick. The shorts around .132.

I got a sample set of pharaohs and all denoms $5-5000 were close to .132. Here is hoping that the sample set matches stock.

Just curious but where is the best place to pick up Pharaohs? I saw Apache has them. Is one place better than another? Is the availability of the Pharaoh China clays limited?

 

[MoscowRadio]

Just curious but where is the best place to pick up Pharaohs? I saw Apache has them. Is one place better than another? Is the availability of the Pharaoh China clays limited?

The Pharoahs are .38/chip at Apache as opposed to .42/chip through The Chip Room. I would contact Josh at Apache and see if he can give you an idea of what he has in stock.

Welcome to PCF by the way!

 

[MD Mike]

The Pharoahs are .38/chip at Apache as opposed to .42/chip through The Chip Room. I would contact Josh at Apache and see if he can give you an idea of what he has in stock.

Welcome to PCF by the way!

Thank you for the welcome!

As I stalk the halls of various threads of yore
I saw that there was a mountain of lore
That yet I had to learn to be a true chipophile
Many more posts to read; this could take awhile
But helpful folks like you make the adventure grand
While I turn my meager collection into a clay wonderland



I only hope my cats don't try to knock down my stacks when I get something really nice

 

[Robert Waite]

The Pharoahs are .38/chip at Apache as opposed to .42/chip through The Chip Room. I would contact Josh at Apache and see if he can give you an idea of what he has in stock.

Welcome to PCF by the way!

I ordered my Pharaohs on Sunday from Apache. Have to check them in detail tonight.. but the guy seemed legit and he is often mentioned in forums. Id say he is a good bet.. ill post the new set tonight.

 

[MoscowRadio]

I ordered my Pharaohs on Sunday from Apache. Have to check them in detail tonight.. but the guy seemed legit and he is often mentioned in forums. Id say he is a good bet.. ill post the new set tonight.

Josh is a good guy. That's awesome that you got the Pharoahs! I joined the chipping community not too long after they came out and really wanted a set but never pulled the trigger. Post pictures! They're definitely some sweet chips!

 

[doakwolf]

Oh absolutely no issues dealing with Apache at all. Have done 10+ orders I think over the years, packages always arrive promptly via intl air ail with no problems.

I reckon you'll be fine with your Pharaoh's since they're all likely from the same batch. The problem I have is I purchased mine in about 3-4 orders over a few years and obviously China made some changes to their mold/s over that time, I guess. Ya know how it goes "I think a 500 chip set should be sufficient". Next minute, I have two full birdcages. 2000pc cash and tourney set HAHA

 

[MD Mike]

Oh absolutely no issues dealing with Apache at all. Have done 10+ orders I think over the years, packages always arrive promptly via intl air ail with no problems.

I reckon you'll be fine with your Pharaoh's since they're all likely from the same batch. The problem I have is I purchased mine in about 3-4 orders over a few years and obviously China made some changes to their mold/s over that time, I guess. Ya know how it goes "I think a 500 chip set should be sufficient". Next minute, I have two full birdcages. 2000pc cash and tourney set HAHA

The Pharaoh China Clays will be around for awhile right? I just acquired about 800 Milanos and now I want a set of Pharaohs too!! They will still be available in a month or two you think?

 

[MoscowRadio]

The Pharaoh China Clays will be around for awhile right? I just acquired about 800 Milanos and now I want a set of Pharaohs too!! They will still be available in a month or two you think?

The Pharaohs have been around for quite a while, so I think you'll be good.

If, for any reason, production stops on them, I'm sure we'll get a heads up before they completely stop.

 

[MD Mike]

The Pharaohs have been around for quite a while, so I think you'll be good.

If, for any reason, production stops on them, I'm sure we'll get a heads up before they completely stop.

That's a relief! However, just as a heads up, if you had told me they were in short supply and would be gone soon, I'd have whipped out my credit card in a heartbeat!

I don't need to eat as long as I have chips!

 

[Robert Waite]

That's a relief! However, just as a heads up, if you had told me they were in short supply and would be gone soon, I'd have whipped out my credit card in a heartbeat!

I don't need to eat as long as I have chips!

Lol.. always best to go into a sale not thinking there is a short time limit or a scarcity of product. There is actually a cool history in forums about the birth of Pharaohs from Paulson and the rebirth as china clays. I think end of 2009 released by Paulson? A number of years back for china clay version? Prob not disappearing soon so plenty of time to decide breakdown

My friend that I bought the set for (Milanos not Pharaohs) turns out to like cash games over tourney style. We played a game using $5 as 5 cents. $20 dollar buyin with 8 people. She mentioned wanting to play with 25 cent blinds instead of 5 cent and I realized the T1000 set for 10 peeps suddenly doesnt support cash games for larger buyins.

Luckily realized that one more rack split between $1000 and $5000 chips ($10 and $50 dollars when viewed as cents) would at fix all the problems with using as cash set instead of tourney set.

Shot off a quick order to Apache and all is well

 

[Robert Waite]

Correction.. seems like Paulson Pharaoh's were designed in 2005-2006. Maybe 2009 was when Paulson production stopped and after that was china clay version.

They should do something for 10 year anniversary coming up