Paradise Los Angeles (CPC) (4 Viewers)

[Nex]

I have received payment for all current sample set orders now, everything set.

This is one final call for anyone that has not seen this yet and still wants a sample set.

Cutoff time is 18:00 CEST tomorrow, May 10th (click for int'l times).
Payment for any sample orders needs to be through until then. I am going to be at my computer from at least three hours before so I can react quickly.

Update: Time's up. Finalizing my order with CPC now!

 

[Nex]

Some info on production schedule: Next FDL run is likely to happen in August or shortly after, definitely not earlier as CPC is already working to capacity until then.

This timing might just work out with my personal plans of yet another FDL set (tournament this time) which I could then sneak in to be made in the same production run.

 

[Nex]

I shouldn't have whipped out that mockup in the design tool again.
Getting the feeling I maybe really should have spent some more consideration time on the 25c.
Since preorders are through already I am definitely not going to change it now. Maybe material for an add-on/replacement order some time next year though.

Another...

Spoiler

 

[Psypher1000]

Since preorders are through already I am definitely not going to change it now.

I pre-ordered and, IMO, you should *absolutely* change it. Either one of those new fracs will be better than the original one proposed (which has far too little contrast between greens). The pink/arc yellow spots are the better of two, but even the blue/arc yellow is still good and would be a vast improvement.

 

[Nex]

Big issue I see with both of these (the Pink a tiny bit less than the Peacock, but not much) is that the spot contrast is just too high to really fit in smoothly.

Alternatives would be DG Saturn and DG Yellow, but both have different issues:

• DG Saturn has this puke green sheen to it which only barely shows if you have it as a very thin 1/8" spot, which is not an option here.
  Spoiler

  

  
• And on the other hand, DG Yellow is a bit too bright, makes the whole chip look pastel-y, which again doesn't fit in. In addition, using DG Yellow/DG Arc Yellow would be a near duplication of the spot colors of the 5c chip, which will be an issue with playing under blacklight.
  Spoiler

  

  

The clay has already been made anyway, and I could imagine they did start making the blanks (if not finished by now) already.

 

[maxim_666666]

beautiful set...

 

[Nex]

Proofs are in!

Color matching is slightly off here because the graphics I supplied were with the more accurate CMYK colors while the mockup tool uses less accurate RGB colors to render the chip bases.

 

[PlaidDragon]

I like the non traditional colors on the $5, $25, and $100.

Plus, the $2.50 makes me want to rethink my stance against mixing pink and green, which I usually abhor.

Well done!

 

[allforcharity]

I like the non traditional colors on the $5, $25, and $100.

Plus, the $2.50 makes me want to rethink my stance against mixing pink and green, which I usually abhor.

Well done!

They are traditional colours. Traditional California colours, that is.

 

[Nex]

I like the non traditional colors on the $5, $25, and $100.

Plus, the $2.50 makes me want to rethink my stance against mixing pink and green, which I usually abhor.

Well done!

For the $100 and $2.50, praise the unknown original designer (y) :thumbsup:

I'll proudly take credit for the $25 and $5 however

 

[GIANTDustySquid]

Nice looking set.

I love the look of the FDL mold. I've only handled the DSQ, CSQ, and Amold. DSQ being my favorite of those by a mile. How do you like the feel of the FDL in comparison to other molds? Anyone have any input on FDL vs DSQ specifically?

 

[SixSpeedFury]

Damn, I missed out on a sample set!

 

[Nex]

Nice looking set.

I love the look of the FDL mold. I've only handled the DSQ, CSQ, and Amold. DSQ being my favorite of those by a mile. How do you like the feel of the FDL in comparison to other molds? Anyone have any input on FDL vs DSQ specifically?

I have blank/no-inlay samples of all the molds, inlaid samples too.

FDL feels a lot smoother than HCE, Amold, HHR, Plain, Jockey, Scroll, Hourglass.
DSQ feels a bit smoother than FDL.
CSQ feels only very slightly rougher than FDL.

What I like about FDL is that the inlay is 100% smooth and glossy with no texture at all. Which seems to be perfect if you want to do faux shaped inlays. Comes close to the Paulson RHC look. The not-so-harsh texture on the chip faces also leads to nicer-looking chip edges. The edges of my HCE chips look rougher because of the higher rises and recesses of the chip face texture.

To me, DSQ feels somewhat used up (which it probably also is). Like the mold originally had a stronger defined texture which then was abraded in the mold cups over time.
The mold itself looks nice but very vintage; I wouldn't want to use it for a modern-looking chip set. Since I'm not really a fan of vintage looking chips, DSQ ranks relatively low for me. FDL > HCE > Amold > CSQ > DSQ > ...

 

[GIANTDustySquid]

I have blank/no-inlay samples of all the molds, inlaid samples too.

FDL feels a lot smoother than HCE, Amold, HHR, Plain, Jockey, Scroll, Hourglass.
DSQ feels a bit smoother than FDL.
CSQ feels only very slightly rougher than FDL.

What I like about FDL is that the inlay is 100% smooth and glossy with no texture at all. Which seems to be perfect if you want to do faux shaped inlays. Comes close to the Paulson RHC look. The not-so-harsh texture on the chip faces also leads to nicer-looking chip edges. The edges of my HCE chips look rougher because of the higher rises and recesses of the chip face texture.

To me, DSQ feels somewhat used up (which it probably also is). Like the mold originally had a stronger defined texture which then was abraded in the mold cups over time.
The mold itself looks nice but very vintage; I wouldn't want to use it for a modern-looking chip set. Since I'm not really a fan of vintage looking chips, DSQ ranks relatively low for me. FDL > HCE > Amold > CSQ > DSQ > ...

thanks

 

[Nex]

Sample order deadline for the Horseshoe set ends tomorrow, but it looks like pretty much everyone who was interested in samples of them has ordered by now - I don't expect any more changes until tomorrow.

So I've requested and received the final invoices from CPC today and will send payment/finalize both orders tomorrow early afternoon if nothing unexpected happens. Last minute sample orders (Horseshoe, not this set!) will still be possible until then though.

Can just hope the exchange rate doesn't take a rough beating in the meantime. A tiny jump from 1.17 down to 1.16 would already make me pay more than €43 extra

I've already posted this update on the Horseshoe thread, but repeating here for the folks who only ordered Paradise samples:

Since the production schedule info I got back in May, I have not received any updates from CPC on that, which leads me to the assumption the schedule is still unchanged: CPC will start making the chip bodies for the Horseshoe set after they got the payment (if I send tomorrow, probably arrives by Friday or Monday). That should be finished by sometime mid August, when the FDL mold will be mounted. Shipping from the factory to me via England will probably take two weeks or so (maybe a few days more), so I'll likely get them sometime beginning to mid September. Will send out the sample sets as fast as I can once the chips are here.

 

[Nex]

So we've now well passed mid August, and I have no update from CPC yet after I've paid and finalized the tournament order.

However, @Gunnar, who is currently waiting on his B mold chips, told me CPC gave him an estimate that his chips would be finished anywhere between August 14 and August 21. This means the B mold must be mounted right now, and FDL should be up next after all B mold orders are finished. Since we already have the 21st, I'd expect this switch to happen any day now.

But unless CPC is lightning fast with final pressing all of my ~3300 actually ~3700 chips after the mold is mounted, this means we're already a bit over my earlier ETA. Apparently I was still too optimistic when I made my (apparently not so) cautious first calculation.

This just as a heads up and for transparency.

 

[fieldsy]

So we've now well passed mid August, and I have no update from CPC yet after I've paid and finalized the tournament order.

However, @Gunnar, who is currently waiting on his B mold chips, told me CPC gave him an estimate that his chips would be finished anywhere between August 14 and August 21. This means the B mold must be mounted right now, and FDL should be up next after all B mold orders are finished. Since we already have the 21st, I'd expect this switch to happen any day now.

But unless CPC is lightning fast with final pressing all of my ~3300 actually ~3700 chips after the mold is mounted, this means we're already a bit over my earlier ETA. Apparently I was still too optimistic when I made my (apparently not so) cautious first calculation.

This just as a heads up and for transparency.

I have an FDL order in myself, and David had estimated (as of the end of July) that FDL production was going to start in late September or early October. He also said due to the lead time in making and assembling parts that the FDL orders need to be finalized by mid-to-late August. So maybe that's the reason that an August date might have been mentioned. I'm not expecting my FDL chips to be done until probably late October at least, since I know your order and others are in the queue ahead of mine.

 

[Nex]

Ugh, damn. I've drawn wrong conclusions then. I only had the info that I'd have to wrap my stuff up early August to catch the FDL run, and also that the H mold would run sometime in October so I can catch that one too for an add-on to my Club Hel set. Thanks for the additional info!

 

[Nex]

Chip display cases for the two sets have arrived... Blackjack mat, shoe and plastic decks are here...
Only missing the chips now

:coffee:

 

[Nex]

Status update from David. FDL mold is going to run in 2-3 weeks.

No exact timing for when my orders will be completed after the mold has been mounted since they don't strictly press the chips from one order after another. My orders combined make for nearly a third of all FDL chips to be made in this run

 

[detroitdad]

Status update from David. FDL mold is going to run in 2-3 weeks.

No exact timing for when my orders will be completed after the mold has been mounted since they don't strictly press the chips from one order after another. My orders combined make for nearly a third of all FDL chips to be made in this run

I've had it on his wall

 

[Nex]

So, we're at the end of the first week of October now, which is pretty much at the end of the time frame I was given for the mounting of the FDL mold. Likely it's already in since one or two days - I just didn't get an update since then.

I have run some (hopefully) educated guess based calculations* and ended up with a worst-case estimate of about 9 workdays after mounting until pressing is completed. Best-case was 3 days, but the way I calculated that, the chances of the best-case scenario actually happening should be near zero. So I'll work with 6-7 days, inbetween the two extremes and slightly gravitating to the worst case. This would get me a shipping notice most likely towards the end of the coming week.

I'm excited to find out how accurate my assumptions/calculations were.
In any case, the story is coming to a close very soon

Revisiting my Club Hel thread earlier today, I remembered the issues I had with paying for postage. I have meanwhile gotten myself a credit card, so this time around there should be no issues with that.


* assuming they press 25 chips at a time, based on the old photo of the HCE pressing plates I've seen. I estimated each pressing to take a couple of minutes, plus the time needed for taking the finished chips out and dropping the new chip bodies in, and went with about 8 minutes per full cycle for my calculations. This would result in 187.5 chips pressed per hour. Assuming an 8-hour workday and subtracting some time at the beginning and end for prep, heating up, and cleanup, I went with 6.5-7 hours of raw pressing time per day, resulting in 1218.75-1312.5 chips per day. My two orders alone weigh in at a little less than 4000 chips, but with the info that chips cannot/won't be pressed in exact order sequence, the worst-case estimate assumes the whole 12000 FDLs need to be pressed until my order is fully done.

 

[Perthmike]

For a second I got excited thinking these might be done.

I’m crossing my fingers for you that these will be at your door soon.

Looking forward to the pron.

 

[LinkyBabe]

What about coffee and meal breaks?

 

[Nex]

Meal break counts as work time for you?

Here in Germany, if you work 6 hrs or more per day, a 1 hr break is mandatory to take as per the law, but it does not count towards the time you "worked".

Coffee breaks - I guess those could fit in the 1.5 hrs I deducted for prep and cleanup.

Half week later edit: I did forget to factor in the rejects. I assume the 12k chips total number does include them already, but my "just under 4k" doesn't. I guess it'll be sometime beginning of next week then.

 

[Nex]

Well, looks like I either massively miscalculated, or I wasn't informed about the chips being shipped yet. (This could well be possible since they will be routed via David.)

 

[superchromix]

Hope you get your order soon.

 

[Nex]

Update from David today. Paradise LA are half done. Tournament set still waiting to be pressed.

 

[pedrofisk]

Darn, missed the sample sale on these. Oh well at least I'm getting the Horseshoes. Looks great.

 

[Nex]

For the people who are not watching the Horseshoe thread --

Update from David today, Paradise LA chips have arrived in GB, passed customs and will be with him tomorrow; the other set is about 3-4 days behind. He'll wait for both shipments to properly repackage them.

My experience from Club Hel was shipping GB->DE only took three workdays, so I'm currently looking at an ETA of mid-end of next week. (Where, nicely fitting, I already took a couple days off)

Excited!!