Question on Majestic blanks (for board game currency) (1 Viewer)

[debear]

Hi,

I am planning on buying a small set of blank chips for use as coins with many of my board games. Blank china clays seem relatively hard to come by, especially in the colors I'm looking for, but the Majestics seem like a decent enough chip. Ideally I would use orange for my 'copper' 1 pieces, gray for my 'silver' 2/3/5 pieces, and yellow for my 'gold' 10/20 pieces. On the Apache website, the white blanks look very gray (which is what I want!) Can anyone comment as to whether they could pass as a silver coin or are they more white than they appear in the pictures? Also, if you have a totally different recommendation for this idea, I'd love to hear it! Thanks

 

[allforcharity]

Hello and welcome!

Do you plan to use the chips exclusively as board game tokens/currency and never for poker or other gambling games?

I would say get yourself a very cheap set of white-coloured Super Diamonds (priced all the way down to 0.06-0.08 per chip), and then a few spray cans of metallic copper, metallic gold, and metallic silver paint (or acrylic model/miniature/hobby paint of the same colours) and just paint the chips. Follow up with a protective layer of matte or glossy varnish (your choice). You would be able to do this very inexpensively, I'm sure.

 

[tabletalker7]

Hi,

I am planning on buying a small set of blank chips for use as coins with many of my board games. Blank china clays seem relatively hard to come by, especially in the colors I'm looking for, but the Majestics seem like a decent enough chip. Ideally I would use orange for my 'copper' 1 pieces, gray for my 'silver' 2/3/5 pieces, and yellow for my 'gold' 10/20 pieces. On the Apache website, the white blanks look very gray (which is what I want!) Can anyone comment as to whether they could pass as a silver coin or are they more white than they appear in the pictures? Also, if you have a totally different recommendation for this idea, I'd love to hear it! Thanks

If we had an idea on number of total chips and budget authorized for this it would help. Personally I would recommend some custom ceramics. They can print whatever color you like, add any text or anything else you see fit on the faces, and basically handle just about any request you have. Site vendors for that here are @BR Pro Poker and @SUN-FLY Poker Chips. They can make your board game chips' wildest dreams come true.

 

[Eloe2000]

Just for the record, the labels on china clays come off relatively easily with just a razor blade/hobby knife. So dont feel limited to Majestics.

 

[debear]

Hello and welcome!

Do you plan to use the chips exclusively as board game tokens/currency and never for poker or other gambling games?

I would say get yourself a very cheap set of white-coloured Super Diamonds (priced all the way down to 0.06-0.08 per chip), and then a few spray cans of metallic copper, metallic gold, and metallic silver paint (or acrylic model/miniature/hobby paint of the same colours) and just paint the chips. Follow up with a protective layer of matte or glossy varnish (your choice). You would be able to do this very inexpensively, I'm sure.

Yeah I don't play poker or other gambling games, so exclusively for board games. In a lot of the games I own, currency is handled just as much if not more so than in poker games, so having a nice feeling and sounding chip is the idea. I need a lot less than a full poker set (in the ballpark of 80-100 chips) so they can be a little more expensive than 5-10 cents.

 

[debear]

If we had an idea on number of total chips and budget authorized for this it would help. Personally I would recommend some custom ceramics. They can print whatever color you like, add any text or anything else you see fit on the faces, and basically handle just about any request you have. Site vendors for that here are @BR Pro Poker and @SUN-FLY Poker Chips. They can make your board game chips' wildest dreams come true.

Sure, I averaged coin count in my games that use currency and think in the ballpark of 80-100 chips is sufficient to cover everything. As I mentioned to another user in this thread, they get handled just as much as any poker game, so sound and feel is important to me. $30-$50 dollars is my ideal budget range. I've honestly never handled many poker chips before, but feel like something chalky and clay like would be nice.

 

[debear]

Just for the record, the labels on china clays come off relatively easily with just a razor blade/hobby knife. So dont feel limited to Majestics.

Great to know. I'm assuming there will be a glue residue left behind. If that's the case, how easy is it to clean off? That definitely opens the door to more options provided the colors are correct. What do you recommend as a middle of the road china clay?

 

[GianThaMan]

Milanos are cheaper and they sell blanks as well, you should check those out. They're usually under the name "Double Trapezoid".

 

[allforcharity]

Max budget 50 cents a chip. Hmm. I would still consider the paint-over trick, but use old ASMs, or maybe paranoids. They can often be gotten for about 25c a chip. And if you're painting, the colour underneath won't matter. They will still feel like genuine clay, because they are genuine clay.

You would have to spend a LOT more to get a metallic coloured Paulson clay. Casino de Mexico 200s (Metallic Gold) usually run $3.50 per chip. Orleans Las Vegas live $1s (Metallic Silver) can be harvested or perhaps bought from another member for $2 or slightly more per chip. I'm not sure it's easy (or possible) to find a chip that replicates Metallic Copper.

But best of luck in your search. Others probably will have better advice than I.

 

[Eloe2000]

Great to know. I'm assuming there will be a glue residue left behind. If that's the case, how easy is it to clean off? That definitely opens the door to more options provided the colors are correct. What do you recommend as a middle of the road china clay?

you don’t need to clean off the adhesive. It is more like sticky adhesive then a blob of glue or something. They peel off easily and clean once you get the hobby knife under the edge and then you stick your new label right on top. It’s totally fine.

the pharaohs, dunes, Majestics and Royals are all good from Apache, and then he has the new board gaming chips on the way from China.

 

[debear]

Milanos are cheaper and they sell blanks as well, you should check those out. They're usually under the name "Double Trapezoid".

Is that pattern copywritten or something? I found some .20 double trapezoid blanks on pokerchips.com but nowhere can I find they are Milanos. Just want to make sure I'm not getting a very cheap knock off.

 

[GianThaMan]

I looked on pokerchips.com and I don't trust them, I would go with pokerchipmania.com, they seemed to work for me, but those are the right kind of double trapezoid.

 

[Papasatyr]

...the Majestics seem like a decent enough chip. Ideally I would use orange for my 'copper' 1 pieces, gray for my 'silver' 2/3/5 pieces, and yellow for my 'gold' 10/20 pieces. On the Apache website, the white blanks look very gray (which is what I want!) Can anyone comment as to whether they could pass as a silver coin or are they more white than they appear in the pictures?

I have a sample set of majestic. The white chip is whiter than it looks in pictures.

 

[codeman00]

The colors of Majestics are far brighter and more superior to Milanos. The glue residue can be removed VERY easy. The white chip is bright white!

 

[Poker Zombie]

A number of us now use poker chips for all our board games that use money.

Or points. Scorecards are so passe'. Besides, everyone can see your score when using chips, not just the scorekeeper.

For this reason, I would suggest blowing the roof off your budget and getting custom ceramics. It costs a little more, but what board game doesn't push past the $50 mark these days? Plus a full set of chips can be used for many different games.

If interested, I can offer some ideas for custom chips based off games you have.

 

[GianThaMan]

A number of us now use poker chips for all our board games that use money.

Or points. Scorecards are so passe'. Besides, everyone can see your score when using chips, not just the scorekeeper.

For this reason, I would suggest blowing the roof off your budget and getting custom ceramics. It costs a little more, but what board game doesn't push past the $50 mark these days? Plus a full set of chips can be used for many different games.

If interested, I can offer some ideas for custom chips based off games you have.

That’s a great idea, and you could get them custom made to look however you want or to fit the theme of the boardgame.

 

[debear]

A number of us now use poker chips for all our board games that use money.

Or points. Scorecards are so passe'. Besides, everyone can see your score when using chips, not just the scorekeeper.

For this reason, I would suggest blowing the roof off your budget and getting custom ceramics. It costs a little more, but what board game doesn't push past the $50 mark these days? Plus a full set of chips can be used for many different games.

If interested, I can offer some ideas for custom chips based off games you have.

I have no problem raising my budget if they are long lasting and a permanent solution to cardboard chits! I never actually considered them for VPs, which could be cool. Although I will say for many games, their scoring tracks are nice for an easy visual of who's ahead. How would you customize chips to cover as many games as possible? I was just thinking generically for copper, silver, and gold with interchangeable denoms based on the game's economy. Games like Scythe, Viticulture, Five Tribes, Isle of Skye, 7 Wonders/Duel, Concordia, Troyes, etc. I'd love to see examples of your solutions.

The colors of Majestics are far brighter and more superior to Milanos. The glue residue can be removed VERY easy. The white chip is bright white!

Yeah, I may actually go Majestic. I was considering using Milano brown as copper, gray as silver, and the yellow as gold, but the yellow looks extremely washed out and pasty.

 

[tabletalker7]

I have no problem raising my budget if they are long lasting and a permanent solution to cardboard chits! I never actually considered them for VPs, which could be cool. Although I will say for many games, their scoring tracks are nice for an easy visual of who's ahead. How would you customize chips to cover as many games as possible? I was just thinking generically for copper, silver, and gold with interchangeable denoms based on the game's economy. Games like Scythe, Viticulture, Five Tribes, Isle of Skye, 7 Wonders/Duel, Concordia, Troyes, etc. I'd love to see examples of your solutions.

Custom ceramics are definitely the way to go then - they can make them ANY WAY YOU WANT! Use a solid copper color for one denomination, solid silver color for another denomination, and solid gold gets a third denomination. That way you got your colors for games that use materials as currency and your numbered denominations on them for other games. If you only want those three colors you can use copper as a 1, silver as a 10, and gold as 100, and both @SUN-FLY Poker Chips and @BR Pro Poker can literally print anything you want on them!

 

[allforcharity]

Custom ceramics are quite a bit above the stated budget, and with any customs there are minimum order quantities. Plus, you can't get a true metallic colour - possible to get a close fake.

 

[debear]

Max budget 50 cents a chip. Hmm. I would still consider the paint-over trick, but use old ASMs, or maybe paranoids. They can often be gotten for about 25c a chip. And if you're painting, the colour underneath won't matter. They will still feel like genuine clay, because they are genuine clay.

Wondering if you have ever experimented with painted clay chips before? I feel like the paint would take away from the clay texture/sound, even if it's a thin layer

 

[allforcharity]

Wondering if you have ever experimented with painted clay chips before? I feel like the paint would take away from the clay texture/sound, even if it's a thin layer

To be honest, I have not. But I doubt that it would change the physical characteristics much. Can't say for durability, though, because the more contact they have against each other, the faster the paint will scratch and wear.

I recently gave away all my paranoids. They would have been a good chip to experiment on. I have gold, silver, and copper acrylic paint for miniatures, too.

 

[Poker Zombie]

I have no problem raising my budget if they are long lasting and a permanent solution to cardboard chits! I never actually considered them for VPs, which could be cool. Although I will say for many games, their scoring tracks are nice for an easy visual of who's ahead. How would you customize chips to cover as many games as possible? I was just thinking generically for copper, silver, and gold with interchangeable denoms based on the game's economy. Games like Scythe, Viticulture, Five Tribes, Isle of Skye, 7 Wonders/Duel, Concordia, Troyes, etc. I'd love to see examples of your solutions.



Yeah, I may actually go Majestic. I was considering using Milano brown as copper, gray as silver, and the yellow as gold, but the yellow looks extremely washed out and pasty.

Games with victory tracks, I continue to use the track. Games like Scythe with metal coins I tend to use the provided coins. It's the cardboard token, paper money, pencil/paper score sheet games that are dramatically improved tihe the use of chips.

It would take some time to mock up, but chips designs Old English denominations and grapes would work well in the metallic colors you seek. I am only aware of the games you mention, so I would need to know more about the economies before setting out on a chip making project.

Is gold:silver:copper 100:10:1 or 3:2:1, does it vary from game to game? If variable, undenominated would work best. If fairly consistent, those denominations could be used, with other chip colors for other denominations.

 

[debear]

Custom ceramics are definitely the way to go then - they can make them ANY WAY YOU WANT! Use a solid copper color for one denomination, solid silver color for another denomination, and solid gold gets a third denomination. That way you got your colors for games that use materials as currency and your numbered denominations on them for other games. If you only want those three colors you can use copper as a 1, silver as a 10, and gold as 100, and both @SUN-FLY Poker Chips and @BR Pro Poker can literally print anything you want on them!

I will look into customs. Thanks for the insight