Wanted SunFly PolyClay Poker Chips (1 Viewer)

Status
Not open for further replies.
These are customs, so they are not exactly what you are looking for, but they are Sun-Fly polyclays (diamond mold) if you just want to handle some to see how you like them.

https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/sf-poly-clay-diamonds-sample-sets.76134/

Also, have you given any consideration to Cards mold ceramics from the various group buys on the forum? VERY similar to Polyclays, much cheaper, and you can get them made with fully custom designs. You really should handle both of them before deciding to buy Sun-Flys. You might be surprised which ones you like better. I have some of each, and prefer the Chinese cards mold chips.
 
Lucky Dragon : https://www.apollonchips.com/product-page/lucky-dragon-2

Ravenor : https://www.apollonchips.com/product-page/lucid-diamond-的副本-的副本

Over 300 chips shipping is free I think.

In my opinion SF PolyClay are much better than the generic cards mold. I had full set of the generic cards mold and decided to get it re-done by SunFly. Price is of course higher but I thought (and still think) it worths it.
yes I have been to these sites but I was hoping someone here would have the PolyClay Ravenor classics and/or the Luck Dragons to handle before a purchase from SunFly.
 
Hopefully they helped @FestiveKnight? You going with Sun Fly?
They definitely helped and I’m definitely not lol. They’re far too slippery for me and I just didn’t like the way they clicked. I’ve gotten a few sample sets of BRProPoker since and liking those a bunch more.

Nevertheless, I really appreciated the opportunity for easy access to the samples! I’ll be passing them along to @Laker285 and adding in a shuffle stack I recently got from @Dugthefish so I can help expand the community set.
 
Lucky Dragon : https://www.apollonchips.com/product-page/lucky-dragon-2

Ravenor : https://www.apollonchips.com/product-page/lucid-diamond-的副本-的副本

Over 300 chips shipping is free I think.

In my opinion SF PolyClay are much better than the generic cards mold. I had full set of the generic cards mold and decided to get it re-done by SunFly. Price is of course higher but I thought (and still think) it worths it.
I think each person should decide for themselves which is best for them. While they are similar, there are clear differences too and it's these differences that will determine which one someone will prefer. The following are my observations of differences between SunFly (SF) and Cards Mold (CM).

Edges: SF edges are rounded and have a glossy finish. They will not stand up. CM edges are flatter and have a matte finish. They will stand on edge. For me, both of these are a major mark against SF. I hate the gloss and prefer a chip that has flat edges and a matte finish. For others, it may not matter at all. I purchased polyclay style chips because they emulate real clay chips. The rounded and glossy edges defeat that look completely.

Aligned printing. I have not handled a lot of SF chips, but the ones I have seen and from what others have stated, alignment is nearly perfect on every chip. CM gets this right most of the time, but a small percentage (maybe 20%?) are a little off, and a very small percentage (maybe 5%) are off more noticeably. Because of the low cost of the chips, and the fact that I knew this ahead of time, it doesn't bother me, but I can see that it might bother others.

Injection pips: These seem to show up more in photos and are less noticeable when handling the chips. I have heard some say that these bother them on CM chips, but I have 1700 CM chips, and I don't see them or feel them unless I'm looking for them very closely. On the few SF chips that I have they are equally noticeable.

Vibrancy of Colors: All my CM chips came from the "Tina" vendor on Alibaba. The colors on the Tina CM chips are far more vibrant and striking than the colors on the "Anita" (a different Alibaba vendor) CM chips, or any of the SF chips that I have seen. The colors just seem muted to me on all the other debossed ceramic chips from SF or the Anita vendor.

Speed: Clear advantage here to SF. If you are in a hurry for a debossed polyclay style poker chip, SF is your only choice. Pre-pandemic, the wait on chips from Tina was 2-3 months. During the pandemic, my order and a few others took 10 months to get everything. Most were less than that. Now that the pandemic is winding down, times are coming back to the 3-4 month timeframe. The Anita group on Alibaba seems to be able to turn orders around faster than the Tina group. But you give up those vibrant colors that Tina's company produces.

Cost: In the links posted above, the SF chips are 99 cents a piece. For a set design. I know many have gotten custom designs on SF chips, but I have no knowledge if there was an extra cost for that. I assume so, but I don't know. Past GBs for CM chips have been approximately 1/3rd the amount of SF off the shelf chips. And that is for fully custom designs - anything you care to put on your chips for a nominal fee paid to a designer. My total all-in cost for 1700 full custom CM chips was about $600. That's for chips, all shipping, design fees and a generous tip to Sean for running the GB.

That's all I can think of right now. I've been wanting to create this write-up for a while now, so glad to have an opportunity to do so. I hope it will help some people. and I welcome any comments or additions of difference I have missed.

@Laker285 good luck with your chip search!
 
I think each person should decide for themselves which is best for them. While they are similar, there are clear differences too and it's these differences that will determine which one someone will prefer. The following are my observations of differences between SunFly (SF) and Cards Mold (CM).

Edges: SF edges are rounded and have a glossy finish. They will not stand up. CM edges are flatter and have a matte finish. They will stand on edge. For me, both of these are a major mark against SF. I hate the gloss and prefer a chip that has flat edges and a matte finish. For others, it may not matter at all. I purchased polyclay style chips because they emulate real clay chips. The rounded and glossy edges defeat that look completely.

Aligned printing. I have not handled a lot of SF chips, but the ones I have seen and from what others have stated, alignment is nearly perfect on every chip. CM gets this right most of the time, but a small percentage (maybe 20%?) are a little off, and a very small percentage (maybe 5%) are off more noticeably. Because of the low cost of the chips, and the fact that I knew this ahead of time, it doesn't bother me, but I can see that it might bother others.

Injection pips: These seem to show up more in photos and are less noticeable when handling the chips. I have heard some say that these bother them on CM chips, but I have 1700 CM chips, and I don't see them or feel them unless I'm looking for them very closely. On the few SF chips that I have they are equally noticeable.

Vibrancy of Colors: All my CM chips came from the "Tina" vendor on Alibaba. The colors on the Tina CM chips are far more vibrant and striking than the colors on the "Anita" (a different Alibaba vendor) CM chips, or any of the SF chips that I have seen. The colors just seem muted to me on all the other debossed ceramic chips from SF or the Anita vendor.

Speed: Clear advantage here to SF. If you are in a hurry for a debossed polyclay style poker chip, SF is your only choice. Pre-pandemic, the wait on chips from Tina was 2-3 months. During the pandemic, my order and a few others took 10 months to get everything. Most were less than that. Now that the pandemic is winding down, times are coming back to the 3-4 month timeframe. The Anita group on Alibaba seems to be able to turn orders around faster than the Tina group. But you give up those vibrant colors that Tina's company produces.

Cost: In the links posted above, the SF chips are 99 cents a piece. For a set design. I know many have gotten custom designs on SF chips, but I have no knowledge if there was an extra cost for that. I assume so, but I don't know. Past GBs for CM chips have been approximately 1/3rd the amount of SF off the shelf chips. And that is for fully custom designs - anything you care to put on your chips for a nominal fee paid to a designer. My total all-in cost for 1700 full custom CM chips was about $600. That's for chips, all shipping, design fees and a generous tip to Sean for running the GB.

That's all I can think of right now. I've been wanting to create this write-up for a while now, so glad to have an opportunity to do so. I hope it will help some people. and I welcome any comments or additions of difference I have missed.

@Laker285 good luck with your chip search!
Wow this is excellent. What a great breakdown of the two types of chips. I appreciate this TX_Golf_N_Poker
 
Wow this is excellent. What a great breakdown of the two types of chips. I appreciate this TX_Golf_N_Poker
Happy to help. Just keep in mind - these are MY opinions. Others like @Kid_Eastwood feel very differently. That's why we always advocate getting LOTS of samples. YOU need to decide for yourself which ones you like.

PM me if you don't have any cards mold samples and you would like some to look at. You can purchase a small set from me, or I could send you some on loan that you could evaluate, then send back. I have quite a few different ones, and I also have the Dug's Poker Pit Sun-Flys from my link above which I can send you on loan.
 
I've also noticed that :

Alignement :
- SF edge alignement is excellent
- Tina GB edge alignement is fair

Edges :
- SF edges are glossy and rounded
- Tina GB edges are matte and sharper

For ceramics I prefer rounded edges as the edges will never round with use.

Spinners :
- SF : never experienced a single spinner
- Tina GB : at least 1 chip every two barrel was a spinner

This was the main reason I decided to have my set redone.

Cost :
- SF : around 80c each shipped to EU
- Tina GB : around 40c each shipped to EU

Min quantities :
- SF : 300 per order (no contraint per denom)
- Tina GB : 1000 per order (with min. 25 qty per denom)

Customer service :
- SF : outstanding
- Tina GB : they refused to run a second sample for my order after I asked to adjust a color

Reorder :
- SF : it's possible to have 2 batches with exact same color (even with more than a year interval)
- Tina GB : no idea...

Production time :
- SF : once you paid, if sample are good and not require updates, you can get them in +/- 5 weeks
- Tina GB : for my case it was around 6 weeks. So quite comparable. Others had to wait longer.



If you can get samples, do not hesitate to compare...
 
I've also noticed that :

Alignement :
- SF edge alignement is excellent
- Tina GB edge alignement is fair

Edges :
- SF edges are glossy and rounded
- Tina GB edges are matte and sharper

For ceramics I prefer rounded edges as the edges will never round with use.

Spinners :
- SF : never experienced a single spinner
- Tina GB : at least 1 chip every two barrel was a spinner

This was the main reason I decided to have my set redone.

Cost :
- SF : around 80c each shipped to EU
- Tina GB : around 40c each shipped to EU

Min quantities :
- SF : 300 per order (no contraint per denom)
- Tina GB : 1000 per order (with min. 25 qty per denom)

Customer service :
- SF : outstanding
- Tina GB : they refused to run a second sample for my order after I asked to adjust a color

Reorder :
- SF : it's possible to have 2 batches with exact same color (even with more than a year interval)
- Tina GB : no idea...

Production time :
- SF : once you paid, if sample are good and not require updates, you can get them in +/- 5 weeks
- Tina GB : for my case it was around 6 weeks. So quite comparable. Others had to wait longer.



If you can get samples, do not hesitate to compare...

I will emphasize, if nothing else, Sun Fly has some of the best customer service I have ever experienced over the interwebz. They even noted that one of my colors didn't print out quite as expected, and made a couple extra prototypes in different shades for me to choose from. Small add on order was prototyped, printed, and shipped in like 4 weeks.
And Susie is just great to work with.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top Bottom