I'm sure there's plenty of chiptalk threads, but I'm a fan of pure customs.

...similarly, I figured these needed some love outside of the general "which chips to buy" thread.

Lots of dealers are now selling the Pre-Customized "Fantasy" Ascona chips, but these are more 100% full edge-to-edge customizable ceramics, with an indent center for an inlay.

I saw these in person when I dropped in on Rye Park, and I was floored with the feel of them. [They had some Ascona samples, but mentioned they could customize.] These are perhaps some of the most amazing chips I have ever had in my hand. I freakin' love my ceramics, but these knocked me out. If only I could explain to the wife why my once-in-a-lifetime chips needed replaced...

The actual chips seem to come from Sun-Fly...
http://www.sun-fly-pokerchips.com/custom.htm

The Ascona everyone sells is below, but better detailed here in their design PDF:
http://www.sun-fly-pokerchips.com/Ca...001-Ascona.rar



Sun-Fly seems pretty close to (if not) the actual manufacturer in Guangzhou.

They take orders as small as 300 for full customization - so I'm looking at pricing

If Ray tells my wife, I'm done for.

So how long did it take you to start this business? J/K

I got an Ascona in my CT sample pack, and I too was blown away. Custom or stock, these chips are top notch.

I believe PI stocks these chips and also does full custom hybrids. I generally enjoy PI's labels more than the direct-from-china ones.

The "glassy" center in the Ascona pre-customized one is interesting...

Rye Park (as I think I mentioned) offered me full customs at a reasonable price in the 1,000-2,000 quantity. ...so I went searching for them

Oh man, I didn't know ryepark was located here in town.. I remember seeing some of his tables on scottkeen way back when... nice stuff. I have been putting off my custom ceramic tourney set for a few years. Might be time to start down that road.

Why would you put a label on a ceramic chip? Are custom labels that much cheaper than having a custom printed chip?

The outer ring is printed on ceramic, while the center has a label, kind of like the best of both worlds.

Honestly, its really hard to explain without actually feeling them.

Samples are your friend.

http://www.sun-fly-pokerchips.com/bt2007.htm

There's a fine line between label and "insert." These felt much more like inserts to me - with that glassy feel. I'm not entirely sure what the material is.

I got the vendor/wholesale price list, it's pretty reasonable if you can order 1500.

Hi... My name is the Palimax... and i'm addicted to chips. today i have been clean for, well, zero days.

palimax, your secret is safe with me. That last one was too, I blame the wife for blabbing.

Your current chips rock though, I don't think I'd bother changing them. Spend the money on.. I dunno... a gamerator or something...

or a roulette wheel refurbishing or table...

Interested - subscribe - newsletter - blah blah.

I'm a bigger fan of China clay/"real" clay chips myself, but these do look very interesting. I think I'll have to grab a sample set myself for giggles.

FYP

Technically speaking, there isn't really a fine line at all - either it's an inlay or it's not. In practice, some labels are significantly better than others and are very close in quality to a true inlay. Over at CT, they like to call them "stickolays."

hmm....no nerd smiley...darnit

I believe the center insert is held on by some sort of adhesive, but it's not a sticker (AFIACT).

I'll order and disassemble some samples.

If it's not actually pressed into the chip material during compression, the chip nerds will tell you that "IT'S NOT AN INLAY YOU @#$%!@&@!" But frankly, better quality stickers/labels/whatever use good adhesives that cure like epoxy - you need a jackhammer to get those suckers off.

I have a CT chip pack around here somewhere, so I probably already have one of these chips. I just need to find the dang thing.

Oh, I agree.

...and, they're pretty new. I've got samples all over the place, and none of these.

Yeah, as if he's going to say he has a problem.... "It's a hobby, dammit!"

One other difference between an inlay and a label is that an inlay is getting hit by the mold of the chip, and picking up the texture of that mold. The mold has a LOT of impact on how a chip feels. It's not really a question of how easily it comes off, in my mind, but feel. Of course, some people like smooth inlays, and even Paulson produces inlaid chips with super-smooth centers, which does make for clear images. (like this paulson pharoah in my hand, which I thought was labeled until I took an xacto blade to it).

Another big difference is resolution. The technology that prints artwork on ceramics is not as sharp as what can be accomplished on paper, and hence inlays and labels.

That sample is certainly pretty, and the label probably looks great.

This thread should be avoided by the squeamish.

Yeah, it's a hobby...until his family has to turn sideways to get through the rooms where he keeps his collection.

"This week on 'Hoarders NotAnonymous'- a man's obsession with the smell of new clay has reduced his family's living space to 25 square feet. Follow us and see the horror!"

hey, just saw a new(?) development in the ceramic-with-aspects-of-clay department: ceramic chips pressed in a clay mold. (see the thread for more details)

I read this today too, and it looks extremely interesting.

Resurrecting this thread because I finally located my CT chip pack, and I do have one of those Ascona ceramic-with-label chips (compliments of BR Pro Poker). It's not a bad chip, though I don't think it will sway me from my preference for CM chips. To me, the big appeal of ceramic is the ability to do full-face printing, and you lose that with these. But the idea of having labels plus a fully customizable edge is interesting, and I bet some neat ideas will come up for these chips.

Now OTOH, BR Pro also included some 43mm ceramics - those are chips that could sway me to the ceramic side. They're huge and gorgeous.