I am a relatively new collector who is rapidly getting turned off by this hobby. I had intended to collect, among other things, chips with automobile themes. After checkin the prices asked for these chips ($20 for a $1 chip) I can only say "forget it" -- that chip is not going into my collection. Sure, they arbitrarily made it expensive by only making 300 -- so what? They still only cost the dealer $1.

Maybe some of you oldtimers can explain the difference between the Lodge or the Utes charging excessive prices the day a chip is released (a practice which raised all kinds of negative reaction) and one of US charging excessive amounts the day after it is released.

Until I hear a reasonable explaination, I remain pretty much convinced that this "hobby" exists for those who SELL chips and us "newbies" are just cannon fodder.