Mike,

A funny and thoughtful post, and I hope a lot of people here read what you've written and take it "seriously."

You make some good points, but let me respond in general ways first. It seems to me that any specialized hobby can be intimidating to a new arrival at first. Whether it's stamps, coins, bottlecaps, paper items, antique cars or antique furniture, every hobby has its own lingo, its own "everyone knows" assumptions, and its own recognized authorities and recognized gadflies. Chip collecting's no different.

One thing I've learned through the years is that if someone made something, someone else collects it! Medicine bottles, electric insulators, railroad spikes, stock certificates, "vintage" tupperware, even baseball cards! And to someone who collects something, everything in the category has value. Nothing very surprising about that, is there?

You started in this hobby pretty much the way the majority of us did: by saving a chip or two from each casino you played in. You saved them because you liked them. You still do, I assume. Did they have value to you? Of course they did. The value may not have been measured in monetary terms, but they certainly had value to you.

One thing we sometimes lose sight of: if you're not buying, selling or trading, the "value" of casino chips may be totally irrelevant! If you're collecting purely for the pleasure of having things that help you remember good times, an occasional win, and serve as a reminder of fun trips, then what does it matter whether someone else thinks they're worth a bunch of money or a small amount?

If you're going to buy or trade chips to expand your collection, though, then value suddenly becomes very relevant indeed. Bruce Landau and Mel Jung can remember when chips were traded on the basis of pure number: I'll give you a stack as high as the stack of stuff I want from you. That, frankly, was before my time! But I do remember when it was unusual to see a casino chip selling for more than $25 or so, and that was astronomical!

As with any other collectible, demand increases prices. The more successful the organized hobby has become, the more collectors vie for the same number of chips out there in chipland. Yes, current chips are virtually limitless (unless they're limited editions, of course, but that's another matter!). There are enough current "house" chips to satisfy every known collector several times over. That, of course, is not true with obsolete chips: they're limited in number, and sometimes the number of collectors who want a particular chip is greater than the number of chips available. Then guess what happens?! The price goes up! Surprised? Nah, I didn't think so.

Is there a risk in handling chips? Not much, really. We haven't yet got to the point that coin collectors have, of having their coins graded by experts then sealed in plastic "slabs" that prevent their ever again coming in contact with human beings. Or any other kinds of beings, for that matter. And when we do get to that point, I think I'm selling my collection!

Again, though, if you're not selling or trading, what do you care? If most of your collection was obtained at face value, it would take one heckuva lot of handling to bring their value to collectors below what you paid for them!

You asked, "is that chip from Castro's cuba on Ebay really rare(seems like it should be, but maybe Castro has a boxfull he could dump at any time!)." Bingo! Who knows?! I can tell you that when the first Cuban chips surfaced a few years ago, after years of trade embargo had made 'em pretty scarce in these parts, I (along with a number of other people) was suckered into paying some pretty fancy prices for chips now worth 10% of what I paid then. Why? You've already answered the question. It may not be Castro who has the chips, but it might well be the dealers who used to work at the hotels in Havana who do.

Unlike coins, stamps, and baseball cards, whose production numbers anyone can determine if he wants to, we don't have production numbers for most chips. And we never will. What's more, even if we KNEW the production numbers, we don't know how many chips from a closed casino actually remain in circulation after the bulk were destroyed.

I think you'll find, though, that if you take time to ask questions the vast majority of chippers will be more than happy to help you out and to guide you. That, to me, is one of the major things that still distinguishes this hobby from many others: on the whole, this is a friendly, helpful group of people who are trustworthy and generous, especially with new collectors.

It's hard to say that about many other hobby groups.

Welcome, and don't be afraid to ask what you'd like to know about!

-=Michael the Chipper=-

P.S. Disclaimer: much of this reply was written with tongue planted firmly in cheek, and in the same tone in which I read the original post.