Actually the Paulson chips are the clay composite, too. The main reason I think the Paulson 'James Bond' chips go for so much more than the Blue Chip Company James Bond chips is that the Paulson ones are no longer available. If I have my facts straight, it is one of the former Paulson people who split off and formed the Blue Chip company. I've never handled the 'James Bond' Blue Chip chips in person, so I can't tell you how they compare to the Paulson chips. However, I have handled Blue Chip chips issued to casinos, and except for the different inlay, they are pretty much the same.

I have about 1200 of the Paulson James Bond chips that I use in my weekly poker game (well, you always need extras ;-)). However, when I see them go for $2.50 - $3.00 a chip en masse on eBay, I cringe a bit. No way (IMHO) they're worth that. Of course, I don't know if I would sell mine for even that price, unless I could take the money and re-invest it in a nice custom chip set. I know I could get Chipco chips for that price, but I like the retro charm of the smaller Paulson inlays (mine even have the custom die-cuts on the $100, $500, and some $25).

Anyway, I digress into rambling. For a source on the current iteration of the 'James Bond' chips, I would suggest Mike Spinetti. He sells on eBay, and can be reached at Finnetti@aol.com. Just tell him I sent you ;-). Nah, I'm small potatoes, but I've bought some stuff from Mike before and he's never steered me wrong. Plus, he's just a really nice guy. He also sells other home sets at various price points, if you are interested.

BTW, if you ever want to spend too much for chips, go to www.bondcollectibles.de, and click on the 'Licence to Kill' tag. There they have chips that do actually resemble the ones that were used in the title sequence of the movie, but they want like $1,800 a piece for them. After that, eBay seems positively reasonable

I hope this information helps.

Brent J. Jensen
R-6335
orbis non sufficit