Excellent post Dick!
Its about educating themselves. I would like to point out too that most do not start with the $1000 or so chips so really not risking much when trading & dealing in $10 chips as most newbies do. Later when they get in your league of collecting they have to do as you stated- look at million chips! I know not everyone has that chance but eventually you can. With ebay a new collector has thousands more chips to view than ever before. This has changed everything. This has slowed many antique shows, etc. due to the ease of ebay. For chips the hobby has been spurred by ebay & wasn't the last convention busier that ever?
I would give up my whole collection if I could just go visit Jim Gillette everyday & talk about old Vegas, chips, life, etc. He was like a grandfather to me & I miss him like I miss Bruce. By the way, it was Jim who pushed me to do a book. He knew of all my knowledge of casinos & of me having the largest collection at one time & kept saying - "get it all down on paper". There was and never will be anyone as great as Jim to deal with.