With respect to collecting "sample" slabs, the website owner said:

"Collecting sample slabs is easy and fun. It can be a simple as going to a show and stopping by a services table to pick a free one up or browsing eBay. They are relatively scarce, and usually no more than several hundred are made for each show or new label change. On average there are less than 200 produced and are never made again. Many collectors pick them up at the show and later crack out the coin and spend it, or just plain forget about them in some dusty drawer. New varieties are constantly being found which adds to the excitement of this new field.

Their scarcity does not keep them from being unattainable. Most samples can be found in the $8-$15 range and the more scarce ones in the $40-$55 (few dozen known) range. Bargains are definitely out there in dealer junk boxes, as most of them don’t know much about samples. Collecting scarce samples is fun, cheap and somewhat unappreciated right now. Soon there will be more interest, but in the meantime join me out there on the bourse floor, eBay and local shops to find more new samples and varieties. Have fun with your slabs!"

This sure puts a different perspective on the eBay offering noted in the thread. It's quite possible that the "sample" slab is the objective of the bidders and not the specific chip within!

Also of interest, from the website, which again addresses collecting sample slabs for the slab and not the content trapped therein, is an image gallery of most slab companies past and present and the various styles of slabs they offered. In the ICG listing the author uses the Aladdin trapped chip as an example of style #ICG 21, with this description:

"ICG got into the casino chip slabbing about 2 years ago. There was an uproar among the traditional chip collectors who got together and decided to not do business with any chip dealer that sells slabbed chips. Samples were still made, but no one really liked the idea and it has since not caught on. “Sample” can be seen in the bottom left hand corner on the front of the slab. The website "www.coinclub.com" is listed on the back of the slab, with the white stripe below."

Thanks for the insight.

Here are two other examples of the ICG 21 "sample" slabs.

Thanks for looking,

Jim