I've collected them myself, as I'm sure most of us have.
First got started back in the '80s with the brass-core chips used at Harrah's and Harvey's.
Got more serious about eight or ten years ago. Found out about the club and chipboard by accident about six years ago when I was spending a lotta time on the internet recovering from rotator-cuff surgery (six months!). That's when things really took off for me and chips. Always been a collector of something, so that and chips and poker have been a match made in heaven!