I've been looking through a number of the chips board listings lately and some will call a slight change in the chips a new issue and others will call the slight change a variation. Can someone define the differance for me?

I consider a new issue as a change in the chip design or manufacturer, while a varation is the same design but only sight differances in manufacturing practices such as long cane vs short cane or other suttle changes.

Reason why I'm asking is because I recently visited Treasure Island Casino in Red Wing, MN when I noticed that the $5 chips had the same inlay design and manufacturer but one chip had a much lighter Mauve color. When I asked the pit boss why the differance his response was it was likely a different order and the manufacturer used a different die lot. I would consider this color change a variation. Am I correct?

I also noted that there was only 2 darker color chips on the table I was playing at. When I looked a the other tables there were much higher number of the light chips versus the darker colored chips. Would this make darker chips more rare?

Any help would be appreciated.