To me it's the history of the clubs and the people behind them that make collecting chips interesting . I don't collect the chip of the day except Reno HAN chips and that's because I do the car show there every year. As long as you can get people interested in the history of the clubs some will want to collect the chips .
My main collecting interest is antique bottles and the history behind them . An 1850 bottle with no embossing on it can be had for $2-$3 but a Teakettle Whiskey dug in Virginia City would sell for between $1000. to $25,000 because of the story behind them . When Avon , Jim Beam started cranking out the bottle of the day it did not take long before they were considered non-collectible and that goes with most other items made to be collected . Picking up a souvenir from a trip is not really the same as trying to amass every chip made .
In the early 70's bottle collecting was the third biggest collecting hobby behind coins and stamps today I don't think it's anywhere close to that .The hobby was big because people could go out to mine sites logging camps creek dumps etc.and find old bottles . That's all gone now so it's down to hard core diggers or using the silver pick to add to your collection . The hobby has got to the point that when you do s show it almost looks like a retirees convention . But some new blood is slowly coming in to the hobby and they realize that they will build their collections by buying not digging .
So that means that they will have to have extra cash to do that . Generally speaking a working person doesn't have extra cash until the kids leave the nest , the house is paid for etc . But the hobby still needs to instill the interest so when a does get some extra bucks they may start to collect,
Years ago a study was made about gun collectors . They started in their 50's and sold in their 70's That's when they had money and before they left for a better place .
Back to bottles as the President of the Federation of Antique Bottle Collectors I suggested that we develop a virtual museum to showcase bottles and the history behind them .We are in the process of raising funds to do this . The cost estimate is abut 30k .This would be high tech and would have you walking through the museum like the games kids play . What this would do would allow people to get on their I-Pads and view bottles and their history. Maybe get a few to collect.
I don't know how you would do it with chips but picture yourself walking in to Harold Club and laying down a bet on the black jack table showcasing the chips .
Enough of my rambling .