missing. I started collecting chips in the mid-90s and I joined the in 2001 when both the club AND the hobby was going full tilt. Back then, there was a lot to talk about as far as new releases go. The Hard Rock & the Palms were putting out great looking chips and doing so with frequency. Other casinos were also cranking out limited edition chips and it was this sort of abundance of new chips that brought in new people and kept many interested. I used to drive out from Los Angeles a few times a year for the Hard Rock chip releases. They were a social event as much as a chip collecting event. The convention floor was busy with people wandering around to find new LEs that maybe they missed as well as people looking for some of those key older pieces. And Las Vegas was quite the attraction with a lot of new places opening up and putting out new chips. There was a lot to talk about then...the hobby had a buzz to it. Then after a while, it was almost too much & you couldn't collect them all without spending a gazillion dollars. And at the same time, the good chips were garnering some big prices...and along with bigger prices comes a taste of greed & ego. I sadly watched several friendships dissolve at that time & the hobby died a little. Then the LEs stopped coming or the casinos made it to difficult to obtain them or the Gaming Board wouldn't allow casinos to make chips as they had in the past...and the hobby died a little more. The economy took a hit & it took many of us quite some time to recover from that; some collectors went away never to return during that time. So, yes -- there are several things missing from our hobby -- but we continue to search for some way to bring new members & a renewed excitement back into collecting gaming memorabilia. The chips are a constant source of enjoyment, but not as much as those friends that I have both made and, sadly, lost over the years. I put a lot of faith in some of our younger members such as Jamison Pike & Ed Hertel and the older members as well (like Gene Trimble & his "Friends of the Hobby"). While I neither collect illegals or California chips, what they contribute towards investigating, sharing & preserving this gaming history is just fascinating to me and it's priceless to the hobby. It does raise the interest level of new & old time chip collectors and those two areas -- and the history associated with them -- are much more affordable than many other areas of chip collecting. Sorry about the rambling, Dennis. What I will close with is that this is a GREAT hobby and the is a GREAT club filled with some (but maybe not all ) GREAT members. I hope you stay. I hope that you make it out to a convention & meet the people there & maybe volunteer at the club's Promo table & meet even MORE people!!

Happy chipping & to steal a quote from one of the finest friends that I have made in this hobby, keep HAVING FUN!!

Steve Bedo