At my first convention, I made it a point to meet Mike, after having spoken to him by phone many times, and buying many racks of chips from him and Mikko. Despite his being busy with other customers, Mike made a point of talking chips and his history in the hobby/business with me for well over an hour (maybe two). He knew I wasn’t a whale, customer-wise, but he didn’t care. At one point I showed him a chip that he apparently didn’t have and perhaps hadn’t ever seen in the flesh, and I had three of them as traders. They weren’t worth a ton, but weren’t cheap, and I told him what eBay and book value were on them, but he said “go through the chips on the table and pull out those you’re interested in...we’ll make a deal for some of them.” So, I’m a set collector and not really a singles collector, so I have a different view on value, but I pulled out a bunch of chips I liked/needed, around 20 or so, many of which I knew were not cheap as singles. I figured he’d select a few that he would trade from that group for my three chips. Two of the chips I picked out were pretty spendy (and I figured on their own they’d be even trades for my chips). Mike looked at the pile and said “let’s take those two out, and you can have the rest.” He knew he was giving me a hell of a deal in trade, and could tell as much by the look on my face. He just winked and said “I’ll see you at the store soon.” Needless to say, I’ve been a loyal customer.

The hobby is poorer for having lost him, but it was richer for having him a part of it. RIP Mike.

E