... have made the right choice in not spending your money on the un"official" book. I, too, will continue to use The Chip Rack, and here is my story:

At the convention a couple of years ago when the first un"Official" guide was released, I noticed what I consider a GROSS ERROR in attributing a chip with a value that was WAY out of line! The actual value was under $10.00 and it was valued in the book at several hundred dollars. Anyway, I approached the man sitting at the table. James wasn't there so I'm guessing it was Steve, although I'm not sure. I pointed it out to him and his reply? "Well, you can't expect us to investigate every single chip in the book!" It was probably more the tone of how he said it than what he actually said that really got me. I decided I could do without that book.

On the other hand, I have never met any of the authors of TCR. I have collected for over fifteen years and so you can imagine my excitement when I discovered a chip in my collection that was not listed in TCR. I emailed one of the authors with the information and his emailed response began with, "Hi Tyrus, Thanks for writing. This is how TCR gets better, because of collectors like you." I have since had several great emails with that author.

I'm not writing this to throw fuel on the fire, I just wanted to share that story with you and others who are new to the hobby. While rudeness and arrogance will go a long way in driving people away, the joy of the hobby will encourage others to get involved. You just have to find those that share in the fun of the hobby.

-Tyrus