In my opinion, (which I know isn't worth much) there is no way on earth the Pioneer Club chip was ever anything but a sample

I don't see cost as a factor. Afterall, it wouldn't cost Burt more to make the Pioneer inlay than it took to make the Palm Tree, Top Hat, JR etc inlays.

All chips being purple, although certainly not definitive, suggest they were all made at the same time and were samples (purple was not a popular color which made sense to use it as a sample color). The inserts on the Pioneer do give an added twist but I still strongly feel that ALL the purple, record mold chips are samples.