James prefers to use revisonist history in his emails so let me set then record straight. This latest feud started at the convention. Fred Hempel will verify if asked that this is word for word true.

Fred came to my convention table the first day and asked me if I would make an offer on a $25 Sahara chip that he received in a group of chips bought on ebay. I looked it up in James' book and it was not listed but looked like the 6th issue. I told Fred that it was a great find so it might be worth $2000 to $3000 but I was not sure. I told Fred that the best thing to do was to go around to all the dealers he could and get the best offer and I would beat it. I thought this was fair to both he and I since I wasn't sure of the value. Fred agreed and left and I forgot all about it. The next morning Fred came to my table after visiting quite a few dealers including James and said that James made the best offer at $3000. I then said I would pay $4000 for it and he agreed. Just then James' came running up to MY table and screamed "Don't sell him that chip, it is the unknown 7th issue!!!" This was followed by "I will pay you $10,000 for it!!!" I said "James, you are totally out of line and wrong to come running up to MY table and you just offered $3000 to Fred. Why the big increase in offer?" Obviously he thought he could steal the chip and knew it was unknown. I then said "James, you are not going to get this chip and I will beat any offer you make." I then said $11000! He countered with $12000. I then said $14000. He then said $15000! I then said $16000. James stopped with a shocked look and said "I guess the best man won..." He then walked away and I wrote a check to Fred Hempel for $16000. He was so please he got a camera and took a picture with me and his wife while I held the chip.

I then said to myself, James was so out of line that I will now not let him buy another chip that I knew about. So when he posted on the board that he was looking for rare chips to buy, I posted right after it that I would pay more. A FACT! He then started a chain of personal attacks on me that I continued. He only stopped when I brought up the fact that he doesn't pay taxes on his ebay sales or casino chip show sales. He then called me and said he was going to kick my ass if I continued and I just laughed at him and told him "You know where I live, come down and see me". Now that the record is straight, let me say that I will pay more than James for rare chips that I don't have because James has to sell chips for a living. I don't. I own apartment buildings and work for a major oil company as a maintenance manager.

When I first came into the hobby, someone told me, "Don't trust anyone that has to sell chips for a living. They will screw you to make a sale." It holds true 9 years later.

It is also true that I left the hobby in 1997 after becoming deathly ill and spent 3 months in the hospital and only survived after a major surgery that lasted 11 hours and removed two major organs. I am now two organs shy of a tabernacal choir is what my mother says. I reevaluated my life and found that chips were about 10th on the list and family was first so I quit and sold my collection. Luckily, Los Angeles real estate has been very, very good to me and I have assets that allow me to spend major amounts on rare chips.

I have never screwed anyone in this hobby and can tell you dozens of stories where James has. So, you will always get a 100% return privilege with my ebay sales and I won't conceal information from you to buy chips or sell chips like some others will.

Thanks for the long read.

Mike