Archie, I agree with your comments in most respects. I don't even collect $25's, but I still dislike the practice of manipulating the market if the under-production of these chips was intentional. The rarities you mention in stamp, coin and baseball card collecting were accidents or oversights. A better analogy for the recent $25 chip programs at the Trop and now the Hard Rock is Beanie Babies collectibles where certain issues have been intentionally made in quantities below market demand to create a windfall for the manufacturer. An instant rarity (the R word). When demand outstrips supply, the price goes up. It's basic Econ 101.

You suggest writing to the management, but isn't this the same management that had a supply reserved for them before the chips went on sale?

I collect what I enjoy and can afford and I'm a happy camper regardless of what Hard Rock chooses to do. I'd just rather not see chip collecting go the way of Beanie Baby collecting. Perhaps it already has, though.