As I'm not a "dealer" in the conventional sense of the word, I do not have my finger on the pulse of the market. That said, I'm definitely in the market for the rarest of the rare $5 Nevada casino chips and I will pay well to get them. The problem for me is, they simply aren't available. The ones I'm looking for were (in general) not produced in mass quantities, many have been lost or destroyed, and the rest are sequestered in existing collections and will only see the light of day when those collectors pass away, and only if their heirs know to reach out to me or put mom/dad's collection into one of the more reputable auctions. I keep an eye on auctions, ebay, craigslist, facebook marketplace. I have let every collector who has access to better chips know which ones I'm looking for (see link in my signature below). I have ~65 to go. I don't expect to ever complete my typeset. I'm not sure anyone has completed that typeset (I've heard one or three may have, but no confirmation of that). I think I should contact the Guinness Book of World Records and claim the title. Then maybe I can coerce those with the chips I'm looking for to come out of hiding in an effort to dethrone me. Sneaky, eh?

Anyway, I have 629 Nevada $5s displayed in airtites under a vinyl cover on my desk, so I get to enjoy a goodly sample of my collection on a daily basis and that's fine with me.

As for the state of the market itself, as I said earlier I'm no expert, but it seems to me one either needs to create dearth (scarcity) or create more demand (get more collectors). We know younger people don't seem to have the same interest in collecting casino items as older folk, but I would posit that collecting is alive and well in sports cards, gaming cards, gold, silver, coins, toys like funko pops and hot wheels. I just attended the Biggest Little Toy Con earlier this month and they filled a room with 150+ dealers and the floor was filled with buyers of all ages (including children), the average being around 30 in my opinion. I was handing out fliers for my May show and I'd ask what they collect. They would mention one or more items at the show, but they would mention other items as well (coins, metals, knives, etc). In my mind, a collector is a collector is a collector, and we've been way too focused on OUR primary collectible of interest and not branching out. This is one of the reasons my show is for ALL collectibles. My hope is to cross-pollinate our hobby with other hobbies. I mean, look at our own membership. So many of us collect something besides chips - silver strikes, coins, bank notes, bobble heads, cars. If our membership is more diverse than just casino collectibles, it makes sense that we should be looking outside to gain members and interest in our items. When you do that, you increase demand. And when you increase demand, you create scarcity. And when you create scarcity, you drive up value for the limited number of items available.

That's my two cents and I'm sticking to it.