BCC Giant Inlay tourney set *HELP HELP*

[mipevi]

I'm thinking of getting the following kind of set with denoms from 5 to 500 using the giant inlay. I'd really like to use the huge inlay to it's full potential, but I just can't seem to decide how I want to do that. I like the Vineyard type gradient, but PNY or Ritz type inlays using photographs could be really cool too. Any suggestions for themes or inlay styles are much appreciated.

Currently I'm willing to do the inlays myself, but if someone wants to help out that would be great and if I go with someone's design I'll try to compensate them the best I can. It's likely I will offer these chips up for a group buy once they are done to ease the art fees a bit.

Feel free to comment on the chip colors/inserts as well if you like.



EDIT: I might still go with chips from the T-mold semi-custom set as discussed below.

[jdunford]

Originally Posted by mipevi

Feel free to comment on the chip colors/inserts as well if you like.

Here's my comment on the chip colours/inserts:



Your red is almost identical to this red. Your black is almost identical to this charcoal. Your green is not far off this green (either green, really). And by using a 358 laker/lavender, I get the impression (although could be mistaken) that you'd prefer to use lavender as the base if you were allowed to.

Besides, a giant inlay on the T-mold kicks any flame-mold chip's butt. Just imho, of course.

[mipevi]

Originally Posted by jdunford

Your red is almost identical to this red. Your black is almost identical to this charcoal. Your green is not far off this green (either green, really). And by using a 358 laker/lavender, I get the impression (although could be mistaken) that you'd prefer to use lavender as the base if you were allowed to.

Besides, a giant inlay on the T-mold kicks any flame-mold chip's butt. Just imho, of course.

True, the red became very similar, but that was not intentional. I noticed it after working on the set for 2 hours or so. The green chip is similar to your version of what I proposed for the T-molds at one point. The black chip is a version of the charcoal chip proposed by me (at least as far as the colors go). And yes, I'd love a lavender base.

Actually the T-mold set is VERY close to what I'd want, except for perhaps the green chips. But my main concern is how the circular pattern of the T-mold would look when it's completely (giant) or partly (super grand) under the inlay. IMO patters such as the flame or tophat & cane might work better with the larger inlays. Of course if I wanted a regular size inlay, I wouldn't even consider the flame mold with what's going on...

[jdunford]

Originally Posted by mipevi

But my main concern is how the circular pattern of the T-mold would look when it's completely (giant) or partly (super grand) under the inlay. IMO patters such as the flame or tophat & cane might work better with the larger inlays. Of course if I wanted a regular size inlay, I wouldn't even consider the flame mold with what's going on...

I have to disagree. I really don't like grand/giant inlays on the flame mold, mainly because it's large-ish recessed area is so deep. You end up with very little contact between chips... makes them somewhat slippery... but that's all that has been offered before.

I think that grand/giant inlays on the T-mold will be much nicer. Also, the T-mold has a stronger cross-hatching (more texture), so on top of the increased contact, they might be less slipper for this reason as well. My only examples (so far) are Samurai dealer buttons, and they're freakin' awesome imo. I'll dig up a pic of one and post it here in a few minutes.

*EDIT* Here's a pic taken by boondocker from the original group buy:
http://www.chiptalk.net/forum/group-...uy-photos.html


And here's one by circlencircle:


You can find more pics if you follow that link (above the first pic).

[mipevi]

Originally Posted by jdunford

I have to disagree. I really don't like grand/giant inlays on the flame mold, mainly because it's large-ish recessed area is so deep. You end up with very little contact between chips. I think that grand/giant inlays on the T-mold will be much nicer. My only examples (so far) are Samurai dealer buttons, and they're freakin' awesome imo. I'll dig up a pic of one and post it here in a few minutes.

Hmm, that's interesting. I don't actually have any flame molds myself so I'll take your word for it. I tried to think of chips with circular patters and giant/grand inlays, but couldn't come up with any. I guess you also OWN a samurai dealer chip? What if there was text in the T-mold area, do you think the text would be distorted? Thanks!

[jdunford]

Originally Posted by mipevi

HI guess you also OWN a samurai dealer chip?

No, I don't. ... I own 2!


Here's a link to vietrounder's custom set with big inlays:
http://www.chiptalk.net/forum/custom...alace-bcc.html
They are very nice chips, and I like them very much. And until now, no one had a choice which mold they used, so they're as good as they could have been, imo.

I guess it depends how you look at it. On the one hand, I think the smaller recessed area means more contact between chips... but a larger recessed area also means a larger smooth region for your graphics. Could go either way, but personally I love the T-mold, so I'm a bit biased.

[mipevi]

Originally Posted by jdunford

No, I don't. ... I own 2!

I guess it depends how you look at it. On the one hand, I think the smaller recessed area means more contact between chips... but a larger recessed area also means a larger smooth region for your graphics. Could go either way, but personally I love the T-mold, so I'm a bit biased.

Yeah I've got a nice little set of Samurais and they are great (and they'd go well with a dealer chip ).

The giant inlay does look awesome on the T-mold, I guess it would work if I'd just avoid having small text right on top of the mold.

[ontheuptick]

Here are my thoughts, take them for what they are worth. Also, this means no disrespect to the currently running TMSC stuff going on with BCC/HPC. This is just a silly little tale of my custom adventure a few months ago.

mipevi - I see you already have a custom set of ASM's, so obviously you've been through the custom chipmaking process before, so this may all be old news to you.

Just wanted to point out a few things, to make sure you realize..


1. BCC is wicked expensive for customs. Each inlay is $150 if they are different from chip to chip. So, if you have any coloring on the inlay matching it to the base (like the vineyards, or the Duy’s Palace chips ), it’s $150 per inlay. So, for a 4-chip set, you’re talking $600 in art fees and then .90 per chip on top of that. If you go with the T-molds, tack on another .15 per to HPC for renting the T-mold. I just wanted to make sure you realize that you’re talking in the range of $2 per chip.


The one exception to this is if you use the same inlay on all the chips, with just changing the denom on each chip. Then, you can do 5 inlays for $300. Example here.


If you look at my thread from a few months ago when I started out on my custom journey, I was planning on a sweet BCC set. I was going to use super-grand inlays, and I was pumped. I knew it was going to cost me an arm and a leg to have each inlay a different color, but that was okay.

But, I never placed the order. I waited, and waited. I keep reading about bad mishapen inlay problems with BCC's huge inlays. Basically, I realized the biggest cost of going with BCC is the stress involved. Boondocker did BCC and was happy with the result (notice, he didn't do the big inlays, which means no mishapen inlays), but he was stressed out throughout the whole process. Many people have had inlayed chips at BCC and had to constantly badger them about timing, send in for replacements because many of them are done poorly, etc. There just aren't many stories that are 100% positive.

So, I started adding it up. Do I want to pay $2 per chip, be stressed out for 6-12 months waiting on the chips wondering how they'll turn out, and then be disappointed because the giant inlays are not done well and are mishaped?

It simply wasn't worth it for me. So, I went with ASM, and designed these. I know that literally 99% of all people on chiptalk who design ASM's are pleased with the result. I am not worried at all about what my chips will look like when I get them in 5-6 more weeks.

So, sorry for the long post, but I think going with BCC for giant inlayed customs takes a lot of thought. I thought about it for 3 months or so, and couldn't be happier that I changed up and went with ASM.

But, that doesn't mean what I went through is what you'll go through. Personally, I hope people make a bunch of BCC chips in the near future, and they all come out great. That would make another viable option for us chiplovers to make customs in the future, and the only viable option for Giant inlays. But, I just wanted to share my story.

[BPTDirector]

My experience with BCC giant inlays is due to my purchase of the Inaugural Windy City Blowout set Dolomite had in the classifieds some weeks back. I love the chips, and the inlays are good on most and not too badly misshapen on the one's that aren't perfect, however if you don't color match the inlays and just use 1 design with the denom different it will be hard to tell the chips apart from the top view without looking at the denom on the inlay. The WCB chips don't have denoms which I don't mind since my custom sets don't either, but the inlay is the same color on all chips as well, and the size of the inlay on the chip covers 99% of the color differences when seen from the top of the chip. Any view on the side makes it easy to discern, however this look is not optimal from the top and tedious when separating a large pot into your stacks.

Just a head's up for you - make sure you can tell the difference either by having separate inlays that are color matched(probably the best idea) or smaller inlays than the giants to expose more chip color...

Good Luck;
BPT

[mipevi]

Thanks for your thoughts ontheuptick. I've followed your process and others very closely, and read about the ones that I had missed. As for the price, I will probably get these chips/inlays only if I can share the art fees with a few people (gb or mini-gb). Having a gb with people on that side of the pond would also be good because I'm not big on making international phone calls, and BCC is hard to get a hold of (I sent them an email a while back, trying a PM now). As for the mishapen inlays, I figured I'd just order a bunch of extra ones so I'll have a playable set asap, and then work on the ones I need to return (if any).

Also, I'm really not in a hurry with these, I've got 3 tournament sets, one of which hasn't even been played with (pics pending ). I'd just like to get some ideas for possible inlays for my brain to chew on.