Product: ABC's 39mm Custom Poker Chips (10pc. sample set).
Retailer: ABC Gifts and Awards - AbcGiftsAndAwards.com
Cost: Sample Set $11.99 Shipped (US)(CA pays sales tax). Custom Chipsets Are Quantity Priced From .62¢-$3.29 each + Shipping (CA pays sales tax).
Looking at ceramics for a chipset? Don't forget your ABC's. These ABC custom ceramics look to be a good value and are very good looking at that. One nice feature of these chips is the advertised price is what you pay (there's no added setup or artwork fees). The chips have the option of textured or smooth and offer full custom printing on all surfaces. Having little experience with ceramics I purchased the sample set to see if this is the way for me to go. I wanted to have an idea of how long these chips could last before I make a decision, so a series of tests were performed. My theory is: 99% of the chip's wear is from other chips, so my main concern was how much damage these chips can do to themselves. So I test 'em;
All of the photos I've submitted were taken in the aftermath of my tests. These are nice chips. The following photos show them at their worst.
The Sample Chipset: (10) total chips. (5) Textured face, (5) smooth face.
The sample set contains a nice selection. I like the 'Text Test' chips as they are very helpful and the others offer a good reference for color and photo quality. The chips have an O.D. of 1.55" +/-.001 with an outer face thickness of .129" +/- .001(smooth face)/ .132" +/-.001(textured face). Also- the chip's inner faces are thinner than the outer faces. They sound o.k. (Like ceramic chips). The textured chips have a slightly lower sound than the smooth chips. I like the their look and the feel. The smooth faces feel 'chalky' smooth and the textured faces feel like 'ultra fine' sand paper. While holding all the chips in a stack and attempting to force the chips from themselves, a textured chip has most often moved first. While doing a table bump test, the textured chip-stack would slide before the smooth stack. The smooth chips have a slick and glossy rolling edge, while the textured chip's rolling edge isn't as slick and looks dulled or flat finished.
All the chips have one manufacturing nipple spot on the rolling edge (you have to look for it to see it). The chips also have a manufacturing seam at one of the the rolling edges. The seams are flattened and hard to see or feel, but I can somewhat feel it's one edge sharper than the other. The graphics look great. The photo quality of the boy is very good and I can see the dark colors on the face do lightly bleed into the edges. This bleeding is noticeable on the white rolling edges.
Now for the tests;
TEST #1
- I put the sample set into an empty oil filter box, sealed it and juggled for 1/2 hour.
- Looking at the chips: Rolling ends are fine, Edges are fine and some faces show some wear. The only noticeable markings are on the faces of the smooth chips. When looking directly at the face I don't see it, but when looking from a hard angle I can see 'slide marks'. No big deal.
After Test #1 - I feel the textured chip is the way to go. I decide to take this a step further;
TEST #2
- Back into the oil filter box. This time I play handball with it. I hit the box from hand-to-hand and then to the floor. I'd slam it up and as it fell I'd slam it to the floor - over and over. I don't know how long I did this (wasn't very long); my focus was on breaking the chips.
- Looking at the chips: When I emptied the box I saw some particles (small ones, very few). No breaks, a few chipped corners, Color transfer (on the white faces), Dents (only the textured faces), Scratches/slide marks on all and the rolling ends are fine.
After Test #2 - I feel the smooth chip is the way to go.
TEST#3
- This time I tested chip strength. I placed two chips flat on a counter and away at a distance just short of one chip length. I then placed each of the other chips, one at a time, on top of the two chips like a bridge. Placing my two thumbs on the bridged chip I applied force in an attempt to break the chip. I failed. None of the chips broke.
- At this point I simply used a couple pairs of pliers to break a chip. The inner make-up of the chip looks uniform and solid.
After Test #3 - I feel these chips are more than strong enough for my needs.
TEST#4
- This time I break out the knife. I performed the following
identical tests on
one of each surface-type of chip (textured/smooth). Using the sharp edge of the knife I slid the blade sideways along the faces (right scratch in photo). Then, using the pointed edge of the knife I slid the point sideways along the faces (left scratch in photo). The knife marks on the textured chip catch my eye more than on the smooth chip. This test was pointless since my chips would never see this type of abuse, but it's interesting to see the difference in the visual damage from textured to smooth.
Follow-up;
- They have great looks and the print quality is very good.
- The strength/build quality is also very good.
- The price is strait forward.
- The chip sound and feel is good.
- The textured chips seem to slip a bit more than the smooth chips.
- Damage - (Textured vs. Smooth) On the textured faces, damage is visible at any angle. I believe the thickness of the 'texture' allows these 'texture dents' to occur. I don't think this is a big issue since I can't imagine these dents occurring during regular use. The smooth faces only seem to scratch and show-up when looking at the chip from an angle. I beleive these smooth chip scratches may occur during regular use (I see these marks on other used ceramics as well).
- I don't know about the chip's stacking ability since I only have a few in my possession.
- These chips at their worst still look great.
All in all, I'm more than satisfied with these chips and will be placing an order in the future.
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