Noob questions on ASM chips

themathminister · #1 (**permalink**) 12-05-2007, 05:29 AM

So I was looking at pokerchips.com and a I have a few questions:

If it costs 50 cents for a solid chip, and 60 cents to have single color edgespots, Then shouldn't a 90 cent printed center solid chip cost $1.00 with edgespots instead of the actual price, $1.25.

I'm sorry if it sounds confusing, I don't know how else to word it.

Also, I have no idea how the printing works on the ASMs, but if it adds 40 cents to the cost of a chip, wouldn't it be cheaper to get custom labels elsewhere (I think people talk about The Hog?

). Or would that be a different thing?

Thanks in advance for putting up with my ignorance.

-Ryan

palmimports · #2 (**permalink**) 12-05-2007, 05:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by themathminister

So I was looking at pokerchips.com and a I have a few questions:

If it costs 50 cents for a solid chip, and 60 cents to have single color edgespots, Then shouldn't a 90 cent printed center solid chip cost $1.00 with edgespots instead of the actual price, $1.25.

I'm sorry if it sounds confusing, I don't know how else to word it.

Also, I have no idea how the printing works on the ASMs, but if it adds 40 cents to the cost of a chip, wouldn't it be cheaper to get custom labels elsewhere (I think people talk about The Hog?

). Or would that be a different thing?

Thanks in advance for putting up with my ignorance.

-Ryan

Welcome to Chiptalk Ryan. It all depends on your budget and degree of quality demands...

There is really no substitute ( when money isnt an object) for a directly imbedded inlay- meaning the inlay is applied while the chip is hot making the image as permanent as you can get. Labels, inlays, etc done AFTER the fact will work- but it's a cost effective alternative to the real thing.

If your budget permits- ASM offers a very high quality product. iF your budget doesnt permit- then speaking with Jason at Hogwild is an excellent way to still get a hi end chip and an affordable label done.

Hope this helps

littlebu · #3 (**permalink**) 12-05-2007, 07:34 AM

setup time for multi colored edgespots is a lot higher I'm sure than single plus more difficult. As for the "Label" question. They are not applying labels they are inserting an inlay. It is actually part of the chip. A regular type of label that you can apply can be peeled of. An inlay is what is on a casino chip. You won't be removing it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by themathminister

So I was looking at pokerchips.com and a I have a few questions:

If it costs 50 cents for a solid chip, and 60 cents to have single color edgespots, Then shouldn't a 90 cent printed center solid chip cost $1.00 with edgespots instead of the actual price, $1.25.

I'm sorry if it sounds confusing, I don't know how else to word it.

Also, I have no idea how the printing works on the ASMs, but if it adds 40 cents to the cost of a chip, wouldn't it be cheaper to get custom labels elsewhere (I think people talk about The Hog?

). Or would that be a different thing?

Thanks in advance for putting up with my ignorance.

-Ryan

themathminister · #4 (**permalink**) 12-05-2007, 07:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by littlebu

setup time for multi colored edgespots is a lot higher I'm sure than single plus more difficult. As for the "Label" question. They are not applying labels they are inserting an inlay. It is actually part of the chip. A regular type of label that you can apply can be peeled of. An inlay is what is on a casino chip. You won't be removing it.

What you and Joe said about the labels makes perfect sense. Thanks.

But the $1.25 a chip is not for multi colored edgespots. It's still a single edgespot. Which is why i'm confused.

links_slayer · #5 (**permalink**) 12-05-2007, 07:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by themathminister

So I was looking at pokerchips.com and a I have a few questions:

If it costs 50 cents for a solid chip, and 60 cents to have single color edgespots, Then shouldn't a 90 cent printed center solid chip cost $1.00 with edgespots instead of the actual price, $1.25.

I'm sorry if it sounds confusing, I don't know how else to word it.

Also, I have no idea how the printing works on the ASMs, but if it adds 40 cents to the cost of a chip, wouldn't it be cheaper to get custom labels elsewhere (I think people talk about The Hog?

). Or would that be a different thing?

Thanks in advance for putting up with my ignorance.

-Ryan

As Joe said, Welcome to ChipTalk!

Regarding the Label vs. Inlay question, here is a close up picture (taken from Home Poker Tourney's website):

You can see that the inlay becomes part of the chip; not applied to the chip like a label. I've had labeled Nexgens in the past and currently own custom ASMs. The difference (regarding labels vs. inlay) is night and day. PLUS, ASM will take the time to orient your inlays the same way on all your chips (this is a big pain - although not impossible - when applying labels yourself).

I don't have an answer to your question about cost. If you email Sandy she should be able to help you out. My guess is that it's not as simple as just adding $0.10 for the colored edgespots. Methinks a lot has to do with adding the inlay. Maybe someone here can help you out.

Good luck and don't be afraid to ask more questions! There are plenty of people that are willing to help!

themathminister · #6 (**permalink**) 12-05-2007, 07:48 AM

Oh ok. So the correct terminology if the label is inserted is "inlay" but if it's just applied as a sticker then it's a "label". Thanks for the picture.

Matthew · #7 (**permalink**) 12-05-2007, 07:57 AM

One aspect of in the inlays on ASM chips ...

Ever notice on ASM chips the position of the inlays? They are all oriented the same way in relation to an insert (edge spot). Paulson and Blue Chip inlays are random compared to inserts.

EDIT - pics added

See how the inlays all line up with an insert at 12 o'clock.

For the Paulson - look at the orientation scanned chip vs one of the ones in the rack (the front 4 in the racks are pretty close - looking at the rest of them - they are random)

For solid chip with a printed inlay the orientation of the chips in the press and the orientation of the inlay on the chip don't matter, therefore quicker. ASM chips are a labor intensive process. They hand load the inerts in the first press, then hand load these blanks with edge spots into a second press, orient the inlay by hand to align with the edge spots the same way on each chip and then press the chip. The step bonding the inlay to the chip is also what adds the mold. Some of the molds can only do 9 chips at a time.

I've labeled 420 Nexgen chips - so 840 labels. I started out the process of trying to align the labels to the edge spots of the chips and quickly gave up.

I can't get into imageshack right now - I'll come back and add some pics.