OK so I may be repeating myself from some other threads, but here we go with the semi-official review of the first run of the Bellagio Tribute chips made by Sun Fly in China.
This is more of a "graphics quality" review than a physical chip review, because as it is, I see nothing wrong with the construction of these chips as opposed to any other ceramics I've messed with.
The rolling edges mostly line up, although Joe said they were not really trying. If 90% of them being almost dead on is "trying" I think we'll be very happy in the end. Some of the rolling edges are a little off center (blame the diamond) but you really have to be inspecting the chips to notice the 3-4 in my 100 that the diamond is too high or too low.
These chips are as good a quality as any other ceramics that I have sample sets of. These are going to be a blast to play with! They have a nice matte finish, smooth rolling edges (no real "lip" that is worth worrying about) and strong colors.
In the 100 chips I'm playing with right now, there are no spinners, and all 100 can stack nicely on a hard surface with no problems at all.
These are the
first round of proof chips, and I'll do my best to discuss and show my delights and concerns with these chips:
First off I will go chip by chip with individual pictures per denom and talk about what I see:
NCV Chip: 
Since I just picked colors that were not dominant in the chipset, there is nothing that needs to be changed for color on this chip. Using green as its main body color makes it stand out, and it should work fine for its intended purpose.
5 Chip: 
This chip also was a "request" and is not a part of the attempted replica set we have all seen pictures of. I used the same configuration as the other lower denominated chips (no diamonds) and went with Red and Gray. I'm not too pleased with the gray, it has a bluish tint to it, but that can be easily fixed in the next round of chip proofs. Should be finished on the next proof run.
25 Chip: 
This one is almost right on for color. The "sand" of the body color is really really close to what I expected. Just a tiny bit on the pink side, another easy adjustment. Should be finished on the next proof run.
100 Chip: 
This is the chip that concerns me the most, but I believe that it can be fixed. Although the colors are perfect (strong yellow and deep black) there is a bleeding problem where the colors touch best seen here:
I've rechecked my UCR (Under Color Removal) settings on the blacks on ALL the chips and believe that the percentages were set too dense for their printer. You will also notice in some of the close-ups that the black text on the face also has a bit of a soft edge to it, possibly also caused by this over black generation.
I will be adjusting ALL the blacks on ALL the chips and try to keep them as dense as possible using as little ink as possible. As an example right now they are set to about 60%-C 60%-M 70%-Y 90%-K. In the next round I will reduce that to around 30%-C 30%-M 30%-Y and 100% black. This should reduce the total amount of ink used to generate the black by a significant level, and will hopefully solve this bleeding problems in all aspects. If my theory about the way their printers lay down a composite black, this chip should be ready on the next round.
500 Chip: 
Although this chip looks really nice as it is, it is probably one of the furthest from the original target colors. It came out kind of pink with salmon, and without having the photo of the real chip infront of me, I believe it needs to be more "off white and orange" changes will be made and resubmitted.
1000 Chip: 
The pink on this chip is perfect. The brown is a little too muddy, and needs more warmth and a shift into a "chocolate" shade. This is going to be an beautiful chip when we are done. What a nice and different combination of colors.
5000 chip: 
This one is really close as well. The darker blue is getting into the purple range, and will be tweaked back into the true blue gamut. I think this chip will be finished on the next proof run.
10,000 chip: 
Although this chip is not "perfect" it's not going to get changed. Although the real Bellagio chip has almost an "eggshell" color to go with the red, I've found a nice neutral gray that makes for a very good looking chip. I don't want to get into "uber tweak zone" and make things worse than they are. This gray will be the one used in conjunction with the
5 chip above. I know this means there will be two "red and gray" chips, (they do have different designs) but the chances of having a 5 and a 10,000 in play at the same time are slim to none, or you REALLY need to adjust your blind schedules! This chip is finished except for the black density mentioned in the
100 chip write up.
25,000 Chip: 
This chip suffers from the same bleeding problem as the 100 black and yellow chip above.
The orange is a bit too strong and will be backed down in saturation and make it more yellow. This chip should be fixed in the next round. I may use THIS orange on the 500 chip with an off white, but I need to play with that a bit first.
100K Chip: 
My favorite, and not because it is high value.
This chip is finished (except for the black mentioned in all the chips previously) Gorgeous. Fin.
Below are some other pictures I took including one of the detail on the faces of some of the chips.
Overall, I am VERY satisfied with these chips so far. There are a few color changes, as well as some ink density issues that I will do everything that I can to address in the next round of proof chips.
But now I have to go and mow the lawn before my wife gets up, or I will suffer the wrath of a different kind of red spinner.
Feel free to ask any specific questions and I will do what I can to answer them the best that I can later today or tomorrow (Have a poker gang coming over later this afternoon.)
Cheers!
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