Progen samples arrived

[jdunford]

Originally Posted by 99%evil

They really need labels though, the centers are very smooth and plastic-like with injection type points on some...or maybe just the injection points tranferred from the molds. They'd be a decent set for a non clay set, if you could get some labelled for a total of 35¢ chip it would be a good econmical set, better than NExgens and Fauxs (Gasp! though I was never too impressed with fauxs...but they are cheap, that's all they have going IMO) In solid format like PI has I bet they'd be decent...

Sounds like you're describing these:
http://www.chiptalk.net/forum/custom...tous-pr0n.html
13¢/chip + 2×10¢/label = 33¢ ... + lots of shipping, brokerage, and taxes... (the cracks were free)

[99%evil]

Yeah, that's a decent tourney chip. Be good if you held large tournies, much more econmical than clay and not as cheesy as an ABS alternative.

I like your set, what's with the cracks?

[jdunford]

Originally Posted by 99%evil

Yeah, that's a decent tourney chip. Be good if you held large tournies, much more econmical than clay and not as cheesy as an ABS alternative.

I like your set, what's with the cracks?

Those were the first-run batch of solids by PI - hence the 13¢/chip price tag - before they worked the bugs out of the mold and formula (recipe, temperature, baking time, etc.). They're great for big tourneys; look, feel, and sound like MUCH more expensive chips, and yet have the peace-of-mind of dice or fauxs (before they became extinct, of course). I got several compliments on these chips. My players prefer them by far to the hot-stamped Nexgens we'd been using (which they thought were "awesome chips" when the league started up). And the cracks are barely noticeable in play; I actually pointed them out to some of the players, they shrugged, and that was all that was said about the cracks.

Actually, the cracks were kind of useful: I medal-aligned the labels using a crack or discoloration (one or the other was visible on most chips before oiling) as a reference point. Otherwise, it may not have been possible to align them.

[bromius13]

Originally Posted by jdunford

Bizarre... so they're not made of the same material as the Palm Imports "Wallson" / "Solid Wall" chips?

It's hard to say. The Progens are either made from a clay-like material that's different from yet vaguely similar to the PI Clays, or there's an outside chance that they're made from the same material that's been more heavily compressed. I'm still scratching my head trying to figure them out.

Progens feel harder & more "plasticy" than PI Clays, but definitely are not made of plastic. They sound great (almost like a Paulson), but they're a bit short of that "chalky" feel that a good clay chip has. The friction between chips isn't as good as the PI Clays so I'm guessing that Progens aren't going to stack as well, but it's hard to tell with only 7 chips to work with. This "plasticy" lack of friction may, however, work itself out as they're broken in (I've just started shuffling my sample set).

Still, they are very nice chips. They're a definite step up from Nexgens, a definite step down from ASM/BlueChip/Paulson, but not quite as nice as the PI Clays in my opinion. Their main advantage over the PI Clays is the price, as Progens are aiming for the same effect as the PI's--to imitate a high end chip--yet are a bit cheaper.

jw

[xtyler92]

So then progens and PI's are different? I am still not really clear on this. I was under the impression they were made of the same material with just different molds... I agree that both are a step up from nexgens and meant no offense when saying that something didn't appeal to me. I do think they look good labeled and for the money are a good alternative to many of the chips out there. I guess I just spent enough money on mid-range chips that I tend to want chips more on the high end (paulsons, BC's, asm's, or TR Kings) and sometimes look at chips from that perspective.

[bromius13]

Originally Posted by xtyler92

So then progens and PI's are different? I am still not really clear on this. I was under the impression they were made of the same material with just different molds...

Handling both they seem to share very similar materials (a "clay-like" material) and construction methods (a compression-injection molding process), resulting in chips of similar weight and sound. Yet the finished products have a rather different feel to them.

It's kind of analogous to the difference between, say, Paulsons & ASM's. Both use roughly the same materials and construction process, yet the two are still quite distinct.

jw