ASM 44mm Chips
by Matthew Manufacturer: ASM (Atlantic Standard Molding) Retailer: Poker Chips On-Line Discounted Price: $1.65 / chip Material: Compression-molded clay
ASM (pokerchips.com) is making an exclusive offer of 44mm oversize custom clay chips to the membership of chiptalk.net during the month of February 2008. These chips are offered on the “A” mold with an exciting variety of edge spot combinations. Color combinations can be chosen from the existing palette with few restrictions and the chips will feature 7/8” full color printed inlays. The discounted price is $1.65 per chip for all edge spot combinations with a minimum order quantity of 200 chips for new customers or new orders, meaning new inlay designs. There is a minimum quantity of 150 chips for returning customers using existing artwork. Value changes are permitted to accommodate add-ons to sets. At sometime in the future, these chips may be offered on pokerchips.com at a price of $1.85 - $2.00 per chip.
Pros
1. 44mm clay chip
2. Custom inlays
3. Unique edge spot combinations
4. Excellent high value chip for cash or tournament sets
5. Supplemental chip to existing customs
Cons
1. Only available on the “A” mold
2. Minimum order 200 (new) / 150 (existing) chips
3. 7/8” Inlay may look small on the oversize chip
4. Samples are slightly thicker than 39mm chips
In order to accommodate this manufacturing run, ASM made tooling changes to their machines. The 44mm mold has not been used in 15 years and there is significant work required to make the production of these chips a reality. Orders will be taken during February 2008 and all chips will need to be produced at the same time. At the end of the offer, the tooling changes will be made to resume production of the standard 39mm chips.
I received 22 samples of 44mm chips from ASM and they have the look, feel, sound and comparable stacking to 39mm ASM “A” mold chips. They are just bigger and heavier. The stack of 22 sample chips is rock solid with no spinners. The inlays are centered and aligned to the edge spots. The cross hatching on the chip body can be seen in some of the close up pictures but the inlay area up to the inside concentric circle in the mold is very smooth. The inlays are firmly attached with no bubbles. The chips I received also have slight residue of other colors on them. This is simply a function of running samples of many different colors in succession. The finished chips shipped to customers will be clean. Here is a link to X-Files’ comprehensive review of the standard 39mm ASM chips:
I do not have access to an accurate scale, but 3 people all said a stack of 20 sample 44mm chips were very close, but slightly heavier than a stack of 20 Paul-Son solid chips. Very unscientific, but I imagine these chips weight in around 10.0 - 10.5 grams each. There will be slight variations is weight with different colors and different edge spot patterns, as with all compression molded clay chips. I do have an outside micrometer and the sample chips range in thickness from 3.36 to 3.37 mm (67.2 - 67.4 mm for a stack of 20), which is slightly thicker than their 39mm companions. For various 39mm ASM chips I have, the thickness ranges from 3.28 to 3.31 mm. Unfortunately, only 19 chips will fit in a 43mm oversize Chipco rack which is 67 mm wide for a row designed to hold 20 chips. There is a very slight interference of less than 1/2 mm, as seen in the picture below. A rack for oversize chips that is 67.4mm wide is needed for these chips. However, the larger thickness will most likely be addressed as manufacturing progresses and the mold settings are adjusted.
For comparison, the pictures below show 5 stacks of 20 chips. Four stacks are the ASM Club Cleopatra 39mm chips. The tallest stack, by approximately 1/2 of a chip, are the 44mm sample chips. The Cleopatras will fit the best in Chipco and Paul-Son racks which are 67 mm wide, a little looser in a Bud Jones rack which is 67.4 mm wide and are very loose in generic racks. My understanding regarding the thickness differences is mainly related to the color of the chip. Different colors behave differently under the immense pressure required to mold these chips. Remember, these chips are individually made and not mass produced in an assembly line.
This is a high end chip and deserves sophisticated edge spot combinations, which are labor intensive and therefore more expensive. For some of the combinations, the edge spots go deeper into the base chip in proportion to the diameter of the chip. This is a function of the manufacturing process as the tooling used to ‘nibble’ out the space for the inserts is different for the larger diameter. Please note, the 212, 2D14 and 2U spots will be located at 3 and 9 o'clock positions. Also, the 818SA will be a one color on the two spots pairs at 12 and 6 o'clock and the second color on the spot pairs at 3 and 9 o'clock.
The following fourteen options will be available as edge spot combinations for this production run for full color inlay chips. Solid chips, hotstamped and blank 44mm chips will not be offered at this time. The spot combinations for 44mm inlay chips are:
212, 312, 312A, 412, 412A, 2D14, 3D14, 4D14, 514, 2U, 3U, 4U, 818S and 818SA 
Top Row: 818S, 514, 4U and 4D14
Bottom Row: 3D14, 312A and 312
For reference, the following fifteen edge spot patterns are available on 39mm inlay chips, seven of which are exclusive to chiptalk.net members:
Solid, 214, 314, 312, 3D14, 414, 414A and Half-Pie (as listed on pokerchips.com)
212, 412, 412A, 614 and 614A are available only to chiptalk.net members along with
3U and 4D14 in small quantities (around 50 chips) on one design as part of a larger order
The Chip Factory has been updated with the 44mm combinations
(Link). It is an excellent tool to mock-up color combinations and even import your inlays. Modifications to the Chip Factory are in progress to incorporate the larger 44mm chips and the new edge spot combinations. In the interim; 312A can be seen using GPI Paulson 5, 2D14 can be seen using GPI Paulson 11 (although the ASM spots will be at 3 and 9 o'clock). The 514 pattern can be somewhat seen with BCC 514 (but ASM spots are not shallow) or approximated with 614. The BCC 3U is a good rendition of the ASM 44mm version, based on the 4U sample chip. GPI Paulson 29 works well for 818S and 818SA with Color 2 selected as the base color of the chip. Currently there is nothing to mock-up 2U or 4U.
There may be a few restrictions on colors in certain spot combinations. The weighted colors usually used for the base chips are softer than the un-weighted dayglo colors. While it is acceptable to use the dayglo colors as the base of the chip, it is advised when doing so to use dayglo colors for the edge spots. Inserts of the softer weighted colors may squeeze out from the harder dayglo colors during the manufacturing process. As always, weighted base colors with un-weighted insert colors is acceptable. If there is a problem manufacturing certain color combinations ASM will contact the customer and work out an alternate combination.
Reviewer Comments:
There are very few oversize clay chips out there and lately they have been selling at a premium. There is currently no place to get oversize custom compression molded clay chips. Some may be concerned about matching the oversize “A” mold chips to their current custom set on a different ASM mold, which is a matter of personal taste. However, integrating a 44mm chip with unique edge spots with complementary colors to your current set along with matching or coordinating inlays seems like a reasonable trade off.
I really like these chips and after handling these oversize chips for several days, standard 39mm chips seem very small. To some the 7/8” inlay may look a little small for the size of the chip but the fact that it’s a custom oversize chip trumps that deficiency. I’m very satisfied with the 7/8” inlay. It brings a retro look to the bigger chips. With classic colors to enhance the retro look, I’m excited to see what the creative members of chiptalk.net come up with for designs on the 44mm chips.
I see this chip being used as a T500, T1000, T5000 or non-denominated tournament chip or a $20 or $100 cash chip. It’s also unique enough that there’s a possibility to construct a complete set of the 44mm chips. My favorite sample chip is the black 818S with imperial blue inserts. While I typically do not care for the 312 combination on 39 mm chips, with the deeper insert I do like the combination on the oversize chips. The 514 combination works on the bigger chip as well, since I do find the 614 combination very busy on the standard size chips. The 4D14 also looks good on the oversize chip. For 39mm the 4D14 pattern seems to be too much edge spot and not enough base chip, with the bigger chip, the proportions of 4D14 work better. All in all, these chips are going to work well to supplement or enhance existing sets or even as a stand alone set of oversize chips.
UPDATE - ChipTalk.net member EmptyPocs was kind enough to send me a 43mm rack from Casino Discount Supplies and 20 chips will fit in a row. There is a small gap at the bottom since the chips are actually 44mm, but these racks will work for new chips. Having the samples for few weeks and shuffling them slightly has cumulatively worn just enough material that I can now squeeze a row of 20 into a Chipco rack. The Casino Discount Supply racks are a storage option for new chips and with some shuffling, Chipco racks will work as well.
"The Compound" Boston, MA $1 image courtesy Trav
"Casino Antartica" McMurdo Station image courtesy JM
"Palmas Club" Puerto Plata, D.R. $1000 image courtesy noelsarchs 
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