[MacGrad]

Manufacturer: GLD Products
Retailer(s): Fogdog, Amazon, Sports 'R Us; Local gaming supply stores
Average Price: 500-chip case: $14.99 online, $24.99 retail
Material: Black vinyl over hard plastic
Member Review by: MacGrad

This is a hard plastic case that is covered by a durable nylon. It is a good alternative to the standard case and birdcage carriers. Its design makes it more compact, and its construction makes it sturdier than it looks. There are a few flaws discussed below that may have a negative effect on the long-term durability.

Price

Current sale pricing appears to be $15 for the 500-chip case (with a retail price of $25), but prices vary by case capacity (300ct, 400ct, 500ct, 800ct).

Capacity

The interior of the case is designed with 10 rows holding 50 chips per row. When filling the case with ASMs and NJs, there was enough extra space to hold 2 more chips per row, boosting capacity to 520 chips. This space does let chips rattle, but makes it easier to remove them for use. The case is made to hold 39-mm chips, so could be of limited use to people with oversized chips or plaques.



On the exterior of the case, there are two pockets which each hold a single deck of poker-size cards easily. However, these aren't padded, and do not appear as though they would hold a plastic case, as a result, they may not be ideal for expensive plastic cards.

Other Features

The inside lid includes 10 small pockets for small buttons. There are also two longer pockets, but these do not appear to be very useful.

Construction

Black nylon-type cloth over a hard plastic shell. The plastic for the lid is covered in fabric, so it is not visible. The base is sturdy, and shouldn't break from normal use. Carrying straps are sewn around the bottom of the case, giving added strength.

A thin layer of foam is glued to the bottom of each row; however, in some instances, the foam does not cover the entire area, leaving some chips to rest on the plastic. There is no padding at all on the lid. After a week of storage, the foam appears to be permanently indented where the chips were. Attempts to move the foam or to “puff” it out again resulted in some tearing.



The case is built so that, when closed, the chips are held securely between the lid and rack, but this does lead to another issue. The zippers frequently stick when “turning the corner” of the case, and could lead to the zippers breaking after some use.

The card pockets are held closed by strips of Velcro, and these could also suffer from wear issues depending on how often they are used.

Appearance

This is nice alternative to the standard aluminum case that looks significantly smaller, and doesn’t scream “poker chips”. The case cleans easily with a damp rag.

Security

There are no security features (eg. Locking latches) to keep the case closed.

Durability

As mentioned before, the three “trouble” areas would be the foam, the zippers, and the Velcro pockets. The plastic shell survived drops of 3-4 feet when loaded with chips with no visible damage.

I implemented the “Johnny5 Test for Chip Case Integrity” to see if there was a point where the chips could force the case open and spill out the contents. The test consists of opening the case further and further, and shaking it back and forth until the case opened or the chips fell out of the rows. Testing indicated the case would have to be opened 3.5” on both sides before you ran the risk of chips falling out; however, the zippers remained in place at all stages of testing.

Reviewers Comments

If you’re getting sick of carrying around cheap metal cases, this is a good purchase. There are a couple design/construction flaws, but they should have little to no impact in the short-term. Overall, this is a nice case – people should not be hesitant to pick one of these up at the either the sale or retail price