[CaptLego]

2000 Chip Double Door Chip Case With Wheels

Manufacturer: unknown
Retailer(s): http://pokerchipsdepot.com/
Average Price: $60 + shipping
Material: Aluminum
Member Review by: CaptLego

This is the largest capacity case I’ve been able to find that is specifically designed for poker chips. It is an aluminum case with wheels, an extensible handle, and trays to hold 2000 chips.

Capacity

The case has 8 removable trays, each with a capacity of 250 chips (5 slots x 50 chips), for a total capacity of 2000 chips. The individual trays appear to be made of 3/16” wood, with vinyl on the bottom, and a black felt-like lining on the sides and interior. The trays have a little web handle riveted to the front, but I don’t see much use for it. There’s plenty of space between trays to just reach in and grab the tray itself.

I could squeeze 53 Chipco chips into each slot, but this puts pressure on the face of the chip in the slot where the rivet protrudes from the web handle.

There is enough clearance between the trays to fit octagons and plaques from the Chipco Egyptian set. Each slot will hold 12 plaques (sideways on edge), and for a tight fit you could put an additional 12 plaques behind them in the same row, for a capacity of 24 plaques/slot. With the plaques on edge, there is still ¼” clearance between the top of the plaques and the bottom of the next tray above. Similarly, the octagons fit nicely 12 across and 4 deep for a capacity of 48 octagons/slot.

Features

This is a large aluminum case (dimensions are 20” wide, 12” tall, and 9-½” deep). It has a locking double-door front that opens to access the 8 removable trays that hold the chips.
There’s a built-in extensible handle (like those on luggage), and wheels on the bottom. The built-in dolly handle extends to 37” high. When loaded, the fully extended handle exhibits quite a bit of flex when tipping the case backwards for wheeling it. I don't know if this is a critical weakness, but it makes me nervous. The wheels are 1-½” diameter, and 1-½” wide. It looks like they have ball bearings. They can take the weight, but the small rolling diameter means they have trouble with things like the edges of throw rugs.
There is also regular handle on top that is pretty substantial, padded, and has a very nice feel to it. This handle *should* be useful for lifting the case into/out of cars and up stairs, but loaded with chips, this puppy will weigh 60+ pounds, so I doubt you’d want to carry it around by the handle for long. (Also, see the remarks below regarding durability.)

Construction

The case seems reasonably substantatial. The aluminum exterior is a fairly heavy guage, and the case is lined with ¼” (maybe 3/16”) wood so there’s not much flex. The double-doors have three locking latches -- two on the top and one in the middle of the front. These are again chromed steel riveted on. They seem OK. In my case (pun intended), the top right latch doesn’t seem precisely aligned -- the part on the door doesn’t line up exactly with the part on the case body. It latches, but much more misalignment would be a problem.

If you look closely at the picture of the bottom, you can see a bit of a problem with the double-door design. The doors don’t close tightly at the bottom. There’s no latch to pull the bottom tight. It’s a bit fussy to close the doors, since the front latch requires that you close them together at the same time, and there’s enough flex, misalignment, and tightness in the final position alignment that it takes a little work to get the doors closed properly.

Opening the doors reveals the interior, with 8 removable chip trays. The chip trays rest on some aluminum angle extrusion pieces that are riveted into the wood liner of the case. The vertical spacing of the trays is about 2-¾”. (This dimension varies a bit, as they don’t seem to hold very tight tolerances on the mounting of the aluminum supports.) The trays just sit on the aluminum supports.
When loaded, the trays slide in flush with the front of the box. But the doors are 1-½” deep. This means that when closed, there is nothing to prevent the trays sliding 1-½” forwards and backwards. Similarly, there is nothing to prevent the trays from moving upwards until they hit the tray above. I don’t think this is a big problem, as there’s really no place for the trays to end up other than where they belong, but it seemed worth mentioning that the trays are not snugly held in position other than side-to-side.
The overall layout is pretty nice in that it allows you to just grab some trays from the case, depending on which chips you need. I like being able to carry the trays to/from the table.

Appearance

Overall, this is a pretty good looking case. The appearance is about the same as many smaller aluminum cases (like the elite cases), but the large size, heavy-duty handle, extendable handle, wheels, and double doors lend a serious and impressive overall look. However, the somewhat cheap-looking latches, corner trim bits, riveted construction, and overall tolerances guarantee that you won’t confuse this with a top-quality aluminum case.

Durability

Unfortunately, this is a fatal flaw. The construction seems reasonably solid, but 2000 chips add quite a bit of weight, and the overall design is for portability, so you can expect this case to see some stress and be knocked around a bit. I loaded the case w/ Chipcos (Egyptians). The first time I lifted it by the handle, I thought "damn this thing is heavy". I could also see some flex in the top of the case. The second time I lifted it by the handle, the case broke. You can see in one of the pictures below where the top aluminum pulled away from the wood liner and center post.

Security

This is a pretty large and heavy case (especially when loaded with chips). Nobody is going to hide this case under a coat and run off with it! The three latches for the doors are each of the locking type. The case comes with two stamped sheet metal keys. These latches won‘t survive a determined attack, but should be adequate to prevent inadvertent opening, keep the kids out, and prevent any easy or undetected access to the case.

Reviewers Comments

Overall, I’d have to say that this case is a pretty good deal for storing chips. But it is definitely NOT up to the task of transporting them. This case and another model from the same retailer are the largest capacity cases I’ve found that are specifically designed for poker chips. The ergonomics are reasonably good, and the price is definitely right. It’s not the quality of a Halliburton or Pelican case, but for $60 it seems like a pretty good way to store and access a lot of chips -- just don't try to lift it by the handle when it is loaded!

For strictly home use, there are some nicer wood cases that have better appearance, albeit with less capacity and higher prices. I can't recommend this case for transporting chips, since it really isn't strong enough to handle the weight of 2000 chips.

Pictures