Another Kind of Collectible Plate

Having been blessed with the collecting gene, I've dabbled in all sorts of collectibles before committing myself to casino chips and related items. For a while, I even collected baseball cards.

As a kid, I wasn't particularly interested in baseball and as a result never collected baseball cards. I remember buying trading cards with the Beatles, monsters and cars on them, but most of those ended up attached to the fork of my bike with clothespins to make that clackety-clackety sound that sounded exactly like a motorcycle.

In the early 1990's I became interested in baseball cards and went through a buying flurry, acquiring enough semi-worthless cards to fill a box that now sits in my attic. One of the reasons I was put off was the realization (Duh!) that the card manufacturers were continuing to put out more and more special issue sets and special inserts in the regular sets. So, regular cards issue cards have lost some of their appeal to collectors. Couple that with the fact that ANY baseball card must now be "slabbed" by a grading company to be worth anything, and you have a couple of reasons that baseball card collecting sucks.

The card companies basically see their job now as to print money. Which is fine, but being one of the sources of that money is not something I want to participate in. Special inserts inside regular packs of baseball cards have been around for a long time, and included things like autographed cards and holographic images and stuff. But, I recently discovered the latest insert designed to keep packs of their cards flying off the shelves: the printing plate.

They're now inserting printing plates (allegedly) used to print the baseball cards right into the pack with the cards. What will they think of next? If this sounds unbelievable or you're not sure what I'm talking about, check out the auctions running on eBay to see some.

12 Questions For Mark Englebretson

NOTE: I first became acquainted with Mark Englebretson a couple of years ago when I decided to create a website to show my small collection of Nevada casino matchcovers. Mark Englebretson contacted me and volunteered to let me use scans of some of his matchcovers. I was to discover it was sort of like the curator of the Smithsonian offering to lend me an antique or two. Although I've neglected the site lately, most of the better images featured on the matchcover site came from Mark Englebretson's collection. His love of small town Nevada casinos is contagious, as you'll find out from reading this interview.



How and when did you get started collecting ashtrays from Nevada casinos?

In the spring of 2001 my father passed away. We made the decision to sell his house as it was 500 miles from where we lived. It just didn't make sense to try and rent it and have it destroyed. Problem being was the multitude of stuff I had stored on his property. In addition, I had rented storage space and a two car garage stacked to the rafters with collectibles. It was obvious that something had to be done. I just kept putting it off. We hadn't discovered Ebay at this point. One night I was in the garage trying to find something and it was nearly dark. The light bulb that lit the garage was burnt out and I couldn't get to it to replace it because of all the boxes of junk. I ended up tripping over the first collectible I ever bought. A 1906 brass National Cash Register. I got all scraped up. I stood up and looked at it and said, "You and all your little collectible friends are going away."

Thus, began a 4 year vendetta against all this junk. It has taken over 12,000 Ebay auctions at this point and I am not finished. In the process, my wife Lynn found a box of casino stuff I had accumulated. There were a few ashtrays in there along with cards, dice, and etc. The ashtrays appealed to her. She looked on Ebay and found that they were a hot collectible. She said, "These are what I want to collect."

The point being was, I wanted to get rid of all the collectibles and lead a NORMAL life. That was not to be. The rest is history. A new bidder of "mark00753" showed up buying everything in sight. Four years later, I think our collection is one of the better in the United States. I was fortunate enough to have Paul J. Gregory (col.batguano) and LarryMiller (vin.diesel) as mentors. To this day they are two of my best friends and I thank them both for teaching me the hobby.

Do you have any idea how many different Nevada casino ashtrays you have owned at one time or another?

At one point I think it was around 2500. We decided to rationalize thecollection. We got rid of all the stackers and flared trays unless it was all a place had. I sold off most of our Las Vegas collection last year. We kept the rarest stuff. Now, I kind of regret doing that and have started reassembling aVegas collection but it will only be the very best trays.

I know you have quite a Nevada casino postcard and photograph collection too. How long have you been collecting postcards and how did you start?

Our Nevada postcard and photo collection is extensive. Originally, we started buying them because we thought they were great historical items. I have always been interested in the histories of the casinos and clubs. It just seemed that having pictures of them was a normal progression of casino memorabilia collecting. We now have around 4500 of them and still looking for more. It has been gratifying that the CCGTCC has used our pictures the last two years to illustrate the auction catalog.

So, you were using the postcards and photographs somewhat for the purpose of documenting the locations where the ashtrays came from?

At first, as I mentioned, they were just an adjunct to the other casino collectibles. Sure, it documented where the trays came from but I just liked looking at the old photos and going back in time. Since, I have such a heavy emphasis in our collections of small town Nevada they were of special appeal to us. To me, Small Town Nevada epitomizes the way it was in the early days of gaming in Nevada. I like the downtown Vegas stuff and early Highway 91 casinos. We really don't concentrate too much on the later Vegas items. On the strip I do have an interest in the El Rancho, Flamingo and Royal Nevada and avidly pursue items from those properties. We pursue collecting any photos of the small town, Reno, and Tahoe properties. As a collection matures it gets harder and harder to find items to add. Nonetheless, it is the thrill of the hunt!

Tell me about the Nevada Casino Ashtray Project and how that got started.

If common sense had prevailed it would have never happened. Originally, Paul J. Gregory and I had conversation about the need for a new Casino Ashtray book. Art Anderson's book was great but woefully inadequate. He even acknowledged the fact himself. However, it gave a great overview of the collecting field. Later, Roxy Held did a book but it was short of pictures and had other problems. A valiant effort but it just wasn't what was needed. I had no interest in doing a book. They are a financial drain and when new finds show up, which happens often in this hobby, what do you do to let people know?

Paul advanced the idea to do a website. I said great. You have the best collection of anyone. His response was, "I do not have the time to do it." Okay, so "E Pluribus Pinhead" steps up and says, "I'll give it a go." I am a Norweigian and prone to making unwise decisions which I blame on my heritage. This had to have been one of the worst of the worst I had made. For starters, I had no idea how to do a web site. I am a computer idiot. I called on my good friend, Floyd Smith, and told him of what I wanted to do. He agreed to do the site. I really do not think he knew what he was getting involved with. Recently he asked if we were seeing light at the end of the tunnel. My response..."Not Really."

The site is pretty extensive but there is so much more to post. Floyd's time is limited and he has been doing it pretty much gratis. The end goal is to have "The Nevada Casino Ashtray Project" be the definitive reference site for Nevada Gaming History. It's not just the trays but the history of these places we will post as best we can. I encourage anyone that has personal remembrances of these early places to please help. This history is getting buried and cremated on a daily basis. Reno and Vegas are pretty well documented but small town and Tahoe is going begging.

I have to mention our contributors list. If you look at it, it represents many of the "Best and the Brightest" in the collecting field. I am eternally grateful for all the help they have provided for this site. It would not have been possible without their contributions. At times, I was ready to tell Floyd to hit the "delete" button and can the project. Thanks to the emotional support I got from many I persisted. I am 52 years old and hope to maintain the site for a few more years. I am looking for someone to take over the "Project" and make sure it perpetuates. It is an incredible project that I am very proud of and I do not want to see it die. I realize that most casino collectors are into chips but I want them to know some of the history of the places they have chips from. It is a rich and colorful history that needs to be preserved.

What other areas have you been involved in collecting? Don't I remember you mentioning glassware or pottery?

As I mentioned before, I collected anything that appealed to me. You name it, glassware, pottery, old bottles, Beam bottles, Mettlach Steins, railroad junk. Nothing was off limits. My railroad collection specific to Chicago and Northwestern, Great Northern, Northern Pacific and The Milwaukee Road was awesome. When I sold it off a number of collectors were in awe of the items I had. It was nice to get them into permanent collections. One thing I have found about the railroad collectors is that their children are learning the collecting field. Many of the super rare items I sold will probably not see the open market for many years. I am happy about that. In a way it is sad that it is gone but I just couldn't see the point of having all this world class stuff in boxes.

Is your wife, Lynn as active in collecting as you are?

Lynn is my guiding light in collecting as we now know it. She respects my knowledge and allows me to squander thousands of dollars on this junk. We are not extremely rich people. We are comfortable but nowhere in the league of many casino collectors. In a way, that makes the items more special to us. If I had the resources to make money "no object" I do not think the collecting experience would be nearly as satisfying. Spending the "grocery money" really isn't a problem but I have drained my "Hobby Fund" down to nothing many times. It is just the thrill of the hunt. As I mentioned before, when a collection matures the items you do find are so special. I blame Lynn for sending us down this road!!! If it weren't for her I would be finishing up selling off all my junk and back to a normal life as a noncollector. I am happy that she got us into this collecting field. I have met some of the best people I have ever known. It is one special bunch of folks. I am honored to have made the acquaintances that I have.

And, I understand you've moved into collecting casino chips too. Does this mean you're leaving ashtrays behind?

"Leaving ashtrays behind", surely you jest. They are still our passion, always will be. As before, we love the postcards, drink glasses, and other miscellaneous casino stuff. Chips, sadly to say they are not my passion. I love them but have a reason for not getting too deep into them. Of course, Lynn looked at my database the other day and noted how much we have invested in them, which was more than I realized. So, I guess we must have some love for them. I just feel in any collecting field, if I can't collect the best stuff, I am collecting junk. I certainly cannot afford multi-thousand dollar chips but I am happy with my collection. I think the most I have paid for a chip was $222.00.

In the course of doing the Nevada Casino Ashtray Project I was referred to one individual that has been a guiding light. That person being James Campiglia. Mitch Heller told me one day, "Just call him, he ain't God." So, I did. From that a beautiful friendship evolved. He has helped so much with this project he is a "God" in my estimation. Earlier this summer Lynn and I got to spend three days with him in Deadwood along with Steve Wells. Two of the very best and I am honored to have made their acquaintance.

How can new collectors get started in collecting casino ashtrays?

As with any other collecting field...Get out there and learn. Avoid the pitfalls of paying way too much for the stuff. Currently on Ebay there are three bidders bashing heads and paying way too much for trays. It makes me wish I had a ton to sell. I have offered to mentor but only one has responded.

As with anything, education is all important. With casino ashtrays there isn't much available. However, I AM!!! I encourage any new collectors to e-mail and ask questions. I am more than happy to help all I can. It is a fascinating collecting field. The history is rich and colorful. My Email is:mark@communicomm.com

Your Nevada Casino Ashtray Project is a great source for new collectors. What about the published guides?

The website allows us to post new finds as they show up. It really makes any books redundant. I still tell new collectors to get a copy of Art Anderson's book, "Casinos and Their Ashtrays." It has a lot of history and pics of some pretty rare stuff from Paul Gregory's collection.

You're known for your love of small-town Nevada. How did that develop?

Small town Nevada appeals to me because of being a bunch of hard scrabble joints that didn't survive. So many of them had such a small bankroll that they went bust when one player got hot. Even in Vegas the Birdcage went down over a couple $25,000 Keno tickets and never reopened. Eddie Sahati broke the Twin States Club...they were only open from May 15th to June 30th, 1947.

I guess thinking of the people that frequented them, the smells of stale whiskey, smoke, and I suppose sweat makes them special to me. There are a few of them still open and that is great. The average age of a casino in Nevada is about 3 1/2 years. The Lucky Club in Yerington just celebrated their 70th. Go figure, they did something right.

I know you've visited a lot of these small towns yourself. Are there any places that are favorites?

Bar none, Wells. Then Ely and Lovelock. Well, all of them are special if you like the small town stuff. Most places are gone. Burnt to the ground and God knows what else happened. Some very special places. All history but we have the chips, trays, and pictures to remind us of an era that has gone away.

Wells has Front Street and it still looks pretty much as it did years ago except it is all quiet now. The buildings stand as remembrances of a long ago time. The stories they could tell. The Bulls Head Bar in the Wells Hotel and the ghost of "Giovanna" the fabled Dance Hall Girl, plus all the rest. They are still there.

In 2002, enroute to our first CCGTCC convention, we stayed in Wells. It had been a hell of a day. Early June and 6 inches of snow between Evanston, WY and Park City, UT. Then, tornadoes and hail and torrential rain across the salt flat to Wendover. We had supper at the 4 Way in Wells. Lynn wasn't feeling well so I went out driving around by myself. I found Front Street just as it was coming dark. It was lightly raining and cold. I just parked and sat there looking. I was kitty corner from the Wells Hotel. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a face in the upstairs window and then gone...Giovanna???... Who knows, but it was very real. Gene Kaplan has said that is not unusual... Check out his history of Wells Gaming on the ashtray site. It is long but a definite read.

Ely... Not much left but still one of my favorites. The Hotel Nevada is going strong. I highly recommend it. Mini Theme Suites for $39.00 a night... So nice and quiet. Two years ago Lynn and I were taking pictures of what was left of Ely. I met this old guy there... He just was wandering around and asked what we were doing... so I told him... His response was, "Hell, I can tell you all I know." I said do you drink cold beer? His response was, "Yeah, and lots of it."

We went to the Hotel Nevada and he told me Ely stories until he got so gassed he wasn't making sense. I told him we would be having breakfast in the AM and that he was invited. The next morning he was there and made apologies for drinking too much and said that he had laid awake most of the night thinking of other stuff to tell us. He told us more and then as we were walking out to get in our vehicle to leave, he gave us both a big hug, and said come back and see him. When we were there this summer we found out that the old gentleman had died.

Lovelock... Ya gotta love the "Big Meadow", just a parking lot today... I have the pictures. Delta Club... I have the Pictures... All gone. Pretty much of all the rest all gone....As I said before, the small towns will always be my favorites... Everybody knows about Bugsy and Wilbur Clark and all the rest of the Vegas stuff... I still persist in trying to find out the stuff about the small town guys. I have been fortunate enough to have contact with the granddaughter of the owner of the Golden Bubble in Gardnerville... Then the new owner of the Christmas Tree on the Mt Rose Highway. Then, the granddaughter of Rod Knight at the Hotel Pequop and the Wagon Wheel in Wells. Just fun stuff... Hopefully these will become articles for the club magazine.

Software Gimmick Rant

I've had my new Dell for just a few weeks and I love it except for one thing: The Software Renewal/Upgrade Gimmick.

The gimmick goes something like this: You read the description of the PC you're buying and all of the cool software it includes. You think about how convenient it will be to have a version of PaintShop Pro already installed, since you don't even know if it's possible to move your old version of Adobe Elements from your old machine, since it was purchased online and downloaded years ago. Oh, and look! The new Dell will come with MusicMatch already installed too! How convenient!

Then, the new PC arrives, you dump your old PC off on someone less fortunate and proceed to open these new programs.... Only to discover that you have some frickin' 30-day trial version, or you have the Constant-Nag-To-Upgrade version. Suddenly, your bargain PC starts costing you $45 every time you turn around, just to keep the dad-blasted software working!

Whatever happened to getting what you paid for in the first frickin' place. (I know, I know....read the small print)

New & Upcoming Chip Releases

The Peppermill in Wendover just released a new set of house chips, including the $1, $5, $25 and $100 denominations...

The Aladdin released a new house chip with the Planet Hollywood logo. It looks similar to the chip they released earlier, except that the earlier chip had "Coming 2006" on it.

Over the past couple of months, the Aladdin also released a bunch of $5 chips with the Planet Hollywood logo on the back and entertainers on the front for Velvet Revolver, Loggins & Messina, Colin Hay, Charlie Murphy, Mike Epps, Hank Williams, Jr., Journey, Intocable and Pepe Aguilar.

Over at the Palms, recent releases have included chips for Deuce Bigalow, Poppy Montgomery for Stuff, Dennis Hopper and Ann Margaret for Cinevegas and the continuation of the Calendar Girl Series. There will be an upcoming release at the Palms for a $10 West Coast Choppers chip on September 8th.

The Western recently released a $1 house chip based on the same design used for the higher denomination chips when Barrick Gaming took over a while back.

Harrah's has recently purchased the Imperial Palace and will operate it for a while before tearing it down, so there may be some new chips coming from there.

One way to keep up on forthcoming releases is to keep an eye on the Nevada Gaming Control's Chip & Token Report, which can be viewed online.

Long Range Report

Look for chip releases within the next few years from:

The Palazzo, under construction next to The Venetian.
The Cosmopolitan being built on the strip next to the Bellagio.
"W" Hotel to be built near Hard Rock Hotel.
MGM Mirage's CityCenter Project to be built near the Bellagio.

Collecting Tip: Get Organized and Stay That Way!!

One thing you hear seasoned chip collectors say again and again is that they wish they had been better organized from the very beginning.

When collectors start out, they often go through a flurry of buying as they seek to expand their collection quickly and explore areas of chips that they’re curious about. It doesn’t take long before most new collectors make their first accidental duplicate purchase because they’ve failed to organize their collection so they know what they have and what they don’t have.

But even before you get to that point, as a new collector you may be asking yourself how you’re going to store these fascinating casino chips you’ve discovered. You’ll find a wide range of opinions about the best types of holders and storage methods, but here are a few bits of information to consider.

CHIP HOLDERS

Many storage methods use an individual holder for each chip, which is then placed in some other holder, such as a binder or chip storage box. Chip holders come in several different types and each has its own advantages.

Vinyl pocket holders, also referred to as “flips” have clear pocket to slip the chip into and a flap that folds over that can either be solid or contain another pocket. The vinyl that these flips are made of may or may not contain PVC, which can be destructive to some types of chips. Some chips, particularly red colors, can “bleed”into the vinyl. There are also non-PVC vinyl flips, but they often become brittle and will crack where the flap folds over.

There are also cardboard flips with mylar plastic windows that can be folded to encase a chip and then stapled or taped shut. These will take up a little more storage space for each chip, but may preserve your chips better than the vinyl flips.

Another chip holder option is a hard plastic round case often called an air-tite. These provide the ultimate protection for your chips, but will cost a little more.

BINDERS & BOXES

Once you’ve decided on what type of individual chip holder to use, you need to figure out what storage method works best for you. Some collectors keep all of their chips in chip storage boxes, or portable cases, where they stand on their edges. Others want to be able to flip through pages of their chips, so they use binders with specially designed pages that hold the individual chip holders.

Since the individual chip holders are different sizes, they must be paired with binder pages designed to hold them. And, there are even binders specially designed for casino chips that do not require individual chip holders—the chips slip directly into the pockets in the binder pages and are a tight enough fit that they won’t fall out.

How you organize your chips is a matter of personal preference. Some arrange them alphabetically by casino, while others like to group geographical areas together.

As your collection grows and you obtain some traders, you may want to have a separate storage place for them, making it easier to take them to trading sessions with other collectors.

Another storage option is to keep some or all of your chips on display. Specially designed frames can hold your prized possessions and show them off to the world. Cassidy Frames and Tiny Treasures are just a couple of sources for these frames and the chip-holding inserts.

Many of the items described here can be obtained from C.T. Rodgers at C.T. Coins, who has an extensive catalog he will send you for free. Just drop him an e-mail and ask for it.

KEEPING TRACK

If I can offer new collectors one piece of advice about storing their collection, it would be to start keeping records of your chips right from the start. Trying to go back and catalog a large collection is difficult and daunting, whereas keeping track of each individual chip purchase as it's made is easy to manage.

Some collectors use an Excel or Lotus spreadsheet to list each of their chips and whatever details they find important. Others use software specially designed to keep track of collections. Terry Shaffer’s Happy Chipper website offers Collectors Assistant software by Carlisle Development. It’s a flexible database program that already contains fields for many of the details a collector would want to track, including an image of both sides of the chip. Terry even helps jumpstart your database by providing a preloaded database of over 4,000 chips, with scanned images for over 3,000 of those.

Of course the amount of detail you keep track of is up to the individual chipper. I know some chippers who keep track of dates of purchase or trade, price paid and who they obtained a chip from. Personally, I don’t have that kind of time, nor the desire to keep track of such details. But, everybody’s different.

One tool that's very useful when tracking your collection are the individual identification numbers used by the authors of various chip guides. Not every guide includes identification numbers, but you should get in the habit of using them when available.

In addition to tracking chips you own, you may want to take the next step and create a want list of chips you're seeking to add to your collection. Such a list can be helpful when trading with other chippers. It can also help you stay focused when you visit your first chip show and become overwhelmed with the thousands of chips available for purchase.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Tyrus Rex, Inc. has an excellent reference section with more information about storage of chips as part of an extensive FAQ for new collectors.

Things I Like the Idea Of

There used to be a recurring skit on Saturday Night Live that featured a couple of guys talking and the tag line was something like "Who am I kidding... that's just another thing I'll never do."

I find myself using that line sometimes. There are so many things we can spend our time doing while we're on this planet, but we can't do them all, can we?

Of course the big area where this applies is free time. I could easily find a dozen hobbies that I'd love to immerse myself in. Instead, I periodically spend some time studying the trappings of those hobbies, either on the internet or in catalogs from mail-order businesses that I'll likely never patronize.

Lots of guys my age play golf regularly, and I think I'd enjoy it, but it just takes up too much time. I'd rather spend my free hours doing other things, like working with my casino chip collection, painting, reading and writing.

Astronomy is one activity I think about delving into again and again. I've studied those Meade catalogs for hours, debating which mega-telescope would be best. And the cool thing about astronomy today, is that computerization has made it easy to find any particular star or galaxy with a few keystrokes.

I'd also like to find time for model railroading, but there's not quite enough attraction to make it worth the time and space it would occupy. When I was a kid and we went to visit my grandmother in Childress, Texas, I would sit on her front porch and watch the trains roll by directly in front of the house several times a day. I still love looking at the wide variety of artwork and lettering that adorns the sides of boxcars. But, the miniature versions really don't excite me like seeing a real train does. I like the big ones. I think I'd really rather be a railroad baron.

Six Feet Under Laid To Rest

CAUTION: Includes spoilers.

The final episode of Six Feet Under aired on HBO last night and I've got to say I'm pleased with how they wrapped things up. If you've been recording or TIVOing the show and aren't caught up, you might want to skip the rest of this entry.

It was pretty shocking when we saw that white screen come up with Nate's name and dates a couple of weeks ago, although the foreboding music at the end of the previous episode should have told us things were not going to turn out okay.

So, it was with a little trepidation that my wife and I watched the final episode last night. We weren't sure what burst of creativity might come from a group of writers who have shown us over and over the variety of ways people die, from the mundane to the spectacular.

I halfway expected Billy Chenowith to show up at a family gathering and murder everyone, or some other violent end to befall the characters. Instead, we see that even though everybody is so screwed up, like real people they heal a little and go on with life.

David finally confronts the red-hooded-sweatshirt wearing spectre that's been stalking his dreams (in another dream sequence) and seems to put that fear behind him. Brenda is finally able to remember the loving side of Nate again, leaving behind the acusatory one that has haunted her since the birth of her baby. Ruth realizes she can't live with George, even though they will remain friends, so she goes off to live with Bettina, while David and Keith move into the Fisher house with their boys. Federico sells his portion of the business to David and Keith and sets out to buy his own mortuary, with Vanessa excited about the prospect of helping in the business.

There were a few loose ends that didn't get tied up. One of Maggie's last scenes is in the waiting room of a doctor, and my wife and I speculated that she might be carrying Nate's child. Maybe this was confirmed in one of the later scenes, but if so, I missed it. Then again, Maggie did work as a pharmaceutical representative, so it may have just been a scene from her work day.

And what about George's mental problems? They seem to have vanished, although true mental illness often behaves that way too.

I'm glad most of the major conflicts were resolved and we were able to see things getting better for everyone, aside from the inevitable disappointments and tragedies that pepper all of our lives from time to time.

But, it wouldn't be right if the writers didn't get a shot at killing off the characters they have so skillfully put through their paces over the life of the show.

So, as Claire finally makes her break from the family and is driving toward her new life in New York City, we see a sequence of shots showing each of the main characters expiring, many years in the future. We're left to imagine for ourselves the scenes that take place in hundreds of unwritten episodes that will document the rest of their lives.

Perhaps it's only Claire's imaginings as she travels a lonely stretch of highway.

Or maybe it's the actual way each of the characters meet their demise.

Either way, it's okay, because the characters, just like each of us, can't live forever. The writers give us one final chance at the Big Lesson of Six Feet Under, which is that each of us will die sooner or later, so we'd better get off our asses and start living while we can.

And for that I say: "Well done."

Chip Auction Connection

I've had a deluge of activity over the past 24 hours updating and adding to The Chip Auction Connection. It's a web page I set up to list members of the Casino Chip & Gaming Token Collectors Club who sell or buy on eBay or Jackpot Auctions.

It's just a simple listing that shows each persons ID at eBay and/or Jackpot Auctions and their name and CCGTCC number. I've also hyperlinked each ID to a listing of that persons current auctions.

If you're a CCGTCC member and you'd like to be listed, please contact me.

Setting a Chip Limit???

I wrote earlier about new collectors finding a focus for their chip collection. Over the past year or so, I've been thinking about tightening my own focus even more.

Anyone who flips through the latest edition of The Chip Rack can see there are thousands of chips that have been issued in the state of Nevada since gambling began there. Like most Nevada collectors, I've come to realize that unless I find some source of unlimited funds and find the time to purchase new chips full-time, I'll never have every known Nevada chip.

Of the chips already in my collection, there is a hierarchy of "personal value", i.e. how much I like them. The "personal value" may come from the mold or inlay used to produce the chip, which casino issued it, a special story behind how I acquired it, or any number of things. Some chips just mean more to me than others.

I've already done some focus-tightening, when I decided that non-Nevada chips didn't have as much "personal value" to me. So, I removed them from my collection and placed them in my trading stock.

A while later, I decided that trying to keep up with all new limited edition chips was costing me more than I wanted to spend, and the LE chips themselves didn't have much "personal value" to me. So, I quit buying LE's unless they're issued for an event that means something to me or I really like the chip design. The LE's that I already had that didn't meet this criteria when into my trading stock.

But, even with these focus tightenings, I am finding that I still have a lot of chips that are extremely common and don't have particularly appealing designs. So, I've been toying with the idea of putting a limit on the quantity of chips in my permanent collection.

Here's how it would work: Currently I have somewhere around 1,500 to 1,700 chips in my collection and another couple hundred in trading stock. I would decide to set an arbitrary limit of say for example, 1,000 chips for my permanent collection. This would mean I would have to review all of my chips, keeping only 1,000 in my permanent collection and moving the remainder to trading stock.

From that point, each time I acquire a chip that I want to put into the permanent collection, I have to remove one, keeping the total permanent collection at 1,000 chips at all times. As time went by, I would gradually improve the quality of my collection, while the liquidation of chips removed from the collection would provide a supplementary source of funds for purchasing new chips.

Step 2 in simplifying my collecting habits would be to liquidate all of my trading stock, which is something I may spend another year thinking about before doing. More on that later.

Collecting Tip: Find Your Focus

Many chip collectors start out like I did, adding anything that even remotely looked like a casino chip to their collections. And, there's nothing wrong with starting out that way.

New collectors ask the same question over and over: "What should I collect?" The answer is of course, "Collect what you like". However, most new collectors don't really know what they like yet. They're intrigued by the idea of having a collection of chips, but don't know enough about what makes chips different to have decided what aspect of chip collecting appeals to them.

So for those collectors unable to say what they "like" yet, being open to collecting any chip makes some sense. It makes it easy to quickly increase the size of your collection if you're not particular about where a chip came from or how rare it is. You can trade chips with almost anybody once you have a few traders, because chances are good that most people you trade with will have something you don't already have.

But once you've been collecting for a while, your chip appetite may change. Or, it may not. I can only speak for what happened to me.

Some collectors never lose the thrill of adding a chip they don't already have and never narrow their focus. They collect any denomination from any location and remain perfectly happy following that pattern.

As for me, most of my gaming experience has been in Las Vegas and eventually I began to realize that I didn't feel the same way about chips from locations outside Nevada. I had chips from all over the country, but I found myself paying more attention to the Nevada chips.

Nevada seemed to me to be the mecca for chip collectors, with rare chips from Las Vegas being those most desired. And, I found that once I began to focus on Nevada, I didn't feel like I was filling my collection with chips just for the sake of making it bigger. At this point, I'm even considering shrinking my collection to only include chips I really feel are among the best that I have. More on that in a future post.

As your chip collecting experience grows, your chip appetite may zero in on some other part of the country or world, or on a certain denomination, mold, manufacturer, inlay, color, casino, subject matter, etc. We all have different tastes and bring different experiences to this hobby, and as a result we don't all find the same chips exciting.

My advice to new and moderately new collectors is to find the chips that spark your interest the most and give you a feeling of excitement when you look at them. Then, let your your chip acquisitions take you in the direction those chips lead you.

Debby Meister: Chip Designer Extraordinaire

Over the past year or so, a trend has swept through the circle of collectors that frequent Greg Susong's Chip Board.

More and more chip collectors are having personal chips made, which feature their name, CCGTCC number and often the brightly colored graphics that are available on chips produced by Chipco. A display of personal chips at the 2005 CCGTCC Convention included over 65 chips, many of them manufactured by Chipco.

Prior to this wave of personal chip production, there were only a few chip collectors with their own chips, and only a few of those were made by Chipco. One person changed that, and made it possible for dozens of collectors to have chips featuring graphics that reflect their individual personalities. Debby Meister has graciously offered her services over and over again to assist chippers in having their personal chips designed and produced. And, she has done this for free.

The past year has seen a steady parade of posts on The Chip Board from chippers proudly displaying their new chip designs and thanking Debby Meister for her help. Debby had designed so many chips that Andy Hughes has a page of Debby's designs on his Nevada Casino Chips website.

I decided to contact Debby for a cyber-interview about her chip-designing activities:

Do you do any other artwork besides designing chips?

I help people out with some web graphics now and then. Mostly it's chips, except what I do for my "real job".

Do you use art in your daily occupation?

Yes. I work in PC support for a large company and I put out a tips newsletter, more or less monthly, for the company intranet. To keep it from being too dry I throw in an illustration here and there. Sometimes, based on the time I have available, I have to use clipart, but I do original work as much as possible. I occasionally animate the graphics too. I've been told that when a new issue is announced, most of the people check it out just to see the graphics. At least our Help Desk uses the article content.

About when did you start designing chips?

In 2003.

Approximately how many chip designs have you done, including designs that haven't been made yet?

Approximately 85 and 100.

Of those, about how many were for personal chips?

Probably 90 percent including business card chips.

What casinos have you designed for?

The Palms... Thank you Gene Trimble




How many of your designs have been used by casinos?

Only three have been issued so far but there are some silver strikes on the way.

Which of your designs are you most proud of?

That's like asking a parent which child do you love more. I guess all of the Halloween (my favorite holiday) designs plus one or two others are at the top of the list.




Are you working on any special design projects that you can make public?

I have six Palms silver strikes coming out for Halloween. Plus, the Casino Chip and Gaming Token Collectors Club is planning to put out a home poker set. I believe the club magazine, "Casino Chip and Token News" is going to put an article about personal chips in one of the future issues.

To see more of Debby Meister's chip designs visit NevadaCasinoChips.com

Song of the week - Mercy Now by Mary Gauthier

The song that's been playing in my head most often this week is...

"Mercy Now" from the album entitled Mercy Now, by Mary Gauthier

My father could use a little mercy now

The fruits of his labor

Fall and rot slowly on the ground

His work is almost over

It won't be long and he won't be around

I love my father, and he could use some mercy now

My brother could use a little mercy now

He's a stranger to freedom He's shackled to his fears and doubts

The pain that he lives in is

Almost more than living will allow

I love my brother, and he could use some mercy now

My church and my country could use a little mercy now

As they sink into a poisoned pit

That's going to take forever to climb out

They carry the weight of the faithful

Who follow them down

I love my church and country, and they could use some mercy now

Every living thing could use a little mercy now

Only the hand of grace can end the race

Towards another mushroom cloud

People in power, well

They'll do anything to keep their crown

I love life, and life itself could use some mercy now

Yeah, we all could use a little mercy now

I know we don't deserve it

But we need it anyhow

We hang in the balance

Dangle 'tween hell and hallowed ground

Every single one of us could use some mercy now

Every single one of us could use some mercy now

Every single one of us could use some mercy now

New Chips From The Cosmopolitan (in a few years)

The face of the Las Vegas Strip continues to evolve, with even more mega-resort properties under construction or in the planning stages. One that I keep coming across in glossy magazine advertisements is The Cosmopolitan, a planned $1.5 billion hotel and condominium project with a casino and shopping attached, expected to open in 2008.

The project is being built by a private group called 3700 Associates, which is made up of New York and Miami developers and a former Venetian executive named David Friedman.

The well-known, ultra-hip design group Arquitectonica are also involved in the project. Hyatt Hotels Corporation announced earlier this year that they will operate the 2,700 room hotel on the property as the Grand Hyatt Las Vegas at The Cosmopolitan.

Since both Hyatt and 3700 Associates are private companies, it's been difficult to find news about the progress of the project, with the exception of pre-construction condominium sales offers and a slick website.

The location will be on the west side of the strip between the Bellagio and MGM Mirage's planned Project CityCenter, which will be a massive complex including two 60-story towers, restaurants, shopping and a 150,000 square foot casino.

The casino at The Cosmopolitan is expected to cover 75,000 square feet and Hyatt will not be involved in its operation. The proposed casino is described as "full-service", with craps, blackjack, baccarat, roulette, slots, a poker room and race & sports book. Which means we should see another set of chips with a new name on them within a few years. Let's hope the chip design is as cool-looking as the hotel promises to be.

Perhaps they should let Arquitectonica design the chips too.

An Invasion Surfaces Over the Threshold

It must be interesting to be a waiter in a restaurant frequented by the movers and shakers from TV and/or motion pictures. My guess is that Hollywood waiters can predict pretty accurately which trend is going to sweep the industry next. Talk at the tables for the last few years probably centered around reality television and shows featuring celebrities playing poker. Isn't it strange that an industry that thinks of itself as so creative can only focus on one or two ideas at a time?

The latest trend, no doubt spurred by Steven Spielberg's remake of War of the Worlds, is the alien invasion drama. This fall, all three major networks will boast an alien-themed show. Anyone want to make a wager on whether any of them will be renewed beyond their initial run?

The aliens at CBS get right inside us and change our DNA on Threshold, starring Carla Gugino, which is sceduled for Friday nights. Gugino and her team must figure out the purpose of the invasion and figure out what has happened to the crew of a ship where the a creepy looking symbol (which coincidentally resembles the international biohazard symbol) shows up repeatedly.

ABC enters the fray with Invasion on Wednesday nights. The story begins after a hurricane, when people begin changing mysteriously. We feel a chill run down our spine when a young girl's alien-sensing nose picks up the change: "Mommy, you smell different." The change that's come over everybody seems to have something to do with some lights in the water, which may make this show easy to confuse with...

NBC's alien-invasion show is entitled Surface, and the beautiful, newly discovered critters that pose such an ominous threat come from beneath the surface of the oceans.

Whether any of these three shows will be worth watching remains to be seen, but with all three beginning at the same time, I wonder what their chances really are. The basic premise of all three shows involves characters working against the clock to solve the mystery of the invasion and stop it. To keep a drama like this going, the writers have to factor in all sorts of side plots and background information, which makes for a complicated story line. Will viewers be able to keep the developing stories on the three shows straight? Can you imagine trying to watch three different versions of Lost at the same time? One version was too much for me to stick with.

I really shouldn't bitch about it though. I'm delighted to see primetime television moving back toward dramas and comedies and away from the reality-show rut it's been stuck in for so long. Still, it would be nice if there were more original ideas being given a chance.

I know the original ideas out there. In fact, most of the waiters bringing bottled water to the tables of those Blackberry-toting power-players in Hollywood probably have a screenplay on the hard-drive of their computers that would be more interesting to watch than what will fill the fall schedule this year.

Maybe the waiters should stage an invasion of their own.

Real Music is Alive And Well and Has a Twang

I grew up in a fairly small town isolated by miles of open road from anything that could conceivably be called a big city. As a result, my choices in radio listening have always been limited.

Throughout the 60's and 70's when summer days and winter evenings were spent with a radio constantly providing the background noise to my raising, there were three basic formats being used by the local radio stations.

The first was the "popular" music format, which included top-40 rock & roll songs exclusively. The quality of local rock & roll programming has seemed to degenerate steadily from a high point when I was in about the 7th grade. Still, this was the radio format I listened to religiously from the time I learned to tune the radio dial until I got old enough to realize there was equally good music that never even got played on the radio.

The second popular local radio format was the "easy listening" or "beautiful music" format that no self-respecting 13-year-old would have been caught dead listening to back then. Elevator music. Who would have thought Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett and lounge music would be so hip now, forty years later?

The third format, which had an impact on me beginning the summer we moved outside the city limits. In those days, in the conservative part of the country where I lived, in the middle of the Vietnam War, there was a certain, large segment of the local population who distrusted anything remotely associated with "hippies" or rock & roll. They leaned more toward the cowboy lifestyle although most never went near any livestock larger than an Irish Setter.

Suddenly, after moving 3 miles outside of town, I found myself surrounded by kids who sided more often than not with the "cowboys" anytime there was a "cowboys -vs- hippies" controversy in school. I still listened to rock & roll, but was getting to the age when I began to tire of hearing the same dozen songs played repeatedly all day long.

I began to dip my toe into the waters of country music, the third major format available on local radio. I liked most of what I heard, but over the years have grown to hate the direction Nashville has taken towards slick over-produced songs that sound more like top-40 than anything remotely resembling country music.

Over the years since I first discovered it, I've listened to country music off and on in situations where the only music available was from a local radio station. During the 80's, I became a fan of several artists included in the first wave of alternative country, which was also called "progressive country", including Joe Ely, Jerry Jeff Walker and Butch Hancock. And while I've followed their careers and continued to buy their albums in the years since, I've divided my listening time to all sorts of music, including blues, jazz, reggae, world-beat, ambient and whatever else seemed to be on the cutting edge at the time.

Then, a couple of years ago, I learned of the growing resurgence of alternative country, or whatever you want to call it this year. I began by listening online to a radio station from Freedom, California called KPIG. They play alternative country artists alongside blues, folk and rock & roll in a format that's hard to pigeonhole. Later, when I got access to XM Satellite Radio, I began listening to the excellent "X Country" station and have a now-growing list of artists that I can't seem to get enough of.

Lucinda Williams tops my list, and the list of many other people. She has been called one of the best living songwriters by many people, and is well deserving of the praise. She has so many excellent songs and recorded performances that it's difficult to tell someone who isn't familiar with her work where to start. Many people feel that Car Wheels On A Gravel Road, released in 1998 is one of her best efforts.





The followup, which was released in 2001 is entitled Essence, and certainly stands up well too. The most recent studio album is entitled World Without Tears, and is one of my personal favorites. Earlier this year, Lucinda released Live at The Fillmore, a two-disk set that contains many of her best songs captured in stunning performances at the Fillmore in San Francisco in early 2004. Word is that Lucinda Williams has 20-something new songs and will be working on a studio album later this year. For those of us who relish every word she sings, its release can't come soon enough.

Another artist that I heard for the first time on KPIG is another who receives well-deserved praise for his songwriting ability. James McMurtry sings about real people in real situations and the quiet desperation that sometimes pervades their lives. My personal pick from James McMurtry's discography is Saint Mary of the Woods, one of my favorite albums of all time. His live album, entitled Live in Aught-Three is also an excellent introduction to his music. McMurtry will release a new studio album in September 2005 entitled Childish Things, and you can count me among the growing list of people who are eagerly awaiting it.

There are so many other alt-country artists that I love hearing that I haven't mentioned yet and may explore in future writings, including Billy Joe Shaver and Mary Gauthier among others. If you want to read more about the alternative country music movement, No Depression magazine is an excellent place to start. There is also a book of writings collected from the magazine available, entitled No Depression: An Introduction To Alternative Country Music, Whatever That Is.

Buy the book before you buy the chip

Archie Black, a longtime collector and founding member of the Casino Chip & Gaming Token Collectors Club has a bit of advice for any new collector that bears repeating:

"Buy the book before you buy the chip."

If you've been collecting casino chips for any length of time and you don't already have a copy of The Official U.S. Casino Chip Price Guide, you owe it to yourself to check it out. Authored by James Campiglia and Steve Wells, the 3rd Edition was published in 2004 and contains 416 pages with over 2,000 full-color photos of chips from Nevada, Colorado, Deadwood, SD, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri and Atlantic City, NJ.

According to the authors, the book's scope includes "all legal, full-service American casino areas with legitimate gaming commissions." The authors also point out that the purpose of the book is to catalog the "real, regular issue chips actually used on the tables". Space did not allow the inclusion of a section on Nevada limited editions in the 3rd Edition, as was included in the earlier 2nd Edition. But, all limited edition Hard Rock Hotel chips are included in this volume.

Some collectors may be disappointed at what's not included, especially since the chips covered are presented so well. But, as with any reference book, the authors had to define a stopping point or the project of compiling the information, and keeping it current until publication date, would never end.

The 3rd Edition of the Guide uses the official chip grading system of the Casino Chip & Gaming Token Collectors Club, which is described in the book. And, of course the prices have been updated from those listed in the 2nd Edition.

In addition to photos and listings of chips by casino and their values, the introduction to the book also includes some basic information on chip collecting and care for those just starting out. There are also listings of mold and inlay types with descriptions to help identify them.

But, the real fun of the book starts on page 27 where the first pictures of chips appear. This book has some of the tastiest eye-candy a chip collector could ever hope for. The chips illustrated aren't just the typical, common checks that seasoned collectors have seen hundreds of times. There are rarely seen chips that most will only see in the pages of this book or in exclusive auction catalogs.

It would be fair to say that the bulk of chips shown and described in the pages of the 3rd Edition are from Nevada, although the areas I mentioned earlier are also covered. The Nevada coverage is what makes this book (along with The Chip Rack by Knapp, Myers and Wheelden) a must-have for the Nevada collector. There are 144 pages (with pictures of 860 chips) from Las Vegas alone. Another 154 pages (and 924 pictures of chips) covers the remainder of Nevada, including Lake Tahoe, Reno and other small Nevada towns.

There are 10 pages of Colorado chips; 8 pages on Deadwood, SD; 2 pages on Illinois; 4 pages on Indiana; 5 pages on Iowa; 5 pages on Louisiana; 17 pages on Mississippi and 9 pages on Atlantic City, NJ. Each page contains 6 pictures of individual chips (so you do the math for your favorite area).

In addition to the chips shown, there are photographs and postcard images of casinos scattered throughout the book, making it one of those books where you always seem to notice something new each time you pick it up.

In my opinion, a chip collector can never have too many reference books, and when you can find one that's so much fun to page through. So, take some words of advice I borrowed from one who knows, and buy the book before you buy the chip.

Got My Mow-jo Workin'

I don't know exactly how it happened, but the time I spend mowing my yard in the spring, summer and fall has become a sort of fountain of inspiration for me. It started several years ago, and now I really look forward to seeing what will pop into my head while I'm shuffling along behind the mower, sweating like a marathon runner.

I hated mowing when I was a kid, partly because I've always had hay fever and would finish each session sneezing and with swollen, red and itchy eyes. Nowadays I wear a paper mask when I mow, which mostly eliminates the sneezing and red eyes.

For a while, I wore a Walkman when I mowed, and listened to rock and roll cranked up loud enough to hear over the noise of the mower. But, a few years ago, I decided to visit an audiologist to find out if there was anything I could do about my tinnitus, the constant high pitched whining sound I hear 24 hours a day. He tested my hearing and told me I had lost some of my ability to hear higher frequencies, so I stopped wearing the Walkman and started wearing foam earplugs when I mow.

I live in New Mexico where the sun shines most of the time, so I always wear sunglasses when I mow. Oh, and I never forget the gardening gloves for my hands.

So, there I am, nestled into my walking cocoon, sheltered from the pollen, noise, glare and the vibration of the mower. How could inspiration NOT make an appearance?

As I was saying, the first time inspiration visited was a few years ago. At the time, I was working on writing a novel, something I do from time to time as a hobby. Since I didn't have music to listen to while mowing anymore, I started thinking about the characters in my novel and trying to figure out diff