First of all: I like these chips and think they are good value for money; I bought some, then purchased a second batch (totaling 500). They came with a very light manufacturing residue which gave them a chalky, clay like feel. After use, or after cleaning, the residue goes and they feel somewhat less like “earth clay” but look more intense in colour. I tried applying oil to a few which did enhance their colour further but they got a plasticy sheen to them. After a couple of days of use however, the oiled and unoiled chips were indistinguishable. In short, it’s probably not worth cleaning or oiling them as after a few days of use you won’t be able to tell the difference anyway. Stacks of 50 were all within a 1/4 chip thickness of each other and the size and weight felt consistent. The labels were fairly well applied: all present and correct with about 99% perfectly centred though they are not aligned with the edge spots. About 1% of the chips had slight specs or streaks of colour misplaced on them but none significantly so. Only one chip had any sort of “dent”, in this case a small piece of one of the edgespots was missing showing the material beneath. Overall I’d say that’s a good showing from a quality control standpoint at the price. As for the feeling of the material, this is very much subjective. They have a nice sound when riffled or splashed. If you bump two stacks together you’d believe they were made of some sort of earth clay. Individually the feel falls between plastic, rubber and clay with a fairly matte surface. They have a dense, “dead” weight to them. They can be scratched if you apply some force. As a compression molded chip the colours of the chip and edge spots aren’t just superficial so scratches aren’t too visible even if you do make them. For me, a decent balance of durability and feel. The mold has a nice “crown and diamond” pattern with a very light texture (almost invisible to the naked eye) over the entire surface and a similarly fine texture on the stickers (presumably to improve friction when stacking). The colours are fairly bold with the red, green and black being especially striking with the purple being a little dull. The edge spot design is pleasant, as is the graphic on the sticker. Again, for the price a nice design and look. In play they stack, shuffle and move well. Stacks of 25 are very sturdy but once you get up to 50 they are getting a little less stable. I’ve stacked them up to 100 but wouldn’t feel confident that they wouldn’t fall if I was actively playing around them. Worth noting is that if you press them together firmly they almost “stick” slightly to one another stabilizing them further. Once more, they are very functional for the price. So long story short: in pretty much every dimension these are good for the price. They are definitely a good middle ground between the budget poker chips you see on sale everywhere around the holidays and the $1.50 per chip high end options.
