The Hunt

The following article was posted by Jim on the old Prodigy Board on December 21st, 1997

Nothing in chip and token collecting excites me more than a chip show or gathering together of "chippers". Everyone brings their sell and/or trade books and the "hunt" for those elusive or bargain chips begins.

We sit and go through each binder looking for pieces we need or those pieces we know our friend needs. When I first started collecting a little over two years ago I would go through a binder and come to the conclusion there was nothing in it I needed. A very dear friend of mine would also go through the same binder and always come out with a chip or two I missed. I would say to myself how in the heck did I miss that piece. The answer was not as easy as I first thought! He told me this and I pass it on to you: "Always look at a chip from the edge in. Train your eye to move from the outside where the mold is towards the center inlay or hot stamp". Sounded simple enough until I tried it myself. Man it is tough to do. It takes patience and practice and I still haven't completely mastered it. However, I don't miss as many chips as I use too.

Most dealers and/or collectors have basically the same chips for sale or trade. This will become obvious the more binders you look at. What you want to find are those unique pieces; that 1% to 3% of an individuals inventory that no one else has. The more binders you properly look at the more you will see what I say is true. I have found that if I place my finger on each chip I'm looking at and force my eyes to the mold or edge of that chip and than to the center the process goes quicker. Please don't tell my old grammar school reading teacher; she would chastise me for using my finger. Plan to spend a little time looking at a binder. Don't be in a hurry - otherwise you will miss those great chips. Unless you plan to spend the whole show at the various dealer tables you are not going to be able to cover them all properly. There just isn't enough time. Heck, I have spent hours looking at just one dealer's books and come up empty. Also, I have spent just a few minutes and struck "gold". You never know what you will find but I know you will miss many chips if you don't examine those binders correctly.