Buy what you need, James. You are already blasted regularly for writing the first (and only) book on grading chips. If you don't like the holder it comes in, you can always remove it [g].

Incidently, I have found no need to buy a certified chip to date, but wouldn't hesitate to do so if I found a chip I needed at a decent price.

The arguments I have heard about "slabbing ruining the hobby" are all based on emotion and not on reason. Most of the club members who are opposed don't often buy the kind of chip that would be graded and encapsulated anyway, so the "peer pressure" objection is moot, in my opinion.