My limited exposure to this hobby (I'm very new -- just a handful of chips in my collection so far) really doesn't put me in a position to guess intelligently. I will offer my thoughts however.

I deal with The Hard Rock on a nearly daily basis, covering all sorts of stories for them, and yet their chip releases are something they never promote publicly -- even though the music press does have some interest in a band being given a commemorative chip, just as we care about a band getting their own memoribilia display at a Hard Rock. I found out about the Hagar release from Sammy Hagar's reps, and did a very small story on it. I had to ask them abotu the WHo release as part of my coverage of the Who concert (the tour kicks off at the Joint, which is a very small venue for them - so that's a big story). That makes this a great hobby for me, as there's no potential conflict of interst, but it raises some questions.

All of that said, it seems to me that the Hard Rock does not seek P.R. value out of chip releases -- and this a a very media-savy company that has incredible relations with the press. So why do they do it? the same reason as everyone I suppose, for the opportunity to sell 60-cent pieces of plastic for $5, $25, or even $100.

So the potential liabilty comes from how regular collectors respond to these releases. If repeated releases like this frustrates collectors who are now unable to complete their collections, it could conceivably reduce the Hard Rock's ability to sell commemoratives in the future. If regulars don't care about the occasional "high roller" chip, there's not much harm.

That question must be balanced against whether the high-rollers appreciate these gifts. If they do, their gambling business may be worth more than the loss in limited-edition sales -- if any. And if the chips are appreciated by big-time gamblers, it's a nice way to hand every big-spender a $1000 gift that only costs the company 60-cents. If they don't appreciate them, the potential loss in collector business would be more troublesome.

SO I guess I just said a lot of nothing. The folks at Hard Rock arre smart and care a lot about their reputation and customer satisfaction. It'll be intersting to see them balance the two interests.