Its not,

We are small community and most of the chips that would probably be slabbed someone knows who has it. Yes there is some that would fall through the cracks but you can say the same thing for coins or any other hobby. Things show up out of nowhere all the time.

I would say that out of the thousands of chips I have own in my life I suspect that less than a few hundred would have been good enough to grade and slab.

Paul S.

I'd agree, it's never too late. As for what might be slabbed, you never know how far people will go, if they think there's a profit in it, over the cost of the grading and slabbing.

The last part was really a laugh for me. If I dug deep, I mean really a stretch, I might have a chip that's worthy of slabbing. And I could be wrong, it might be TWO. But probably the answer is none. That is a sure reason why I have the opinion that I do. I understand others have different motivations.

Making it all down to the bottom line, (in my opinion) there are three basic types of people who would be interested in slabbing or not.

Collectors: who collect and want the chips. They don't care, because they like the history and the art and accumulating casino related items. Slabs just raise the cost of collecting.

Dealers: Might be collectors and are trying to make a profit, they are doing something they enjoy and have an interest in, for gain but also enjoyment.

Profiteers: Who don't care about the history, the hobby or the collecting, and just look at putting a chip in a sealed case, with a grade, because it will turn more of a profit, than just as a chip alone, in some air-tite. They are investors dealing in a commodity.

Where some people see the slabbing as a way to create interest, it's not collectors or hobby interest, it's only the investors or profiteers interest and in the end, does nothing to advance "The Hobby". That interest just makes having fun and collecting, more expensive and hurts, more than it helps. Coins are high end, limited, and aside from some rare or highest grade, the entire hobby of collecting coins has been turned into that high end. Entry level, fun and hobby collectors, have left. No one collects from circulation anymore?

How is something "collecting", if it's just a matter of who has the most money and can buy the biggest and best? How does making chips, more expensive, more exclusive and more difficult to store or ship, bring in new people and make something attractive and fun?

But I always thought chip collecting was about the chase, the casinos, the trading, the finding and the enjoyment, not all about making a buck, from someone else.