() As David said, switch left & right.
I'm no expert on these, but the "Tina" (China-made) chips used to be ceramic (plain), then graduated to a printed mold of various types which could look (sort of) like a real mold in a picture, but was still a flat ceramic in real life.
Then, they graduated to a "hybrid" mold which (to my understanding) is still a ceramic base, but there's an ACTUAL indented (incused) mold of sorts around the rim. Though the indention is shallower and not as "crisp" as the real clay chip molds.
Without clear distinctive graphics, like an open & close date or a "Commemorative" notation, etc. these may well be problematic to the genuine casino collectibles market place over time, even if they were innocently designed as part of a home game set. JMHO.
The set of Mirage home game chips (and others, I'm sure) belong in this discussion too. See them available here:
https://www.apachepokerchips.com/product/mirage-casino-sample-chips/
A 12-piece sample set for $7.99 for the whole sample set (plus shipping). Although done on the weave mold (flat/photo or hybrid style? I don't know yet, although I have 1 set on order strictly as a reference set), these sure do resemble the real Mirage chips unless placed side by side. The casual buyer / collector may not know automatically that genuine Mirage chips were never made on the weave mold.
But the "horse has left the barn" on this issue. Anyone with the money (or group-buys a lot of times, to place a very large order for economy of scale & shipping cost reasons) can have them made in China & shipped to any buyer anywhere on Earth.
Charles -- although this only only one aspect of "sets" collecting (with the main thrust being the challenge of finding enough de-commissioned chips from a real (closed / never opened) casino to make a playable set -- I'd like to hear the "Sets" panel of experts at Convention "Set Collectors Forum" (Friday, June 19 at 5:30 pm, South Point Joshua Room) comment on these & similar "home game" sets. Pros & cons; cautions, etc.
** If some ChipBoard readers are totally new to this subject (I'm still a novice & learning too), you can ask Google AI something like: "Who makes Tina poker chips in China?" or you can ask where you can purchase Tina poker chips in the USA, etc.
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