I don't know about your karaoke singing, but downtown LV was going through a bit of a slump back then. But parallel to that, the interest in LE's was on the rise.

It is a fact that the Pioneer Club issued 2 different sets of LE's just before they closed for good. (And never to reopen as a casino again -- just a gift shop. At least they were smart enough to keep Vegas Vic in place with his neon beckoning to all, even today. )

Here's the arithmetic --
The first set of LE's was a numbered 6-piece set from 25c to $100 face, with 200 sets made. They sold out all 200 sets, rationed 2 sets per buyer in line at the casino cage early one morning (though some may have gone to the end of the line for more sets.) It was well designed and I enjoy the 2 sets I bought. At $131.75 per set x 200 sets, that a total face value of $26,350. If the chips cost $1 each to make (back then), that's $1200 to make & $26,350 to sell = $25,150 net profit to the owners. (I heard that some of the $100's were turned in during the required redemption period, but it was still a $20K+ net profit for the owners.) I'm not complaining, just doing the math.

The second set was a 12-piece set of $5 LE's with various Nevada historical references. Again, a very nicely done LE's. With each set at $60 face x 2000 sets made (per notation in TCR), that's $120,000 of total face value. If these also cost $1 each to make (= $1 x 12 x 2000 = $24,000 total cost), that's a net profit of $96,000 ... IF all the sets were sold and none were cashed back in at redemption time. I had heard (2nd hand) that only about half the sets were outstanding after the redemption period, either never sold or redeemed, but I don't know the actual count. Even if it is around half, that's still a net profit of $40K to $50K ???

Maybe a grand total profit from both LE programs of $75K +/- for the owners? Not a huge windfall, and NGCB approved the chips, so all was legal. And I like the LE sets -- back then, and still to this day. I'd put them in the top 10% of LE designed chips out there, but that's just my personal opinion. Others may differ.

I'll withhold a few bits of info, but that's the essence of the Pioneer LE story from 1995 (30+ years ago!!)