Collectors are always looking for something different, ¿0asomething unique to add to their collection. Because of that card companies are ¿0acontinually looking at ways to "think outside the box" and develop new products ¿0ato grab someone’s attention. Well, Topps not only stepped outside the box but ¿0athey threw the box just about completely away. With Collector Chips they fused ¿0athe poker rage and basketball collecting by putting players on chips that ¿0aexactly replicate the size and weight of real poker chips for a very, very ¿0aunique collectible.

¿0a

So what made Topps think of this concept? To them it ¿0aseemed like a no-brainer. "Poker is huge," said Topps spokesman Clay Luraschi. ¿0a"It’s everywhere and everyone is playing whether it’s competitively or casually. ¿0aPeople really like the concept. Some are collecting the chips and displaying ¿0athem, others are playing with them and some are doing both."***image1:right***

¿0a

After seeing the product, you may wonder why you didn’t ¿0athink of it first.

¿0a

The Chips and The Odds

¿0a

Collector Chips come in a box ready-made for a store ¿0adisplay, holding 16 packs of five chips each. The packs are sealed in clear ¿0aplastic and are difficult to open without scissors – meaning pack searching is ¿0ajust about impossible, although the top chip is clearly visible.

¿0a

There are 200 chips in the base set, but they are not all ¿0acreated equal. There are 110 white chips – 90 veterans and 20 rookies; 50 red ¿0achips – 20 retired players, 24 of last year’s All-Stars, and six award winners ¿0afrom the 2005 All-Star Weekend; 30 blue chips – 24 top veterans and six top ¿0arookies; and 10 green chips – seven premier veterans and three outstanding ¿0arookies. It is quite possible to see the same player featured on many different ¿0acolored chips – Dwyane Wade has a chip in each color.***image2:right***

¿0a

Are there parallels? Of course! This wouldn’t be as much ¿0afun if there weren’t parallels and Topps figured out how to create some. Each ¿0apack of five chips has on average one parallel in it. There are 160 parallels of ¿0athe white and red chips – not the blue and green ones though. Each of these 160 ¿0aparallels can come in one of five colors: White, sequentially numbered to 599 – ¿0a1:3 packs; red, #/399 – 1:4 packs; blue, #/299 – 1:6 packs, green, #/199 – 1:8 ¿0apacks; and gold, numbered 1/1 – 1:980 packs.

¿0a

It’s easy to tell these apart from the regular chips. All ¿0achips have a color and black alternating around the outside of the chip – on ¿0abase chips this color is a wider strip; on parallels the black is wider and the ¿0acolor is narrower. This might actually be the easier way to tell if the chip is ¿0aa parallel, because reading the gold serial numbering on the back of the chip ¿0acan be difficult depending on the color it’s affixed to.***image6:right***

¿0a

Is there more? Sure there is – what would this be if ¿0athere weren’t autographs? There are 33 different subjects, ranging from rookies ¿0ato retired players to veterans, who have gold colored autographs randomly ¿0ainserted. The print runs are limited to 100, but there is no serial numbering. ¿0aThey come 1:116 packs.

¿0a

The Breakdown

¿0a

I enjoyed opening this box – take a look:

¿0a

* 29/110 white chips - 9 duplicates; Chris Paul,¿0aMarvin Williams, Deron Williams
¿0a* 13/50 red chips - 2 duplicates, 1 triple
¿0a* 4/30 blue chips - Carmelo Anthony, Steve Nash (2), Jason Kidd (2), Emeka ¿0aOkafor
¿0a* 3/10 green chips – Tim Duncan, LeBron James, Andrew Bogut (2)
¿0a* 7/110 white parallel chips #/599 – Luol Deng (2), Brevin Knight (3), Primoz ¿0aBrezec, Elton Brand
¿0a* 3/160 red parallel chips #/399 – LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Kenyon Martin
¿0a* 3/160 blue parallel chips #/299 – Zach Randolph, Steve Francis (2)
¿0a* 2/10 green parallel chips #/199 – Vince Carter, Elton Brand
¿0a* (1) gold autograph chip – Sean May

¿0a

Favorite Chip: I have to confess, I don’t really¿0ahave a favorite – I think the whole concept and every single one of these chips¿0ais fantastic. The great thing about these is they are multi-functional: Even if¿0asomeone collects the whole set, they don’t have to just sit in a box or a¿0adisplay case. Because of the design these are very hardy pieces and can actually¿0abe used for the weekly poker game – if you are so inclined – and could impress¿0ayour buddies. If they get dropped on the floor or if the cat knocks over a pile¿0aof them (nope, never happens at my house…) there are no worries about chipping¿0athe edges because they are round. Unless they get crushed under a seriously¿0aheavy weight or the pictures on the chips get wet they’ll be fine. In the¿0acollecting world, that just about makes them indestructible.***image5:right***

¿0a

Rookie Breakdown: Out of the 80 chips in the box¿0athere were six rookies: The two green Andrew Boguts, the white Chris Paul, white¿0aMarvin Williams, white Deron Williams, and the gold autograph of Sean May. Not¿0abad, ending up with the top four picks in the 2005 draft. Bogut isn’t getting¿0amuch credit on the national scene, but the reality is he is doing everything the¿0aBucks want him to do. They already have Jamaal Magloire to man the middle so¿0athey slotted the #1 pick at power forward and asked him to rebound and defend,¿0amuch like Orlando did last season with Dwight Howard. Bogut is scoring 8.7 a¿0anight and grabbing 7.3 rebounds while averaging almost a block and a steal a¿0anight. 

¿0a

Marvin Williams has shown flashes in Atlanta of his¿0atalent, but until Al Harrington gets traded (getting more likely by the day) he¿0awon’t get all the minutes he needs to really improve. As of today, he’s¿0aaveraging 6.1 points and 4.5 rebounds, but he scored 26 against the Heat just¿0athe other night. Consistency is the key for many rookies and Williams is¿0astruggling to find that – he followed up the 26-point effort with two against¿0aPhiladelphia.***image3:right***

¿0a

Chris Paul has been fantastic this season with the New¿0aOrleans/Oklahoma City Hornets. When they traded Baron Davis last season things¿0alooked bleak, but Paul has stepped in and been everything Davis was and possibly¿0aeven more. He’s leading the team in scoring (16.9), assists (7.0), and steals¿0a(2.31), plus he’s grabbing 6.1 rebounds a night – from the point guard spot! He¿0ahas yet to earn himself a triple-double in a game, but he’s been close and it¿0aseems almost inevitable one will come, probably sooner rather than later. 

¿0a

Likewise in Utah Deron Williams is making a big¿0aimpression. When summer league went by and training camp started Williams still¿0alooked raw, but he improved quickly enough to have already started 19 games for¿0athe Utah Jazz. Fourth on the team with a 11.5 scoring average, he’s also tops in¿0aassists (5.0). The knock on Williams so far is his shooting percentage (38.8%),¿0abut expect that to creep up as he gets more comfortable with running an NBA¿0aoffense.

¿0a

Sean May has played pretty well for the Charlotte¿0aBobcats, especially considering he’s playing behind last year’s Rookie of the¿0aYear Emeka Okafor. In just 17.3 minutes a night (but with one start when Okafor¿0amissed a game) May is scoring 8.2 points and grabbing 4.7 rebounds. 10 times¿0ahe’s topped double-digit scoring this season, plus grabbed a high of 10 rebounds¿0aagainst the Magic in November.

¿0a

The Conclusion

¿0a

Grades are given on a five-point rating scale – five¿0abeing the best.

¿0a

Basic Chip Design – 5.0
¿0aRookie Chip Design – 5.0
¿0aInsert Chip Design – 4.5
¿0aBig Chip Chances – 4.5

¿0a

Overall – 4.75 stars

¿0a

Only one thing held Collector Chips back from a top score¿0a- the duplicates. The box opened has 80 chips – of my 80, 19 were duplicates and¿0atwo were triples. In fact, in one pack there were two white Andre Miller chips.¿0aAnd three Brevin Knight white parallels? It’s easy to figure out how many packs¿0aexist to see the print run: There are 160 of the gold 1/1 parallels, and they¿0aare seeded at 1:116 packs, so 160*116=18560. Divide that by 16 and you get the¿0anumber of boxes, roughly (some are retail) – 1160. With so many different chips¿0apossible in a box (200 base chips, 33 autographs, and 160 each of the white,¿0ared, blue, green, and gold parallels) the duplicates were a tad high. Some are¿0afine, but almost a quarter of them?***image4:right***

¿0a¿0a

OK – enough of that. In the grand scheme of collecting¿0athat’s hardly something to really worry about. This product is fun to open, fun¿0ato collect, and it brings something no other product on the market does – fun to¿0aplay with. The boxes are also affordable. A couple searches on the internet¿0aturned up prices from $40 to as high as $75. I had to look a bit though – some¿0aof my usual reference stores didn’t carry them.

¿0a¿0a

So, if you are a little bored with your collection and¿0ayou find yourself watching poker on TV all the time, or if you have a weekly¿0apoker night with the guys, or you love hitting the tables in Las Vegas or¿0aAtlantic City, this is definitely a product to check out. Sure, you might pull¿0asomething pretty nice, but if you don’t you can ante up for the next game night.

¿0a