My Process: custom labels for Nexgen chips

[ky70]

I thought I would create a topic talking about my personal experience with getting custom chip labels for my Nexgen chips. I know that I’ve searched every poker forum I could think of for this type of info before I got started and think this thread will be helpful to some.

The Chips: I knew I wanted to do custom labels for Nexgen chips (based on the positive opinions about these chips, and the edge spots, and the recessed center which is ready made for 1” label). I just bought 500 Nexgen’s (bought Friday and received Tuesday) and I initially did not like the feel of them but I’m really starting to like these chips the more I "play" with them. They’re starting to feel better and better and they definitely look good sliding across the felt (sidebar: When I bet/call, I like to throw my chips out a variety of ways to give the appearance that I’ve played a lot of live poker).

The Labels: After stumbling upon the whole custom label market, my first thought was to do it myself. I saw plenty of people had done their on labels but the more I researched it the more of found little issues (what type of printer to use, what type of paper to use, what to set the margins at, what program to use for the design) that my be think I should let a pro do it. So I got in contact with 2 main custom label makers that the masses seem to use, Jason (jasone@verizon.net goes by cin0s3 on Ebay) and Brent of Lynbark (lynbark@nc.rr.com goes by lynbark on Ebay). Let me say that both guys were extremely responsive and their customer service was great. I selected them because they allowed me to come up with idea and then they designed a label based on my specific requests. They would e-mail me a visual sample (the quick turnaround was amazing from both, but especially from Jason) and if I wanted alterations, they made the changes quickly and e-mailed the amended custom label. I decided to use both guys at the end because I did not know which design would look best in person. I dealt with both guys directly (not using Ebay) and the cost from each guy was about $36 (including shipping) for 1000 labels. If you select one of their existing designs, the price is cheaper (I believe). After all the changes to the label designs, I ordered from Jason this past Friday morning and from Brent this past Saturday morning and received their labels on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively. I liked both labels but the label from Lynbark looked better to my eyes. I asked them both for the same basic design, butt I did ask for specific things for one that I didn’t ask for another (AK of spades on the labels from Jason didn’t look like it really belonged – but that’s my fault). The text on Lynbark’s labels were also more consistent, but I would not hesitate to use Jason again as I believe he could design just as good a label as Lynbark.

The Application: I searched every craft store I could find in search of that Krylon preserve it stuff to apply on the labels, but NO ONE seemed to have it. I’m too excited to put off applying the labels until I can hunt this down (and I only seem to find it online) so I sit down and prepare myself to apply the Lynbark labels. I already had my poker table up in the basement so I plunk down at about 9pm and begin to start labeling. I have 6 different colored Nexgen chips and six different label colors that correspond. I ended up getting about 100 chips done (2 different colors) in about 1.5 hours. The application is simple enough but I am being very careful about applying the labels, as I want them to look professionally done. I remember a thread where someone said it took them 2 hours to apply labels on 500 chips and this person either is great at applying labels or was not concerned with the small details (I have the label on both sides in the same position and the top of label on every chip is aligned below an edge spot).

The Conclusion: I’m extremely happy with how my chips look and the investment was well worth it. I’ll post pics when I’m done and my apologies for the long thread.

FYI, this is being posted in other poker forums also

[SamIAm]

I'm most concerned with durability of the labels. I suppose the spray-stuff helps, but does that change the feel of the chips?

Anyway, please do post pictures. I'm anxious to see what your chips look like. The nexgens look great for their price, but always seemed a little blank. I'd like simple hotstamping, but haven't found very nice options. (I don't want letters or numbers, just decoration.)
-Sam

[PinataUT]

Yeah and a custom stamp at 5star is about $120 so that starts adding up unless you're buying 2k chips for a tourney or something...

[obeythekitten]

do either of them have websites where i can look at their premade designs?

[obeythekitten]

bump

[ky70]

Lynbark's website is http://www.ciretech.com/lynbark/ and they both have a nice amount of samples on their ebay auction pages

[alittle]

[ QUOTE ]
I'm most concerned with durability of the labels. I suppose the spray-stuff helps, but does that change the feel of the chips?

[/ QUOTE ]

I will be posting pictures of my chips soon, but I can tell you about the spray. I got labels made by Lynbark and the experience was great. I found the Krylon Preserve-It spray (matte) at JoAnn's Fabrics, but I had to go to one of their larger stores.

I set up a spray area in a bathroom I'm remodeling, so I didn't care about the walls or floors too much. I'm in Chicago and the temps are too cold to use the garage. Anyway, I taped up a big piece of craft paper on the wall - you can't spray them flat on a table. The fumes were spectacular - I had a window cracked and the exhaust fan going and it was still strong. I sprayed four sheets at a time and then spread them on a table to dry.

It takes a little practice to do it well, but as long as you overspray off the sheets and keep a consistant motion, it goes ok.

As for the feel, the labels do have a bit more rough texture than before, but it feels to me a lot like what it should. Hard to explain, but it seems like what some casino chip "centers' feel like. Not an issue for me at all, I prefer the feel over the plain label.

I'm about a quarter of the way through applying the labels. Here is an image of the label, actual pictures in a few days:



Note that the grey "rim" on the outside isn't on the label, I added that to reuse the image for something else. The club logo design is mine and Lynbark did the rest. If you are wondering about "A Little Poker", my name is Andy Little and I own alittlepoker.com (nothing there yet - stay tuned), so...

[Fins]

Nice job Andy! I like the play on words with your name and using a club in your logo I obviously like that! [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

Look forward to seeing the labeled chips.

Your site looks interesting... never heard of wiki but it sounds cool.

- Fins

[ky70]

360 chips down and 140 chips to go...tonight I'll finish and they're looking pretty good(I have all the completed ones stacked on the table)

Andy, do you think you can spray the Krylon on the labels if they're already on the chips? I wonder if that would damage the chip at all. I'll ask Lynbark the same question. I looked/called a Joann Fabrics in the Chicago area but it was a smaller stores so I'll keep searching IF I can apply the Krylon while it's on the chip.

Thanks for the info

[alittle]

[ QUOTE ]
Your site looks interesting... never heard of wiki but it sounds cool.

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, the cat's almost out of the bag on the wiki. I just about have the registration and login stuff working and then I can set everyone loose on it. Probably be ready in a couple of days. This could be my smartest or stupidest idea ever - time will tell.

PS - the default login system required >5 character usernames, so I changed it to 4 just for you Fins! Of course, I wanted to be Andy...