July 29, 2004
The kicks were there!
Trevor and I went to sparring class while Conor went to the zoo with his sister and Mom. This was a big class, lots of folks attending. I got to help train a Purple Belt and she earned her 1st stripe.
Sparring was great, it's always fun with more people simply because you get to fight more, even though the engagements are shorter. After that we lined up for words of inspiration and the final matches. I got picked to square off against a Red Belt, about my age. I was ready! It didn't take long as I placed, not extended, but placed a side kick to his solarplexes, the point wasn't called until I pushed him away...that was a kick that could have devastating but I controlled it pretty well. Needless to say, I was all over this guy with hook kicks and keeping him at bay with front snaps and push kicks. I'm not bragging really, this was one of those times were I was firing on all cylinders. Trust me, I've been on the other side plenty of times...tonight was fun.
Trevor turned in his time sheet as he has accumulated enough hours to qualify for his new uniform, and Conor was invited back to the Dream Team...I just hope he goes because it's a great opportunity for him. It's the same as adult leadership, only for the little guys!
Enough already, time for some Phantasy Star Online!!
Let's see how this works!
For the past year I have been promoting New Releases using images from Old Vegas Chips. With Pete's permission, I have hot-linked to his site and used a bit of his bandwidth in the process. The purpose for all of this was/is to introduce new chips to anyone who happens by this Blog.
Now I want to "kick things up a notch".
Starting today, I will occasonally post about some extremely rare chips available from CasinoRarities. These chips will also be very expensive, ranging from $300 to tens of thouseands of dollars. They are fun to look at and perhaps may spur the lurker (with money) to begin a new hobby. My arrangement with James regarding bandwidth and hotlinks will be the same. I will not post any prices on this Blog, that is for you check out for yourself.
Once again, I'm doing this to promote a great hobby, and because I have conducted many transactions with both of these gentleman. They too love the hobby and are both professonals in their business dealings...have fun looking and Happy Chippin'!!
Featured Chip
Hacienda $100 Small Key (Drilled)
What a sweetie, eh? Wth the ultra-rare chips, there are many that are found only in a cancelled condition, such as a drill holes, shaved sides, notches...etc. The Hacienda represents Old Vegas in it's hey-day. A $5 Hacienda held, at one time, the highest amount paid for a chip...over $15,000!! That record stood until earlier this year when a $5 Sands went for over $33,000!!! I'll see if I can get a pic of that for you.
That's it for the first entry of Featured Chips, but there will be many, many more.
Has it been that long?
Since I last posted? Looks like it, hmmm I'm slacking. Actually I've been putting in some extra time at the store and playing a lot of Blogshares.
I have picked up a new chip and have a few on the way. A nice little Victorian Gambling Hall $100 chip made its way to me and a Tropicana Showgirls chip arrived here in a trade.
I had someone contact me regarding one of my Cal Neva Lodge chips. It seems he has some personal history with the chip and wants to share that info...awesome! I would love to hear all about it!
Fight night tonight, and Trevor will have earned enough hours to get his new uniform...very cool!
July 21, 2004
Here's a few New Ones
Ok...I've neglected my posts of chips, so here we go!
New Release
Aladdin Lynyrd Skynyrd Vicious Cycle Tour 2004
$5 and $25
07-10-04
30 years and counting! The Aladdin does a fantastic job paying homage to the band with the 30 year acknowledgment and the colorful, yet subtle logo. The $25 has the same artwork. Great stuff!!
And BTW, thanks Aladdin for putting a certain female entertainer in her place. I've been listening to Linda for years and have always enjoyed her music, but she picked the wrong place to voice her views...not on the Aladdin's time!
New Release
Hard Rock The Punisher Lion's Gate $5
07-10-04
This chip was released to coincide with the Video Retail Summit that took place from July 12-13. Kinda spooky looking isn't it?
I want to take this time to say good-bye to Warrick Stone of the Hard Rock. Warrick, you have no idea who I am but I just wanted to wish you well in your new endeavours. You and the Hard Rock took the Limited Edition chip program to new levels with your constant barrage of attractive, and sometimes frustratingly limited made chips. You mastered the art of providing cross-collectible items (chips) that command incredibly high amounts when they enter the secondary market.
Good Luck Warrick!
Did I say something above about the a chip being spooky? How about scary?? Check out this...
New Release
Caesars Palace Céline Dion Token Set
07-19-04
Set of 5
WHOA!!! Damn that's freaky! I would have to say that it is not the most flattering shot. I'm not a Céline fan at all so I would have to guess these are album covers.
If you want them, you better act quickly because I doubt these things are going to look too good after a lot of slot play!
Advances
Trevor and I both earned stripes on our new belts. We drilled very, very hard on getting the stances correct and really showing the snap on our front kicks. Brown Belt poomse contains a bunch of front snap kicks. Until now, my kicks have been so-so regarding style and technique but on Monday I focused on firing out the kick and sticking it for just a second before chambering for the next technique. It felt great to actually see my leg cooperate and shoot the kicks properly. It's little successes like this that keep me going...kinda like finding a few chips at a flea market!
Catching up a Bit
It's been a few days since I've posted...just haven't felt like it. Monday was great at lunch, we had a bunch of people there for chipping. I sold a few chips to Bob from Arkansas.
I have a bunch of chips to scan, including the 2 Glass Crutch chips. I won a $1 Gold Bar, it's an illegal from South Dakota. I contacted the seller to see if he had any 50 cent chips...and he DID!! Lucky me!! So, I have those 2 chips on the way plus a nifty Court Cafe Indiana illegal as well. Pretty good stuff as far as chips are concerned.
July 17, 2004
Fall Colors
On Friday evening Trevor earned his Yellow Belt and this morning Conor and I were awarded our Brown Belts. On Monday we get to start learning Red Belt. This is very important to both of us as this will be the poomse we perform at the tournament. That means we have 3 months to work on it and make it perfect!
July 15, 2004
Coming Soon (Hopefully)
That rockin', crankin', bad-daddy of a T-mold Cal Neva Lodge chip and the 2 $1 Glass Crutch (what a great name for a place!) are coming from James Campiglia of Casinorarities fame. That's the site that will soon be providing scans of super rare chips that will be featured on my site, Jeff's Casino Chips.
What a cut up!
I love the martial arts and I like watching Jeopardy with the family, so what could be better than...
Not really for the kiddos, the language is a bit strong.
Go figure
Ok, so I'm getting in better shape, or so I thought. I quit smoking 6 months ago. I'm getting a good workout 3 days a week. So why amI catching so many colds? Geez! Maybe it's just allergies, but what a pain!
Belt tests this Friday and Saturday as Trevor goes for his first colored belt while Conor and I go for brown. Trevor has been putting in a lot of effort to perfect his demo and it looks pretty good, especially for his first time. He has attended extra hours to acquire enough hours to qualify for his Leadership Uniform.
On the chipping side, I have a few more coming and I'm working on a killer Cal Neva Lodge $25, 2 different $1 Glass Crutch.
On Monday, I picked up a couple of illegals including a brown, zig-zag mold, hot stamped chip. The lettering is in a very cool script that I would love to show you but I screwed up my scanner a few days ago. I'll fix it and post a pic.
BTW...we were just watching the Tonight Show and watching the video of the guy covering the Major League Baseball All-Star Game. I thought it was great, including the end of the spot when the guy was asking A-Rod some questions when he pushed away by some jerk who said "Hey,we're working here." He then grabbed the guy's microphone and threw it to the side while making some "bleepable" comments. Congratulations moron, you just made an Ass of yourself on national TV. I hope your friends see it and shun you! I hope your boss sees it and cans your ass! You deserve it..way to go!
July 11, 2004
Whew!
Trevor and I went to Adult Leadership on Saturday morning. That was a good class, then we stayed for the next regular class. That one was brutal! We survived but we were both beat. Anything to build up the stamina to get us ready for the Tournament. We reviewed the cover art at class also, it looks Ok though I think folks are going to have a difficult time seeing just what it is.
After completing my requirements and earning my Purple Belt, I also received a DELTA patch for my doboak. I'm waiting until I earn my Leadership doboak to sew it on, but isn't it cool?
July 09, 2004
A Long Weekend
Taking advantage a long weekend by slapping a bunch of low priced bids on eBay. I doubt I'll win any of them but it'll fun to watch and you just never know, I may sneak out a great deal!
July 07, 2004
A Little Old and Little New
Not New Releases
Recent Additions...but not New
Ongoing
Limited? I would say yes!
You need to check this page out by clicking on the chip. Pete has posted a bunch of older, classic chips from various towns in Nevada. Pete's normal focus is on Las Vegas chips but a few others have made their way here. Most are quite affordable and if you want somehting a bit more scarce, then Pete is happy to accommodate.
Other New Releases of Note:
Tropicana 4th of July 2004 $5 Chip
07-01-04
Limited to 500
Wild Wild West Courtney 2004 $5 Chip
07-01-04
Making Progress
Trevor was introduced to discipline training last week as he put in an 8 hour day at Hwang's. He followed that up with a 3 class stint on Saturday morning which included Adult Leadership. In all, he gathered up 8 hours of credit towards his Leadership Uniform that he'll be testing for in August. Neat thing is...he won't have to complete nearly as many things as I will. He'll be tested over White and Yellow belt stuff while I have to know White, Yellow, Orange, Green, Blue-tip, Blue, Purple, and Brown!!!
I'm pulling for him to get in all of his hours, he only needs about 10 more with a month to get them. I'll do what I can to help him qualify.
Here's something else that is incredibly cool. I have found a place that has all of the 1984 L.A. Olympic Judo matches on DVD!! This, of course, includes all of Grandmaster Hwang's matches leading up to his winning the Silver Medal. We are planning on getting it as a gift for Grandmaster. Awesome! I'll keepthe acqusition updates coming.
July 06, 2004
Chips that Kick Butt!
New Release
Red Dragon Casino
07-01-04
$1, $5, $25, $100, $500, $1000, $5000, $25,000, and $1,000,000
Limited
Fantasy
Ever see a $1 Million chip? Neither have I, but here's your chance! These are movieprop chips from the Jackie Chan/Chris Tucker film Rush Hour 2. They used the closed Desert Inn Casino for filming. These are killer chips and are very limited in their availability. They have appeal to Chan fans and movie buffs as well. If you want a set, you will need to act quickly, these won't last long!
Up for Poker?
New Release
Golden Nugget Poker Room $10 and $20
07-01-04
I mentioned these chips earlier. The GN built the Poker Room in the courtyard, taking some of the pool area. My brother had the chance to see it while he was in town for the Convention.
I love the colors of both chips. Nice and bright with the traditional Golden Nugget house mold. I think these are the only new denominations as they are using the current $1 in the room as well. So when do we see a new $5 and $25? They are using the old inlay while the $1, $10, $20, and $100 use the new??
New and Exciting!
Ok...for quite some time I've been posting about new releases and such...well now I've got something new in the works. Soon I'll be showing uber-rare chips from Casinorarities.com. James will be providing images of chips that sell for thousands of dollars. Here's a chance to see some of the more rare and desired chips that exist.
July 04, 2004
Happy Birthday USA!!!
Today is the day we get to celebrate our freedoms and our rights to blow off our fingers with explosives!! Thus giving emergency rooms the rights to charge us outrageous amounts to physically correct our stupidity! Ain't America Great!!?