I have my share of casino chips but I kind of scaled back on collecting them when they started going the way of coins and baseball cards etc. Some would say the issues of Limited Edition or Commemorative chips has gotten, somewhat, out of hand. There are verious concerns like casinos that issue a chip for some of the oddest and senseless reasons. Four Queens in Las Vegas issues them for almost anything. I have one from Tax Day that was released in an edition of 1040 chips. Some of the millenium or y2k chips were created in editions of 2000. New Years is a big reason for releases as are big conventions. Riviera releases them for Pool Tournements, MGM releases them for Boxing Matches and Hard Rock releases them for concert appearances. I have some from The WHO. I got an order in for those, pre-release, when there was a lot of anticipation. However, John Entwhistle died the day before, or maybe day of the release date and they were held. It was uncertain whether they would ever be released or be destroyed, reissued in another way or what. Eventually, after an appropriate period of cooling down and mourning etc., they rescheduled the Who Concert and the chips were released.
I can't remember what it actually says but Riviera has one with a smiley face on one side that commemorates something about Divorces being final and others commemorate signs of the zodiac etc. Some can be kind of amusing and funny but others just start to get dumb.
Then there are situation of how some chips are released and who gets first crack at them. Some times they only get out in the hands of a fairly small group of people, (Dealers) who then make a killing selling them on eBay at highly inflated prices. Other collectors or visitors to the casinos usually have little chances of getting any. You have to be in line on the day of release to get any chance before they usually sell out. Sometimes no notice is published and the only people who know are people with inside connections. Lately, a lot of casinos are announcing releases on their websites or by putting signs in front of the cashier in advance announcing upcoming releases.
Working with collectors, many casinos have devised systems of fairness where as I mentioned, they announce the releases. They put a percentage at the tables to give more people some chances to get some or they limit the quantities that some people can get, to avoid hoarding. I have a few people that I go to, from time to time, when a good chip is released. Some are pretty fair in their pricing. I usually pay about $8 bucks for a $5 chip, with shipping.
I used to buy a lot of these LE chips but as it started getting pretty expensive, and I realized that there was no way that I could afford all that were released. So, as with any collectable, I limited myself to only those chips that I liked or got some special feeling about and I scaled back. It might be the art or some special event or person of interest. Perhaps it was something funny. Lately, I have resorted more to picking up what I can when I am in Vegas or at the local riverboats. It is a little bit more fun that way anyway. I play Blackjack and when playing somewhere new, I grab a couple chips. Then, as I see a special or odd chip come accross my payouts, I grab those also. If a casino has changed their rack and I see a new chip, as was the case with Horseshoe Hammond, IN, last winter, I grabbed a couple of their new $5 chips. They don't release many Limited Editions or Commmemoratives around me.
During this last trip to Las Vegas I picked up a Poker Tournement chip and a CCGTCC (Casino Chips and Gaming Tokens Collectors Club) convention chip off the tables at The Orleans. I picked up a couple Anniversary and a 2006 St. Patricks Day chip from Fitzgeralds also.