Be careful! Sometimes you just may get what you wish for. Remember .... there are NO MORE silver strike machines in Atlantic City ... to the dismay of many east coast strike collectors.

I know my post is going to be controversial ... but I believe it must be said.... so I'll take the expected resulting heat.

What regulation says that every strike collector must be able to obtain at least one of every strike that was ever issued? Why do you suppose Graf Zeppelin and Columbian Exposition stamps demand such a premium in the stamp hobby? Why are 1804 dollars worth so much money in the coin hobby? Why did a $5 Hacienda chip bring over $15,000 on ebay? It's not because everybody and their brother had one of them. To bash dealers who supply some of the great rarities in various hobbies does nothing to advance ones cause as a collector.

As long as there are no behind the scenes manipulations going on between the casino and the dealer ... I say the dealer is providing a valuable service to collectors who want to purchase some otherwise unavailable items due to circumstances beyond their control. Many chips are sold out on the very same day they are issued. If one is not in town on the day they are issued ... who's fault is that? Certainly not the casino. Sometimes the only way a collector can get some of the tougher issues is by purchasing them through a dealer or trading with a local collector from that area... or simply do without. I just don't see the logic in bashing the local collector ... or the dealer... just because he/she happens to be there during the window of availability.

BTW: What is a "dealer"? Is it someone who does nothing else for a living? Is it one who takes a table at a club convention? Is it one who reports their income from silver strike sales to the IRS? Is it someone who sells on Ebay?

Does everyone on this message board report their miscellaneous sales income from selling strikes on their annual 1040's?

O.K. Have at me.... just be civil is all I ask. Just raising some genuine questions ... not accusing anyone of anything.