Icon Poker DuraChip Review 
Review By: Greg Cagle, Administrator at ChipTalk.net
IconPoker.com Says:The Durachip is the most durable color printed poker chip in the industry. Designed to outlast all traditional gaming chips. The durachip features a patented 3-part molded construction and a special printing process unlike any other chip in the industry. The poker chips are printed with patented Integrated Print Technology™. High resolution and durable print quality that does not wear or fade.
ChipTalk Says: Icon DuraChips are advertised as 13g each. They are 40mm in diameter and 3.5mm thick. A stack of 20 fit just right in a Paulson or Chipco rack. They stack exactly the same height as a column of 20 mint casino Paulson chips.
The first impressive thing I noticed was the packaging. The 100-chip box was the best quality cardboard box for poker chips that I have ever seen. Of course I figured that this box was high quality because chips for marketing and review were shipped in it, but still, it was impressive. I have received samples of other products thrown loosely into boxes, dropped into ordinary kitchen zip locks, or wrapped in newspaper. Icon Poker did it up right with a nice chip box, product brochures, and even a custom made foam display card with color samples inserted. The effort that went into this packaging indicates a company that cares about quality and appearance. I don't see that as a bad thing.
They DuraChips are heavy at 13g, which many consumers like, and the weight was immediately apparent. I tend to avoid heavy chips because carrying 1000-2000 can be a strain on the arms and the carrying equipment. These chips carried their weight well due to the solid construction and consistent dimensions. In this case heavy seemed to mean "value" to me.
The print quality of the faces is superb. The colors are vivid, the print is sharp, and the faces hold up to abuse. It's not just creative marketing when Icon Poker says that they have a unique method of printing chips. The print is not a label and it's not an inlay. It's printed right on to the chip, and it will be there for good. I went to town on one with a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser, and I couldn't get so much as a smudge. I had to take a kitchen knife out and scrape the face to get it to show the white underneath.
The chips are constructed of a very dense plastic, injection molded around a thick steel insert. I busted one open (with great difficulty) to show you the insides of the Icon DuraChip. Before I got into one I put the chip through some pretty sever abuse. I dropped it a few times from above my head onto a concrete floor and then finally threw it hard onto the floor thrice. There was no damage to the chip. I had to clamp it in a vice and take a pair of Channel Locks to it to get it bent and open.
When I first opened the box of chips I thought they were a very heavy ceramic. This was due to the solid feel, the coldness, and the sound they make against each other. The have a ceramic type "ring" to them when hitting the table instead of the familiar "clank" that a weighted ABS plastic chip usually has. I was unable to scratch them with a thumbnail. I had great difficulty scraping the edges with a sharp knife. They are very solid to be sure, but once I cracked one open I was surprised to find that they were plastic and not ceramic. No matter what material, they are top notch, quality built. I find myself wondering how they would have performed in the Great Poker Chip Bake-Off?
The only place I have seen selling stock designs of these chips is Spinneti's. All other sites I found are selling custom DuraChips. They are being sold for 60¢-70¢ each, custom printed. It's not a bad price especially if you are concerned about security in your home game. These chips don't have stickers as labels, so you won't see reprints walking into your home game and getting cashed in at the end of the night. You'll know the difference if you felt any other chip compared to the DuraChips.
Conclusion: I recommend them. The Icon Poker DuraChip are the best quality plastic chips I have handled, and yes that includes casino quality chips such as B&G, Bud Jones, and Matsui. I think that these would hold up better to abuse in casinos than Bud Jones and Chipcos so they'd do fine in your home game. Do a search on "durachip" on http://www.chipguide.com to see which casinos have deployed this chip in their racks. They stack like bricks, looks great, and have a huge canvas for photo quality custom prints. I do wish there were more colors choices (there are nine) and something other than simple white edge spots.
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