Hi everybody! This is a long post, but you asked for feedback and I want to be clear. First off, Pat and I thank everybody for all the help you gave us in order to make the 2nd Edition of the Price Guide so much better than the 1st. This makes the hobby better for all of us.

Posts by Albert and Jerry have raised certain questions about the format of the book that I wish to answer right now, before this gets out of hand so here goes:

The questions proposed all revolve around how and why the cards are listed the way they are. Let's examine this point by point. ID numbers versus issue order. For me, this question started several years ago, when James Campiglia and I began working on our Casino Chip Price guide. We both detested those Chip Rack numbers and decided to do something better. We went with issue order, because it is more logical and easier to understand. If someone says they have chip N0361, would you have any idea whatsoever what they were talking about? Of course not. You would have to look the chip up in the book EVERY time. With issue order, you have a shot to remember a lot of the items and avoid excess looking. I don't see the great time savings here.

Let's cut to the chase and examine slot cards, specifically Carolyn Donley's numbers. First off, Carolyn and I are friends. We both like each others books and there is no competition or jealousy between us whatsoever. I have been over to her home several times to talk cards and she and husband Earl are gracious hosts. One day, while at her house, this subject came up and we discussed it at great length. I asked her flat-out where her numbering system came from and what it meant. She told me that it didn't mean anything! The source for her numbers is her computer's random generator. Those numbers correspond to her scans of cards. She needed to do it that way so that she could keep track of her many pictures. (Her files also allow her to look up scans by title, of course.) The bottom line is that since she had pictures, this set-up was more practical for her.
Jerry is proposing a numbering system with actual meaning. If one were starting from scratch and wanted to do it that way, then it would be up to that author. I suppose it would work, but it would require many more hours of labor. First, to design the system (God knows how long that would take) Then, all the cards would have to fit the system. Great care would have to be made not to duplicate numbers (like the Chip Rack which makes mistakes every year and has to list those on a separate page!)The 6th Edition Chip Rack I own has three solid pages of numbers they screwed up on. (These are listed on page 302-304) I guarantee you, my issue orders won't change that much in the long run! Yes, I agree that we have changed some issue orders as a result of new discoveries. This was inevitable, considering that we just started. However, I feel that in 2 books from now, there will not be many more obsolete discoveries and the order will become stable. Once that happens, issue order will be far better than any other system. Easier for us and easier for you. Patience and time will solve this short-term problem. I like my system the way it is and have no intention to spend weeks redoing the book for no good reason - in my opinion!

The second major question is why the cards are divided by location and not all lumped together alphabetically. The answer is very simple: The book is organized the same way that most collections are organized! This has been proven conclusively. In the poll we did for PACK members, 67% of the respondents said that they organized their collections by location as opposed to alphabetical order. In fact, Pat changed her collection over after the poll so that her collection would correspond to the book also. My collection has already been this way from day one. We cross-check our own major collections (we each have over 2000 different cards) with the data in our book. To switch the data in the book, would make it a nightmare for us to find the cards necessary to update the book!

However, I believe Jerry brought up an excellent point that I wish to address and SOLVE! He said that by dividing cards up into locations requires a lot of page flipping and wasted time actually finding the cards. I agree with this, but the solution is very simple and inexpensive. All you have to do is go to your local office supply store and buy a couple bucks worth of press-on tabs. You attach them the way you want, and viola, you will be able to find the appropriate sections instantly. In fact, we were considering putting tabs on the books before we sold them, but practical considerations prevented this. I do believe that this solution will help everybody who wants to locate their cards faster.

Some people have complained that they don't know what state a casino is from. Frankly, I have less sympathy for this complaint than the former. You should all be able to remember where the casinos are from. Learning is part of the fun. Besides, we have provided a detailed index that lists the locations and page numbers of every casino in the book, so I feel this complaint is unjustified.

Finally, I do not want anyone to get the notion that we will not listen to your suggestions. In fact, in the upcoming PACK newsletter, we have an article asking everyone if they want us to drop or continue listing mag stripe variations. On this point, we will do whatever the feedback tells us. Happy Collecting, Steve