Overkill on the souvenir chips

I've mentioned several times before how I like collecting the various commemorative poker chips that casinos issue. It's not a serious thing with me; I care little about condition (which real collectors obsess over), and I won't pay more than face value. I just like having a bunch of interesting designs to look at, and I appreciate casinos that provide opportunity for gaining a few new ones now and then.

But tonight at the Hard Rock--my first time there--I was floored by the number of chips they have, just in the $5 denomination. You can get a sense of the magnitude of the collector's problem from the lower photo above, which is a display of chips at the Hard Rock cashier's cage. I don't even know if it's a comprehensive set.

They issue new chips for every holiday--every year--for movie premieres, for every band that comes to Las Vegas, etc. I think they might actually put out a new commemorative chip every time a new guest checks into the hotel.

I am not even going to attempt to acquire a full set of these things, even after they open a formal poker room in the fall, which might find me spending more time there. Trying to get that many would become a chore for me, rather than a pleasure, and would seriously cut into profits, too. So I limited myself to the 20 best ones that came into my possession over the course of the evening, and future ones will have to be especially nice to get added to the set.

But when a casino has chips honoring April Fool's Day, Ozzy Osbourne, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and Iwo Jima, how can one resist? Who doesn't want to have poker chips featuring parrots, Boticelli's Venus, Halloween black cats, Abe Lincoln wearing sunglasses, and girls in bikinis?