Topic Of The Week: Something to Remember Me By

[Sandypaws]

Casinos used to give out coffee cups and decks of cards for player's club signups and have saved all of those. Decided to start saving chips/tokens from all the casinos we visit and have a large collections in chip holders displayed on the wall. The coin cups from the casinos as well as the beads and ticket stubs. Looking at all these and the blinking "Welcome to Las Vegas" sign just brings back the memories.

[PinkFloydActuary]

I started with decks of cards. I mounted a card on posterboard and put it in a frame - they look nice, and there's tons of memories scanning the 6 different displays I have.

But then I realized that many of the smaller places (and some of the bigger ones...I'm looking at you, Encore) won't sell the used cards. So, I added chips to my collections. I have a fairly massive collection of those - had to track down several on e-bay from casinos that are long gone.

I also have a small shelf of miscellaneous items - Riviera mugs, a cup from Tuscany, glass ashtray from Hard Rock, etc.

The latest endeavor for me is slot club cards. It's a little tougher amassing a collection of these since so many casinos are linked today. But they look really neat mounted and framed as well, so I keep getting new ones where I can.

One thing that looks like it could look neat if displayed properly are dice...but they look a little harder to come by and are a bit more expensive. Someday, I might start that one up...

[rbobst]

Every time we traveled to Las Vegas we would bring home an "Elvis" beanie baby. We have nine so far but the last time we could not find a new one anywhere. It started when my son died 5 years ago. He was a big Elvis fan and he always traveled with us to Las Vegas. My wife started buying them and putting them in his old room. We also look for any of the older Las Vegas stuff, the cheaper the more appropriate.
Rick

[dead money]

I collect $1 chips and go out of my way to get one from as many casinos as possible each trip.

[cindyinnj]

As corny as it may sound, I love refrigerator magnets. I have my first magnets I've ever gotten still on my fridge! They are 3D view of Vegas with my daughters names on them. I also have M&M magnets from the M&M store. My two favorite things....M&M's and Vegas!

My husband bought a denim jacket years ago with a nice golden Vegas emblem on the back. He still wears it, but it's getting very worn out

[iam4nd]

We stayed often at the Riviera back in the early nineties and got all kinds of souvenirs from them during that time. They had hawkers out in front giving away free gift coupons and when you went in they would try to sell you on the “forty for twenty” slot play deal. At the time they were not doing a daily hand stamp so we just picked up several per day. Gifts included coffee mugs, decks of cards, key chains, etc.

During the late nineties our oldest son was serving in Albania during the Bosnian conflict. We sent him a large box full of playing cards and key chains which he distributed to the troops under his command. It seems that they especially enjoyed the “special” key chains (to use his words) that were a miniature of the Crazy Girls “no ifs, ands, or butts” bronze outside the front of the Riviera.
We dropped a note to the Riviera telling them how the troops enjoyed their souvenirs and they asked if they could use the note in their newsletter. They also gave us a very nice welcoming gift on our next stay there.

One more thing we still have is a collection of coffee mugs from the old Sands hotel. They gave them away daily to get you to come inside.

[YSinAppleton]

We often bring home a mug from the casino we stayed at, also a magnet from that casino. I also like to bring home a deck of cards from each casino. The reason we started collecting mugs is because we started bringing a coffee pot with us and then would pick up the mugs for use when we were there. As far as gifts for everyone, M&M's for sure and Ethyl M chocolates on occasion.

[Oxxon]

On my first trip to Veags I collected the coins cups from most of the casinos on the strip.


My ex-wife kept them...

[usmc1371]

I started collecting $1 chips from casinos I visit a few years back. I have managed to collect them from every casino I have ever visited that has or had $1 chips. Some just use slot tokens instead of chips. This has taken me to casinos I would never have visited otherwise. A trip to some of the downtown casinos like El Cortez, California and the Western on my last trip was basically just to get chips, but I had a lot of fun at the El Cortez and plan to return there in April.

As for my FAVORITE, I suppose I am supposed to say my wife (because we eloped to Vegas 11 1/2 years ago) but let’s be honest; it is probably my T-shirts from Crazy Shirts in the Miracle Mile Shops. Both were dyed green using old money. One is the Lucky Monkey Casino the other is my Lucky Frog. I wear them at least every other week.

[ChicChas]

I usually don't purchase anything too generic like t-shirts, mugs, etc. I often buy something trip specific, though. For example, I have a couple of DVD's and CD's from my visit to the now shuttered Liberace Museum. A couple of Bellagio Conservatory DVD's. Note cards from some art exhibits I've been to. That sort of thing.

Otherwise, what I collect are just the miscellaneous things that fall into my lap during the trip like ticket stubs to shows and attractions, the magazines from the hotel room, free decks of cards, player's club sign up gifts, match books, etc. I even saved a couple of the "slapper" cards from my first trip (only the first trip) because they remind me of the discovery of part of the tacky side of the experience.

When I get home, everything goes into a binder or file along with a hard copy of the trip report I publish here. It really helps bring my trips alive when I go back through this stuff. I think more so than if I had a cabinet full of coffee mugs or a drawer of t-shirts that I couldn't remember exactly when I got each one.

I also have a separate file where I keep my retired players club cards. My favorite one of those is from the Frontier because they were still using the old fashioned punch card system when I got it.