Here we go!

Thanks for everyone’s patience… still a work in progress but the new website has been published!  A lot of writing still to do (many pages still to build), links for some pictures and updates to some cafes are pending but here it is! Please check it out – http:\\hrcshots.com and let me know what you think!

More updates to the site still to do but if there are additions or content you’d like to contribute, shoot me an email:  webmaster@hrcshots.com.

Thanks to all the testers!

Cheers!

Denise

Too quiet

It is almost like starting over.  It has been far too long since I’ve had the time to make a post here.  How have you all been?

I’ve received a number of emails about missing shots and many of you are also kind enough to send in pictures.  All of this is appreciated and slowly but surely the site is getting back up to date.  Thanks for your patience and all the kind words.  It has been a tough year but it appears that things are turning a corner for the better and I can get back to giving this hobby some focus.

To kick it off, we’re doing a reboot, if you will, of the sites.  If you collect the Hard Rock Cafe magnets you may have noticed that a new domain and site structure has been launched.  It is still undergoing some build by the Magnet  Boyz but it is “Looking good, Mr Kotter…” (I always do a Joey from Friends impression here but I’m often reminded this is from some other show…).  Anyway, if you haven’t checked it out we have a permanent link on the side bar or you can just go here:  www.hrcmagnets.com to catch up on all those magnets and bottle openers that you may be missing!

Coming soon (let’s say mid-March for now), the hrcshots.com will also be relaunched.  The design has changed, the pages have been downsized (don’t freak out, more to come on this!) and the navigation should make it easier to use for all us mobile junkies.  We are starting to do some testing next week and assuming all goes well, I’ll get this published for all the world to see!

That being said, the current site has had a minor update but as of today, will not have any future additions as the new site is looming.  Again thanks for your patience.

Cheers!

Denise

For sale by auction!

Action is closed.

Just a quick post, I know it has been a LONG time.  I’m helping a fellow collector sell off their collection shot by shot.  If interested, here are the rules:

• The auction is open for bidding now and will close on Sunday, Sept 28 at midnight PST.If you are going to bid, please honor your bid(s).  When bidding, please consider that you could win most or all of everything you bid on so be prepared to purchase your winnings!
• Payment is by Paypal only and must also cover the fees.  A Paypal gift payment or with the fees added to the total is required.
• Payment is expected with 3 days after a final invoice with shipping costs is sent to you.  It will take some time to invoice all winning bidders so please have patience.
• Shipping will be from the USA and will be sent via Priority Mail only.  Please keep in mind that shot glasses are heavy and shipping, particularly outside the USA, can be very expensive.   As this has been an issue for past auctions, please consider this when placing bids for multiple shot glasses.
• You will receive an email when your shots have shipped – it will take time to get all shots packed and shipped out so please have patience.
• These shot glasses have gone through a basic inspection and are in collectible condition, unless otherwise noted.  That being said, everyone has a different definition of “perfect” so all shots are sold AS IS and are not refundable.
• You may request a picture of an individual shot glass, particularly for the ones on the list that are more rare.  Please do not ask for pictures for every shot that you plan to bid on (the website picture is a good reference).  I cannot promise that all requests will be sent so if you are counting on the picture before placing a bid, keep in mind that it may not be possible to send it to you.  Requests received after Sept. 25 will not likely be sent.
• The minimum starting bid for all shots is $5 US (shots that have some flaws are noted and start at $1 US).
• Outbid notices – time permitting, outbid notices will be sent to you up 2 days before the auction closes.  Don’t count on the outbid notice – you could still be outbid in the last 2 days or run out of time to re-bid.  If you really want the shot glass, I recommend you place your best bid.
• First person to bid on an item has the tie-breaker.  For example, where more than 1 collector has bid the  same highest bid amount on a shot glass, the first bidder will win it.  Bidding early has an advantage.
• If you do not agree with the anything stated here, please do not bid.  There will be no exceptions made regarding bidding, payment or shipping.  Please don’t ask.

If you are still interested in bidding, please send an email to hrcshots@gmail.com with this information:

1. Subject of email:  Auction Bid and your name (Auction Bid: Your Name)
2. Provide this information (helps make sure you get the right shot glass):
   1. Your Address
   2. Name of city and description of shot glass
   3. Box and Location Number
   4. Your bid for the shot glass
3. If you have any questions about the shot glasses or want to request a picture of a shot glass, please send an email with Query in the subject line.  Please note shot glass city name, box and location details so the correct shot glass picture is sent or question answered.  Again, pictures are not guaranteed and queries sent after Sept. 25 are unlikely.

This collection has some gems so I recommend taking a peek at the very least!  If you check out the Top 10 list of most wanted shot glasses… some are available in this auction!

Good luck and thanks for your interest.

Cheers!

Denise

Top Ten List

The Late Show has nothing on us…

For those checking back here, wait no more – here is the Top Ten List of HRC Shotglasses as voted on by you!

1. Bristol Bar
2. Taichung
3. Antwerp
4. Stockholm Red Letter Mistake (Misspelled “Stockolm”)
5. Surfers Paradise Metallic (Set of 4)
6. Tel Aviv
7. Montreal Gold
8. On-Line Island Guitar 2009
9. Ankara
10. Catania City 2004

Honorable mention goes to Newport Beach City 2005, which missed the cut by 4 votes but came in at a respectable 49% of votes.  Next tied for 12th with 43% of the votes:  Las Vegas Hotel Yellow Spade 777 and Sentosa Red Circle Private Function 2010 shots.

Now on to the fun questions:

36% of voters picked Bristol Bar to come in at #1 and 76% of people voted for it!

The choice for the shot that wasn’t up for consideration was pretty widespread but in the end, 21% of people thought Tijuana Red Circle should have been given a chance, with the runner-up being Manila at 18%.  I would have thought Manila would have come out a head but then, I didn’t vote for either shot!

It was interesting to see the voting breakdown between various collectors reflecting the favorites, hard to get and prized possessions!  I am personally missing 4 on this list so I know many of us will be competing for the same trade or purchase down the road!  Thanks to all that voted for this list!

Here’s to your favorite chaser!  Cheers!

Denise

Drum Roll Pending

Well it’s up – the survey to pick the Top 10 Hard Rock Cafe Shot glasses.  Want to participate?  There is just over 2 days to vote, so get on it!

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/NGL9YT3

Pick any 10 of the shots on the list but you must pick 10 and you can’t pick more than 10.  On Tuesday evening the survey will come down and not too long after, the top 10 list will be announced!

Be part of HRC Shot group history!  There is no prize and there’s not even a button… but when the list comes out, you can brag that you helped make it happen!

Cheers!

Denise

We want your vote!

We are conducting a series of surveys to pick a list to choose the Top 10 Hard Rock Cafe shot glasses, which are considered hard to get or truly loved or drooled over or expensive or chased after or forever a pipe dream because it’s that rare…  Are you still following me?

Anyway, if you’d like to vote in this survey it will be available until Monday, August 26.  The time that it comes down is totally random – so that no one waits until the last second.  If you’re interested in voting – go do it now.  The voting period is short because well, we’re a small group and anyone that is going to vote, tends to do it within the first 3 days.  Hence, the survey comes down some time on Monday.

Here’s how survey #2 works (and I apologize, I didn’t publish the post for survey #1 so you may have missed it):

These picks were originally made up from suggestions on the group forum.  During the first survey, voters could also suggest shots that should have been included.  Survey #2 is made up of the top picks from Survey #1 and all the writes-ins.  There are 39 shots for consideration.  You may vote for 16 of them.  You may vote for less than 16 if you don’t think all the options are worthy BUT you cannot vote for more than 16 of the choices.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/J8QXZSM

Thanks to all who played along previously, cheers!

Denise

Manchester

Ah. Well the first problem with this iPad app is that you don’t want to try and ticker with your post pre-publishing it … or you might accidentally discard it! SOB!

So here’s another try and writing it all out again.

Ok, so one of the drawbacks on not having been to the UK for 8 years is that I lost out on visiting a number of Cafes as they’ve already closed. I would have loved to have incorporated Nottingham or Birmingham this time around. Alas, this trip I’m only going to get to visit London and Manchester in the UK.

The trip out to Manchester is just over 2 hours by train from London and it goes by pretty quickly. I will say the instructions from the Hard Rock website could be a bit more helpful in providing info on the tram line to Shudehill station but once I figured that out on the platform, I guess it wasn’t hard to get to the Cafe. The weather was pretty miserable (and I’m from rainy BC!) so I couldn’t imagine walking, it’s a pretty far distance but doable if you have the time to kill.

The Cafe is located in the Printworks building and doesn’t have the typical guitar sign over the front door but rather a rather large guitar that runs the length of the facade. Compared to London, the inside is large, seating probably some 400+ people and includes a lounge. They have great memorabilia from full drum sets to David Bowie outfits, Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Oasis items.

Unfortunately, Manchester gets my negative rant regarding the Rock Shop. With the amount of Cafes failing, I will never understand how many times there is sold out stock of basic merchandise. Manchester had no shot glasses, no alternative magnets, no bottle openers and a few other items I was asked to pick up. I get how a limited edition pin can be gone but how can there be no standard shot glasses? This location has also never had a city shot, talk about a big missed opportunity! Considering that I’m only in the UK a week and made a special trip out to Manchester, pretty much for the Cafe, this was significant loss of sales. I had a long list and came away with less than half of what I needed. Come on Manchester, stock up for the next collector!

The staff on the other hand were crazy friendly! My waitress was a fellow Canadian, so that was pretty cool. I was even able to trade a few Seattle pins (I know, what’s happening here!?!) and picked up some sold out Manchester pins for a few friends.

The train back had a bit of excitement in that my trip was cancelled… thankfully I made it to the station in time to hear the announcer asking for passengers on my train to catch the current one heading back to London, which was leaving in 3 minutes! Only time I’ve traveled on Virgin Trains and I’m not sure how often this happens but holy crap, that was a panic moment! Back in London though so all ends well for the day.

Cheers!

Denise

London baby!

So I’m here in London finally, following a 3 hours delay out of Canada. WiFi isn’t available in the hotel room, without charge, so this might take a few days to post. I have a new image downloader from my camera so hopefully this time I can also include a few pictures.

I love London. I have been here several times although it has been a long time since my last trip; over 8 years in fact. But I’m back, baby! Yeah! London has a lot of history, a lot of architecture, a lot of oh, I don ‘t know – old. There is the “new” of course, which I will seek out this trip too but I really enjoy going through this older city. There’s so much to do in the city alone never mind venturing out to the neighbouring areas that I’m sure I’m going to run out of time to see it all…but I will try!

I’m a non-driver so London is my kind of city with the Tube. It’s amazing how easily it is to get around. There’s a new Oyster pass system and this has made it a lot easier to go from different sites without worrying about tickets expiring. With everything that I have planned to do this time around, I will also get to use the overground systems and the buses – double deckers rule!

So let’s start a little bit with the “new” in London. I went to the London Eye the 2nd day here. From the ground, this is one hell of a Ferris wheel. The interest in it is still huge, which makes line ups long but those of us who don’t like queuing, there’s a fast track pass. It is hard to justify the extra 9 pounds !!! but I didn’t prebook this as I wanted to go on a non-rainy day so there you go, a little extra money spent. I am not normally a fan of the Ferris wheel, I cannot explain it. I can do every kind of roller coaster and wicked spinning, body flipping, high speed reckless ride but a regular Ferris wheel will make me nauseous. This ride goes at a terrible slow speed so I figured I’d be ok (and I was – no vomit story here!). Anyway, my official review will be if you’re coming to London you’ll likely do this because how can you not? However, the capsule is packed with people, it isn’t air conditioned so on a choice sunny day, it gets quite warm inside, and it moves pretty slow. The view is high and you’ll get some great pics of the Parliament building (Big Ben) and the surrounding Thames area. I wouldn’t call it amazing but it was worth doing at least once.

Anyway, back to the whole point of the blog. I, of course, am also in London to visit the Hard Rock Cafe. Now one of the special things about this HRC is that this was the first cafe I ever visited. I hadn’t even been to the one in Vancouver before I visited London. I wasn’t at all a collector back then. I do remember that Planet Hollywood had just opened the same week and I had watched the famous movie stars on the news for the Grand Opening. I waited in a long line to get into the PH cafe that same trip too. I mean, who didn’t want to see the Terminator memorabilia!! I still have the photos! So it was just logical that after going to the PH then I had to go see the original Hard Rock Cafe.

It’s also good to know that my memory isn’t quite failing me yet. The Cafe seemed small back then, particularity after visiting PH and certainly the Cafe hasn’t gotten any bigger. I don’t know if it is the smallest HRC but it’s hard to imagine any new location would have such limited seating. There was an hour wait when I arrived, which was late in the evening, sometime after 8 pm! There were a few people commenting that it was like being in line at a hot new night club. Thankfully, since I’m a Rewards member I didn’t have to wait to get in (anyone sense a theme with me!). I sat up at the counter by the kitchen, which isn’t the most comfortable spot but is certainly lively. The serving staff are friendly and enjoy working here, although that is something I find typical of most cafes. A lot of the London staff have worked at the Cafe for a long time, I believe a few have been here almost from the initial opening, which is pretty cool and unique for most older cafes.

The Cafe has the original memorabilia from Eric Clapton’s Fender guitar to the Mick Jagger puppet from the Phil Collins Land of Confusion video (I still remember when the video first aired!). The rock clock and of course, the first thing I photographed back during my first visit, the no nukes allowed neon sign.

After dinner I went over to the Rock Shop, which is located across the street from the cafe. Which is a good thing cuz it wouldn’t fit in the Cafe! There weren’t any new shot glasses and the anniversary pin isn’t out yet (just my luck!) but I was able to pick up a few thing for other people and of course, I have a swipe for London.

The Rock Shop also has the Vault located down stairs, which is a free tour every 20 minutes or so conducted by a staff member. This time, the tour guide was “Harry”. A super friendly bloke who spins tales that can only be offered as stories that we promised would never leave the Vault. What happens in the Vault, stay in the Vault after all. However, if you get a chance to have a tour from Harry, ask him about getting a pilot’s license and tell him the chick from Canada sent you.

The Vault itself is an actual vault room. Which means, it isn’t huge. There are a number of things in the room that are worth seeing, if you enjoy the memorabilia (and who doesn’t?!). Some of the items do travel from time to time – Jimi Hendricks and John Lennon items apparently disappear for touring for a few years at a time. It made me curious if some of the items on the Seattle tour I just saw might have come from the Vault but Harry wasn’t sure. Although one can only assume and imagine that there are a ton of musical items owned by the HRC that are in storage somewhere, either from closed cafes or stuff that haven’t yet found a home.

Anyhoo, you have about 20 minutes to look over the items all while Harry chats with you and plays guitar. I was lucky enough to be in a small tour – there were only 2 other people with me so we pretty much capitalized our time and were able to take a lot of pictures.

As for pictures, I’m discovering that the WordPress app is not letting me insert them directly so I may have to wait until I get home to fully finish this entry. So stay tuned!

Cheers from London!

Denise

Seattle Meet

Well this blogging thing didn’t happen as planned!  I took a bunch of pictures in Seattle with a borrowed camera that apparently creates files that Photoshop can’t open.  So I haven’t had a lot of time to wrestle with a conversion program but as soon I can, I’ll get a few pictures added to this blog.  I was really hoping to share some of the pics with all of you.

Seattle, as you may know, is for all intents and purposes, my home cafe.  On Sunday, May 19, the cafe hosted a pin meet.  I don’t usually make the pin meets – I have nothing to trade.  And the train from Vancouver typically gets me into the city just in time for all the other collectors to be packing up.  However, it just so happens that this was my birthday week (if you missed the previous blog entry – take a peek now!) so I decided to head down a day early and spend some quality time hanging out.

I really do like Seattle.  It is very similar to Vancouver but all the touristy things that I have at home are never as interesting.  If Vancouver had a gum wall… can’t say I’d go see it BUT as Seattle has a gum wall,  I’m totally there!  Rachel the bronze pig – got to go make a donation and get a picture.  Pike Market, wander on through it.  Starbucks – there’s a game to be played with these locations (count them, count how many blocks you can go without seeing one!).  And of course since there’s a Hard Rock Cafe, all the more reason for me to make a visit.  Although I have got to get on them more about making additional shot glasses cuz it’s been forever since the last city shot came out.

Anyhoo, I met up with a few collectors that I have seen at past events.  Most recently in Las Vegas a few years ago.  I also met with a few collectors that came down from BC as well – good to know I might be able to hitch a ride here and there.  And then as I mentioned before, I met up with Seattle Paul for the first time!  The cafe hosted a free breakfast – fruit, eggs, bacon, sausage, biscuits and gravy and … grits.  I have to say, I don’t get the grits (not a staple up here!) but hey, good on whomever enjoys it!

Also at the cafe was the Treasures of the HRC Memorabilia tour.   In town for the last day, there were cases of items from Aerosmith, Whitney Houston, John Lennon, Shakira, The Who, Eric Clapton and a few others I don’t remember (and can’t flip through my pictures!).   It is always cool to see the items that HRC has stored and I’m glad I had a chance to make it down for the tour.

Well, that’s all I have for now… I have to go finish packing for my trip oversees.  If all goes well, I will post a few entries from the “road”.

Cheers!

Denise

Beginning of the rest of my life…

I remember that I couldn’t wait to turn 21. Why? So I could drink* when I traveled to the US. It seemed important and I’m not really sure why because being Canadian, drinking starts early at 19 (18 in some provinces) and I didn’t travel that often to the US back then either. In fact, for my 21st birthday, I was in Holland. So I don’t know why it seemed like a great milestone but it did.

I also remember that 30 seemed old. I mean, ancient. My life would certainly be over at 30 – totally downhill from there. I thought 25 would be fun but dear God, 30 was just bordering the end.

I know that when I got to 30 it really was no big deal. Maybe cuz when you get there, there is no way to stop it and we’re mature enough to know that life isn’t over. Unlike many of my friends and family though, I had no crisis moment. I’m not really sure that I thought 30 was mid life at that point but everyone told me the dread of getting older would come – I’d have a “This is my life?!” moment and have some sort of freak out. My step-mom, for example, got her belly button pierced to deal with turning 30. I am still not sure how that helped but hoped that wasn’t my way of coping when the time came. Maybe I’d finally get a tattoo rather some ill-placed object. Well, happy to say I never poked a hole in my belly button but sadly I still haven’t figured out a design for my first tattoo.

Anyway, now 10 more years is about to pass me by this week as I turn 40! I’m still not in any holy crap “I’m old” mode. I think my 21 year old self has gotten over the age issue. I do find myself wishing I was doing more fun things but it’s hardly a crisis. I also used to write a lot and need to find some time to get back to it. So here goes, I’m traveling a lot over the next two weeks and thought, well here’s something to actually blog about!

The first stop on my “birthday week” celebration (I like to drag my birthday out for a week at a time – if your friends go along with it, then why the hell not!?!) is Seattle. I’m taking the train down and will spend the first weekend of my vacation just south of home and will meet up at the Hard Rock Cafe with some pin collectors. I have been trading pins with a few of them but haven’t actually met one particular trader face to face. “Seattle Paul” (so dubbed as there are a number of Paul’s in my life) has been extremely helpful in picking up the local cafe pins for me. I am hardly a pin collector – my shot collection will always surpass my pin one, mostly because there are just too many pins and they are vastly more expensive (I still do not know how most of the pin collectors keep up!). I did, for some reason, decide I’d collect each pin from the Seattle cafe since it is the closest cafe to me and I was able to start with the first one. And this is where Seattle Paul comes in. As I can’t make the 4 hour trip each time a pin comes out and since the dang cafe sells out of many of the pins super fast, Seattle Paul has been kind enough to be my dealer. If not for him, I probably would have quit long ago (hmmmm, so should I be thanking him or cursing him?!). So this trip I finally get to meet Seattle Paul and thank him for keeping me in the Seattle pin game by trading with me.

However since the train to Seattle doesn’t get me into the city before noon (the pin meet starts at 10 am with a free breakfast!), I’m heading down a day early and will spend the entire weekend. The city is a great, even though it is fairly similar to Vancouver in many ways (minus an NHL team that even Paul will lament but at least that makes us both Canucks fans. Yes people, I managed to throw hockey into this masterpiece of an entry!). I have many food haunts, places I always check out and of course Pike Place Market is always worth the walk through. There’s also the game of how many Starbucks do I pass in an hour or a day (there are toooooo many!).

I’ll blog about my visit with Seattle Paul and the other pin collectors next so stay by your pc! And as stated I’m going to be traveling the next 2 weeks so I’ll hit you up from London, Manchester, Paris and Brussels too. At least that’s the plan. This blog has been quiet for far too long and with no other willing participants, you’re going to have to suffer through my entries. If you get tired of me, ping me with your own story! There are many cafes out there and I know a bunch of you are hitting them this summer (come on, share your experience with us)!

Cheers!

Denise

* And a short editor note: Every time I bring up drinking I get comments that I sound like I may have a problem. I don’t know what to tell you – I’m a social drinker and that’s probably an exaggeration these days. It just seems to go hand and hand with the stuff I blog about, particularly when it comes to Hard Rock Cafe because well, I’m a shot collector. So for the record, I’m no more of a drinker than Floyd T. is… Does that make you feel better? Ok, ok, I’m no way at the same level as Floyd – he’s the King.