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There are more than 100 Hard Rock Cafes on every continent except Antarctica, and since the first Hard Rock Cafe in Los Angeles opened 25 years ago, there has been a following of music and memorabilia buffs.
Today, there are thousands of collectors all over the world who spend hours on the Internet searching for the pin they desire, hours standing in line buying pins for themselves and others (such collectors often add a fee of one to two dollars for handling, thus making living in a city with a Hard Rock Café potentially profitable), and some collectors have thousands of pins.
While some pin collectors only collect pins from holidays (like St. Patrick’s Day, Halloween, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Fourth of July), events (Jazz Festival, charity golf tournaments, Mardi Gras), or certain cities, most just see a pin online or in a restaurant, and pick it up for their collection. Pins start around $5, and some anniversary pins exceed $500. Staff pins are also very popular.
If there is no Hard Rock Café nearby, there are still ways to collect pins, and many collectors rarely, if ever, step into the restaurant.
More than 120 websites are listed in a Hard Rock Café webring, and there are also several clubs on Yahoo! There are mailing lists on EGroups that specialize in the buying, selling, and trading of pins, and scores of websites for collectors to meet. The websites are often very elaborate, featuring photos of each pin in the webmaster’s collection, stories about collecting, want lists, and pictures of restaurants.
Some buffs gather in cafes across the world to talk about their love of collecting over unique dishes such as Santa Fe Spring Rolls, Tupelo Chicken, and hickory smoked chicken and spinach dip.
While most collectors are sincere, here are a few tips to safeguard against fraudulent people:
· If swapping a pin, try to get the other person to send first. However, if you are a new collector, this may be next to impossible.
· Always ask for references, either by checking an Ebay screen name, or gathering e-mail addresses from the collector. If he or she is honest, the person will gladly offer addresses.
· Do not send cash in the mail unless absolutely essential. There is no reason why you should have to send cash to people in the same country as you, but when sending to foreign countries, it is sometimes necessary to save the other person hefty bank fees. Before doing this, insist upon several references and talk to them. If you do send the cash, wrap it in a piece of paper, tuck it into a greeting card, and send it in a secure manila envelope.
· If the pin is expensive, ask to see a photo first. Some fake pins are being circulated.
With that said, a good way to get started is to visit EGroups and join one or several mailing lists, and then search Yahoo! or another search engine to view other collectors pages. Enjoy!
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