Come Hang With Us At Blends Costa Mesa This Thursday! (9.12.19) @blendscm #waffleheads

What are you doing thisThursday? You’re hanging out with me at @blendscm for our first of hopefully many #WAFFLEHEADS meet and greets! We need to get back to what we’re all about, and that’s community and making friends. Everyone’s invited, even dogs if they can read this! (No seriously, bring out your awesome and friendly dogs). If you’re a fellow Wafflehead, then represent and introduce yourself! We’ll have some cool stuff going on, like free chainstitch customization for anyone who purchases a Vans Chore Coat; Free giveaways; event-exclusives; AND THE VANS TEAM WILL BE ON SITE SERVING UP THEM WAFFLES ON A STICK FOR US! Don’t miss out!

Vans Vault x Hot Rod – Pre-Launch Party (8.16.19)

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ON AUGUST 16TH, 2019 HOT ROD WILL BE HOSTING A VERY SPECIAL PRE-LAUNCH PARTY FOR THEIR LONG AWAITED COLLABORATION WITH VANS VAULT.  HOT ROD SAYS THIS EVENT IS FOR THEIR FRIENDS AND FAMILY ONLY AND WILL BE OPEN TO THE FIRST 100 GUESTS THAT PRE-REGISTER.  ALMOST ALL TICKETS ARE SOLD OUT, AND ONLY 25 TICKETS ARE LEFT (OR LESS AS OF THIS TYPING). 

EACH GUEST WILL RECEIVE:

-1 PAIR OF THE HOT ROD x VANS VAULT ERA (include your shoe size)

-1 VIP GIFT BAG (include your shirt size)

-2 COMPLEMENTARY DRINKS

-FOOD WILL BE PROVIDED

CLICK ON THE PIC ABOVE TO RSVP!

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31 Days Of Vans 2019 Is Officially Here! #31daysofvans

It’s July, and what does that mean?  It’s time for everyone’s favorite unofficial Vans month, where we annoy the shit out of everybody, by posting (at least) 1 pair of Vans pics on your favorite social media platform of choice, and hashtagging #31daysofvans.  Why?  Because you’re down with us!  Our community grows every year, and this is a great way to take pride in that.  It’s all about the people, and not about us.  We just foster it and help it grow.  Just for the record, this is something the Vans community started back in 2015.  Any similar campaigns just have no style or creativity, so step off!  It was created by @hansoloman, one of our guys, and we’ll always try to make sure he gets that credit, no matter how large and world-wide it becomes.  We also have to give credit to the homie Kyle (@iamrocketkyle / @poprocketcreations), for creating the dope graphic we see here before us.  Looking forward to next year’s already!  This is something he started last year, but I see it continuing FOR-EV-ERRR.  Thanks!

…also, we’ll be linking up with @hr_la on another #v31 contest this year, so be sure to tag #v31 and #getyourvansathotrod if you want to participate in it.  There’s giftcards to be won from Hot Rod, for a few lucky winners!

Latest Vans Pro’s To Hit Silo Store! @silostore #silostore

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Every now and then I like to give you guys a little update on the new Vans Pro line, by showcasing stuff that our friends over at Silo have gotten in.  For the latest drop, we see a UTP fave, the Vanosaur print, back in the teal variant, and on a Sk8-Hi Pro.  Love these.  Next, is the Banana Yellow Old Skool Pro.  Either you love these, or you don’t.  The Slip-On Pro Rubber Print gets it’s name from the new rubber printed ollie pad.  Gone is the thicker rubber pad that we see on most Pro Slips, but I guess time will tell if skaters like it more.  Last, we see a dope new Olive Green colorway of the TNT Advanced Prototype.  This is probably the most advanced Vans skate shoe on the market, and now you can have it in a dope new earthy colorway.

If you’re in the market for some new Pro Skate models with that UltraCush HD comfiness, then head on over to Silo to shop all of these pairs!

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WAFFLEHEADS Vans Brand Ambassador Campaign Featuring DJ Guamstyles! @vans #waffleheads #OffTheWall


Who knew that what started out as just another brand of sneaker to collect, would grow into something as big and impactful, as what my friends and I have built over the past decade. Under The Palms was created as a Vans community gathering place, which slowly turned into a worldwide community, which turned into a culture. All over the world, there are now pockets of Vans collecting communities, with their own branding and names, and it’s growing each day. The more I learned about Vans’ heritage, I found that their same values of being original, authentic, and different, are ideals that so many others around the globe also believe in. So when my friends at Vans reached out to me to learn about collecting Vans, I was more than happy to introduce them to my long list of friends, but they wanted to hear it from me instead, and so here I am as one of the selected Vans Brand Ambassadors for 2019, representing the worldwide Vans sneaker collecting community, who are being dubbed #waffleheads. I hope I’ve represented us properly, and in a way that can speak for us all. We chose to go left, when everybody was going right!

Please feel free to share this video on as many platforms as you possibly can.  Not for me, but for all of us.  I’ve always wanted Vans to recognize us all, and to find a way to connect with their Vans sneaker collecting community, similar in how Sole Collector did with Nike.  I want this campaign to reach all over the world, to show our strength in numbers.  I promise to do my work and try to bring more of you on this journey, to tell some of your stories as well.  It’s more than just buying sneakers.  Oh and by the way, I’m actually from Glendora, not Ventura.  I guess that sounded more glamorous, lol?  Check out the rest of the waffleheads over at https://www.vans.com/waffleheads.

#OffTheWall

Kadirwarriors – “CW-IV” aka Part IV: The Checker Warriors (Vans Customs)

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It’s been a long time since I’ve featured any custom works on here, especially of the Vans Customs program types, but when our friends, the Kadirwarriors from Singapore reached out to me, to feature a design that they came up with as a collective, then I thought I’d show a little love for them, for being such Vans fanatics, in a country that is relatively new to Vans on a more widespread scale. Even if the rare and limited Vans are mostly being imported via eBay auctions and Facebook group transactions, it’s this same passion that resonates to the masses, who might just want to step outside of their normal everyday style, and buy that first pair of Slip-Ons, Authentics, Old Skools, or Sk8-Hi’s. Any sub-culture needs it’s advocates, and these guys are a perfect example of that. Thank you all for supporting Vans like we do, and living their culture, creating your own path, while holding down Singapore for all of us Vans enthusiasts, proving Vans is truly a world-wide brand.

Here’s a brief message from Faisal (@cacal) of Singapore’s most notorious group of Vans collectors, all whom are first cousins or brothers, the Kadirwarriors.

“We present to you, the Kadirwarriors x Vans Part IV, the ‘Checker Warriors’ or shorten for ‘CW-IV’. Silos of choice, were two of our favorite models: The style 44 & 98, also known as the Slip-on and Authentic. With the Vans Customs program, our entire Kadirwarriors came up with a design that we unanimously agreed upon, which we want to share with you here.

The ‘CW-IV’ defines the Kadirwarriors and our love of Vintage Japanese Americana style, especially the vintage Vans look, with the iconic checkered foxing. We chose the checkerboard motif as it commemorates every single one of us to why we are here in the first place. The olive (Army Green) theme was added as it has been instilled in most of us, having that military vibe in our style. The ‘Warriors’ repeat pattern on the Authentic was selected to commemorate one of our favorite classic designs, the FuckingAwesome x Vans. I remember we were all looking forward to the Authentic releasing. Fun fact: Under The Palms made a repost of all the official 3 colors released worn by us in the @underthepalms IG account. We were all so stoked!

We personalized both models with embroidery stencil of our initials ‘KWAR’ on the left shoe, and the shoe name ‘CW-IV’ on the right, respectively. We finished the Slip-On with our trademark skull hand-sign logo on the panel. You wouldn’t want to know how many emails we had to send to Vans to get the logo approved for us to put on this pair. Vans has very strict protocol on pictures you want to submit. Lucky it went through, (perhaps with some referrals from some US Vans employees we befriended through IG).

As some of you guys may know, Vans.com doesn’t ship to Asia, but after 3 weeks, the shoes finally arrived, safely in Singapore. Just for fun, we have decided to assist with another 20 pairs, so if any friends want to be a part of the family and have a pair, please do contact us on our official IG @kadirwarriors or email us at kwar.official@gmail.com.

Thank you.”

Faisal (@cacal)

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A Day At The New Vans Corporate Headquarters (8.30.17)

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I know it’s been a few weeks since we were invited to tour the Vans Corporate Headquarters, but life has really been in the way and I haven’t been able to really sit down and write.  I mainly wanted to share with you, some random photos that I was able to take while touring this amazing new facility.  Situated right off the 405 freeway in Costa Mesa, just West of Harbor Blvd., perfectly visible from the freeway, stands this gigantic checkerboard wrapped building, with an even more giant Vans logo on each side of the building.  It’s even more magnificent from the inside courtyard, where you’ve all seen that big red staircase that connects all 3 floors together.

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I started out my day meeting up with the Strictly Waffles fam Eddie and Joey in the parking lot.  We arrived inside to all of our Vans PR friends, and a few familiar faces I’ve met at past events.  We were provided with some breakfast items and Stumptown Coffee which is the coffee of choice throughout the main cafe, and the coffee kitchens situated on each floor.  I was all about that nitro cold brew that was on tap, served up by their very own barista Brandon.  This was too awesome.

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The day of course started with a nice introduction from Steve Van Doren, and his sister Cheryl, talking about what was important when asking employees about what they wanted the new building to have, as well as making sure it was a place that made you love being at work.  There are private think spaces throughout the entire building, an outdoor courtyard complete with a bell that can be rung and heard throughout the entire place, when you make a significant achievement, and there’s even a game room loaded with air hockey, foosball, and shuffleboards to blow off a little steam on.  Vans memorabilia is on display almost everywhere you look.  Band collab shoes, custom Fender guitars, and even the Vans Born Free 9 motorcycle that was built by Thompson Cycles. Read More

Strictly Waffles Presents: “Waffle Lovers” Meet & Greet at Blends Costa Mesa (Friday 9.1.17)

Check out this small video recap of last Friday’s “Waffle Lovers” event put on by Strictly Waffles and hosted by Blends Costa Mesa, while Fall Brewing provided the refreshments.  Thanks to the SW fam for coming out and supporting this dope event, and thanks to Eddie for allowing Dave and I to display some of our vintage heaters from our The Authentic Era collection.  Y’all don’t want to miss the next one!

Goodhood: A History Of Vans Interview With Henry Davies of @pillowheat #theothersideofthepillow

Goodhood recently caught up with Vans’ #1 vintage Made In USA collector/archivist, and a friend we know well, Henry, of The Other Side of the Pillow.  If you want to step up your vintage Vans game, we suggest you take a lesson or two from @pillowheat, because we do, and we’re always learning something new, and uncovering new vintage Vans all the time.  We don’t want to step on the interview, so we’ll just let you read it over on Goodhood’s site!

Hot Rod x Under The Palms x The Authentic Era – Event Recap Pics (via @solscience)

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This past weekend, we teamed up with Hot Rod to put on a pop-up shop for The Authentic Era, complete with an in-store live custom printing on vintage Made In USA Vans tees.  The event was a success, and people were really liking the hats and tees that we had made for the event.  We saw a bunch of familiar faces, as well as some new ones.  A few longtime members of Under The Palms and Strictly Waffles finally were able to come out and show support, which is always nice.  We had an awesome time, and we hope to do this again.  I want to thank Bernard, and the entire Hot Rod crew for really going above and beyond for little ‘ol us.  From the designs, to the merch production, to the man hours put in to this.  I appreciate all of it, and am humbled by it.  I’m definitely not worthy.  I also want to thank Kent and Daichi from solscience for taking these cool pics of the event.  I get caught up visiting with people, that I forget to take photos.  Enjoy these pics after the jump!

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