The images on the match books are part of a long running campaign used by the Hard Rock. The illustrations were drawn by a well-known artist Jordie LaBonde whose works include the Abercrombe and Fitch catalog among many otheres. It is a great campaign. The pictures were used on Billboards, magazine ads (Rolling Stone, Details, FHM, etc.), coasters, postcards and even a group of slot machines called THE HARD ROCK LIFE. If you go to www.hardrockhotel.com you can even send those postcards to a friend, pretty cool. AND, yes there were almost on a set of collectable chips but The Gaming Control Board (still stinging from the Riviera/Porno girl fiasco) did not approved them.
In fact, the original Cinco De Mayo chip was supposed to have the name of Hard Rock's Mexican restaurant, The Pink Taco, on it but gaming didn't approve that either.