27/9: New Forum Message Board

I have added a new style of message board to the website. Hopefully you will all agree it's better than what was there before. The old one was a basic system offered by the website hosts, the new one is a separate and more professional system which I can link in to the website.

I'm afraid I wasn't able to copy the old posts across, but I hope you'll agree it was worth it.

I've set up some categories I think will be useful with a section for pin-trading.

You don't have to register to read or post, but I think you'll find it more convenient if you do as it saves having to enter confirmation numbers all the time.

Please let me know if you think there should be some more sections or categories.

You can access the message board via the same website link, or directly at www.london2012pins.freeforumhost.com.

22/9: News from the Museum of London - New stock coming

I've had an update from the Museum of London. The good news is that they will soon be stocking the weather and teapots pins at £6.99 each I understand. No exact word on when, but I'd say it's close. They hope to get as many in their online store as possible, but don't forget if they're not online, you can still order by phone and in person in the shop.

They will also be trying to stock the white logo pin and Heroes Parade pins - supply permitting.

The even better news is that they plan to sell the London Skyline set (around £125) in the shop and online. No dates, but again I think it's very close. Apparently very nice packaging and a 'high-end collectors piece'.

They will also have a new set which we haven't heard about before. There are 7 pins on a 'West End' theme. All priced at £6.99, I think they'll come out with the weather and teapots (supply permitting).

Images (not photos) of the pins

My sincere thanks to the Museum of London for this information.

18/9: New LOCOG and Sponsor Pins & Other News

I was lucky enough to talk to a couple of representatives from Honav UK yesterday and got some news and photos. I'll update the inventory soon, but here goes...

Back in June, LOCOG held a 'World Press Briefing' for the heads of the media organisations that will be covering the Games. They handed out a pin shown below

I understand that there will be further briefings in the next few years and the future pins will have different colour logos and different media types (e.g. replace the notebook with a camera - my guess, not a fact!). This issue was limited to 300 pins (like the Partner Workshop pin).

Next, the white logo pin - number 6 will be offered for sale to those people lucky enough to be going to the Olympic Park tour as part of the London Open House weekend. But, the more important news is that the pin will be going on retail sale shortly after. I'm guessing the existing retail outlets will be carrying it. No word on price, but I assume it will be around the £7 mark like the other logo pins.

The skyline set is coming soon. The 10 gold pins will probably be issued as a set. It looks like they were almost ready to be issued previously, but something delayed the launch. No exact word on when, but I'm thinking it will be this year. I'm hoping for a tie in with the 1000 day pin, but that's a guess. These pins will be numbers 20-29 as per my rumours page.

There are going to be 2 new internal pins for LOCOG staff only soon - one of the logo and one of the Paralympics logo both in silver. No word on issue size, but not available retail.

Finally, 2 new sponsor pins, both from Tier 2 partners.

The first from Adecco and then another from Deloitte.

The rest of the details I got were updates to issue limits, information about the pin backs and backing cards and the story behind the pink vs. purple pins. We also had a chat about the fake pins that are appearing for sale online. I'll be putting a few short articles together for the website soon.

Honav UK were very helpful and offered lots of information, hopefully this is only the first of many updates I'll be able to bring you in the future. I think there's a lot more to come this year, so as soon as I have something new, I'll post it.

I'll aim to get this new stuff onto the inventory over the next couple of days.

By they way, if you have any questions or issues you'd like to put to Honav UK, feel free to add a comment, use the forum on my website or drop me an email. I'm happy to package up a set of questions and see if I can get some answers.

14/9: Vote for a Pin Design

LOCOG have announced that they'll be issuing pins based on landmarks from the 33 London Boroughs. They have asked for readers to vote for their favourite landmark within a borough.

Take a look at the London 2012 site. Click here to view the article.

You have until Sunday 18th October to vote and the results will be announced at the end of October - maybe on the 1000 day to go anniversary?

1/9: LOCOG and ODA Pins

There are two new sets of pins which can be considered as 'internal'. They have been made by Honav UK for LOCOG and the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA). I'll be updating the inventory with details and pictures this week. I'd like to thank a couple of readers - Adam Down and Robert Varoujian for supplying me with information over the last week or so. I'm pulling the details together and will probably add an 'Internal' section to the inventory.

In all there are 4 pins.

Two were limited to 300 each and handed out to participants in a Partnership Workshop held by LOCOG back in February. One pin has the pink logo and one the Paralympic logo. These are the rarest pins issued to date (beating the previous Deloitte issue of 500)

The other two pins are unlimited and issued by the ODA with a builder's hat in yellow and either a blue logo or Paralympic logo. Approximatley 6,000 of these have been made so far.

Inventory updates and photos to follow

1/9: Inventory Update - Weather and Teapots

I've finally updated the inventory with the weather and teapot pins issued last week. Sorry it's taken so long this time, I was on holiday and then had issues with the post, but I finally got them today so managed to catalogue, photograph and post this evening.

I've listed the available date as 20 August as I think this is the first time they were available for purchase. If anyone disagrees, please post a comment.

I've had problems identifying or describing the teapot styles, so if anyone can point me towards a teapot classification website (!) let me know. I want to improve on "Teapot 1".

I notice this is the first time we've seen the white logo used as part of a pin (other than as Pin 6) and also the first time we've seen the Paralympic logo in white. I think the white works really well in these designs and allows us to see the Olympic rings and Paralympic logo.

Also, we've seen a new retailer get the pins first. For the first time the pins have been solely available on eBay rather than one of the shops used previously. Is this perhaps a move to ready us for an online shop later this year. It'll be interesting to see when the pins appear in the Museum of London. I've always maintained that I'm not here to promote any particular seller and have used Runners Need, Crest and the Museum of London before al with no problem. For any of you who would normally use a shop to purchase and do not use eBay, I can honestly say I had an easy and trouble free purchase from hux777 on eBay. The communications were good, delivery was quick and the pins were perfect. This isn't an official endorsement, but my personal experience was good and I will use them again. I'm adding an entry to the Links page of the website as in my mind they've been established by LOCOG as a retailer and you can see their store by clicking this link