1/12: Documentary Request

I had and email from a television company asking if I knew of any collectors who would be interested in the chance of appearing in a documentary on Channel 4.

Here is the email...

I’m working on the next series of The Hoarder Next Door for Channel 4. This series looks at both hoarders and collectors, drawing a clear distinction between the two, and examines how people’s lives and homes can be affected by their habits or hobbies.

With hoarders, we take a psychological approach, working with individuals both on screen and off screen with a therapist to address the compulsion to hoard.

However, the reason I am contacting you is that we also look at the homes of avid and passionate collectors; people whose prized and carefully cultivated collections are competing for living space within their homes. We offer them the services of our de-clutter experts to help re-organise the collection, freeing up further living space, or perhaps room to display their collection in a more attractive way. The purpose is to take a positive look at collections and collectors; and through the process of providing practical help, celebrate the individual collections as something wonderful to have.

I was wondering if you knew of any UK based collectors or if you had a collection yourself?

My direct line is 0207 424 7710 should you have anyone in mind. Or alternatively it would be fantastic if you would forward my email onto anyone who you feel might be interested in hearing more about the series.

Thank you again for your time & best wishes.

Click to enlarge image

In anyone is interested, get in touch with them directly (please mention that you heard about them through London Pins) and take it from there. Just be sure to let us know if you make an appearance on TV!

18/11: Christmas Deal from Tragars Collectables

Gary from Tragars Collectables is offering a Christmas deal of a set of 12 Coca-Cola Paralympics pin badges for only £25.00 with free UK postage.

Plus any purchases over £35.00 will receive a Free Sailing Venue collection pin set of 3 pins.

Please contact Gary at tragar@blueyonder.co.uk

15/11: Christmas Offers from Pins and Things

John at Pins and Things has some Christmas offers for readers of the London Pins blog...

When customers spend £30 or over on the website they will receive a free Olympic Coca cola polar bear pin badge (worth £8.00).

All Honav single pins have been reduced to half price

P&T are authorised stockists of pin badges for Glasgow 2014. As new pins are issued, they will be available on the website

Finally they offer free UK postage.

12/11: Updated Offers from Tragars Collectables

Gary from Tragars Collectables wanted me to pass on some updated offers...

• The 50 Coke pins for £50 continues with no end date

• Free UK postage on any pin badge order

• A free pin badge on any direct order (not eBay)

• New product - 6 Coke badges (safety pin back) - £5 including UK postage

Please contact Gary at tragar@blueyonder.co.uk for more details.

10/11: November Meet Report

We held another pin meet yesterday at the Railway Tavern in Stratford. Despite the bad weather, the turn out was good if not quite as large as port-Games last year. A few key faces could not be there, but there was a steady flow of trades though out the day.

Thanks to Tragars Collectables, everyone there received 2 free Coca-Cola retail pins from a choice of 5 designs and those with children each took again set of Coke bracelets too.

It seems that collectors had been busy since the last meet as we saw a number of new designs which hadn't appeared before from sponsors, media and internal pins.

A few of us discussed a schedule of meets for next year, and the plan is to get together in late March, late July (to coincide with the 2nd Anniversary of London 2012) and then mid-November - an approximate 4-month schedule. Watch this space for new of the next pin meet.

Our thanks to Jan and the team at the Railway Tavern for hosting us free of charge once again.

10/11: Small Catalogue Update

I've updated the catalogue again to day with a couple of changes...

The Samsung Collectors Board pin images have been added. I'm missing 7 pins, so if you have photos of these, please get in touch.

A great new addition to the IOC/IPC page - a Paralympic Reunion pin

A couple of additions to the Media (Press) page - Titan 24 Media, European Pressphoto and Sports Journalist Assoc. One addition to the Media (Broadcast) - JOQR (Japanese Radio)

The press section still has more updates to come, but they will be early in the New Year.

Thank you to those who got in touch with updates.

8/11: Catalogue Update - Media Pins and More

For those of you that thought you'd never see an update to the the media section of the catalogue, I'm pleased to announce that I've finally made all the updates.

I can't claim much credit for the details - I'm indebted to Tom for almost all the information and images - thank you Tom.

It's taken me a while to get it finished, for which I apologise, but I've taken a day off work to get it sorted. The updates were all broadcast pins with one press pin added too. I'm happy that every pin I know about is on the site now. So, as usual, if you have anything I've missed, please let me know.

Click here to take a look at the broadcast section.

In addition to the media update, there are some other additions too...

Commemorative - the rare logo pin 0442 has been added

IOC/IPC - Mandeville pin

Partner  - Coca-Cola/Innocent smoothie pins and 3 P&G pins

Other - Anton Bauer pins

And finally, I've added the Samsung Collectors Board pins that were everywhere during the Games.
Like some of the other pins on the site - they weren't official London 2012 pins, but played a major part in pin trading, so it's only right to add them. The details are there now and the images will be added on Sunday - I ran out of daylight today!

These Samsung pins are on their own page - Click here to take a look.

So, for now, the online catalogue is pretty much up to date. If you think I'm missing something them please get in touch.

The pin trading lists have been updated with these changes too.

8/10: Offer from Tragars Collectables

Tragars Collectables is again offering readers a new deal - this time on Coc-Cola retail pins.

'50 Different pin badges for only £50.00, free UK postage. Random surprise bundles'

You will receive 50 different pins on there original backing cards from list below. Please note these will be random selections, if you wish to purchase select pins, the prices will be higher.

SKU      Description
305315 Coca-Cola 2012 Type Pin
304547 Coca-Cola Battersea Power Station Pin
305391 Coca-Cola Been There Done That T-Shirt Pin
304561 Coca-Cola Big Ben Pin
306053 Coca-Cola Bottle Red Sparkle Pin
304554 Coca-Cola Buckingham Palace Pin
305834 Coca-Cola Beat Box Pin
305810 Coca-Cola CC Rings Bottle Pin
306084 Coca-Cola Coke Zero Bottle Pin
304455 Coca-Cola Countdown Pin - 1 Day
304462 Coca-Cola Countdown Pin - 2 Days
304479 Coca-Cola Countdown Pin - 3 Days
304486 Coca-Cola Countdown Pin - 4 Days
304493 Coca-Cola Countdown Pin - 5 Days
304509 Coca-Cola Countdown Pin - 10 Days
304660 Coca-Cola Country Flag Pin - Australia
304646 Coca-Cola Country Flag Pin - Brazil
304622 Coca-Cola Country Flag Pin - China
304691 Coca-Cola Country Flag Pin - France
304684 Coca-Cola Country Flag Pin - Germany
304653 Coca-Cola Country Flag Pin - Great Britain
304707 Coca-Cola Country Flag Pin - Italy
304639 Coca-Cola Country Flag Pin - Russia
304615 Coca-Cola Country Flag Pin - Spain
304677 Coca-Cola Country Flag Pin - USA
304523 Coca-Cola Downing Street Pin
306077 Coca-Cola Filled Coke Bottle Pin
304578 Coca-Cola Gold Bottle Cap Pin
306060 Coca-Cola Gold Bottle Pin
305070 Coca-Cola Let's Trade Pin
305179 Coca-Cola London Skyline Pin
305049 Coca-Cola Love London Bottle Pin
305032 Coca-Cola Love London Graffiti Pin
305865 Coca-Cola Mini Routemaster Pin
305841 Coca-Cola Minibeats Pin
305735 Coca-Cola Music Jigsaw Drums Pin
305759 Coca-Cola Music Jigsaw Guitar Pin
305377 Coca-Cola Olympic Park Venues Pin - Aquatics
305360 Coca-Cola Olympic Park Venues Pin - Basketball
305353 Coca-Cola Olympic Park Venues Pin - Stadium
305322 Coca-Cola Olympic Park Venues Pin - Velodrome
305339 Coca-Cola Olympic Park Venues Pin - Wembley
305469 Coca-Cola Olympic Pin of the Day, Day 1
305476 Coca-Cola Olympic Pin of the Day, Day 2
305483 Coca-Cola Olympic Pin of the Day, Day 3
305490 Coca-Cola Olympic Pin of the Day, Day 4
305506 Coca-Cola Olympic Pin of the Day, Day 5
305513 Coca-Cola Olympic Pin of the Day, Day 6
305520 Coca-Cola Olympic Pin of the Day, Day 7
305537 Coca-Cola Olympic Pin of the Day, Day 8
305544 Coca-Cola Olympic Pin of the Day, Day 9
305551 Coca-Cola Olympic Pin of the Day, Day 10
305568 Coca-Cola Olympic Pin of the Day, Day 11
305575 Coca-Cola Olympic Pin of the Day, Day 12
305582 Coca-Cola Olympic Pin of the Day, Day 13
305599 Coca-Cola Olympic Pin of the Day, Day 14
305605 Coca-Cola Olympic Pin of the Day, Day 15
305612 Coca-Cola Olympic Pin of the Day, Day 16
305629 Coca-Cola Olympic Pin of the Day, Day 17
306138 Coca-Cola OTR Cardiff Pin
304745 Coca-Cola OTR Classic Pin
305278 Coca-Cola OTR Mascot Pin
304721 Coca-Cola OTR Slider Pin
305858 Coca-Cola OTR Vehicle Mini Beat Pin
306220 Coca-Cola Paralympic Pin of the Day, Day 1
306237 Coca-Cola Paralympic Pin of the Day, Day 2
306244 Coca-Cola Paralympic Pin of the Day, Day 3
306251 Coca-Cola Paralympic Pin of the Day, Day 4
306268 Coca-Cola Paralympic Pin of the Day, Day 5
306275 Coca-Cola Paralympic Pin of the Day, Day 6
306282 Coca-Cola Paralympic Pin of the Day, Day 7
306299 Coca-Cola Paralympic Pin of the Day, Day 8
306305 Coca-Cola Paralympic Pin of the Day, Day 9
306312 Coca-Cola Paralympic Pin of the Day, Day 10
306329 Coca-Cola Paralympic Pin of the Day, Day 11
306336 Coca-Cola Paralympic Pin of the Day, Day 12
304738 Coca-Cola Piccadilly Circus Pin
305162 Coca-Cola Polar Bear Pin
304882 Coca-Cola PTC Hyde Park Pin
304875 Coca-Cola PTC Olympic Park Pin
305384 Coca-Cola PTC Olympic Village Pin
305247 Coca-Cola Retro Bottle Carrier Pin
305230 Coca-Cola Retro Bottles Pin
305209 Coca-Cola Retro Drink Pin
305223 Coca-Cola Retro Go Refreshed Pin
304585 Coca-Cola Silver Bottle Cap Pin
305889 Coca-Cola Sport of the Day Pin, Day 1
305896 Coca-Cola Sport of the Day Pin, Day 2
305902 Coca-Cola Sport of the Day Pin, Day 3
305919 Coca-Cola Sport of the Day Pin, Day 4
305926 Coca-Cola Sport of the Day Pin, Day 5
305933 Coca-Cola Sport of the Day Pin, Day 6
305940 Coca-Cola Sport of the Day Pin, Day 7
305957 Coca-Cola Sport of the Day Pin, Day 8
305964 Coca-Cola Sport of the Day Pin, Day 9
305971 Coca-Cola Sport of the Day Pin, Day 10
305988 Coca-Cola Sport of the Day Pin, Day 11
305995 Coca-Cola Sport of the Day Pin, Day 12
306008 Coca-Cola Sport of the Day Pin, Day 13
306015 Coca-Cola Sport of the Day Pin, Day 14
306022 Coca-Cola Sport of the Day Pin, Day 15
306039 Coca-Cola Sport of the Day Pin, Day 16
306046 Coca-Cola Sport of the Day Pin, Day 17
304967 Coca-Cola Sports Equipment Pin - Badminton
304974 Coca-Cola Sports Equipment Pin - Basketball
304943 Coca-Cola Sports Equipment Pin - Diving
304998 Coca-Cola Sports Equipment Pin - Equestrian
304981 Coca-Cola Sports Equipment Pin - Fencing
304950 Coca-Cola Sports Equipment Pin - Football
304936 Coca-Cola Sports Equipment Pin - Gymnastics
305018 Coca-Cola Sports Equipment Pin - Swimming
305001 Coca-Cola Sports Equipment Pin - Tennis
304929 Coca-Cola Sports Equipment Pin - Weightlifting
305025 Coca-Cola Sports Graffiti Pin
304516 Coca-Cola Tower Bridge Pin
305261 Coca-Cola Tower of London Pin
305704 Coca-Cola Typically British Pin - Bulldog
305698 Coca-Cola Typically British Pin - Country House
305674 Coca-Cola Typically British Pin - Double Decker Bus
305667 Coca-Cola Typically British Pin - Gnomes
305728 Coca-Cola Typically British Pin - Letterbox
305650 Coca-Cola Typically British Pin - Queuing
305643 Coca-Cola Typically British Pin - Rain
305681 Coca-Cola Typically British Pin - Royal
305711 Coca-Cola Typically British Pin - Tea
305421 Coca-Cola UK Nations England Pin
305438 Coca-Cola UK Nations Northern Ireland Pin
305445 Coca-Cola UK Nations Wales Pin
304905 Coca-Cola Union Jack Big Ben Pin
304837 Coca-Cola Welcome to the Games Pin - Australia
304813 Coca-Cola Welcome to the Games Pin - Brazil
304806 Coca-Cola Welcome to the Games Pin - China
304752 Coca-Cola Welcome to the Games Pin - France
304769 Coca-Cola Welcome to the Games Pin - GB
304783 Coca-Cola Welcome to the Games Pin - Germany
304790 Coca-Cola Welcome to the Games Pin - Italy
304851 Coca-Cola Welcome to the Games Pin - Japan
304868 Coca-Cola Welcome to the Games Pin - Netherlands
304844 Coca-Cola Welcome to the Games Pin - Russia
304776 Coca-Cola Welcome to the Games Pin - Spain
304820 Coca-Cola Welcome to the Games Pin - USA
304530 Coca-Cola Westminster Abbey Pin

In addition, Gary from Tragars has also offered a free pin for those that attend the next pin meet in November. If you come to the next meet at the Railway Tavern, be sure to ask me for your freebie from Tragars

If you'd like to purchase a bundle of 50 or any individual pins, please contact Tragars at tragar@blueyonder.co.uk

8/9: Next Pin Meet - 9th November

Following on from the two trading events in the summer, I'm pleased to say that a number of people contacted me about arranging another pin meet before the year was out.

So, I've arranged for us to have another meet in November, here are the details...

Date: Saturday 9th November 2013
Time: 2.00pm - 6.00pm
Venue: The Railway Tavern, 131 Angel Lane, Stratford, E15 1DB
Cost: Free

Once again, Jan has let us use the pub free of charge, so please buy some food and drink while you're there.

As always, the invite goes out to regular pin traders as well as anyone who is just starting out collecting or swapping pins having caught the bug at the Games or perhaps the Anniversary Games in July.

There's no need to register to attend, just pop by and see if you can fill any gaps in your collections. If you haven't been to a meet before, then we'd love to meet you. Many of the 'first-timers' say how friendly the events are and most people come again.

If you want to email me - info@londonpins.co.uk to say your coming it will help me gauge numbers - but there's no obligation or register for freebies this time.

Look forward to seeing lots of you there.

12/8: National Paralympic Day at QEOP - 7th Sept

Thanks to a reader for pointing out that the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park (QEOP) and the Copper Box will be hosting 3 separate Paralympic sports events on Saturday 7th September.

Free tickets for the events are available  - click here.

I'm not sure what the potential for pin trading will be, but if anyone plans to go along and take their pins, feel free to leave a comment on this post to let others know.

You can read more about the event at insidethegames.

24/7: Pin Trading at the Anniversary Games

UPDATE 26/7: a busy day at the Olympic Park today. Lots of interest in the pin trading, but once again not many had brought their pins with them. 

Many of the visitors had a chat about pin collecting, and many plan to come again over the weekend. 

So, if you're coming tomorrow, come along and see us in the Spectators Village. 

This week sees athletics return to the Olympic Stadium and the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Sainsbury's are hosting the Anniversary Games from Friday 26th until Sunday 28th July.

The organisers have provided a pin trading section in the Spectators' Village, and each day up to 6 pin traders will be there to swap pins with ticket holders.

The pin traders will be in the British Athletics Village marquee within the Spectators' Village. They will be adjacent to the British Athletics merchandise stand.

According to the British Athletics website, the doors open as follows...

4pm on Friday
11am on Saturday
12pm on Sunday

...each day, approximately 3 hours before the sport starts - plenty of time to try some pin trading!

So, if you have tickets to the event this weekend, bring your spare pins with you.

Unfortunately, if you don't have event tickets, then you will not be able to access the pin trading area.

Note, the British Athletics website and the OEQP website links above show different door times!

23/7: Pins and Things at Open East Festival

John from Pins and Things has asked me to mention that he'll have a stand at the Open East Festival this weekend in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

He'll be in the Urban Bazaar area and will have some special show offers on the London 2012 retail (including Coca-Cola) pins.

Please let him know you found out via the London Pins blog.

21/7: Pin Trading at Go Local

A few of us went to the Go Local event in the Olympic Park last Friday. The weather was great and helped to rekindle the memories of last summer. The organisers had given us a great central location in the main arena.

There was lots of interest and a few trades made. Unfortunately, despite the organisers best attempts to publicise the fact we were there using social media, lots of people had not brought their spares with them to trade.

However, it was great to meet lots of people - most of the GamesMakers to have a chat about pins and the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Thanks to Bill for the photos...

Go Local Event - July 19th - Olympic Park

UPDATE. The pin trading tables are next to the Join in tent at GoLocal. 

The organisers of the Go Local event this Friday have invited some pin traders along to host a small pin trading location. 

If you're coming along for the day, then bring any spare pins with you and you may get the chance to fill some gaps in your collections. 

30/6: Anniversary Offer from Tragars Collectables

ANNIVERSARY SALE

Tragars Collectables would like to offer readers some pin sets this week.

VENUE & MASCOT 2 PIN SETS AND 3 PIN SETS IN PRESENTATION BOXES

ARCHERY
MOUNTAIN BIKE
VOLLEYBALL
TRAMPOLINE
JUDO
WRESTLING/GRECO - ROMAN
ROAD CYCLING
TABLE TENNIS
BADMINTON
WEIGHTLIFTING
FENCING
HANDBALL
EQUESTRIAN - DRESSAGE
EQUESTRIAN - JUMPING
EQUESTRIAN - EVENTING
BMX
DIVING
WATER POLO
CANOE SLALOM
CANOE SPRINT
TAEKWONDO
ARTISTIC GYMNASTICS

3 PIN SET SWIMMING
3 PIN SET SAILING
3 PIN SET BASKETBALL
3 PIN SET ROWING 3 PIN SET RYTHMIC GYMNASTICS

SPORTS POSE 3 PIN SET TRIATHLON - £12.00

The price is £6.00 each for the 2 pin sets and £7.00 each for the 3 pin sets

Postage within the UK.

£3.70 UP TO 4 SETS
£5.50 UP TO 10 SETS

This offer is available now until Friday 26th July.

Contact Gary at tragar@blueyonder.co.uk

20/6: Anniversary Games - Pin Trading

For those of you that wanted to take part in the pin trading at the Anniversary Games in July, but did not have event tickets - Good News!!

I've had it confirmed that pin collectors/traders who would like to sign up to take a trading space, but do not have event tickets, WILL be able to get accreditation to the pin trading area and therefore get inside the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

You'll still need event tickets to get into the stadium, but essentially it's the same set up as last year - collectors/traders can get into the park once they are accredited but only to the stadium if they have event tickets.

So, if this news now means you would like to take part in some pin trading on Friday 26th July - Sunday 28th July, then please drop me an email to info@londonpins.co.uk. As well as your name, please let me know what day(s) you would like to attend.

It's not quite the pin meet and picnic we planned, but it will be a fantastic chance for lots of us to get together and relive the summer of London 2012 (well for 3 days!).

10/6: Anniversary Games - Pin Meet - Details

Thanks to the hard work of a fellow collector - Mark Kass, I'm pleased to confirm that as part of the arrangements for the Anniversary Games, there WILL be a designated area for pin traders.

At the moment, we cannot confirm the size or specific location for the area, but here's what we do know...

• the area will be in the "Spectator Village" (I presume close to the Stadium)
• at the moment, this area is accessible to Anniversary Games ticket holders only
• the area MAY be opened up to non-ticket holders - waiting for details
• accreditation may be required to be a designated trader (like the Coca-Cola centres during the Games), but it looks like anyone can turn up to the tables and trade if they can access the area
• Pin trading will take place on all 3 days of the Games

I appreciate that there are still some unanswered questions, but if you're interested in taking a table/space/seat, then we're collecting names to register your interest. There may be security checks or forms to fill in, we don't know.

At this stage, it's just a matter of collecting names regardless of whether you have tickets for the Games or not. As soon as we know more, I'll post it here.

If you'd like to be on the list then send your name to info@londonpins.co.uk.

Please also indicate if you already have tickets for any/all of the Anniversary Games days.

Remember, I can't take any credit for arranging this, I'm merely communicating the excellent work done by Mark.

9/6: July Pin Meet - Updated Information

Now that the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park (QEOP) have published details about the activities in the park around the weekend of July 26-28th, it looks like the planned 'picnic and pin meet' will not be able to go ahead.

The north park is being opened with the Open East Festival that weekend and as this is a ticketed event, it seems there will be no part of the QEOP open to the non-paying public. This is different to what was implied after the Games.

The stadium area is only accessible to those with tickets for the Anniversary Games, so there's no common area in the park that we can all get to without paying.

I'm waiting to find out if there may be an area within the Anniversary Games site that we can have a pin trading area - as soon as I know more, I'll publish it here.

So, in summary, at the moment, it doesn't seem that we can find a place where everyone can get to easily that is free and still allows each of us to go to the Festival or the Anniversary Games if we have tickets.

Keep an eye on the blog and as soon as I know more, I'll post here. I suppose at the worst, if you're in the area, bring your pins, wear a lanyard to identify yourself and see who you bump into! We may be able to use email and Twitter on the day to arrange a 'flash pin trade' event.

Hopefully, better news soon...

16/5: Pin Meet in July

I wanted to give you an update on the potential pin meet in July.

There is no definite details to share yet, however I wanted to let you know that one of the collectors has been working hard to secure us a location for some pin trading some time over the weekend of the Anniversary Games in July.

I think there are still logistics to work out on how much of the Olympic Park is open, what access is available to ticket holders vs. non-ticket holders etc.

So, in other words, no news but to tell you that it's being worked on.

16/5: Minor Catalogue Updates

There have been a few minor updates to the catalogue this week...

EDF
The EDF varieties, mentioned back in January, still seem to be confusing collectors. My original understanding was that increases in issue sizes for some of the countdown pins, together with the change in wording form 'Sustainability Partner' to 'Official Partner' meant that we would see varieties of the pins mentioned at the time.

Last week a reader had spoken to their EDF contact and was told that not all of the varieties were made. Talking to other collectors, it seems we all have the same gaps in our collection - the 'Sustainability' versions of EDF0017, 18, 19, 20 and 21.

Until we actually see these pins, I have taken them off of the catalogue and have assumed that the issue sizes were made up entirely of 'Official' wording varieties.

My latest theory is that when EDF changed the wording on the pins, their future designs, i.e. the later countdown pins, were updated to reflect the change thereby creating two versions. However, when the pins actually came to be produced, the 'Official' wording change was 'in place' and therefore all the pins were produced with this wording. It's only a theory and not based on any information from EDF. Click here for the EDF page.

Kingdom Sports

A couple of entires from the tickets/hospitality firm. Click here for the catalogue page.

Coca-Cola

The jigsaw bottle issued by their UK bottling arm of Coke and a set of London 2012 themed (although not branded) pins from the Chinese market. Click here for the Coca-Cola page.

All of these changes have been reflected in the pin trading lists.

14/5 - Poster Pins Set

At the recent London 2012 sale and auction in Coventry, one reader managed to pick up a set that was never released even though the pins form part of the 2,012 designs that were initially planned.

Pins 705 - 731

The pins are a set of IOC posters from previous Summer Olympic Games from 1896 - 2008. The pins are numbered 705-731 and are the same posters as pins 732 - 758.

The slight differences are that...

• the new pins are 22mm x 30mm and therefore a little smaller than the original pins (25mm x 35mm)
• they were only available (or not available as it turned out) as a framed set in an IOC Olympic Museum branded box (see image below
• The Mexico 1968 and Los Angeles 1984 designs are slightly different (images below)

IOC Olympic Museum Branded Packaging

Pin 0748 - Mexico 1968 Poster
(individual pin)

Pin 0721 - Mexico 1968 Poster
(from set)

Pin 0752 - Los Angeles 1984 Poster
(individual pin)

Pin 0725 - Los Angeles 1984 Poster
(from set)

21/4: Latest Pin Meet Report

We held our latest pin meet yesterday, and I'm pleased to say that despite the long gap since our last get-together, the enthusiasm (and attendance) was as strong as ever.

There were lots of regular faces but also a large number of new collectors that had caught the bug during the Games and decided to try out a pin meet.

From the feedback I received, it seems that there were a number of very successful trades made with all of us managing to fill gaps in our collections.

A lot of the conversations centred around pins that were not seen during the Games, prices on eBay and how to display collections as well as thoughts towards Sochi and Rio.

Someone from EDF came along and was trading a pin none of us had seen before. It combined the EDF logo with the tagline 'We helped London 2012 shine brighter'.  Whilst it did not contain the London 2012 logo it did use the typeface. There are no back markings on the pin.

Thoughts turned to the nect pin meet and the plans are still to gather in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park (the permanent name for the redeveloped Olympic Park) on Saturday 27th July - the anniversary of the Opening Ceremony. Plans are in their early stages at the moment, but will depend on the access available on the day and the number of collectors who plan to attend the Sainsbury's Anniversary Games in the stadium that day. Keep reading the blog as I'll post more details when they are confirmed.

Finally, on a personal note, I'd like to thank everyone there yesterday who were part of my gift. I was really touched by the thoughts and sentiments expressed and appreciate your kind words. 

13/4: Next Pin Meet - Next Weekend

Don't forget - one week to go...

The next pin meet takes place next weekend on Saturday 20th April 2013 at the Railway Tavern in Stratford. We start around 2.30pm and will finish between 5 and 6pm. There will be freebies of P&G Team GB and Team Ireland pins for those that do not have them yet.

As always, everyone is welcome regardless of how much or how little you have to trade. I've had emails from some 'new faces' who hope to be there, so if you're not sure it's for you, then why not turn up, take a look and maybe trade a pin or two.

Hope to see you there.

24/3 - Week 3 Offer from Tragars Collectables

Gary from Tragars Collectables would like to offer readers some pin sets this week.

This time, he is offering Venue and Mascot - 2 pin sets in Presentation Boxes

• Archery
• Mountain Bike
• Beach Volleyball
• Volleyball
• Trampoline
• Judo
• Wrestling - Greco-Roman
• Road Cycling
• Table Tennis
• Badminton
• Weightlifting
• Fencing
• Handball
• Equestrian - Dressage
• Equestrian - Jumping
• Equestrian - Eventing

Each set is priced £15 including postage within the UK.

This offer is available from Monday 25th March until Easter Sunday 31st March.

Contact Gary at tragar@blueyonder.co.uk

21/3: Offer from Glamorous Living

The folks at Glamorous Living have a series of London 2012 Olympic Museum pins for sale and are offering them to readers of London Pins before they hit eBay.

The pins on offer are

0781	Games Logo - 1936 - Berlin
0782	Games Logo - 1948 - London
0783	Games Logo - 1952 - Helsinki
0784	Games Logo - 1956 - Stockholm
0785	Games Logo - 1956 - Melbourne
0787	Games Logo - 1964 - Tokyo
0789	Games Logo - 1972 - Munich
0790	Games Logo - 1976 - Montreal
0791	Games Logo - 1980 - Moscow
0793	Games Logo - 1988 - Seoul
0794	Games Logo - 1992 - Barcelona
0795	Games Logo - 1996 - Atlanta
0797	Games Logo - 2004 - Athens

0732	Games Poster - 1896 - Athens
0733	Games Poster - 1900 - Paris
0734	Games Poster - 1904 - St Louis
0735	Games Poster - 1908 - London
0736	Games Poster - 1912 - Stockholm
0737	Games Poster - 1920 - Antwerp
0738	Games Poster - 1924 - Paris
0739	Games Poster - 1928 - Amsterdam
0740	Games Poster - 1932 - Los Angeles
0742	Games Poster - 1948 - London
0743	Games Poster - 1952 - Helsinki
0746	Games Poster - 1960 - Rome
0747	Games Poster - 1964 - Tokyo
0749	Games Poster - 1972 - Munich
0750	Games Poster - 1976 - Montreal
0751	Games Poster - 1980 - Moscow
0752	Games Poster - 1984 - Los Angeles
0753	Games Poster - 1988 - Seoul
0754	Games Poster - 1992 - Barcelona
0755	Games Poster - 1996 - Atlanta
0756	Games Poster - 2000 - Sydney
0757	Games Poster - 2004 - Athens
0758	Games Poster - 2008 - Beijing

They have one of each pin and are available at £6 each including UK postage.

They also have a set of Countryside, West End, 100 Days to Go, Festivals and Markets. Contact them for prices.

Contact Glamorous Living at sales@glamorousliving.co.uk if you want to order any of these pins.

17/3: Another Offer from Tragars Collectables

Gary from Tragars Collectables would like to offer readers another pin set this week.

This time, he is offering the 11 pin venue logo set

The price is £40 including postage within the UK.

This is the boxed set not the individual pins on card. This offer is available from Monday 18th March until Sunday 24th March.

Contact Gary at tragar@blueyonder.co.uk

London Pins accepts no liability for this offer.

10/3: Offer from Tragars Collectables

Gary at Tragars Collectables would like to introduce an offer for readers of this blog...

Tragars Collectables will be having a weekly special set over the next few weeks.
This weeks offer is

Venue Collection Triathlon Sports Poses
£20.00 plus free UK postage

This set comprises pins 1896 - Cycling, 1897 - Running and 1898 - Swimming.

This price is valid for one week from Monday 11th March - Sunday 17th March

I have a limited number available at this price - first come, first served.

Payment via PayPal or Cheque/Postal Order made payable to Gary Tolley.
Please contact tragar@blueyonder.co.uk for information and to order

London Pins accepts no liability for this offer

7/3: Retail & Venue Pin Retailer

Over the last few weeks, we've seen another eBay retailer with some pins that were harder to find during the Games.

Tragars Collectables has been trading for nearly 10 years and for the last 6 months has sold a range of London 2012 pins on eBay. The owner, Gary, is happy to receive any emails for specific retail/venue pins that you may be looking for. The prices on eBay take account of eBay fees, so he hopes to be able to sell at a reduced price off eBay. He has a range of retail and venue pins and plans to add more sets over the next few weeks. He is unable to help out with sponsor/media/NOC pins. Why not contact him to see if he has the pins to fill any gaps in your collections.

He is offering readers of London Pins some special offers...

• A free pin badge (his choice) with every order
  OR
• A Free Venue & Mascot 3 pin set (Sailing) when you spend £50 on pins
  OR
• Free UK postage when you spend £50 on pins

You can contact him via email tragar@blueyonder.co.uk or take a look at his store on eBay - Tragars Collectables

As with my previous posts when I mention specific retailers, I take no responsibility for the products or service you receive from them, but can confirm I've made a successful purchase from Tragars. I approached Gary to see what he may be able to offer London Pins readers - hence this blog post.

27/2: Pin Collectors Survey Results

Back at the start of the year, I blogged about a survey for pin collectors.

I'm pleased to say that Anna has now come back to us, as she promised, with the results of the survey. In all 66 people responded and the survey is still open (see the original post to access it).

The results are very interesting (and amusing in places), and I think we can all recognise elements of ourselves in the replies!

Click on the icon below to access the report which is in PDF format. Most computers should be able to open the file, but if not you can download the free software from the Adobe website

23/2: New ODA Pins

Ok, so we thought the Games were over, the ODA wrapped up and all those internal pins had been seen. How wrong we were!

Thanks to a reader, 2 more ODA pins have been discovered. These ones were issued by the facilities management team and come in Olympic and Paralympic versions.

ODA0035

ODA0036

Each pin features a saw, plunger, a screwdriver and a hammer in a tool box along with a Games logo. These pins were issued in December 2012 and I have no details on how many of each were issued at present.

13/2: Pin Trading Lists Up to Date - Sponsor and Internal

At long last, the pin trading lists are as up to date as possible for sponsor and internal pins. All of the additions to the catalogue that have been made since the end of the Games are now reflected in the pin trading lists.

As you can imagine, it's a big update - the sponsor list increased from 269 to 618 pins and the internal list from 105 to 167 pins.

I've tried as far as possible to retain all your wants and offers entries, but as some of the pin references may have changed since before the Games and we found various varieties, I can't guarantee it. Please check your lists and update them as required. Apologies for the extra effort - hopefully it will be minimal.

Click here to access the lists, and if you aren't already signed up and would liek to be a part of it, drop me an email.

10/2: Partner Pin Updates

More updates to the sponsor pins section of the catalogue this morning.

This time the are updates for the following sponsors...

• Coca-Cola - addition of retail and joint McDonald's/Coca-Cola pins 
• GE - additional images and pins
• McDonald's - addition of joint McDonald's/Coca-Cola pins

with a couple of minor updates to

• BP - additional pin
• Deloitte - additional pin
• P&G - relabelling of all their not Honav pins to WWL- notation
• UPS - update to a backing card for UPS0027

Thanks to readers for a couple of these updates.

2/2: Partner Pin Update on Website

I have made another large update to the website this morning. This time, lots of the sponsor pins have been updated.

There are updates for the following sponsors...

• Acer
• Adidas
• BMW
• BP
• Coca-Cola
• CoSport (new page)
• Deloitte
• Dow
• GE
• GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) (new page)
• McCann
• Omega (new page)
• Ottobock
• Panasonic
• P&G
• Samsung
• UPS
• Visa

Apart from Coca-Cola, all of the sponsor pages list all the pins I know about and all the images I have. If you have pins which you cannot find on ANY sponsor page, or have images of pins that I do not have, I'd be grateful if you could let me know please. The Dow country opening ceremony pins will be updated shortly - I have almost all the images, but haven't uploaded them yet.

Thank you to everyone who has offered information or images. I know it's taken a while for me to get the pages up to date, but hopefully when you take a look at them, you'll think it's been worth the wait!

For those that use it, the Pin Inventory list on the downloads page has also been updated.

Apart form any omissions or corrections on these pages, I'll be moving onto the media pages next.

I also plan to have the pin trading list up to date soon too.

27/1: EDF Pins - Wording Varieties and Issue Sizes

Thanks to a reader who pointed out that the EDF Union Flag pin (EDF0012) listed on the catalogue comes in two varieties.

Although both pins are EDF0012, the original (top) pin has the wording 'sustainability partner' whilst the subsequent print uses the wording 'official partner'. Notice too, that on the original pin, the logo has a silver border, whereas on the later pin it does not. The backs of the pins are identical other than the original pin seems to have a more defined texture.

Looking back at information from EDF, I noticed that between December 2011 and May 2012, some of the issue sizes increased - this pin being one of them. Originally the issue size was 1,500 but this was increased to 20,500 nearer the Games. Presumably EDF decided to use this for promotional purposes during the Games and had more produced, but with the new wording. 

This is not the only pin in their range that changed the wording and increased in number...

EDF0008	Olympic 1 YTG	1,000 > 1,500
EDF0012	Olympic Union Flag	1,500 > 20,500
EDF0013	Olympic 300 DTG	500 > 1,000
EDF0014	Paralympic 300DTG	1,000 > 1,700
EDF0017	Paralympic 200DTG	600 > 1,300
EDF0018	Paralympic 100 DTG	600 > 1,000
EDF0019	Olympic 200DTG	500 > 1,000
EDF0020	Olympic 100DTG	600 > 1,100
EDF0021	Olympic Games Time	600 > 1,100

I am assuming that all the smaller sizes were produced as 'sustainability partner pins' and all the increases were produced as 'official partner' pins. I also assume that the 'reprints' were to provide enough sock to issue the countdown boxed sets seen during the Olympic and Paralympic Games. I will update the catalogue to reflect the two varieties of each pin and the different issue sizes.

Not only have we seen variations in wording and issue sizes with he EDF countdown pins, but also in the small TM or (R) markings that appear alongside the logo on the pin. To date we have seen variations in pins EDF0014 and EDF0028 where they may use either the TM - Trademark symbol, the (R) - Registered design symbol or no symbol at all.

Thanks to Angela for pointing out the difference which prompted me to investigate further.

27/1: Regional Pins - Classification

As I mentioned earlier, the website has been updated today with the Regional pins. Whilst going through the catalogue today, it struck me, that we can now see a classification of the regional pins and I have therefore slightly amended the names. Hopefully the following explains.

The original issue in 2009 from the regions was 12 pins  - one for each of the Nations & Regions committees. However, not all 12 of the regions were actually prepared to pay for their pins to be issued, so only 8 were ever manufactured. London, Scotland, South West and West Midlands pins were never taken past the prototype stage.

Version 1 pin - No shards on the main panel

Each of these pins featured a coloured Olympic logo against a plain silver geometric shape and the name of the region in the same colour as the logo. The 'London' and Olympic rings in the logo are metal. On the catalogue I now refer to these as version 1 pins an they are numbered REG0001 - REG0012.

Then, closer to the Games in 2011 and 2012, more 'regional' pins were issued, but this time they were aligned to towns, cities or counties who were hosting events as well as the regions. It seems that some areas embraced pins and issued multiples with both Olympic and Paralympic varieties. Others were more modest with a single pin.

These pins have been classified as version 2 in the catalogue and start with pin REG001. These pins once again combine a logo with a silver geometric shape containing the host name, but this time, the silver shape contains coloured shards in the London 2012 branding in the colour of the logo. The 'London' and Olympic rings in the logo are printed.

All of the version 2 pins can be sub-divided into one of 5 designs as shown below...

Version 2 - Design 1

Version 2 - Design 2

Version2 - Design 3

Version 2 - Design 4

Version 2 - Design 5

From what I can tell, all the version 2 pins fall into one of these designs. It's worth noting that design 2 and 5 are very similar, the only difference I can see is that design 2 contains 2 small shards top left and one large shard on the right, whereas design 5 has all 3 shards at the top of the pin.

Check out the Regional page on the website and please let me know if you have any pins that are not listed - either new towns or different colours of existing pins.

27/1: Website Updates - Internal Pins

The website has had another sizeable update today - this time for internal pins.

The catalogue is now complete (as far as I have information) for the following pins

LOCOG
ODA
Regional
TeamGB / Paralympics GB

Click on the links above to view the pages.

If you have any pins, images or details that you cannot find on these pages, please let me know as I may have missed them.

There were a few updates too to some of the partner pages, most notably to the Dow page where I have now listed all 33 country Opening Ceremony pins. I still need good quality photos of the open pins if anyone has some to share.

As always, thanks to everyone who has helped provide information and especially to the reader who helped out with the internal and regional pins.

9/1: London 2012 Collectors Survey

Do you feel like answering some questions about your London 2012 collecting habits - particularly pin collecting?

I was approached just before Christmas by Dr Anna Woodham from the University of Birmingham...

My name is Anna, I'm a lecturer at the Ironbridge Institute, University of Birmingham where I teach and research around the subject of heritage and identity. I'm really interested in exploring the practice of collecting London2012 memorabilia, particularly how people talk about their collections and the stories and memories connected with them as a 'personal' rather than 'official' 2012 legacy.

Before working at the University of Birmingham I worked for the Government Olympic Executive legacy team and LOCOG for a short time and have a small collection of pin badges and other bits and pieces which I am very proud of. I came across your useful website several months ago and I was fascinated by the work you have done and the community that has built up around the collecting of pin badges. I was wondering if you, and perhaps also some other pin badge collectors, would like to take part in a small pilot study? This would involve answering some questions (probably via an online survey) about your collection, how and why you collect pin badges and what they mean to you. Ideally I would like this to develop into a larger project so I would use your answers/other people's answers to understand whether their is potential for some more detailed research questions.

The questions are quite broad and ask about what types of London 2012 memorabilia you collect, why you collect them and how you keep and display them. The survey is anonymous unless participants wish to leave their email address. I'm very happy to share the results of the survey with you and if anyone has any queries about the research I'm doing or how the survey answers will be used I am very happy to chat to people.

If you're interested in taking part, you can access the questionnaire by clicking here.

5/1: Pin Meet - April 2013

Happy New Year to everyone, and to kick the blog off this year, I'd like to announce another pin meet. 

Date: Saturday 20th April

Time: 2:30pm - 6:00pm

Venue: The Railway Tavern, Angel Lane, Stratford, E15 1DB

As usual, there's no cost to attend as the pub has kindly let us have the room for free.

The free pins from P&G will be handed out to those who attend.

I know it will have been a few months since the last one, but hopefully it will give everyone time to find a few new trades!

As always, everyone is welcome. Whether you're an old hand or a novice collector I'm sure you'll enjoy the afternoon.

There's no need to register for the freebies, but if you want to drop me a line to info@londonpins.co.uk it will help me to gauge how many people we may get.