London 2012 Pins & Badges - News

28/1: The 6th Unofficial London 2012 Pin Collectors Meet

2012-01-28T10:20:00.001Z

Following last week's successful pin meet, I'd like to invite everyone to the next meet. Here are the details

Date: Saturday 10th March 2012
Time: 2.30pm
Venue: The Railway Tavern, 131 Angel Lane, Stratford, E15 1DB

It's the usual format, a bit of chat and a bit of trading. Everyone is welcome, those that have been before and those that think they would like to try some pin trading or just meet other collectors. It doesn't matter how much or how little you have to trade, we would love to see you.

The pub's owners very kindly let us use their conservatory free of charge, so whilst this meet will not cost anything to attend, please consider buying some food or drink while you are their to support them. Click here for their website

The pub is very easy to find and is served by Stratford regional station which is accessible from underground, overground and the DLR. According to the TfL website, there are no disruptions planned for the area on that day.

As usual I will contact the friendly sponsors to see if they may be able to offer pins to those that register and attend. Anything we receive will be distributed on a first-registered, first-served basis as before.

If you would like to come, then please drop me an email to info@londonpins.co.uk.

Even if you have mentioned in passing that you plan to come to the next meet, please send an email. The list of attendees is currently empty and I'll add people to it in the order I receive emails. I will send a confirmation back to you telling you that I have received your registration and I'll let you know where you are on the list.

So, please come along tot he 6th Unofficial London 2012 Pin Meet, and I hope to see as many there as possible.

26/1: New pins spotted at the pin meet

2012-01-26T20:09:00.002Z

At Saturday's pin meet, Honav supplied some frames of pins displaying forthcoming designs that hadn't been seen before. On one particular frame, there were some pins which caught my eye.

There were two logo pins in metal which were stunning. One in frosted gold and one in frosted silver. Possibly the best form of the logo pin I've seen to date. The gold one was marked 'Olympic Torch Relay'. There was no clue as to whether these would be retail pins or restricted to a small group of people.

The other logo pin used the torch infill seen in some of the original torch relay promotional material. Again an excellent looking pin, but no idea of availability.

Then there were a series of mascot pins. The first, carrying on the torch theme, was Wenlock running with the Olympic torch. He's dressed in a white shirt with a 2012 logo on it and a pair of white shorts. Maybe it's his legs, or maybe the shorts are long, but to me there's a feeling of a 1948 character with a 2012 torch. That's not a criticism, I think it looks fantastic. Once again I've changed my mind and I have a new favourite pin. I sincerely hope this one is retail.

Next we have 2 metallic Wenlocks. Again, gold and silver have been used as the key colours. This time the mascot is all one colour - including his logo and bracelets. Once again, no clue as to whether we're looking at retail pins or not.

Not to be outdone, Mandeville has 'blinged-up', and comes in both the traditional and Union flag colours but this time with a sparkle effect. I sense these two are retail pins.

The final two pins are most definitely retail in may opinion. They come from a set of cockney rhyming slang pins. As a Londoner, I normally cringe at this sort of thing and have flash backs to Dick van Dyke and Mary Poppins, but the designers have dodged that bullet with excellent ideas and humour. For example, the slang for telephone - 'Dog and Bone' shows a dog using a bone as a phone. Ok, not side splitting, but a clever idea in my opinion.

So, a small flavour of what might be coming. The usual caveats apply to these sort of sneak-peeks, in that not all the pins may go into production etc, and if they do, who knows if they will be generally available. However on the plus side, every one of these pins were on a board with retail pins which have already seen the light of day, so there's hope.

25/1: More Pride the Lion Pins

2012-01-25T22:51:00.001Z

Pride the Lion makes another appearance on two new ranges of pins. The first shows him in the original poses, but this time the pins are made in soft enamel.

Pin 1000

Pin 1001

Pin 1002

Pin 1003

Pin 1004

The second set of pins shows Pride taking on some Olympic sports such as javelin, diving, cycling, gymnastics, fencing and handball. These too are in soft enamel and limited to 80,000 pieces each.

Pin 1043

Pin 1044

Pin 1045

Pin 1046

Pin 1047

Pin 1048

All of these pins should be available later this week.

25/1: British Instruments

2012-01-25T22:51:00.000Z

A new set of 7 pins has been released which show a range of traditional British instruments.

Pin 0965

Pin 0966

Pin 0967

Pin 0968

Pin 0969

Pin 0970

Pin 0971

Each pin has an image of the instrument on a frosted silver background with the name of the instrument printed on the background. Each pin is limited to 2,012 pieces and should be available later this week.

24/1: Pin Meet 5 - Report

2012-01-24T10:26:00.002Z

Here's a short run-down on the pin meet last Saturday at John Lewis, Westfield Stratford City...

This was the fifth time that we have got together as an unofficial meet and each occasion goes from strength to strength. Last Saturday seemed a far cry from the first meeting back in December 2009 when four of us gathered around a table. Well it did in terms of venue and numbers, but in terms of friendship, a good laugh and some excellent trades, then it was just the same!

I approached John Lewis about the venue on the day that Westfield, Stratford City opened. This was in response to comments and emails from fellow collectors as well as my own 'Wow' reaction to the concept art for the London 2012 shop in the store. Thanks to Honav's involvement, John Lewis could see the opportunities for using that space to support Olympic collectors.

However, none of the earlier discussions could prepare us for how well both companies had supported us. The room looked magnificent with the views over the Olympic Park and pin frames from Honav set up on display boards at one end of the room. Tables and chairs for the traders at the other end and some cabinets of Olympic merchandise in the middle.

A view of the Stadium Suite at John Lewis

Pin displays

Pin displays and the view across the Olympic Park

I'd asked Honav if they may be able to supply some pin displays to showcase some of their future designs. They were happy to oblige and offered 6 frames of pins showing recent and future retail designs as well as some of the sponsor pins. This was a great opportunity for all of us to see pins we've either never seen before or only ever seen in photographs. More about some of the new pins we saw in future blog posts

One of Honav's pin displays

One of the reasons for wanting to hold the meet in John Lewis in the space connected to the London 2012 shop was to try to encourage new collectors to join us and tempt members of the public to see what pin collecting is all about. To support that, the store had posters printed and made store announcements through the morning to tell shoppers what was going on.
Honav produced a flyer to describe pin collecting to the people that passed by and you can see a copy on the London Pins download page or using this link

John Lewis advertisement for the pin meet

The approach worked because as well as the collectors, we had a steady stream of shoppers taking an interest in the pins and talking to traders. I'm not sure how many we converted into pinheads, but at least there are more people aware of what the hobby is all about.

As for the meet itself, I think it can be described as very successful. We originally had 33 collectors signed up to attend. On the day we lost 6 through work commitments and illness and we hope that these collectors will be able to join us at the next meet.

The turnout was excellent. As well as the 'old-timers' we had lots of new collectors and it was great to see everyone enjoying the trading. It was great to hear that although the first-timers approached with a little hesitation and felt unsure of the pins they had to trade, by the end of the day they had enjoyed their experience, had made some trades and planned to come to the next one. Proof once more that the group warmly welcomes new collectors.

For those of us that have attended before, it was wonderful to catch up with friends and chat through the latest London 2012 pin gossip. I think everyone there made some good trades on the day.

Pin trading in action

In terms of sponsor support, I'm very pleased to say that BT gave us a bag of their 200 day to go pins so everyone received one of those. Cadbury offered a selection of their pins, so they were handed out in a lucky dip fashion based on the first-signed up, first served principle. But sponsor award of the day must go to Lloyds TSB. Not only did a representative of the company attend to meet collectors, but he handed out some of the new silver frosted logo pins, some 1 year to go pins and also the (infamous) diving pin. If any company wants to see how to use pins to promote themselves and create a positive message about the company name - I refer you to Lloyds TSB. Lloyds - we salute you!

On the day, the collectors and traders were joined by two members of the press. Both the BBC London 2012 team and Inside the Games covered the hobby and the meet. Their articles can be read using these links

BBC London 2012
Inside the Games

So, in summary, a great day and proof that although we started small, the Olympic pin collecting craze is continuing to grow in the UK. There was talk of the next meet and planning has already started. If you're reading this and thinking you may be interested, then please sign up for the next meet. You never know what pins you may walk away with!

24/1: Pin Collecting on BBC London 2012 website

2012-01-24T10:14:00.000Z

Check out the BBCs London 2012 website today. Pin collecting and Saturday's meet get a front page article!

Here's a link to the website and a link to the article

22/1: New LOCOG Internal Pins

2012-01-22T22:43:00.001Z

At the pin meet on Saturday, 2 new internal pins were spotted.

LOC0019

LOC0027

The first, LOC0019, recognises the Catering, Cleaning and Waste team. It shows Wenlock with a mop, chef's hat, serving dish and recycling bin. I'm told there are 4 pins in this set in each colour of the logo. I'm not sure if they are all the same design or have the same backstamp number.

The other, LOC0027, recognises the Finance team. This one shows Wenlock carrying a calculator displaying the number '2012'.

I do not know the issue sizes of either of these pins, however recently pins like this have been defined as 'Not Limited' as they could be reordered at any time.

21/1: Pin Meet - Thank You

2012-01-21T21:22:00.003Z

A quick post to say thank you to everyone for making today's pin meet at John Lewis in Westfield, Stratford City such a success.

In particular...

John Lewis - for hosting us in such a magnificent venue and laying out a wonderful display

Honav - for providing some frames of pins to view and giving us a taster of what's to come

BT, Cadbury and Lloyds TSB - for offering free pins to the collectors that registered and attended

Coca-Cola - for sharing some pin centre news and talking to collectors about potential new pins

Inside the Games and BBC London 2012 - for interviewing some of us for articles on pin collecting that we should see next week

and not forgetting all the collectors, old and new, who joined in. From the conversations I had, I think there were some pretty successful trades made today. I sincerely hope the people that joined us for the first time felt welcomed by the group and are encouraged to come back next time. Apologies to those who I didn't get a proper chance to talk to, the time just flew past.

More details and potential event dates to come over the next few days.

19/1: NOC Pins for Kiribati and North Korea

2012-01-19T23:04:00.001Z

Two new National Olympic Committee (NOC) pins were released on 16th January by Kingdom Pins. Kiribati and North Korea each issued a pin to support their London 2012 campaigns.

Kiribati

North Korea

Each pin is limited to 200 pieces and is available from the Kingdom pins website, Each purchase of a pin contributes to the country's NOC.

18/1: Mascot Rainbow Pin

2012-01-18T08:31:00.000Z

Wenlock has appeared on a new slider pin. He is shown carrying an umbrella 'floating' on a rainbow. No word on issue size yet, but the pin has been spotted on Glamorous Living's site priced at £15.

Pin 0701

17/1: Icons of Wales Pins

2012-01-17T23:32:00.001Z

The latest in the Icons of the UK pin shave been released. This time they celebrate Wales. There are 7 pins in the set and each is limited to 2,012 pieces.

The subjects featured are (with apologies to the Welsh if I get any of these wrong!)...

Daffodil
Castle (can anyone help me out with which one?)
Welsh Dragon
Hills and sheep
Love spoons
Harp
Coracle

Pin 0980

Pin 0981

Pin 0982

Pin 0983

Pin 0984

Pin 0985

Pin 0986

In my opinion, the Welsh Dragon is a fantastic pin, one of my favourites so far. I think some of these would be very popular on St David's Day in March. Each pin is priced at £7

17/1: EDF Update

2012-01-17T23:13:00.003Z

Two items of news from EDF today...

The issue size for the recent 200 day to go pin has been confirmed as 500 pieces. There have been reports that the issue size was 200, but I've had it confirmed that it's definitely 500.

At the end of December I mentioned two internal EDF pins - click here to read the post. At the time I mentioned that EDF would not be issuing these pins to the public, but they have received numerous requests from collectors. They've asked me to point out that they do not have the pins available and will not be able to respond to requests for them.

Please remember that EDF are one of the sponsors that do support pin collectors and issue pins when they can, but on this occasion, the two pins mentioned will not be distributed to the public.

15/1: Inside The Games Pin for New Year

2012-01-15T16:26:00.003Z

Inside the Games have issued a new pin which marks the fact we are now in the Olympic Year. There are no other retail or sponsor pins identified that mark the fact that 2012 is here.

Pin ITG0004

15/1: EDF 200 Days To Go Pin

2012-01-15T12:04:00.004Z

EDF are the latest sponsor to have released a pin to celebrate the 200 days to go date last Monday. This pin continues the fireworks theme they introduced at 1 year to go.

EDF0019

It is the 3rd pin in the series following 1 year to go and 300 days to go. Issue size is 500 pieces.

11/1: Pin Meet Times Confirmed

2012-01-11T23:09:00.002Z

I am now able to confirm that the pin trading meet at John Lewis on Saturday 21st January will start at 12pm. The store opens from 9am until 8pm (Click here for John Lewis store information), but it seems best to wait until midday to allow those who come from a little further away to have time to get into London.

We have the Stadium Suite space all day but I think most people will start drifting away around 4pm.

I've had a few questions about the protocol or type of trading that takes place. To those that are not sure, the basic principle is to bring whatever pins you wish to trade. Don't worry if you think that they are not that exciting or unusual, you may find that you have just the pin someone is looking for! The main subject of the trades are London 2012 sponsor and internal pins, but that;s not to say that retail pins or pins from other Games are not traded. Remember, if both parties are happy with the swap - it's a good trade.

As for transport, looking at the TfL site (click here and then click on Future Dates and enter 21 Jan), it appears that all the overground and underground lines into Stratford are working. There is an outage on one DLR line through the station, but overall it appears that public transport will be functioning well in the area that day.

If you're still not signed up and think you would like to come, please drop me a line at info@londonpins.co.uk.

11/1: No new Team GB pin for the Youth Winter Games

2012-01-11T23:00:00.004Z

In case anyone was hoping for a new Team GB pin for the Youth Winter Games staring this weekend, I've had it confirmed today that a new design was not issued. The athletes and officials competing in Innsbruck from this weekend will be wearing the TGB0002 pin originally issued for the first Youth Olympic Games in Singapore back in 2010.

11/1: Paralympic Ticketing Pin

2012-01-11T17:14:00.001Z

The Paralympic ticketing pin has been released. Successful applicants who received tickets in the Paralympic allocation have started to receive their ticketing pins if they ordered them.

Pin 0626

This pin shares the same design as the Olympic ticketing pin, but the colours are different as is the logo. The backstamp indicates there are 50,000 if these pins being produced, but we will have to wait to see how rare they are. This number is half of the number of Olympic ticketing pins made. The card on which the pin comes is yet another version of the type 3 cards using a different colour combination of blue and orange seen on the pin itself.

The Olympic pin is shown again for reference.

Pin 0478

10/1: Pin Meet News

2012-01-10T00:23:00.001Z

A short update on the forthcoming pin meet on Saturday 21st January in John Lewis, Westfield Stratford City.

Registration for the meet has now exceeded all the previous sessions and we will have nearly 30 traders at the venue. There are 8 new names on the list too, so if you're reading this and thinking of coming to your first meet, there will be plenty of other 'first-timers' there too. Feedback from previous meets from those who were new to the hobby spoke of a positive experience, so please consider joining us. Don't forget, if it's not for you, you can still go shopping!

I'm pleased to say that Honav, Coca Cola and Lloyds Banking Group will be represented at the meet and as well as the BT pins that were offered, I'm delighted that Cadbury's have also offered us some pins too.

I'm still waiting for the timings to be confirmed with John Lewis, but at the moment, the plan is to start at 12pm. There's no fixed end time, but I imagine people will start to leave when they are ready and we'll be all done by around 4pm. I will email all confirmed attendees a couple of days before the meet to confirm the times.

If you would like to join us or see some more details, then please click here

6/1: New Lloyds TSB and Bank of Scotland Pins

2012-01-07T23:11:00.000Z

Lloyds Banking Group have announced 4 new pins which comprise their brand logos and Games logos. These composite pins replace the original rectangular pins released back in 2010. They will be available with both Lloyds TSB and Bank of Scotland logos and in Olympic and Paralympic varieties.

LLY0018

LLY0019

BOS0009

BOS0010

I understand that these pins are not restricted to staff only. I have no information on issue sizes at the moment, but hope to be able to update you soon. I think these make an excellent set of 'standard' pins from a sponsor using the frosted silver background and shiny logos and words in relief.

5/1: Countdown News

2012-01-05T06:37:00.001Z

With 200 days to go to the Olympic Opening Ceremony, here are a few news snippets...

A new Facebook page and Twitter account has appeared marking the Olympic countdown -https://www.facebook.com/supportursport. or @supportursport. This is a legitimate and official site and offers a competition with prizes including an Olympic Stadium tour and test event tickets.

I hear rumours of possible 200 day to go pin promotional events on Monday, but have no more details than that at the moment. Updates here if I get anything.

Finally, you can read my latest article for Around the Rings at by clicking this link. This one deals with the London 2012 countdown pins issued so far.

4/1: Pride the Lion Pins

2012-01-04T17:21:00.000Z

Pride the Lion, the Team GB mascot, joins Wenlock and Mandeville in having his own pin badges.

A set of 5 pins have been announced today showing Pride in a variety of poses: standing, draped in the Union Flag, running, holding the Union Flag and on the top step of the podium.

Pin 0995

Pin 0996

Pin 0997

Pin 0998

Pin 0999

Each pin is printed and limited to 200,000 pieces. No word on price at the moment, but expect to start seeing them at your favourite retailers very soon.

2/1: BA Language Pins

2012-01-02T01:35:00.004Z

A new set of pins has been issued by BA. Once again, these are internal pins used to reward success within the company. My understanding is that BA staff undertake training in various languages and the pins are earned as part of that training.

To my knowledge, there are 10 pins in the series covering the following countries...

UK
France
Germany
India
Italy
Japan
Pakistan
Poland
Portugal
Spain

Each pin uses a combination of BA logo and London 2012 logo along with the flag from the country and the word 'Hello' written in the corresponding language.

29/12: New EDF Internal Pins

2011-12-29T11:29:00.002Z

News of 2 EDF pins which are internal to the company and unlike their previous pins, will not be issued to the public.

EDF0011

EDF0015

Pin EDF0011 is the Supporters' Club pin. I believe this club is an internal promotion of the Games within EDF. I have no information on pin EDF0015 but given there is a star in the design, I'm guessing it is some sort of award or recognition pin. EDF0011 is limited to 2,000 pieces and EDF0015 to 500.

Please remember these are internal pins and will not be issued to the public. EDF will not be responding to requests for these pins. EDF are one of the best sponsors for engaging with and supporting collectors and are happy to send out pins where they can, but these two will not be available.

21/12: Royal Mail Stamp Pin - Aquatics

2011-12-21T00:14:00.002Z

For those of you waiting to complete your set of Royal Mail stamp pins, some good news. The Aquatics pin that has been absent since the original launch back in the spring is now available.

The pin is contained in the pin and stamp set and is now available from the Royal Mail (08457 641 641) - code NB0036 I believe. I presume it will soon be available in stores, most notably John Lewis who stock the range. I understand that the final pin in the set of 30, table tennis, should be released early next year.

19/12: Merry Christmas and Thank You

2011-12-20T00:01:00.001Z

I would like to wish all the London 2012 pin collectors and readers of my website and blog a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Thank you all for your support, whether it's supplying news and pictures, passing on rumours, suggesting improvements or even correcting my spelling.

I never imagined that when I started the blog almost 3 years ago, that it would grow like this. That growth is down to you too with the support that you have all shown.

It's been great to meet lots of you and the pin events and email even more of you. I've made some amazing friends even if I've never met some of you face-to-face! I hope that I'll get to meet lists more people as we get to the Games.

I'm sure that next year will be manic. I'm not sure if I'll survive, but I hope I have fun trying!

And finally, for those of you, like me, who like statistics...

Since I started monitoring activity on the website (December 2009) there have been 69,389 visits from 23,264 unique visitors in 121 countries. In the last 4 months, the site is averaging over 5,000 visits per month. The blog has has around 35,000 visits from nearly 10,000 unique visitors in the same time.

Thanks again for all your support and here's to 2012!

18/12: New Aminco Retail Pins Released

2011-12-18T15:11:00.000Z

Some new Aminco retail pins have been released for the US market. These pins continue the pictogram series.

The latest pins cover the following sports...

Water Polo
Archery
Road Cycling
Track Cycling
Dressage
Hockey
Judo
Rowing
Table Tennis
Taekwondo
Tennis
Weightlifting

Further pictogram pins will be available in January.

The mascot sports series also continues. These seem to use the same images as the Honav set with the addition of the geometric shape background and the logo

As for the other Aminco pins, these are for sale only in the US and not for the UK market.

15/12: New Lloyds TSB Sponsor Pin

2011-12-15T17:15:00.000Z

A new Lloyds TSB pin has been issued. This one is the result of a internal design competition and was won by a young girl - Katie Johnson.

Pin LLY0017 on card

Reverse of card

The pin shows a girl diving and being marked by three judges. The pin uses a print technique for the people and sparkly enamel for the 3 shades of water - a great effect. The new Lloyds composite logo is also shown

This is pin LLY0017 and comes on a special card which explains the competition on the reverse. There were 100 of these pins made and all have been issued to Lloyds TSB staff. This make it the rarest sponsor pin in the catalogue so far.

13/12: New NBC 'Mega' Pin

2011-12-13T23:12:00.000Z

News from a reader in the US. A new 'mega-pin' will be released by NBC. I'm told it's a large 3D pin which weighs a lot and comes in a round metal tin. The retail price will be $65.

Pin NBC0012

It looks like the standard London icons such as Big Ben, Tower Bridge and a London Bus have been included along with an NBC London 2012 shield.

13/12: Coca Cola Update

2011-12-13T18:02:00.000Z

A brief update from Coca Cola with a few more details about their plans for both the Coca-Cola Pin Trading Centres (CCPTC) and Olympic Torch Relay (OTR) next year.

Pin Trading Centres
The locations for the Olympic Park and Central London venues are almost finalised and they hope to be able to announce details in the New Year. There will also be a pin trading opportunity within the Athletes' Village. This will be a low key area in one of the spaces within the Village with access limited to discrete times of the day for a few pin traders.

Plans for the volunteers are still being finalised by Coca-Cola, but they have confirmed that there will be interviews next year to determine who will be offered a role as a Coca Cola pin ambassador. Successful ambassadors will be provided with a uniform for the times they are in the CCPTC. Initial thoughts are that trading hours will be around 10am to 10pm in the park and 8am to 10pm in London, so there should be plenty of volunteering opportunities. Coca-Cola will be working on more detailed plans for the centres next year and at that time will be talking with representatives from pin collectors in the UK and overseas in order to canvass their opinions on pin trading centres.

Olympic Torch Relay
As for the Olympic Torch Relay, there will not be a Coca-Cola retail pin for every stop on the route, but there will be pins to mark five locations where Coca-Cola are hosting an event on the relay. Merchandising and pin plans are still being discussed within Coca Cola, but the thinking seems to be that collectors will be able to pick up a full set of retail Coca-Cola OTR pins without touring the country. How and where the pins may be purchased is still not confirmed.

The first internal Coca Cola OTR pin has been issued (COC0007) and it is only available to certain employees, it was not distributed company wide.

COC0007

Finally, Coca-Cola hope to attend the pin meet in January to update us on their plans.

13/12: New Sponsor Pins

2011-12-13T17:54:00.000Z

A few new sponsor pins were added to the catalogue this weekend.

These were the first pin from security firm G4S combining their logo with the 2012 logo. Two more pins from Rio Tinto and also another Panasonic pin showing Wenlock - this time playing basketball.

G4S0001

RIO0001

RIO0002

WWL-PAN0003

Take a look at the catalogue for higher resolution images.

13/12: New Regional Pin

2011-12-13T17:24:00.004Z

Thanks to a reader, here's news of another LOCOG regional pin. Even though the North West region issued a pin (REG0005) back in 2009, it seems that another has appeared.

Pin REG0019

The pin shape and logo colour is the same as the previous version, but the text of "North West" has now been replaced with "England's Northwest". Not only that, but the same reader believes that 2 other North West pin exist too. There's no information as to whether this is a new pin or if it was issued at the same time as the original.

11/12: Mascots Try for a Free Pin!

2011-12-11T23:11:00.001Z

Honav hosted a small pin promotion in John Lewis, Oxford Street yesterday. There was the chance to win a free Snowman or Snowflake pin on the roll of the dice. Wenlock and Mandeville were on site as part of a general London 2012 promotion and decided to stop by to try their luck.

In the end, Mandeville proved to be more successful than Wenlock, but both mascots enjoyed themselves.

A number of people stopped by to ask about London 2012 pins as well as choose their favourite mascot sport or pictogram pins.

We also had the chance to meet an Olympic Gold medallist! A lady approached the pin displays and asked if there were any shooting pins. After showing her the Wenlock sports pin, we found out that she was Chiara Caneiro from Italy who won gold in Beijing at Women's skeet shooting.

11/12: Pin Meet 5 - Sponsor Support

2011-12-11T21:43:00.001Z

I'm very pleased to confirm that BT have kindly offered pins to collectors who register and attend the pin meet in January. The meet falls shortly after the 200 days to go mark and BT are issuing a 200 day to go pin which they have offered to those who attend the meet.

So, please make sure you register if you plan to attend as, if pins are limited, they will be offered to those who signed up on a first-come, first-served basis.

The BT pin is limited to 4,000 pieces (as the 300 day pin was) and follows the design of the other BT countdown pins. Image to follow soon.

Thank you to BT for supporting the pin meet yet again.

11/12: London Bridges

2011-12-11T21:31:00.001Z

A new boxed set of 6 pins will soon be available. 'London Bridges' is a jigsaw set of 6 of the bridges across the Thames.

The six bridges are...

Albert Bridge

Pin 0455

Chelsea Bridge

Pin 0456

Westminster Bridge

Pin 0457

Waterloo Bridge

Pin 0458

The Millennium Bridge

Pin 0459

Tower Bridge.

Pin 0460

The river in each pin has a sparkle effect much like the London at Night set, but I'm not sure the Thames has ever been that blue!

The pins come in a boxed set and the mount card is a plan of the London Boroughs.

The pins are limited to 5,000 pieces each and my understanding is that they will not be available separately. The price for the set is £55 and will be available to all retailers from launch.

6/12: Aggreko Pin Removed From Catalogue

2011-12-06T20:33:00.001Z

I have been asked by Aggreko, via a third party, to remove their pin from the catalogue listing.

Apparently, they are unhappy that collectors know about their pin and have contacted them to request pins. They do not have pins for collectors and will not be distributing them to the public.

I've tried explaining to them, that my site exists only to provide a comprehensive catalogue of all London 2012 pins. The website has never encouraged collectors to contact sponsors, not has it ever published information as to how to contact organisations.

Despite my arguments, Aggreko does not wish to engage with us and has actively sought to suppress information.

I should point out that at no time have Aggreko contacted me directly to discuss this or listen to my opinion.

Other sponsors have also been in the same position as Aggreko in that they are unable to issue pins to collectors, but these organisations have allowed their pins to be shown and managed the situation with a message on their website or emails to individual collectors. Unfortunately, Aggreko decided not to take this stance. There's is more of a "shoot the messenger" approach.

Apologies to collectors that, at the moment, I am unable to keep the catalogue as complete as possible, but I will endeavour to bring you as many pins as I can.

Should the pin appear on eBay, then I will republish the listing as at that time, I can consider the pin to be in the public domain.

5/12: Final Wellie Pins Issued

2011-12-05T23:01:00.001Z

A few weeks ago, 6 wellington boot pins were issued. At the time, I mentioned that 2 more varieties were still to come. They are now available.

Pin 0975

Pin 0978

Both pins are limited to 2,012 pieces and price is £6.50.

2/12: More Countdown News

2011-12-02T16:46:00.001Z

Some of you may have noticed, that when the 500 day to go pins were issued, there were only 3 varieties of the shard pin using combinations of the London 2012 brand colours.

These were pins 0480 - 0482. The combination of green shard and pink logo which should have been pin 0479 was never released.

Until now!

This pin will finally be released towards the back end of next week. But here's the important news. There will be less than 50 of them available for sale as individual pins. Overall, they are being limited to 1,000 pieces which makes them amongst the rarest retail pins, however as the majority are being held back for sets or have been sold to stakeholders, only a handful are available for sale. Not only that, but all of these pins are being sold by one retailer - Glamorous Living.

So, my recommendation, if you want to get these pins individually, contact Glamorous Living as soon as their website launches them. These will probably be the most difficult pins to get so far.

Price will be £7

2/12: 200 Day To Go Countdown Pins - Updated

2011-12-02T00:25:00.001Z

The next pins in the popular Countdown range have been announced. The 200 Day To Go pins will be available in early January, ready for the actual day on 9th January 2012.

There are 3 pins in the range - the standard shard pin and one pin each showing Wenlock and Mandeville. Mandeville's pin has the date 11/02/2012 as this is 200 days until the Paralympics.

No sooner are they announced, then one pin is out of stock. Yes, all of the Wenlock pins have been pre-ordered by retailers, so that means there are no more pins available to your favourite retailer once their initial allocation is sold. You may want to pre-order as soon as you can for this pin. Remember too, that previous countdown pins have been withdrawn form sale, so there is no telling how long this pin will remain on sale.

Pin 0927

Pin 0928

Pin 0947

Update: Each pin is limited to 2,012 pieces and the price of each will be £7

1/12: Message Board Issues - Updated

2011-12-01T12:45:00.001Z

I'm getting reports that the message board has been corrupted and possibly hacked. I'm unable to check and investigate at the moment. Please do not attempt to access the message board until I have had a chance to take a look and post back on this blog.

The message board is hosted on by a free provider, so their levels of service are not fantastic. Please bear with me.

Updated 1/12/2011 @ 23:45

It looks like the board is unusable as I cannot access the administration section and many of you have seen the mess that comes up when you try to use the forum.

Although it's going to be inconvenient for everyone, I'm tempted to cut my losses on this forum and relocate to a new host. I cannot copy over the existing threads or user profiles. Anyone who wishes to continue to post (and I hope you do), will need to re-register on the new board. I'm sorry for the inconvenience, but I cannot see a way forward.

I've set up a new board at http://londonpins.phpbbhosts.co.uk/index.php and have created the same forum structure as before. I have not set up the 'Wants & Traders' as we now have the pin trading lists or the 'Polls' as they haven't had much use for ages. If anyone would like to see either reinstated, drop me an email.

Please go ahead and re-register if you would like to and I will try to get all requests authorised as soon as I can. Hopefully before long, we will be back on our feet again.

Again, apologies for having to make you start again, but I cannot see a way forward on the existing forum.

Paul.

1/12: London Pins on Around The Rings

2011-12-01T06:42:00.001Z

The world of London 2012 pins and collectables has spread a little further today. Around the Rings (ATR), the Olympic news website has asked me to write some articles about London 2012 pins. The first of these is published today - click here to read the article.

Although the site is subscription based, you should be able to read the full piece.

I was trying to summarise the 'story so far' with the pins issued (mainly the retail ones), and hope to follow this up with more features on their site.

I hope this will take our hobby to yet another new audience of the ATR readers.

29/11 - Sold Out Pins - Update

2011-11-29T20:23:00.001Z

The kilt pin (0581) has now sold out, so the only stocks that remain are with retailers. This pin was limited to 2,012 pieces and has sold out in 3 months.

This seems a good time for a round-up of all the sold-out pins. If you need any of these for your collection, act quickly!

Pin No	Description	Issue Size

0127	Countdown - 3 Years To Go	3,000
0216	London Boroughs - Lambeth	3,000
0222	London Boroughs - Southwark	3,000
0230	Mascots - Wenlock (Launch Pin)	2,012
0231	Mascots - Mandeville (Launch Pin)	2,012
0232	Mascots - Wenlock	5,000
0233	Mascots - Mandeville	5,000
0535	London 2012 Shop	2,012
0581	Emblems of Scotland - Kilt	2,012
0586	Team GB - Logo (Gold)	2,012
0587	Team GB - Logo (Silver)	2,012
0590	Team GB - Square - White	50,000
0593	ParalympicsGB - Small Oval - White	50,000
0629	1 Year to Go - Wenlock and 1YTG Sign	1,000
0630	1 Year to Go - Mandeville and 1YTG Sign	1,000
0800	Countdown - 2 Years To Go	3,000

Remember too that all countdown pins have been removed from sale, although some can still be found on certain websites.

13/11: New Logo Set

2011-11-13T23:31:00.001Z

Earlier this month, a new set of logo pins was produced. This one contains new versions of the familiar Union Flag and White logos, but in addition, the Paralympic logo is now available in white.

Pins 0689, 0444 and 0443

The pins are each limited to 1 million pieces and are larger than the original pins being 27x31mm. Although there are 1m of each pin, there's no word on how many sets will be issued. The pins are presented in a box with an orange base and black lid with logos printed on the box lid in silver. They went on sale on 1st November priced £20, but for now they are exclusive to British Airways long haul flights and the BA High Life shop. No word yet on whether these pins will ever be available individually.

13/11: Get Set Mascots

2011-11-13T16:33:00.001Z

Earlier this year, LOCOG ran a competition under their Get Set programme for schools to design a look for Wenlock or Mandeville which represented their local community or region. You can read more about the competition here.

Those designs have been turned into pins which will be available from next week.

Pin 1024 - Wales

Pin 1025 - South West

Pin 1026 - Northern Ireland

Pin 1027 - East of England

Pin 1028 - East Midlands

Pin 1029 - Scotland

Pin 1030 - Yorkshire

Pin 1031 - West Midlands

Pin 1032 - South East

Pin 1033 - London

Pin 1034 - North East

Pin 1035 - North West

Each pin is limited to 50,000 and initially they will be exclusive to John Lewis, no word on price yet.

11/11: 2012 Pin Meet - Number 1

2011-11-11T20:55:00.001Z

Get your diaries out, we have a date for the first pin meet of 2012!

With support from John Lewis and Honav, we have been able to set up the first pin meet for the New Year.

Date: Saturday 21st January 2012
Venue: The Stadium Suite, John Lewis, Westfield Stratford City
Time: Still to be confirmed, but I'm hoping 11am to 4pm approximately

When the first concept images of the London 2012 shop in John Lewis were shown, a number of collectors commented that it seemed a good place for a pin meet. A few months later and I'm pleased to say that John Lewis are supporting the pin community by hosting a meet in their store.

Of course, this will be an 'open-door' event and therefore the public will be able to take a first hand look at pin collecting and join in if they fancy. John Lewis will be advertising the event beforehand and so I hope that we may get a good number of people to see what pin collecting and trading is all about.

It's still in the early days of planning so I've no idea what, if anything, may be on offer on the day. I will however be talking to our favourite sponsors to see if they may be able to support us. If anyone has any ideas for the day or is able to generate some interest (or pins) from their sponsor contacts, please feel free to pitch in.

So, please put the date in your diaries and as usual let me know if you plan to attend by dropping an email to info@londonpins.co.uk. As usual any freebies from sponsors that are limited in number will be allocated on a first come, first served basis, so get your names down. Even if you're a regular or have said you plan to come along to the next meet, please drop me an email.

Let's see if we can get the number of pre-registered collectors up into the 30s or 40s this time.

11/11: New ODA Park Pins

2011-11-11T20:44:00.001Z

On Wednesday, 2 more in the ODA Olympic Park series of pins were released. These pins recognise the Structures, Bridges and Highways (SBH) team.

Pin ODA0029

Pin ODA0030

As with previous ODA Park pins, they come in Olympic and Paralympic varieties and show a cross section through a bridge (I think - Pippin help me out please!). They were issued at a 'Thank You' event on Wednesday. There are a number already on eBay!

10/11: All Countdown Pins to be Withdrawn from Sale

2011-11-10T18:27:00.001Z

Honav have announced this afternoon that next Tuesday (15th November) ALL countdown pins issued to date will be withdrawn from sale. This includes all 'Year To Go' and 'Days To Go' pins and also covers the 'Shard' and mascot versions. Not only will no more be sent to retailers, but also any existing stock that is with the retailers will be returned. This means that if you still want to buy any of the countdown pins issued so far individually, you have until the close of business on Tuesday to get them.

The 3 YTG, 2YTG and 1 YTG 'Peep' pins have already been marked as sold out, but there are still some left with retailers. From next Tuesday, these will be unavailable too.

This is not the last time you'll ever see these pins as I understand that full countdown sets may be available at some later date, presumably once the Games have started and there's nothing left to countdown! But if you need to fill a single gap in your collection, act before next Tuesday.

7/11: More Sell-Out Pins

2011-11-07T22:43:00.000Z

News from Honav today that 3 more pin styles have sold out.

The 1 Year to Go Mascot 'Peep' pins (0629 and 0630) and the gold Team GB pin (0586) have all now sold out. There were 1,000 of he countdown pins issued and 2,012 of the Team GB pin,

Please remember that 'sold-out' in this case means that there no further stocks with the manufacturer, that's not to say that there is not remaining stock with some retailers.

3/11: Olympin 2012 Pins On The Way

2011-11-03T22:30:00.000Z

The guys at Olympin tell me that for all those UK members signed up for the 2012 membership year, the club pins are on the way. They were mailed earlier this week, so should be arriving soon.

They have also confirmed that the 2 year offer made back in May has now closed and that the price for UK collectors for the 2012 membership will be US$20. This will get you the 2012 club pin and the 2012 membership list.

Those interested can sign up here - Click here for an online application form in Google Docs.

3/11: More John Lewis Promotion Events

2011-11-03T21:50:00.000Z

Following on from last weeks successful promotion in their store on Oxford Street, there are further events in 2 more John Lewis stores over the next week.

Saturday 5th November - Welwyn Garden City
Saturday 12th November - Liverpool

The format will be similar to the London event with the promotion of some of the pin ranges and the chance to win a pin by answering some quiz questions. Both events run from 11.30am until 2pm.

If you get a chance to visit either event, please fell free to leave a comment on this post to let us know how it went.

Just for the record, I'm not receiving any payment for promoting these events, not even a set of John Lewis pins :-), and I know they read this blog!

31/10: Coca-Cola Pin Trading Centres - Request for Volunteers

2011-10-31T21:24:00.001Z

As you may be aware, during the Olympic and Paralympic Games, Coca Cola will be hosting the official pin trading centres. These are venues where pin collectors can come together and trade Olympic pins. The centres are manned by volunteers and Coca Cola staff who ensure that everyone has a great experience. They are there to explain the process to new traders and to make sure that everyone has a fair chance to display their trades. At present, the plan is to have two centres, one located inside the Olympic Park and another in a central London location. The Olympic Park venue will be open during the Olympic and Paralympic Games and accessible only to those with tickets which allow entry to the Park itself. The central London venue will be open from approximately a week before the opening of the Olympic Games right through until the end of the Paralympic Games and will be open to all.

If you are interested in volunteering to help staff one of the centres, then Coca Cola would like to hear from you. I have offered to collect the details of people who would like to be considered for a volunteer role in one of the Coca Cola Pin Trading Centres (CCPTC). At this stage, this is just a registration of you interest. There is no commitment and no guarantee that you will be chosen. We would, though, like to find out the numbers of people interested in helping out.

If you have been to one of the pin meets and given me your name, there is no need to email me, you're already on the list!

I appreciate that many readers live outside London and have other commitments, so if you could indicate your approximate availability that would help with assessing your interest.

If you would like to volunteer or know more, please drop me an email with your details to info@londonpins.co.uk.

30/10: New Christmas Pins and White Logo Pin

2011-10-30T21:05:00.000Z

New Christmas pins were announced on Friday along with a new version of the white logo pin.

The Christmas pins show Wenlock slam-dunking a present into a stocking (similar to the US version), Mandeville carrying a snowball and a printed version of the snowman pin released last year.

Pin 0854

Pin 0855

Pin 0288

The mascot pins are limited to 2,012 pieces each and the snowman is limited to 50,000 pieces. These pins are already available from Glamorous Living but most likely be available from all the main retailers.

Also announced last week was another version of the white logo pin.

Pin 0445

This one is limited to 1.5 million pieces and is aimed at the mass market via high-street retailers rather than collectors. The main difference between this pin and the original is that the spaces between the digits are filled rather than cut through.

24/10: Pin Event - John Lewis, Oxford Street

2011-10-24T22:55:00.000+01:00

This Friday - 28 October 2011, Honav and John Lewis will be hosting a pin promotion at the John Lewis store on Oxford Street, London. They will be promoting the Royal Parks, Icons of England and London Landmarks pins. There will also be some Mascot Special poses pins to be won.

The event runs from 11am until 2pm on Friday.

24/10: IOC Poster and Logo Pins

2011-10-24T22:31:00.000+01:00

At the pin meet on Saturday, Honav announced the latest set of new pins. These are a series of pins which replicate the posters and logos of previous Olympic Games. They use artwork from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Museum in Lausanne.

Pin 0735

In total there will be 27 pins in the poster set each limited to 10,000 pieces showing posters stretching back to Athens 1896 through to Beijing 2008. Each pin is printed so that the detail of each poster can be reproduced. No details of price at the moment.

Pin 0789

The logo series is a little smaller consisting of 20 pins from Paris 1924 to Beijing. These pins are enamel. The first release in this series consists of 10 pins. More will follow. This series is limited to 5,000 pieces each. Again, no word on price at the moment.

These pins are mounted on a new version of backing card. The card is themed to match the posters and contains text inside which mentions the IOC Museum

Backing Card - Front

Backing Card - Rear

Backing Card - Inside

Retailers will be receiving details of these pins this week, so please be patient if your favourite retailer doesn't have details until later this week.

23/10: 4th Unofficial London 2012 Pin Collectors Pin Meet

2011-10-23T21:43:00.001+01:00

Yesterday saw the 4th pin meet for the London 2012 pin collectors. Our number grow steadily at each meet and this time we had 23 attendees of whom 11 were 'first-timers' to one of our meets. Collectors from Land's End and Calgary attended as well as those that live near the Olympic Park. There were a few familiar faces that were not able to make it, so let's hope that they will be free for the next meet.

Many of the collectors enhanced their collections and made some very good trades. Those that attended for the first time were welcomed into the groups and all of them were bitten by the bug I think. Speaking to them towards the end of the meet, I think they will be back for the next meet with traders in hand!

We were joined by two representatives from the London 2012 team at Coca Cola who shared some information with us about the plans for the Coca Cola Pin Trading Centres and listened to our ideas for designs for their range of Coca Cola pins that will be available next year.

Honav attended and announced their new range of pins which show posters and logos from past Games using artwork from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) museum's collection. You can read more about the new pins in a following post.

Originally we had hoped that a film crew from London 2012 would be joining us to record the event and make a small video promoting pin collecting and trading for their website. Unfortunately they had to cancel at the 11th hour, but have promised to join us at the next meet. They are fully committed to publicising pin trading to their readers.

We discussed plans for future meetings and the general consensus was that we will aim to get together next year in January and then once a month from March until Games time.

Thank you to everyone that attended and continue to make these meetings a success. As soon as I have details for the next meet, I'll post on the blog.

Finally, thank you to Jan and her team at the Railway Tavern in Stratford. Not only does she allow us to use the pub conservatory for our meets, completely free of charge, but she and her staff always make us feel welcome. We really do appreciate your support.

So, in summary a thoroughly enjoyable day. Not only a chance to trade pins, but to meet other collectors and see pins you have only seen pictures of before. I'm looking forward to Pin Meet 5 already.

20/10: New Pantomime Pins

2011-10-20T17:03:00.004+01:00

In readiness for the festive season, London 2012 continue their British Life series with a set of pins based on Pantomime.

The pins come as a boxed set of 6 and show a dame, princess, pantomime horse, pair of ugly sisters, a leading man and a "Oh no it isn't! Oh yes it is!" speech bubble. The packaging for this set is a little different and very well thought out. From the outside, it looks like a standard London 2012 pin set with the pink box and black lid combination. On the inside, however, the normal plain backing card has been replaced with a printed theatre curtain effect card. This sets off the pins very well indeed. Let's hope other future sets continue this idea.

The set is limited to 2,012 pieces, priced at £55 and is available now.

Pin 0988

Pin 0989

Pin 0990

Pin 0991

Pin 0992

Pin 0993

No word on retailers yet, but feel free to post a comment when you see it on sale anywhere.

17/10: Sainsbury's Pin

2011-10-17T22:32:00.001+01:00

A new pin from Paralympics Sponsor - Sainsbury's has been spotted in at least two stores.

The pin has a blue background with a stylised portion of the Thames and a basketball and football to form the word 'London' along with a London skyline which helps form a '2012'. The paralympic logo is displayed on a gold background.

There's no obvious reason for the timing of the release. Perhaps it's to coincide with 300 days to go the Paralympics which falls on 3rd November.

Thanks to a reader for the photograph.

14/10: Pin Meet - Saturday 22nd October

2011-10-14T17:51:00.002+01:00

A reminder to you all that the '4th Unofficial London 2012 Pin Traders Pin Meet' takes place next weekend - Saturday 22nd October. Once again, we'll be meeting at The Railway Tavern in Stratford thanks to the generous owners who let us use the conservatory. Start time is 2.30pm.

Currently we have 25 confirmed attendees, so once again an increase in numbers on the previous meet.

According to TfL, the Jubilee and Central lines are operating around Stratford, so hopefully there should be no issues with transport.

For anyone who hasn't registered their interest yet, please drop me a line to info@londonpins.co.uk if you would like to come or would like more information.

A special invitation to those who are just starting out with their pin collection and feel they may have nothing to trade. Please don't worry. OK, so you may not walk away with lots of new pins, but you will meet lots of enthusiastic and friendly collectors and be part of a group that is growing month by month. You'll make some very useful contacts and get yourself known in trading circles. It doesn't matter whether you have nothing to trade or have the complete collection (you know who you are!), you will be welcome. Drop me an email, we can chat beforehand if you would like to.

I have contacted a few sponsors regarding the possibility of some pins for attendees. At the moment I cannot promise anything. We were very lucky last time, so please don't be too disappointed if you don't each walk away with 3 new pins this time!

And now for some exciting news about the day...

London 2012 would like to come and join us and film the event in order to make a short video for their website which promotes pin trading to their fan-base. We all know that pin trading is the greatest spectator sport at the Games, and London 2012 would like to spread this news to their readers.

They are keen for me to point out, that no-one will be filmed or approached if they do not wish to be. Please don't feel that you have to be 'on show', but if you would like a chance to promote the hobby - here it is.

So, it should be an interesting day. If you've been before then I'm looking forward to seeing you again next week and if you haven't but think it might be for you, then please join us.

You can see the original invitation here (includes a map)
http://londonpins.blogspot.com/2011/08/78-4th-unofficial-london-2012-pin.html

13/10: Wellington Boot Pins

2011-10-14T00:11:00.002+01:00

A new series of 6 pins has been issued to celebrate the Wellington Boot. Each pin shows a pair of wellies in a different pattern with a complementary London 2012 logo.

Pin 0972

My personal favourite is shown above - the Union Flag logo, but the other 5 pins show wellies with blue spots (0973), green spots (0974) and 3 varieties of tartan (0976, 0977 and 0979).

For those of you who like pins in the full range of London 2012 colours, pink spots (0975) and another variety of tartan (0978) are still to be issued making 8 pins in total.

These pins are limited to 2,012 pieces each. I wonder if some of these may be a sell-out in a short time?

These first 6 pins are already on order at Glamorous Living.

13/10: New US Retail Pins

2011-10-13T23:59:00.001+01:00

It seems there's lots of activity in the US with new retail pins being launched. 8 new pins have been announced due for release shortly.

These pins use many of the themes we've seen already such as the crown and weather however the Stonehenge and Downing Street pins are a welcome addition to the range.

As for all the other US retail pins, these are only for sale and distribution within the USA.

7/10: Two Sets of US Retail Pins

2011-10-07T22:23:00.000+01:00

A quick scan across the internet today has revealed 2 more sets of pins being issued in the US for their retail market.

The first is a set of 2 pins available now to mark the Christmas period or Holiday season as its termed. The 2 pins show Wenlock slam-dunking a present into a basketball hoop (the same image used in LOCOG emails last Christmas) and another version of the snowflake design used in two separate pins in the UK last Christmas.

The other set of pins are 16 pictogram pins which are advertised as being available from November.

These are the first London 2012 pictogram pins to display the logo also.

As for the previous US retail pins, these are only for sale and distribution within the USA.

5/10: McDonald's Pins

2011-10-05T10:50:00.004+01:00

Over the weekend a few sellers on eBay have been advertising McDonald's London 2012 pins. There are 4 designs featuring the London 2012 logo with the McD Arches. 3 of the pins also feature London icons
of a Guard, Big Ben and a bus. They appear to be printed rather than enamel and no word on manufacturer.

I've heard conflicting information that these may be retail pins or staff only pins. If anyone has any further facts on these pins, feel free to add a comment.

2/10: New London 'Union Flag Landlines' Pins

2011-10-02T12:32:00.001+01:00

London 2012 are releasing a new set of pins which merge the blue, green and pink brand colours with the London icons line drawings theme. They form a set called 'Union Flag Landlines' and consist of 9 pins showing landmarks and buses along with the Union flag. Three of my favourites from the set are shown below.

Pin 0956

Pin 0958

Pin 0964

Each pin is limited to 50,000 and should be available soon.

24/9: BT 300 Day To Go Pin

2011-09-24T17:17:00.003+01:00

BT are the first sponsor to announce a 300 day to go pin ready for 1st October. This pin follows the design of their previous pins and hopefully will be followed by more 'hundreds' countdowns.

Pin BT0006

No word on issue size for this pin at the moment.

22/9: Partner Workshop Pin

2011-09-22T23:11:00.002+01:00

The third version of partner workshop pins has been spotted. The workshop took place over the last two days and attendees were presented with this pin.

Pin LOC0017

No word on issue size at the moment, but the previous pins in this series were each limited to 300 pieces.

22/9: New Mascot Street Scenes

2011-09-22T23:09:00.000+01:00

Two new ranges are being released which show Wenlock and Mandeville in a series of London street poses. The ranges have the same images, but are available in either enamel or printed versions.

There are 7 pins in each set and varieties of each are shown below.

Pin 0890 (Blue) or 0897 (White)

Pin 0891 (Blue) or 0898 (White)

Pin 0892 (Blue) or 0899 (White)

Pin 0893 (Blue) or 0900 (White)

Pin 0894 (Blue) or 0901 (White)

Pin 0895 (Blue) or 0902 (White)

Pin 0896 (Blue) or 0903 (White)

Pins are limited to 50,000 each and are priced at £5 for the blue printed variety or £6.50 for the white enamel variety. Some of these pins have had limited availablilty at John Lewis, but are now on general release.

19/9: 300 Days To Go Pins

2011-09-19T16:45:00.003+01:00

October 1st marks the 300 day to go mark for the Olympic Games and November 3rd the for the Paralympic Games. To continue the countdown series, here are the pins that will be available. There are 3 pins in total, a shard and a mascot pin for the Olympic Games and a mascot pin for the Paralympics.

Pin 0925

Pin 0926

Pin 0946

As for the 500 and 400 day to go pins, these are limited to 2,012 pieces each. Recommended price of each pin is £6.50 each. Hopefully we can expect retailers to have these soon so that they are available before the actual day.

14/9: Retail Update

2011-09-14T22:31:00.000+01:00

A few short bits of news today...

A new London 2012 shop opened in Jubilee Place in Canary Wharf today. I imagine the usual range of pins, plush and clothing. I'll probably visit on my next trip to Stratford and will try to post more information then.

The guards set (Set 0009) that was originally limited to British Airways is now on general release and has been termed the 'Deluxe Guards Set'

Finally, one of the Team GB pins issued last month is 'Sold Out'.

Pin 590 is now no longer available to retailers from the manufacturer. But before you panic, it's because all 50,000 pins have been bought up by a high street retailer and will be available through their stores.

13/9: New London 2012 Shop at John Lewis - Westfield, Stratford City

2011-09-13T21:58:00.001+01:00

Today marked the opening of Stratford City Westfield and with it the new London 2012 shop within John Lewis.

The London 2012 shop is locate don the 3rd floor of John Lewis, and as you will know from the press release from a few weeks ago, overlooks the Olympic Park. It had a huge range of merchandise from clothes to household goods, plush, toys and of course collectables. The pin wall had a fair range of items from original logos up to all the latest Team GB pins. They had some of the mascot street scenes that are starting to appear and some London landmark pins in both blue and white varieties.

Interestingly, while I was there, there was interest in the white logo pin and the London Borough pins, neither of which were available. I think that the shop will adjust its range of pins when they see what's in demand. The staff appeared knowledgeable and approachable. I noticed that pins had been arranged in some cases by packaging and not by series, but I guess to the average customer it's not an issue. Collectors may find it strange though. Overall a welcome retail outlet for London 2012 collectors and Im sure it will be part of the daily run for those of us who hope to spend a lot of time around the Olympic Park in 2012!

My thanks to Sarah in the store who listened to my views on the pin wall and the store.

There is a meeting space behind the shop in the area which overlooks the park, and for today Panasonic were demonstrating their TVs and 3D technology. Far more important than that though was the fact they were handing out pins (if you asked)!

The pin shows Wenlock and a blue logo over the 'Panasonic' name. This is not a Honav UK pin, so will have the WWL notation when it is added to the catalogue.

Another sponsor had new pins out at Westfield today. Lloyds TSB had new pins being worn by their staff which showed the sort-code for the branch (will will be the nearest customer facing LTSB branch to the Olympic Park) along with the composite logo. They weren't available to the public though. I hope to have photos soon.

12/9: Latest Stamp Pins Issued

2011-09-12T23:37:00.002+01:00

The final 10 stamp pins in the set of 30 have been issued (ignoring the fact that 2 pins are missing from the earlier releases at the moment).

These final 10 pins contain images of the stamps issued at the 1 year to go milestone earlier this year. The cover the sports: Sailing, Field Athletics, Volleyball, Wheelchair Rugby, Wrestling, Wheelchair Tennis, Fencing, Gymnastics, Triathlon and Handball.

Some interesting observations...

The pins are numbered 1014 to 1023, which puts us in the second half of the issue numbers with still many of the lower numbers un-issued.

The backstamp has the text TM (C) LOCOG 2009, whereas the earlier 20 stamp pins were dated 2011

The final line of the backstamp is marked 'Honav' whereas the first 20 were marked 'Royal Mail/Honav'.

Nothing earth-shatteringly important I know, but just something I noticed!

The pins are available now from the Royal Mail packaged with the corresponding stamp in a pack.

10/11: New Partner Pins

2011-09-11T00:11:00.002+01:00

Here's a round up of new partner pins that readers have spotted recently.

Firstly BAA, who were recently signed up as an official supplier

British Airports Authority (BAA) - First Pin

Next a pair of pins from BP supporting Team GB and ParalympicsGB

BP0008

BP0009

Next the first London pin from the worldwide sponsor Proctor & Gamble - a 1 YTG pin

P&G0001

Another boxed set from Samsung. This one contains a composite logo pin (possible the one seen when the Torch relay was launched) plus 3 'icon' pins representing London.

Samsung set of four

Composite logo

House of Parliament

Double Decker Bus

Guard

Finally another composite logo pin from Visa.

Visa

Thank you to Pinmaster, Bryan, Bonwusah, Robert and Andree for the information and photos. I will add these pins to the catalogue soon.

8/9: Media Retail pins

2011-09-08T23:34:00.001+01:00

Some new pins today issued by US broadcaster NBC, but available for retail in the USA. They follow on from the 5 NBC pins already in the catalogue. These ones mix London landmarks together with 2 pins that are part of a set of 20 depicting Olympic sports.

Thanks to pin-architect for this piece of news.

6/9: Retail Pins Updated in Catalogue

2011-09-06T23:55:00.002+01:00

I've now updated the catalogue with all the recent retail pins issued. You can check the New Issues By Date page to see the additions.

In summary, there are now entries for...

Emblems of England

Team GB and ParalympicsGB

Mascot Street Scenes

Mandeville Sports

Back to School

Mascot Poses

5/9: Sid Marantz from Olympin in London

2011-09-06T00:25:00.002+01:00

Sid Marantz from the Olympin pin club has asked me to mention that he will be in London later this week and would like to meet up with any club members or potential members.

You can email him at sidmarantz@aol.com as soon as possible if you would like to meet up with him. He'll be around on Friday and Saturday this week.

4/9: Normal Service Resumed

2011-09-04T18:39:00.002+01:00

As some of you may have known, I have been away on holiday with my family for the last few weeks, so apologies of the lack of news updates. It's been a busy time in the pin world and there's been plenty of chat on the message boards.

From what I can tell, we have seen

Retail - Paralympics GB, English & Scottish icons and mascot sport pins - especially Mandeville
Sponsor - Samsung, P&G, EDF, UPS, BAA

If you think I have missed anything, please feel free to comment.

There should be a lot to talk about at the next pin meet in October.

I hope to get some images and more information soon, so bear with me. Ill have the catalogue up to date as soon as I can.

Paul.

2/9: Mascots Go To School

2011-09-02T12:02:00.000+01:00

To celebrate (!) the kids returning to school, London 2012 have released 6 pins which show Wenlock and Mandeville getting ready for the new term. The pins show Wenlock with a blackboard, as a lollipop patrol and working at a desk. Also, Mandeville in a backpack, reading and with his lunch.

Pin 0949

Pin 0950

Pin 0951

Pin 0952

Pin 0953

Pin 0954

Issue size for these pin is 2,012 pieces each. No word on price or retailers yet.

15/8: Team GB and Paralympics GB Pins

2011-08-16T04:02:00.000+01:00

The first pins to support Team GB have been released. These pins mix red, white and blue with the team logo to form an impressive set of pins. Here are just a few of the pins on offer.

The pins come in a variety of shapes and colours, some are printed and some enamelled. Some are limited to 2,012 whereas others will be issued as up to 100,000 pieces.

13/8: ODA 'Black Hat' Pins

2011-08-13T00:11:00.000+01:00

A new ODA pin was spotted today. Based on the existing 'Builder's Hat' pins, this one represents the Athletes Village construction supervisors (foremen) who wear black hats for ease of identification.

Apologies for the quality of the photo. The pin consists of a black builder's hat with the words 'Black Hat' written across it and a blue logo. The hat is shown in front of a shard which contains the words 'Athletes Village'.

Thanks to a reader for this information.

11/8: Future Pin Designs

2011-08-11T23:53:00.002+01:00

As some of you may know, there was a huge Olympic Collectors Fair in Chicago last weekend. Honav were in attendance and were promoting their London 2012 collection. They displayed a vast number of pins - some of which we haven't seen over here yet. A collector who attended was kind enough to pass some photos to me (via an Olympin club member) of the Honav displays.

Thanks to Brad Frank for these photographs and he retains the copyright of all images.

The pins were displayed in a number of frames and I have reproduced images of the frames here with my comments as to what I think I can see.

This frame appears to contain pins that have already been issued

Again, this frame appears to contain pins that have already been issued

Once again, all pins in this frame have been issued, but interestingly, the Aquatics stamp pin is on display (second row from bottom, right hand side)

This frame contains the table tennis stamp pin that has not been released by Royal Mail (top row), the new 'pewter' pictograms and the alphabet pins. Notice however that there is a lower case set of alphabet pins too.

This frame continues the lower case alphabet pins. Then in addition to existing pins such as Lord Mayor, birds and guards, has printed version of the mascot pictograms (rows 5-8).

This frame seems to contain coloured logos in new sizes, a jigsaw set of the Thames and its bridges. In addition there are some existing sets, such as crowns, seaside and 500 DTG pins

This free contains more printed mascot pictograms and new Team GB pins (rows 5 and 6)

In this frame we can see more of the Icons of... series such as the kilt and bagpipes for Scotland. Then there is a whole set of Team GB and Paralympics GB pins. Finally at the bottom seem to be variations ont he Union flag in London 2012 colours as a dangler below a logo. I can't tell what the variations might be to create so many pins.

This frame starts off with more of the Union flag dangler pins. Then we can see the dogs. Row 6 seems to have pins marked 'pub quiz' and a dartboard. There's a rainbow with Wenlock holding an umbrella which looks like a slider pin. Following this are the different sized Union flag logo pins. Finally in this frame are what appear to be historic Olympic poster pins (London 1948 is on the bottom row, 3rd from right).

More historic posters, possibly in printed and enamelled as I can see 3 of one design (e.g. Tokyo)

This frame starts off with some type of flowers which we haven't seen before. This is followed by more mascot pictograms (enamelled and printed). Row 8 seems to contain Christmas pins (a Christmas stocking hanging from a basketball hoop).

This frame shows two varieties of London landmark pins which appear to fit together. They use the London 2012 graphical lines style and appear to be in a day and night version. These are followed by the mascot street scenes, seen only in John Lewis for now. Then comes some more Icon... pins. This time for England I suggest. Row 7 and 8 contain more Team GB and Paralympics GB. Then in the bottom 2 rows, we can see countdown pins for 300, 200 and 100 days in shard and mascot varieties. The frame finishes with some cat pins.

This frame continues the cat pins and then adds a rabbit and some birds, so I think we're looking at series of pets. These are followed by more countdown pins. Then comes a school set showing a blackboard and a lollipop man. There are more varieties on Union flag and London Landmarks in rows 3 and 4. Row 5 seems to show musical instruments. Row 6 has a series of Wellington boots. I think row 7 contains Icons of ... Wales (daffodil and Welsh dragon at least). Row 8 contains pantomime pins - horse, ugly sisters. Finallly the bottom two rows contain the new Team GB mascot - Pride the lion.

All in all, quite a set of pins! Lots of new designs. Remember, some of these may be concepts and not be manufacturers. I'm not saying all these will be real pins. All we do know is that they were shared with the public at the collectors fair.

Something else that was on display at the fair was the 'London 2012 Complete Lapel Pin Collection'. This is a set of all 2,012 retail pins issued in two cases. There will be only 500 of these sets issued worldwide. The image below shows the outside of one of the cases. I believe the pins will be issued in frames like the ones shown in these photographs.

Once again, thank you to Brad Frank for sharing these pictures with us.

10/8: Mascot Sports

2011-08-10T19:42:00.001+01:00

More of the mascot sports pins are to be released.

Wenlock is shown trying the following sports... Volleyball, Beach Volleyball, BMX, Eventing, Mountain Biking, Modern Pentathlon (best pin yet?) Cycling, Running, Taekwondo, Trampoline and Triathlon.

Pin 0830

Pin 0818

Pin 0826

Pin 0825

Pin 0824

Pin 0832

Pin 0819

Pin 0518

Pin 0821

Pin 0820

Pin 0823

Not to be outdone, Mandeville appears in two new sport pins - rowing and swimming

Pin 0846

Pin 0847

As for all the other mascot sports pins, these are all limited to 10,000 pieces and priced at £6.50. Pins should all be available in the next day or two. They've been shown on the John Lewis website for a while, but listed as out of stock. These should be available at all the usual retailers.

10/8: Paralympic 1 Year To Go Pin

2011-08-10T17:14:00.000+01:00

A pin is being issued for the Paralympic 1 Year To Go milestone on 29th August. This is the first and therefore only 'year' Paralympic countdown pin.

Pin 0688

Issue size is 3,000 and the price is £6.50. It will be available in the next day or two.

9/8: More Retail Pins from USA

2011-08-09T20:29:00.001+01:00

Another set of pins from Aminco have surfaced in mailings and on eBay. There are 8 pins as well as the 1 Year to Go pin announced previously. These new pins feature Wenlock, British icons and flags.

This from a reader...

Click to enlarge

Once again these pins are made for the US market only and cannot be sold outside the USA.

9/8: More 1 Year To Go Pins

2011-08-09T20:26:00.000+01:00

Two more 1 Year to Go pins have been spotted.

Firstly, thanks to a reader, a pin from Adidas.

Pin ADI0005

This is pin ADI0005 and is manufactured by Honav.

There is also a pin from Dow (spotted on eBay)

Pin WWL-DOW0001

This pin has been manufactured by Aminco under their licence and so I have given it the reference WWL-DOW0001.

7/8: 4th Unofficial London 2012 Pin Collectors Pin Meet

2011-08-07T00:33:00.000+01:00

I'd like to officially announce the next pin meet and invite you all.

Following on from the comments and feedback from the last set of attendees, the details are as follows...

Date: Saturday 22nd October 2011
Time : 2.30pm
Venue: The Railway Tavern, 131 Angel Lane, Stratford, London, E15 1DB
Venue Website: http://railwaytavernhotel.co.uk
Cost: Free (but please see note below)
Nearest Transport: Stratford Station (National Rail, Central Line, DLR)

As for the previous meets, the pub is not charging us for the hire of the venue, so please consider buying a drink or even your lunch from them. I can recommend the food!

As for the previous meet, I hope that a sponsor or two may be able to attend. I have no offers of any pins for the attendees yet, but I will be approaching some sponsors to see what may be available. I can't promise anything except that the earlier you register, the more chance you have of receiving anything on offer!

Hopefully we can get as many people there as last time, if not more!

If you plan to come, please drop me an email to info@londonpins.co.uk to confirm you attendance and that way if there are any changes to plan, you will be kept informed.

Hope to see lots of you there.

5/8: National Flowers - Jigsaw Image

2011-08-05T23:12:00.002+01:00

Here's an update to the National Flowers set information - an image of the boxed set showing the pins in their jigsaw arrangement.

National Flowers of the UK set

5/8: Another Mascot Boxed Set

2011-08-05T11:56:00.001+01:00

Wenlock and Mandeville are appearing in their standard pose for a new boxed set. This time the pins display their name using the mascot's logo

Pin 0533

Pin 0534

Boxed set with inlay card

The pins come as a boxed set with a details card. I understand the pins will not be available individually. The issue size is 3,000 for this set and the price is £20.

5/8: National Flowers of the UK

2011-08-05T11:55:00.001+01:00

London 2012's first jigsaw set has been released. This attractive set combines the national flowers of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland with each countries shape to form a complete set which shows the UK.

Pin 0680

Pin 0681

Pin 0682

Pin 0683

England is represented by the rose, Scotland by the thistle, Wales by the daffodil and Northern Ireland by the shamrock. Pins are not shown here to scale, in other words the Northern Ireland pin is not the same size as the England pin. To give you a sense of scale, the logo on each pin is the same size.

The pins are only available as a set which is limited to 3,000 pieces and the price is £35.

5/8: Latest Mascot Sports Pin

2011-08-05T11:54:00.001+01:00

Wenlock tries his hand at cycling in the latest mascot sport pin.

Pin 0505

As for the others in the series, the issue size is 10,000 pieces and this one is priced at £6.50. It is available immediately.

3/8: Media Pins

2011-08-03T20:53:00.000+01:00

It seems as if the media organisations are now starting their pin programmes. This week, 4 media pins have been spotted.

The first comes from Eurosport and combines their logo with a pale blue London 2012 logo and the words 'official broadcaster'

The other 3 pins all come from NBC, the principal USA Olympic broadcaster. At the moment I don't have any images I can use, however the pins are...

Standard NBC blue rectangular pin with 'NBC', peacock logo, Olympic rings and words London 2012
NBC London 2012 shield logo
NBC London 2012 shield logo on a red telephone box

3/8: Lloyds/Bank of Scotland 1 Year To Go Pins

2011-08-03T20:41:00.003+01:00

More 1 Year To Go pins have come to the surface - this time from the Lloyds Banking Group.

They have issued 4 pins to mark the milestone date - 2 under the Lloyds TSB brand and 2 under the Bank of Scotland brand.

Pin LLY0011

Pin LLY0012

Pin BOS0005

Pin BOS0006

In each pair of pins, there are 2 varieties of the figure '1'. It either has a translucent infill in the colour of the brand or a 'hollow' centre. These make an interesting difference to the normal countdown numbers. Also seen for the first time on their pins are new varieties of the Olympic logo. Previously the logos were in outline the colour of the brand, but this time the logos are solid in green and blue. The final difference is the strap line on the BoS pins. Previously they used the same 'official partner' wording of the LTSB pins. This time however the strap line is 'proud partner for Scotland'. I'll post issue sizes for these pins soon I hope.

3/8: Emblems of Scotland

2011-08-03T18:05:00.000+01:00

The first 2 pins in what will be a larger series are released today. These pins are from the 'Emblems of...' series which will cover England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The first pin shows a sporran and the other a thistle

Pin 0579

Pin 0580

Both pins are limited to 3,000 pieces and are priced at £6.50. They are available immediately and are on general release. Some of you may have seen other in the 'Emblems' on the John Lewis website although at the moment they are marked out of stock.

3/8: Pictogram Sets

2011-08-02T22:27:00.001+01:00

Two new sets of pictogram pins are being issued. These are collectors sets and consist of the Olympic pictograms and Paralympic pictograms in frames. The pins have a brushed metallic or possibly pewter effect. This is based on the photograph having not seen the pins.

The Olympic pictogram framed set is limited to 5,000 pieces and is priced £250

Pins 0291 - 0328: Olympic Pictograms

The Paralympic pictogram framed set is limited to 2,012 pieces and is priced £150

Pins 0264 - 0284: Paralympic Pictograms

Here's a close up of the sailing pin showing the detail and the metallic finish.

Both sets are released today.

30/7: More Sponsor Pins Spotted

2011-07-30T14:06:00.001+01:00

An update on the 1 Year To Go Pins as well as some more sponsor pins that have been seen.

Firstly a photo of the EDF 1 Year To Go that I mentioned on Wednesday.

This is pin EDF0008 and is limited to 500 pieces.

Next is another version of the Adidas 500 days to the Paralympic Games pin.

This pin is the pink version and shows sitting basketball and is also numbers ADI0004 like the other two seen to date.

Now another pin from UPS.

This is a printed pin and shows the UPS logo along with an orange 2012 logo and a gymnast pictogram on blue heart. This is pin UPS0006, and so leaves a gap in the numbering of their pins as the priginals were pins 1-4.

Finally a first pin from the National Lottery. This combines a pronted Lottery logo along with an enamelled 2012 logo and the strapline 'be part of it'. This pin is numbers NAL0001.

30/7: New Mascot Sport and Retail Update

2011-07-30T00:16:00.000+01:00

A short update tonight...

Mandeville has a new sport pin available. This one is Athletics (Running). As before, issue size is 10,000 and the price is £6.50

Pin 0496

Also, the mascot 'pose' pins - police and union flag are now in general release. These are the boxed sets (larger) and individual enamel (smaller) pins that have been restricted to the official shop to date.

28/7: Dogs, Alphabet, Mascot Street Scenes and More Stamp Pins

2011-07-28T20:23:00.002+01:00

As well as sponsor pins issued for 1 Year To Go, it looks like a wave of retail pins became available yesterday - but only at John Lewis Oxford street. The department has been expanded and re-arranged and the range on offer is much improved on my previous visits.

The had 3 new sets that I could see - Dogs (20 pins), Alphabet (26 pins) and Mascot Street Scenes (4 or 6 pins I think). I've shown an example of the first 2 sets but do not have an image of the third at the moment.

The dogs being shown are King Charles Spaniel, Beagle, Corgi, Springer Spaniel, Bulldog, German Shepherd, Greyhound, Labrador, Douge de Bordeaux, Daschund, Pug, Golden Retriever, Cocker Spaniel, Miniature Schnauzer, Staffordshire Bull Terrier, Border Terrier, Shih Tzu, Boxer, West Highland White Terrier, Yorkshire Terrier. Each dog is accompanied by either the Olympic of Paralympic logo as a 'dangler' under the pin and the dog's collar is the same colour as the logo.

As for the alphabet, the letters being shown are A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H... (you get the idea!)

Each letter comes with a coloured logo in the order pink, orange, green, blue, Paralympic. The colours cycle round. I know one reader will feel compelled to comment on the order of colours !

The mascot street scenes show Wenlock and Mandeville alongside post boxes an the like and these are printed pins where the mascots are coloured and shown against a dark blue background.

No word on issue sizes or price, but from memory, the dogs were £7.50 each.

Finally, the next 9 Royal Mail stamp pins are now available directly from the Royal Mail or from John Lewis. The sports on disply this time are Football, Shooting, Hockey, Goalball, Cycling, Rowing, Taekwondo, Boxing and Modern Pentathlon. When the original stamps in this series were issued last year, table tennis was included, but at the moment that pin has not been issued. No word yet on when or if we will see it. The aquatics pin from the first series is also still be be released. Interestingly, the archery and equestrian pins issued in this series earlier this year do not seem to be available any longer from the Royal Mail. Pictures of the new stamp pins, and also the latest stamps to be issued yesterday, will be added to the website as soon as possible.

28/7: Sponsor & Internal 1 Year To Go Round Up

2011-07-28T20:03:00.000+01:00

A busy day for 1 Year to Go pins yesterday. Thanks to excellent and persistent detective work by some readers, here's news of what was released yesterday.

An internal 1 Year To Go pin was issued to all LOCOG and ODA staff

This is pin LOC0015 and has the words 'Thank You' printed on the back

Next a range of sponsor pins from Lloyds, Cadbury, Eurostar and EDF (no picture yet)

The Eurostar pin comes in 3 colours - yellow, white and blue and I believe the picture is the same on each.

If anyone knows of any other sponsor or internal pins issued yesterday, please get in touch (with a photo if you can).

27/7: 1 Year To Go Round Up

2011-07-27T21:56:00.001+01:00

This is just a short post to say that there were some new pins out today, sponsor and internal, but as I'm just coming back from London, there will be no pictures tonight! I'll update as soon as I can.

27/7: Coca Cola 1 Year To Go Pin

2011-07-27T21:54:00.000+01:00

Here is the latest countdown pin from Coca Cola - the 1 Year To Go pin.

Pin COC0004

This pin is limited to 6,100 pieces and like previous Coca Cola pins is partly made from recycled materials.

26/7: First Media Pin Issued

2011-07-26T22:42:00.002+01:00

Next, what is probably the first media pin officially released in connection with the London 2012 Games. Just in case anyone mentions the CTV pin which appeared on eBay - my belief is that the pin was never officially issued. This pin comes from 'insidethegames.biz' who are a media company that reports the latest news form the Olympics and Paralympics.

I should declare an interest at this point! As some of you know elements of my website and this news blog are published under the 'insidegamescollecting.biz' banner, so whilst I have not accepted money for this post, I did get a free pin!

Anyway, the pin is issued on a card and as you can see is limited to 365 pieces. Whilst it doesn't contain the logo or 'London 2012' words, the organisation is an Olympic accredited media company and part of the Olympic family and therefore probably should be recognised as the first media pin of the Games.

26/7: New sponsor pin - John Lewis

2011-07-26T22:35:00.000+01:00

As we move into the 1 year to go celebrations, I hope there will be a flurry of pin news coming up this week. To start off, news of a new sponsor pin.

John Lewis have produced 4 pins for their staff. They have the logo in all for London 2012 colours - pink, orange, blue and green. The pin reference is JLS0001 and is the same for all 4 colours.

23/7: 3rd Unofficial London 2012 Pin Traders Pin Meet

2011-07-23T23:24:00.001+01:00

The pin meet held today was a great success with 19 people attending. I would like to thank everyone who came along for taking part. Hopefully we will get even bigger turnouts as time goes on. I hope all the 'first-timers' found the meet a friendly place and got a chance to meet fellow collectors.

Thanks also to Jan and the staff at the Railway Tavern. As before they were excellent hosts and we appreciate them letting us have the space for nothing.

Finally thanks to the sponsors Coca Cola, BT and EDF who gave us each a pin. Both BT and Coca Cola were able to share their 1 year to go pin with us and I know from the response in the room, everyone really appreciated the sponsor support. We were lucky enough to have a senior member of the Coca Cola London 2012 team attend and hear first-hand what pin traders would like to see in the Coca Cola trading centres next year. Honav also very kindly donated some non-London 2012 pins too.

If you didn't manage to make the event today, I'm looking to set up another for late September or early October depending on venue availability. Watch this space as I'll be asking for opinions on dates soon.