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.

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.

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.

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.

16/12: Website Updates

A few website updates have been uploaded this weekend. I've tried to work through some of the backlog of photos taken during the Games and also add pages for those sponsors who had not appeared so far.

You will now find pages for the following sponsors...

Acer
Jet Set
McCann World Group
Populous
Rapiscan

There are also some minor updates to the LOCOG Internal list as well as a page dedicated to Torch Relay (Retail and Sponsor) pins.

There are still lots of updates to come but I took some time today to add the new structure. The new pages have some details, but there are still images and details to come.

9/10: Retail Pins Added to Catalogue

It's taken a while, but I have finally updated the retail part of the catalogue as far as possible with all the pins that came out during the Games.

The latest update contains...

Venue Sports Pins - mascot, venue and pictogram boxed sets
Venue logo pins
Sports pose pins
'Venues at Night'
National flags (pictures to follow)
Aminco retail

I have listed all the pins in the ranges and provided images of as many pins as possible (I'm still trying to track a few down and photographs them.

The grid has been updated with all the new images, but be aware there will be pins listed in the catalogue that do not show in the grid as I do not have images at the moment.

This latest update contains 290 images and almost 500 listing updates hence the time it has taken to complete it.

Thank you for bearing with me and I'll try to fill in the gaps in the images as soon as I can.

I will now be moving on to the internal, partner and media pins. Updates as soon as possible.

21/9: Catalogue Updates

More catalogue updates have been made on the website...

• All the Coca-Cola retail pins (still waiting on Paralympic Pin of the Day Bottle Cap)
• Map of the UK
• Picnic Rug

This will be the last update for a few days as I'm now working through all the venue specific sets containing mascots, venues and pictograms. I will not upload these until I have all the pins listed and photographed.

If any of you managed to get the sets for Athletics, Dressage and Shooting would you please get in touch so I can confirm some details please.

16/9: Catalogue Updates

The retail part of the catalogue has been updated tonight with more of the pins issued just before and during the Games. In particular

• Pride the Lion Sports
• Team GB/ParalympicsGB venue collection
• Braille logo
• Welcome taxi, bus and telephone box
• Olympic/Paralympic Village
• Media Centre
• London Icons/Sports
• Thank You
• Chalk Hills
• Countdown
• Ceremonies
• Sports Shots

Pin 1125 - Braille Logo

Some new pins have been listed and some pins that were already listed have had images updated or details added. Click here to see the updated grid.

Now that the Games have finished and I have more time, I will aim to add updates twice a week until the catalogue is up to date.

28/8: Website Updates

I know I've been a bit slow with the updates since the Olympic Games ended, but I have made the first update to the catalogue today.

It's not as full and update as I would have liked, but to be honest with so many new pins, I thought it was better to make some updates and then fill in details later.

Sports Pose pins added to the catalogue

The commemorative section has been updated with many sets but only contains numbers, names and issue sizes. Pictures and backstamp details etc. will follow.

The ranges added are

Sports Poses
Venue Specific Pins
Coca-Cola
Pin of the Day
Days of the Games

Pride Sports
Street Names
Chalk Hills
and more.

The updates are spread throughout the higher pin numbers, so take a look at those pages or
at the following themed pages. These cover most of the updates

Sports
Venue
Pictograms
Mascots
UK
Daily
London

Venue Sports Logo pins added to the catalogue

I have also updated the grid pages too, but as a number of the pins do not have images yet, they may not show on the grids.

Bear with me, we will get there!

Thanks to Mike B for lots of help with the details of the commemorative pins.

As for sponsor pins, there are now updates for

Thames Water
Ticketmaster
Westfield

More to come.

4/5: London Pins Goes Mobile

I've been playing around with ideas for a mobile or light version of the catalogue. I've looked at creating an iPhone app, but I never seem to have the time to learn the tools enough to do it.

I've come up with a good alternative though I think - a web app. For those that do not know what these are, think of them as a normal website but scaled and formatted for a mobile device and then added as an icon to your phone so that it looks and functions like a normal app, but is in fact accessing a website.

The downside is that the app requires access to the internet to work, so you won't have the pin catalogue in your pocket as such - you can't use it on the underground to check as your trading!

It will allow you to access the catalogue which I've divided it up in line with the main version, so you should find it relatively easy to navigate. You can list the pins in the same categories as on the main site and then click on any pin to see a larger image and details of the backstamp.

You can also check the news blog, see details and maps of upcoming pin meets, send me an email and run the full site when you need to.

I will endeavour to keep the mobile catalogue as up to date as the website one and plan to update them both at the same time.

To install it on an iPhone, do this...

1. On your phone, launch a web browser as usual and type in http://www.londonpins.co.uk/mobile
2. When the site launches, you should see the screen above,
3. Tap on the middle icon on the bottom bar (the one that looks like an arrow coming out of a box)
4. Tap 'Add to Home Screen'
5. In the text entry box, type in London Pins and tap 'Add' in the top right corner
6. The London Pins icon should now appear on your homepage and when you tap the new icon, you should launch London Pins without any browser bars, so it looks like a real iPhone app.
7. When you click the new icon, you may see a 'splash' screen with the London Pins logo or a blank white screen (I can't tell why it's not consistent) - this just means the phone is launching the app, please be patient.

Sorry I haven't got instructions for an Android phone, but you can still access the mobile URL as above and then add a bookmark. You will still get the same functionality but without the icon.

There are a few limitations...

• The size of the screen means that it's not always possible to see the complete description of the pin when viewing a list. Click on the picture however and all should be revealed.
• Sometimes when you click a picture, rather than open the details page within the web app, the phone launches a new Safari browser and displays the details there. This seems random and may have something to do with buffering. It seems the more you use the app, the less of a problem this becomes.
• It's not the quickest response in the world, but it's easier than trying to view the catalogue from the main site on a phone. I hope you think it's a good (and free) compromise.

Please try it out and let me know if you find any problems. I'll try and help out where I can.

If you think of anything that would make it better, let me know, I can't promise to do it, but I may be able to try.

Thanks to Robert for planting the seeds of an idea and for keeping this on my agenda. Thanks too to those that tested the early prototype - I hope you think it's progressed.

11/3: Message Board Unavailable

Apologies, but it looks like the forum message board is unavailable at the moment.

As London Pins is completely non-profit, I use a free service to provide the forum. Unfortunately, this means that the system availability can be a problem at times.

It's not just my message board that is down, it appears to be the entire message board provider, so I guess they are looking at the problem.

Sorry for the inconvenience, and rest assured I'll keep checking to see when it's back.

I'm exploring other avenues to deliver the forum and hope to have some news soon.

Paul.

19/12: Merry Christmas and Thank You

I would like to say Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all my readers and their families. Thank you all for supporting me over the last year with snippets of news, photographs, feedback and helpful comments. There are large sections of the website and blog which wouldn't be possible without your contribution.

I hope you like what you have seen this year and as we move into 2011, I'm sure it's only going to get busier with more pins from LOCOG and the sponsors as well as more events. I'm already looking forward to the 500 day to go mark in March and then the 1 year to go in July.

I've been fortunate to have made many news friends this year (even if it is only be email at the moment) and it never ceases to amaze me how friendly and helpful pin collectors are. I've also been lucky enough to have help from key individuals within companies who have provided invaluable information - thank you.

Finally, some statistics for you (Dec09 - Nov10)...

The website has had over 18,400 visits from 84 countries by more than 7,300 separate readers and this news blog has taken over 9,400 hits from 56 countries from over 3,000 distinct readers. In the grand scheme of things it's small, but I'm pleased with what's been achieved this year - here's to 2011.

Paul.

30/11: Message Board Bandwidth Problem

Apologies for the lack of message board over the last 2 days.

I use a free hosting service and it seems that their entire site has the bandwidth problem - not just my message board - honest!!

I hope that as we move into December tomorrow the limit will be reset and all will be available again.

Once again, sorry for the outage, but I hope you all appreciate that as this is a labour of love with no outside funding, I have to use free services where I can, and as a result sometimes there may be issues with availability.

Paul.

25/8: Museum of London Stock Update and 'Sold Out' Pins

Museum of London
An update from MoL today. They now have the 6 Countryside pins in-store along with the 4 Winter Flowers and the Paralympic Pride pin. Don't forget there are only 2,012 of the latter, so they are one of the

All of these pins are only available in store and not on the website.
At the time of writing, this is the first retailer to have the Countryside pins.

Sold Out Pins
As collectors, we like to know when a limited edition has sold out, so with Honav's help, I have updated the inventory to show when a pin has been sold out. My definition of this is that Honav have no more stock to supply the retailers. It doesn't mean that one or more retailers may not have the pin on their shelves or in their stockroom, but it does indicate that a pin MAY be harder to find. I'm sure that as we get nearer to the Games some of the limited editions will start to become rarer in the shops.
At the moment, the pins that are sold out are the 3 YTG, 2YTG and the 2 Mascot pins in the boxed set - no surprises really.

17/8: Catalogue Updates

There have been a few updates to the catalogue this evening...

• New partner pins from Airwave, Cisco and Panasonic
• New internal pins from LOCOG and the ODA plus some updated images
• All the regional pins are now shown - some have not been issued but there are images of the samples
• Updated issue sizes for some of the recent internal and partner issues (e.g. Adidas, BT, BMW etc.)

Thanks to the team at Honav for providing access to the new pins and also for the technical information.

1/11: News Round Up

The blog's been a bit quiet for the last week as I was spending the time getting the website refreshed. I've given it a new theme and improved the menu. Hopefully you'll find it easier to find pins in the inventory as I've split it down by number and category. There's a new article on fake pins and the download section now has the inventory available for download as a PDF.

On the news front...

You will probably have seen that the London at Night set has been withdrawn from sale and is to be re-issued in new packaging. No word on timescales, but I would think we'll see something in a few weeks.

The 1000 day pins came out yesterday, and don't forget they'll be a Paralympic 1000 day pin out on 3 December to complete the set.

I think the pictogram pins are not too far away, lets hope they come as a complete set like the Beijing ones did. The Museum of London website is showing them as coming soon and I think that Runners Need will be stocking them too. I hope to have more news this week.

27/9: New Forum Message Board

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

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

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

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

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

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

Inventory Updates

I've updated the commemorative pins inventory with details about the pin back pattern, the information box detail and the backing card for each pin.

I've also added the 6 mini-pins to the 'unofficial' pages.

Share Any News

Please send me any new pin news you may hear so I can post it here for others to read and also keep the pin inventories up to date. As we get closer to the Games I expect lots more organisations to start releasing pins, so anything you know and can share will be gratefully received.