25/1: More Pride the Lion Pins

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

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

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 insidethegames.biz covered the hobby and the meet. Their articles can be read using these links

BBC London 2012
insidethegames.biz

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.