Monday's 3 YTG Launch Event

As well as launching all the new pins on Monday, LOCOG arranged a small event at the Museum of London where they handed over the 3 YTG pin into the museum's Olympic archive.

The photo shows Professor Jack Lohman, Director of the Museum of London (left) accepting a frame of London 2012 pins (including the 3YTG pin) from Mr Jack Chen, CEO of Honav (third from left). The lady in the middle is Anna, LOCOG Licensing Manager. I'm afraid I didn't get the name of the lady on the right, but I believe she is from Honav UK.

The exciting part is that the frame contained the skyline set of pins. It looks like they will be available to buy in due course, maybe as a set. I'm reading between the lines here, so don't take this as gospel. The pins were on general display so there's no speculation on whether they exist now. Remember where you read the rumour first!!

Here's a close up of the pins. Sorry for the poor image, the reflections were hard to work with!

The buildings are

• Royal Naval College
• Tower Bridge
• St Paul's Cathedral
• Big Ben
• Houses of Parliament
• Westminster Abbey
• Buckingham Palace
• Marble Arch
• Albert Memorial
• Kensington Palace

No dates available on when they may be sale or where.

I had a chance to talk to some LOCOG and Honav people. I must say they were all very friendly and supportive and we're keenly aware of the importance of pin collecting. There was a leaflet available, issued by LOCOG, all about pin collecting. I will scan a copy and add to the website. I don't think there's any copyright issues over doing that as the leaflet is free.

There's no hard and fast plans but someone from Honav did mention pin collecting events that they invited 'hard-core' collectors too in the past and it definitely sounded like they would be considering possible events for London 2012. Again it's me interpreting what was said, so no promises.

I did ask if there were any more pins coming out soon (as if 29 on one day wasn't enough) and it seems like there's more to come in the next few weeks. Once again, no dates, but Anna did mention the weather set on her blog (we've had that on the website's rumour list for a week or so) and also teapots. If you consider those sets and the skyline set and look at the gaps in the numbering sequence, I think there's more to come, and I don't think we're going to have to wait until the 2YTG to see them!

New Pins Launched Today

London 2012 launched a number of new pins today along with the 3 YTG pin at the Museum of London.

In addition to the countdown pin, there were pins on the themes of London Markets, Music, Flowers, Punk and Guards.

I'm updating the website tonight and tomorrow, so please be patient while I get the pictures and inventory listings up there. I'll get it done as quickly as possible. I'll get the pictures done first, then the inventory.

Once the inventory is up to date, I'll update the blog with some information I found out today about sponsor pins and potential pin collecting events.

Also - the gold skyline set was there, and it looks like it will be available soon. I'll update the website (and the blog) with more details once the new pins are added.

Keep checking back all this week, they'll be more...

3YTG Pin - Photo and Details

The 3 Year To Go Pin will be launched on Monday 27th July as expected and will be limited to 3,000 pieces (the 4YTG was limited to 5,000). The style of the pin follows on from last year's with a large '3' and a smaller 2012 logo, this time in orange whereas last year's was pink.

Not all of the 3,000 pieces will be available to the public as some will be given to British atheletes and officials.

As previously stated, the pin will be available from Runners Need and Crest of London from Monday.

New EDF Pins

Some news from EDF. One reader sent me 2 photographs of EDF pins. One of the pins has been 'doing the rounds' on eBay and to be honest I was sceptical of its authenticity. The other appears genuine. Both pins have engraving on the back, but one is of better quality than the other.

Both pins were received from EDF in the UK.

EDF have confirmed that both pins are genuine (although I still feel that one of the photographs is of a copy, but that's only my opinion).
Take a look at the partner pins section of the inventory for details and pictures.

More 3 Year To Go Pin News

Following on from my previous post about the 3YTG pin, I've spoken to Runners Need and here's what I found out.

They WILL be selling the 3YTG pin at the RRP of £6.50. It's a limited edition (not able to state the edition size) but they will have a small allocation of pins. They will be available in store (Canary Wharf and Kings Cross shops only) and by mail order. They'll be displayed online, but not available to order online.
The pins should be available from Monday 27th July.
Their website is www.runnersneed.co.uk and you can contact the mail order department on 020 7278 9486.
The guys at Runners Need have been very helpful in supplying this information, so please support them by buying your pins there. If you want to mention your heard about them through the London2012Pins website, that would be good too!

3 Year To Go Pin News

I contacted the 'Open Weekend' team in LOCOG today to ask about Open Weekend pins and 3 YTG pins (I can't claim credit for the idea, it came from a reader).

I found out that there are no Open Weekend pins going to be available (there weren't for last year's so no surprise there). They did say that there would be a 3 YTG pin available from Monday 27th July (the actual 3YTG date). They said that the pins would be available from Runners Need or Crest of London.

I then phoned Runners Need and they confirmed that they had heard of a 3 YTG pin (the person thought just one design), and that they thought they would be selling it, possible via their website.

I guess in that case we'll be looking at anything between £5.99 and £9.99. So keep a lookout on the Runners Need and Crest of London sites (both available from the links page on the www.london2012pins.com website.

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.

LOCOG Pins in 2007?

As you know I've emailed London 2012 a few times via their website asking for information. Over the last 2 days, I have had replies to my emails (looks like they got bunched up and answered by different people over the course of 2 days).

Anyway, the replies give the standard response that an online store will be open soon and that pins are available from Crest of London and Runners Needs.

BUT...

2 of the replies mention something along the lines of... ' the pins were made for staff only and to mark the brand launch on 4 June 2007'

Now I thought the first logo pins (in fact any non-bid pins) were not available until the Handover Party last August. So if that's the case, what are the pins made for LOCOG staff back in 2007?

Am I wrong? Were pins available before August 2008? Have I missed something?

What do you think?

Pin 6 Confirmed

I can confirm that the suggestion that pin 6 and the white logo pin are the same is true. A member of LOCOG has confirmed that the pin exists and is number 6 but - and here's the best news - whilst it is not on sale now, it may be on retail sale sometime between now and 2012.

Obviously things can change, but for now it looks like it may be available one day.

Skyline Set

I've been given new information which confirms that there is a set of gold pins that make up a London Skyline. I'm trying to get some more details and as soon as I have something I'll update with numbers and descriptions.

EDIT - 1/7/09

The inventory has now been updated with all the potential pin information I have.

The skyline set looks like a collection of 10 pins showing key London buildings (some used as Games venues) against a geometric shape and with a Games or Paralympic Games logo.

Range of Gold Pins?

So what could that line of gold in the bottom half of the frame be?

I was wondering about this, until I saw a new pin on eBay today. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to show the image from eBay, so I won't post a picture. Suffice to say it's gold in the shape of Big Ben with a large and bright 2012 Paralympic logo. No other colours.

I 'think' I can see such a shape in the line of gold somewhere in line between pins 1 and 2 in the top row. I think I can see a Buckingham Palace and St Paul's too, but I may have just had too much sugar today!

What do you think - do we have a range of London Skyline pins out there?

Is this pin number 6?

One sharp eyed reader spotted a photograph on the Honav website. In it, Jack Chen (CEO of Honav) is presenting a frame of pins to Jacques Rogge. The first 5 pins in the frame look to be pins 1 to 5 (the 4 coloured logo pins and the Paralympics pin). The 6th pin however - could it be the mysterious white pin. Given it's position in the frame, is it pin 6?

(Click on the image to enlarge)

This appears to be photographic confirmation that pin 6 is the white pin and it's for IOC members only.

Any thoughts?

As for the bottom half of the frame and that line of gold - read on?

Is this the mini-logo pin ?

We have heard the rumours about the mini-logo pin and also (probably) seen the 6 logo pins being offered on eBay. Are they one and the same?

I was sceptical about the 6 logo pins on eBay (especially after buying another set of pins from China which were of poor quality and, in my opinion, possibly fake). I was also sceptical because the seller told me the pin numbers were 20 - 25. Why would LOCOG issue the 4 colour logo pins, the Paralympics logo pin and the Union Flag logo pin again with different numbers.

Curiosity got the better of me, the price came down, so I jumped in and bought a set.

They arrived today and on closer investigation I'm impressed. If they're fakes - they're good. The quality of the enamel is spot on, and if you rub your finger over the Union flag pin, you can feel where each colour has been printed - just like the original pins. The most noticeable difference though is the size.

(Click on the picture for a close up view)

As a comparison..

The pin on the left (original)

• Pin number 11
• 38 x 25mm
• Reverse markings - 2012-11, <=100000, (R)(C) LOCOG 2008, Honav

The pin on the right (New addition)

• Pin number 25
• 23mm x 20mm
• Reverse markings - 2012-25, <=20000, (R)(C) LOCOG 2008

Note there's no manufacturer marking on the new pin although it does have the triangular pattern on the back. They came in plastic bags, no backing card - no surprise.

Note, also, that the gaps between the 4 numbers in the logo are not punched through like the originals but filled with a 'frost effect'. Would fakes go to that trouble?

Also, each pin in the new set is marked as an edition size of 20,000. The original 5 pins (4 colours and Paralympics) had no edition size.

So, what do you think we have here - a new set (the numbering is in the correct sequence), the mysterious mini-pins, a set of fakes?

Let us know your opinions.

Three Years To Go Pins

Now that we're only a month (and a few days) from the 3 YTG mark, what do you think will be the sources of 3YTG pins?

Has anyone heard of any events around them where a pin might be found. The London 2012 website talks about the 'Open Weekend', but has anyone heard any definite details?

Mini Logo Pin

I've had a rumour of a mini-sized logo pin. Seems like it was only available to LOCOG staff. Anyone got any information to share?

Pin Number 6 - Where Are You?

You may have spotted that in the line up of Commemorative Pins issued by LOCOG, pin number 6 is missing. As far as I'm aware, no-one has actually seen a pin with the number 6 stamped on the back, but a potential candidate has been mentioned by more than one source now.

We've all seen the 4 colour pins of the 2012 logo (pins number 1-4), but I've had two reports of a white logo pin. It could be pin number 6, it would fit into the sequence as it follows the four colour pins and the Paralympic logo pin.

Apparently this white pin is only available to certain LOCOG staff.

Two New Partner Pins

Two new partner (sponsor) pins have been spotted.

Firstly Deloitte, the official professional services supplier to London 2012 have issued a pin

Also, one of our contributors has seen a GE (General Electric) pin supporting the 2012 Games.

Both pins have been added to the Partner Pins inventory and there are pictures of both on the website.

Thanks to Tom and George for the details.

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.

Blog Details Transferred to Website

Now that the website is up and running, I thought it was time to clear out the bits and pieces on this blog. All of the information that I tried to pull together here has been move to the website as it's easier to use in that form.

From now on, I plan to post here when the website has been updated and, more importantly when I get some new pin news.