23/10: Sports Pose Pin - Greco-Roman Wrestling

Scanning eBay this evening, I came across a pin which was rare to say the least during the Games. I think I only know of about 3 or 4 in the hands of collectors.

It's one of the sports pose venue pins - Greco Roman Wresting (1916)

This was one of the pins that seemed to appear at the Olympic Park for one afternoon in 2012 and was never seen again. I always thought that boxes of pins had been hidden at the back of a cupboard during the Games - maybe it was true!

Take a look at Tragars Collectables on eBay if this is one that you need for your collection. I see that the Archery pose in is there too - another rare one.

7/9: Venue Sets at Glamorous Living

Thanks to a reader, news that some of the venue boxed sets are now available at Glamorous Living. They appear to have a Marathon Swimming set (3 pins) and Equestrian Pictograms (3 pins)

Images from Glamorous Living

Click here and go to the bottom of the page.

This raises the question if other sets will appear soon as well as whether other retailers will start to stock these sets too. If you see any others, please get in touch.

10/7: Venue Pins - Retail Update

Good news for those of us looking to collect the retail venue pins...

I spoke to a director of the London 2012 Shop at Hyde Park today and they confirmed that, with possibly a few exceptions, every venue pin will be able to be purchased at the Hyde Park shop. So, that means if you haven't got tickets to a venue, you will still be able to get the pins at the Hyde Park location.

I have no further details on what pins there will be, how many will be available in Hyde Park or any other low level information yet. As soon as I have it, I'll blog it here.

There will be a few pins which will not be available there (I don't know what they may be), but in general, not having access to a venue should not stop you having access to the pins. There will be no online sales, just at Hyde Park.

I do not know if the same is true for the Olympic Park shops.

8/7: Venue Specific Logo Pins

The first venue specific pins have appeared for sale. These are a series of logo pins in various colour combinations that reflect the colours used at various venues.

Venue specific logo pins

I'm aware of ten pins in total in either blue, pink or purple with contrasting accent colours. Unfortunately neither the pin nor the packaging indicate which venue they relate to. So until I can find out the specific location each pin represents, I will describe them as...

• Blue with Yellow
• Blue with Pink
• Blue with Orange
• Pink with Blue
• Pink with Orange
• Purple with Blue
• Purple with Green
• Purple with Pink
• Purple with Orange
• Purple with Yellow

Each pin is limited to 50,000 pieces. These pins come on a new the of backing card. The card is single layer rather than the folded ones we've seen to date. They also come in a plastic bag which protects the front of the pin. The backing card is marked with the words 'Olympic Venue Collection - London 2012'

I imagine that each variety of pin will be available at a specific Games location, and they have been spotted at the London 2012 shop at Hyde Park. This shop will be a main retail outlet in Central London during the Olympic and Paralympic Games.