Most pin collectors are always on the look out for that rare gem of a pin. That being said what constitutes a rare pin. That being said the Pin Collectors Site will rate each Vancouver 2010 none souvenir pin with a “1-10” rating, which should help you focus your efforts.

Every pin that is produced by the Official Olympic Partners, Sponsors, Suppliers and Licensees come in different quantities and have different designations i.e. Internal, Promotional Mailer, Promotional Event Give Away (at official functions or events related to the Olympic Games). While trying to trade or acquire each classification of pin presents their own challenges.

The Internal Pin is usually a very hard pin to get your hands on. They are usually produced as a direct correlation for the number of employees. That means if a company has 1,000 employees, that company will produce 1,000 pins. In most cases they produce anywhere from a 10% - 20% over run for new employees after the fact or to present to valued customers. They have a 9-10 rating.

The Promotional Mailer pin is produced in much higher numbers and their purpose as a promotional give away. These pins usually fall under the Marketing, Sponsorship or Corporate Communication Department or Divisions of a corporation that has aligned themselves with a particular games. These usually have a 5-8 rating depending on production run and the willingness for the corporation to mail them.

The Promotional Event Give Away pin, produced for specific events leading up to or during the games themselves. These usually have a rating of 3 -8 because you have to be at host city and you have to be at that event. The other stumbling block could be pin availability at the event i.e. the first 5,000 visitors will receive one pin.

Any or each one of these pins is highly coveted by collectors, depending on the production run. For instance for the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympic Games, Petro-Canada had a production run of a particular pin of 200,000+ pins. At those same games the Boy Scouts produced a pin of which there were only 350.

On a scale of 1 -10, “1” being the lowest and “10” being the highest, in terms of difficulty to acquire. That being said a pin of which 200,000 were produce would be classified a very common and would rate a “1”. The Boy Scout pin would have a difficulty rating of “10”

The following Vancouver games pins are some of the hardest to acquire:

1. A Promotional Event Give Away pin (rating 10):  It is an oversized Government of Canada. It was produced specifically for the Torino Olympic Games You had to be at the Games to get it. There were less that 250 produced. It was produced in January 2006. 

2. A Promotional Event Give Away pin (rating 10):  The Workopolis Domed pin, which came on a backer card in its own plastic zip lock bag. It was distributed at the three year to go celebrations in Vancouver and was only distributed to staff members of Vanoc and VIP’s. It was produced in February 2007.

3. Internal Pin (rating 8):  The Royal Bank’s Three Year To Go Paralympic pin. This had a production run of 1,000 or less and there are some seasoned veteran collectors in the Vancouver area that still don’t have this pin. It was distributed in Feb 2007.

4. Internal Pin (rating 10):  Panasonic Mascot pin. It was produced for the Two Year To Go celebrations in Vancouver in Feb 2008. There were only 500 of each pin produced and as soon as they were produced they were shipped to Japan. When the Panasonic corporate contingent came over for the celebrations they brought the pins with them. When they left they took what was left back with them.

5. Promotional Mailer Pin (rating 6, not climbing):  TeckCominco’s early version single logo pin. They only made approximately 2,500 of these. They were produce in the February 2007. They have run out and have developed a new design. They are very hard to come by.