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≡ OLYMPIN FESTIVAL ≡
“We will have an official pin trading center in Milan, so that will happen. Now if Coke or some other sponsor sponsors it, that’s to be seen.
“But you know we are talking with everyone right now and we’re very close to inking something down where you know we can have a sponsor for it, but if not [there] will be an official pin trading center.”
That’s from Honav USA owner Mario Simonson, the exclusive pin licensee for the Milan Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games and the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games, explaining to the annual Olympin Collectors Club Memorabilia Festival in Atlanta, Georgia this weekend that a stronger presence for pin trading is already assured that was seen for Paris.
An unofficial pin-trading center was created at the Parc de la Villette in Paris by the International Association of Olympic Collectors (AICO) and the Association Francaise des Collectionneurs Olympiques et Sportifs (AFCOS) as the “Official Olympic Collectors Area” and demonstrated the enduring popularity of the concept.
So did a single Facebook post in Paris – during the Games – among Olympin members promoting a Coca-Cola pin promotion, that turned into:
“There were 1,000 people that showed up at that Coca-Cola food place the next day and that was all through you guys and through one post. I mean, if you can imagine what we can do when we’re really, you know, the official pin-trading center and being able to be part of that.”
Simonson wants to go far beyond for Los Angeles in 2028:
“But we’re going to have, you know, not just a pin-trading center, but we’re going to have a museum that’s going to be connected with the pin-trading center that will have a lot of, like, the old, maybe old ‘32 and ‘84 product, you know from the L.A. Games. …
“[T]here’s going to be activations, I’m going to do a lot of activations. So you get a pin from here and you get a pin from here and you bring it back to the pin-training center and you get a free pin, you know, doing something like that. A pin of the day … there’s just so much stuff we want to do.”
He explained in an evening address to the group that he’s excited to support the existing pin-trading audience, but also wants to drum up new fans, especially young people:
● He spoke about creating personal catalogs through the Honav mobile app, allowing collectors to see the full range of pins available – like a stamp catalog – and then be able to maintain an online tally which pins you have and which you want:
“It won’t just have retail in there, it will also have sponsor [pins]. It will have anything that we make, even an NOC pin. If we make it and it’s approved pin, it will be in that, on that check-off list. So you guys will know right off the bat: is this a real pin or is it not a real pin and we all know if it doesn’t have the Honav back stamp on it, you know [it’s] not real.”
● Simonson added that he had even wilder aspirations for the app:
“You know, the original way I wanted to do this was to present it to NBC, so that if you downloaded that app and you’re at the Games, you can scan the app and get the updated medal count.
“I wanted to do stuff like that where it becomes more of a useful type thing. You can just scan it, right? But I want to make it fun for the younger generation. And that’s where I want to, you know, put on some cool videos or, you know, maybe in the future we’ll make it come out of your smartphone.”
● “Some other cool ideas that we’re doing with retailers, we’re going to be doing mystery packs, you know? You don’t know what you’re going to get in the pack. So we’re going to be doing that with some retailers.”
● “You know the Advent calendars and you the open up that little door? Right. Well, there will be a pin in there and every day it will be a new pin, and you buy that set. That will be something we’ll do. And so we’re always trying to be ahead of the curve.
“New stuff that the younger generation will really, you know, grasp and be part of.”
The new app is an easy way to keep up with the dizzying array of products that are coming, especially for the LA28 Games.
He was also asked – remember, he was talking to hard-core collectors – about add identifications to pins so help not only verify authenticity, but also dates, as if they were coins or stamps:
“You guys want the date. So you know, you know when the pin was made and whatnot and that and for what Games. We can definitely look at doing that. You know we put our back stamp on it to show that it’s a official pin. So but yeah, you’re correct. We’ll look at where we can add a date.”
The Olympin Festival was well attended, with 50 tables for traders at the Atlanta Marriott Buckhead Hotel and Conference Center, with more than 250 people attending over three days of the show. A silent auction of 47 items earned $1,500 for the club.
The hobby, or perhaps the mania that is pin-trading, is alive and well.
(The Olympin Web site also notes that members receive a discount from Honav for pin purchases, and news of new releases.)
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