WinterSports2002.com, Friday, February 08, 2002
'No. 1 spectator sport' is good fun for sharp traders
By Jeff Oliver
Deseret News staff writer
It's been called the No. 1 spectator sport at an Olympic Games — but it doesn't require an ounce of athletic ability.
It's not really a sport, though, and the audience usually is made up of exactly two people: you and whomever you're trading pins with.
Still, Olympic pin collectors are as serious about their "sport," as Michelle Kwan and Picabo Street are about skating and skiing, respectively.
Take Bret Almassy.
The owner of Dare to Dream, an Olympic memorabilia store in Salt Lake City, has been holding "pin school" every Thursday at his store for more than a month.
The concept of Olympic pin trading started in 1912 during the Olympic Summer Games in Stockholm, Sweden, when Olympic officials began trading their cardboard badges, says Edward Playfair, Coca-Cola's commissioner of pin trading for the 2002 Winter Olympics.
The beverage company has been the official sponsor of Olympic pin trading since the 1989 Calgary Winter Games. However, this is the first year the sponsor has provided an official to guide the activity.
Playfair, formerly a cataloger and auctioneer for Sotheby's Auction House in London, will be at local pin trading shows during the 2002 Winter Games to help novices make good trades.
Playfair recommends that beginners first decide which type of pin they like the most. Once would-be collectors settle on a certain variety — and there are many — Playfair says they should always get two of whatever they buy; one to keep and one to trade.
In the end, however, most pin traders agree its not really about pins. "Each pin traded is a memory," says Almassy.
If so, some memories, like some some pins, are worth more then others. At the 1996 Summer Games in Atlanta, Almassy traded some 200 pins for a chance to walk with Tajikistan's team in the opening ceremonies.
During the Games, pins become a sort of universal currency, sometimes buying things money cannot.
Almassy says he has traded pins for everything from mattresses to airline ticket upgrades. Official pin trading centers are found at Olympic Square and on Park City's Main Street. But you can trade with anyone, anywhere.
The pins can also serve as goodwill ambassadors during the Games. Especially considering the average pin trade requires only eyes and fingers.
"It's a friendly hobby," Playfair says. "The pins can serve as a common language."
E-MAIL: joliver@desnews.com
© 2002 Deseret News Publishing Company