The Olympics are like a 2-week orgy for people who are into pin collecting. There have been hundreds if not thousands of different pins – some Olympic-themed, some not – created for the sole purpose of distribution and trade amongst the rabid masses. I do enjoy collecting things (if it’s small and cute, chances are I have a collection of it somewhere), but I’ve never really been into the whole pin thing. Standing in line for hours for free crap seems like an epic waste of time to me, and a little greedy – I’ve seen how crazy some people get when free things are on the line. I love swag as much as the next person, but I’m not going to humiliate myself just to get a free t-shirt or bottle of water.

That being said, these are really cool:

shiny!

The black Gastown pin is courtesy of the Gastown Blog, but the two red ones are from the Apple store in Pacific Centre. They’re free; you just have to ask an employee for a set. I actually didn’t even need to ask – I went to the mall at lunch and arrived just as they were handing them out to people as they walked in. Score! They’re very cute and not covered in ugly text or logos. Word on the street (the street being Twitter) is that the Apple store in Oakridge Mall is giving out a different pin altogether, so if you’re into this whole “collecting” thing you may want to get over there soon as I imagine supplies are limited.

There are a few pin trading events going on during the Olympics, so if you’re really into this you should keep an eye out. The Fluevog store in Gastown also seems to be getting into the game – now these, I want. They’re exactly the kind of pin I collect for my jar:

this jar has actually been replaced with one twice as big, and is almost full