Hello my fellow pinheads,

What are ambush, unauthorized, unaccredited, illegal, counterfeit, pins? Therein lays the question. Many die hard collectors stay away from most if not all these sorts of pins with a few exceptions, which we will delve into later into this article. But first, a brief description as to what each one of these pins mean.

Ambush Pin – An ambush pin is a pin that doesn’t necessarily have any Olympic designation or marking associated to any particular Olympic Games. It is like a NIKE pin that was produced for the Sydney games. It did not have any rings on it but because Nike had bought bill board space across Sydney people automatically assumed that it was Olympic related and thus ended up being a very good trader for those who had them.

Unauthorized Pin – An unauthorized pin is one that is produced without the express written consent of the IOC or the Olympic Organizing Committee for any games but are accepted as being a quasi legit pins. A perfect example of that would be a media pin or more to the point a pin produced by a newspaper for any games. The newspaper did not pay any rights to either the IOC or the Organizing Committee but produced a pin any way. They are generally accepted by most if not all collectors.

Unaccredited Pin – The same holds true for unaccredited pins as it does for unauthorized pins. They are virtually one and the same.

Illegal Pin – An illegal pin is a pin that was made without the consent of the I O C or the Organizing Committee for a particular games. They are just what the name implies, illegal and should be avoided.

Counterfeit Pins – A counterfeit pin is one which is produced for the sole purpose of deceiving the intended trading partner. They are pins that are replicas of the original pin and the person trading that pin away should make the trading partner before they proceed.  These pins look and feel very similar to the real thing but might be slightly different in colour, look, feel or back stamp. Everyone should be aware of these pins. Most counterfeit pins that emerge during the Olympics are media and NOC (National Olympic Committee) pins.

Fantasy Pins – A fantasy pin is one, which incorporates two or more different aspects of the games, i.e. two completely different companies in a truck or in a balloon or combined with mascots. An example of that would be a Coca Cola truck produced for the Beijing Olympic Games, which featured a Coca Cola truck with the 5 official Beijing mascots and a McDonald’s logo on the truck. Another example is Hard Rock Cafe pins that feature the logos from previous Olympic Games and the mascots matching mascots to those games. Even though they are not real and are not legit some collectors throw caution to the wind and trade or buy them anyway.

Some collectors get caught in the trading bug and throw caution to the wind and after an Olympics is over and they are home and colled out look at their collection and wonder why they ever traded for any of the above mentioned types of pins. I guess the only answer is they just had to have it and they could help themselves.

Try and trade with a level head and keep your witts about you. Thinhk of it as Adam and Eve. You either eat from forbidden fruit or you don't. let your conscience be your guide and good luck.

Hope this helps. If you have any questions in regards to the suspected legitimacy of a Vancouver 2010 Olympic pin please forward it to our attention and we will try to research it and get back to you with an answer within a very short period of time.

Happy hunting!!!!

Pinhunter