Wednesday, April 13, 2011

1984 Campbell's Soup Hockey

So, how many times have you seen this pin set for sale on eBay? The original set was produced by Campbell's Soup as a sponsor for the 1984 Winter Olympic Games in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia. At present, you can pretty much find this set available every day of the week either in an auction or an on-line store. But why is that the case, when other pins from the 1984 Sarajevo Games are so difficult to come by. I have my unfounded suspicions. Consider the two pins below. There are several minor variations between them. First, obviously, is the color of the pins. The pin on the left has yellowed in the 27 years since the 1984 Winter Games, while the pin on the right is nearly perfectly white. The font used on the "Sarajevo '84" text is quite clearly different on the two pins, and the blue ink used for the pin on the right appears to have bled and thus blurred the original trademarked Sarajevo Olympic logo and the "Sarajevo '84" text. Neither pin is date stamped or otherwise marked on the back, so it is difficult of make any comparison based on the back side of the pin. Though I am not one hundred percent certain, I believe it is pretty clear that these pins were produced at different times, and I suspect the "whiter" pins that you find so readily available today are re-makes of the originals.
And for those avid collectors out there, here is another wrinkle--the Campbell's Soup prototype pin. This pin lacks the apostrophe in front of the year in the "Sarajevo 84" text, does not include the Sarajevo Olympic logo, and places the Olympic rings at the bottom of the pin instead of the middle. It is a rare find . . . good luck hunting for it.

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