1988 Canada NOC "88" Hockey Team Pins

Above are three Canadian NOC hockey team pins from the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The first two pins, both with a blue border around the "88", are identical except for one very minor detail--the center pin is missing the copyright symbol (c) on the last line of text on the back side of the pin. Meanwhile, pin pictured to the left, above, lacks the blue border found on the other two pins and the "Canada" text on the front of the pin is in blue, rather than red, lettering.

1976 Soviet Union Hockey Pin ("инсбрук")

This Soviet hockey pin commemorates the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria. The Russian text on the pin, and in the title of this post, translates to "Innsbruck". This pin is often available on various internet sites, including eBay, and can usually be acquired for less than $7.00 USD.

2010 Patriotic USA Hockey Skate

This generic hockey skate pin from the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada is draped in the colors of the United States flag.

2006 Neve & Gliz Mascot Hockey Pins

In 2006, the Torino, Italy Winter Olympic mascots were named Neve and Gliz. The Italian word Neve translates to "Snow" and this mascot is supposed to be a female snowball in human form representing "softness, friendship and elegance". Meanwhile, the name Gliz is a shortened form of the Italian word Ghiiacco, or "Ice", and this male humanized ice cube is meant to represent "enthusiasm and joy". For the Olympic pins below, Gliz and Neve take to the ice to show off their hockey skills.

1964 Soviet Union NOC Hockey Pin

This is the NOC hockey pin produced by the Soviet Union for the 1964 Winter Olympic Games in Innsbruck, Austria. After a United States gold medal in the 1960 Squaw Valley Olympic hockey tournament, the Soviet team resumed its on-ice domination by winning the gold medal in 1964, which would be followed by Soviet hockey gold medals in 1968 (Grenoble, France), 1972 (Sapporo, Japan), and 1976 (Innsbruck, Austria). This 1964 NOC pin was the beginning of hockey-specific pins produced by the Soviets (and subsequently by Russia) dating to the most recent 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver, Canada. See prior blog entry entitled Soviet/Russian Olympic Hockey Pin Dominance (March 27, 2011).

1998 Coca-Cola® Participating Nation Hockey Set

This 14-pin Coca-Cola set depicts a hockey player dressed in the colors of each nation that participed in the 1998 Winter Olympic hockey tournament in Nagano, Japan. Interestingly, the border on the United States pin is red, as opposed to the black that borders each of the other nations' pins. Each pin features the Olympic rings and the official Nagano flower symbol, which symbol is itself formed by six different sport pictograms. The 1998 Olympic hockey tournament was the first time that professional hockey players were permitted to participate. The Czech Republic skated off with the gold medal in Nagano, followed by Russia and Finland who won silver and bronze, respectively.

2006 Torino Snowflake Pictograms

Above are two snowflake pins from the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy. Both pins include the text "Torino 2006", both feature the Olympic rings, and both include an ice hockey pictogram. The pin on the left is an authentic pin made by Aminco, and it includes the official 2006 Torino Olympic logo. Meanwhile, the pin on the right lacks the Torino logo and the pictograms featured on the pin are those used for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah. Further, the pin on the right lacks any inscription on the back side to indicate that it is an authentic, licensed pin. Thus, it is quite likely that the pin on the right is what is commonly referred to as a "fake" pin, yet it is still a very pretty pin and a nice one to have in an Olympic hockey pin collection.

2006 Men's & Women's Participating Country Flags

I have previously blogged about various participating country flag pins, and what I call "Circle of Flag" pins, which I believe began in 1988 during the Calgary Winter Olympic Games. The pins shown here are the Circle of Flag pins for the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Torino, Italy. The pin on the left depicts the flags of the twelve men's hockey teams that participated in the 2010 tournament, while the pin on the right depicts the flags of the eight women's teams that competed in Torino.

1994 TNT / USA Hockey Pin

This is a nice dual category pin as it depicts both a corporate sponsor (TNT) and USA Hockey. The pin is not usually too difficult to find on the internet, and can generally be purchased for under $15.00 USD.

An International Thank You

Recently, I posted the 50th Olympic Hockey Pins blog entry. Having done so, I wanted to thank the international group of readers from ten different countries that have stopped by to check out the blog. In total, you have visit the blog 280 times and visitors have come from ten different countries around the world. I encourage you to join the blog as a "follower" in the "Olympic Hockey Pin Fans" section on the right hand column of the blog. You can also post a comment to share any additional information you might have about a pin, or let me know what else you'd like to see. My goal is to have an open, polite discussion about pins among interested collectors. Again, I thank you for stopping by.

1988-1992-1994 German Olympic Hockey Pins

For the 1988 Calgary, 1992 Albertville and 1994 Lillehammer Winter Olympic Games, Germany produced a hat-trick of NOC hockey pins that featured both the German flag and the flag of the host nation (Canada, France and Norway, respectively). Also featured in the center of the pin are two crossed hockey sticks beneath the classic Deutscher Eishockey Bund logo (this German phrase translates to "German Ice Hockey Federation"), which logo is also featured on various German NOC hockey pins produced for each of the nine Winter Olympic Games dating from 1980 until the most recent 2010 Winter Olympic Games.

1994 Austrian Olympic Hockey Pin

This Austrian Olympic hockey team pin from the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway has a fine enamel finish and a stick pin back. It is one of several hockey-dedicated NOC pins from the Austrian Olympic team.

1988 Poland NOC Pins (No. 2)

These Poland NOC hockey pins are a bit more difficult to come by than the Polish pins featured in yesterday's blog post. These are smaller, and also come with two different impressions on the backs of the pins. Another difference is that these pins are true cloisonnes as opposed to fine enamel finished.

1988 Poland NOC Pins (No. 1)

Among older dated NOC hockey pins, this large Polish pin produced for the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta, Canada is one of the easier pins to locate on the internet. The pin was limited to 1000 pieces, is finished in a fine enamel, and has dual posts and clutch fasteners.

2006 Disney Olympic Hockey Pins

Here are two more Disney Olympic hockey pins featuring Goofy. Though neither pins bears the Olympic rings, each pin was released during the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy and is dated "2006" on the face of the pin. The Goofy on the left is also a supporter of th USA as shown on his hockey jersey.

1988 Disney Olympic Hockey Pins

And in the spirit of Disney, here are a couple more Mickey Mouse hockey pins that were produced by the Walt Disney Company during the 1988 Winter Olympic Games in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Notice the Canadian maple leaf on Mickey's jersey and helmet in the two pins, respectively--I guess Mickey started routing for the team north of the border in 1988.

Disney Pins

One of the greatest pin-trading opportunities anywhere can be found every day at Disneyland. Though by the name and content of this blog, it is quite clear that I am not a Disney pin collector, it is nonetheless fun to walk around the park and see so many fellow pinheads. There are literally hundreds and hundreds of pins available in the park, both for purchase and by way of trading with the Disney cast members. However, despite my numerous inquiries, I have yet to see a single Disney hockey pin in the park this spring.

Which is not to say that they do not exist. Below is a commemorative 1960 Squaw Valley hockey pin featuring Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck in a dash for the puck . . . Of course, the USA won the gold medal in the 1960 Olympic hockey tournament.

1972 Generic Olympic Hockey Pin

Here is a generic hockey-playing sumo wrestler pin from the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo, Japan. The unique thing about this pin is that it is the earliest generic (meaning non-NOC) cloisonne-type that I have been able to find to date.

2006 Torino Hockey Day Pins

These two "Day" pins from the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy feature the offical ice hockey pictogram used for the Games.

1988 USA Hockey No.1

This is one of six different USA Hockey pins issued for the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

2010 Sea-to-Sky Hockey Series

Above are the hockey player pins from the Vancouver 2010 Sea-to-Sky pin series (there is also a referee pin in this series, which is not pictured here).

2010 Silhouettes (Green & Goalie)

Having blogged about the blue 2010 Silhouette series pin yesterday, I figured I should close the loop and provide pictures and information about the other two pins from the series today.

2010 Vancouver Silhouette (Blue)

This pin is from the "Silhouette" series of sports pins produced for the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver, Canada. It is one of three hockey pins from the series.

2006 IPC Norway News

This IPC Norway News hockey pin was made for the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy. It only took me until December 2008 to get one of my own. In my years of Olympic pin collecting I have learned that there are two types of pins that, generally speaking, are more difficult than others to obtain. The first most difficult category are the NOC or Olympic team pins that the athletes themselves are given to trade at the Games. In second place, at least as far as I am concerned, are media pins (and for me, media hockey pins). There is definitely a sub-set of Olympic pin collectors out there that focus on media pins produced for the Olympic Games. Because I collect any Olympic pin that in some way, to me, relates to hockey, my collection tends to stray across categorical boundaries into the traditional NOC, media, sponsor, government agency, generic and unofficial categories.

1992 Soviet Union Participating Nations Set

You can usually find dozens of Soviet Union hockey pins on eBay at any given time. Generally, Soviet Union commemorative Olympic hockey pins date from 1956 until 1994. Frankly, I think that sometimes these pins are overlooked by collectors because there are not cloisonnes. The above pictured set is a particularly nice collection of pins commemorating those nations that participated in the 1992 Olympic hockey tournament in Albertville, France. This is also an interesting set because 1992 was the first year that the "Soviet Union" did not participate in the Olympic games--they appeared at Albertville for the first time as the "Unified Team". Therefore, technically, this may not be considered a "Soviet Union" set of pins.

Olympic Pin Friends (Big Ed)

As I have been writing blog entries over the past few weeks, and considering which pin(s) to highlight on a daily basis, I've had many pleasant flashbacks to prior occasions when I have met different people or had certain experiences in relation to pin trading. One such person, and one of my all time favorites, is Big Ed. If you have been involved in pin trading/collecting for any reasonable period of time, you probably know Big Ed. I first met him in Salt Lake City during the 2002 Winter Olympic Games (photo above is of Big Ed behind the counter at his pin trading both in the downtown Crossroads Mall in Salt Lake City). Big Ed is from Atlanta, and his personality is one of classic Southern hospitality. I have always found him to be a fair pin trader and a classy guy. Thus, I was really excited to again cross paths with Big Ed while at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. We were able to share a few prior pin trading memories and converse about the 2010 Olympic pins that we were both seeking. During our conversation, and since that time, I was reminded of the life-long friendships that can be made because of a bunch of little metal pins.

2006 Chinese Taipei . . . Hockey?

This pin is truly a mystery. The first time I saw the pin was during the 2006 Torino, Italy Winter Olympics. Produced for Chinese Taipei, the pin depicts the classic red and blue five-arched shape in the center surrounding three pictograms--a figure skater, a hockey player and, maybe, a skeleton sledding athlete. The Chinese men's hockey team has never competed in the Olympic Winter Games, while the Chinese women's hockey team has competed in 1998 (Nagano, finishing 4th), 2002 (Salt Lake City, finishing 7th) and 2010 (Vancouver, finishing 7th). Thus, China did not even have a hockey team representative in the 2006 Winter Games. Oh well, because the pin is so curious I keep it in my Olympic hockey collection anyway.

2002 & 2010 Latvian Olympic Hockey

Latvia first claimed its independence from Russia and became a country on November 18, 1918, following World War I. This small Baltic country is one of the oldest competitors in the Olympic hockey tournament, having made its first appearance in 1936. Latvia was again occupied by the Soviets from 1944 until 1991, when Latvia again declared its independence. Since that time, Latvia has participated in the Olympic hockey tournament three times in 2002, 2006 and 2010.
Thus, judging from its recent participation, it would appear that the Latvians will be a routine competitor in the Olympic hockey tournament. In 2002, the Latvian Olympic hockey team brought two different dated NOC pins to the Salt Lake City Olympic Games, each depicting a goaltender silhouette and bearing the 2002 Olympic snowflake symbol.

In 2010, during the Vancouver Olympic Games, I was fortunate enough to see the Latvians compete against both the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Though Latvia lost both of these games, I had a great time sitting in a sea of Latvian fans and cheering for the Baltic nation (and wearing my Latvian hockey shirt--my wife once spent time in Latvia while on an church mission and I have become a Latvian Olympic hockey supporter based on her love of the country).

The 2010 Latvian Olympic hockey team had one of my all-time favorite Olympic hockey pins. Set against the background of the Latvian flag, the dated pin depicts the Vancouver Inukshuk symbol with a hockey stick and the Olympic Rings.

The Latvian hockey team was also included in the 2010 Olympic hockey participating nations set, which I have previously written about on this blog (see April 22, 2011, Participating Nations Goaltender Mask Set).

2002 Canadian Paralympic Sledge Hockey

I obtained this pin in a trade during the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah. I cannot say for certain that the pin is an NOC produced item because it lacks any date and does not depict the Olympic rings. This maple leaf shaped pin is, nonetheless, a beautiful Canadian paralympic sledge hockey souvenir.