2010 Russian Olympic Pins

As I have previously posted (see March 29, 2011), I was fortunate to attend the 2010 Vancouver Olympics (many thanks, again, to my lovely wife who tolerates my Olympic pin fetish--it was her idea that I go to the 2010 Games, after all). I remember how excited I was while trading pins with the dozens of traders that had set up shop near Vancouver's Olympic flame cauldron. I will also never forget being duped on my very first pin trade of the 2010 games. Eager to start acquiring 2010 Olympic hockey pins for my collection, one of the first vendors I came across had the Russian pin, below, among her 2010 Vancouver pins. She assured me that she had obtained it directly from a member of the Russian Olympic Hockey Team, and that it was the team's official NOC pin for the 2010 games. My first instinct was one of skepticism--Why would the official Russian NOC hockey team pin not include the Olympic rings, not mention the words "Vancouver" or "Olympic" (the Russian text on the pin reads, "Federation Hockey Russia"), and/or not contain the Vancouver Olympic Inukshuk symbol? Despite my skepticism, another pin trader standing nearby was also interested in the item having heard the vendor's story so I figured if I didn't make the trade I might very well miss my only chance to get this NOC hockey pin--if in fact it was one. As it turns out, the pin is neither an NOC nor an Olympic pin.
It is nonetheless a handsome Russian Hockey Federation pin, of which there were several being traded at the 2010 Winter Games, such as those shown below.

The next day, as I was in line to enter the Olympic men's hockey venue to watch a couple of games, I met a man selling a set of the real Russian NOC pins, including the Russian Olympic Hockey Team pin shown here (below). Because his asking price was a little steep, I didn't buy the pin the first time I met him, or the second time, but on my last full day at the games I met this man again and he finally accepted my counteroffer price . . . and the pin was mine! (Come to think of it, it is actually pretty amazing that I happened into this vendor three different times on three different days in the vast sea of people attending the Winter Games.)

This official NOC pin includes the Olympic rings, and is individually numbered on the reverse side (but they happened to misspell "Vancouwer"). There were several other Russian Olympic team pins available during the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games, some of which are shown here.