Pins are a popular collectible that have an advantage over other collections in that they are small and take up little space. There are a variety of pin designs and themes available.
Disney characters, sports teams, and Hard Rock Cafe are some of the most collectible themes. First rule of collecting pins is to specialize. If you’re a fan of the San Diego Padres, for example, you can start a pin collection with souvenir pins that honor this team. Furthermore, the fact that these themes are popular does not obligate you to collect them. Be unique and collect what you enjoy.
Many lapel pins focus on contemporary entertainments, but many pin collectors collect campaign pins from political campaigns. Buttons are comparable to pins and are collected by many of the same individuals. Pins that promote businesses and services are also highly collectible.
Several options exist for displaying pins. When wearing a jacket with lapels, you can accessorize with a few small pins. The same applies to wearing a vest or a cowboy hat. Many collectors of lapel pins wear a few on the front of their cowboy hats. Additionally, some pins can be displayed on tote bags, purses, and fanny packs.
Eventually, you will have too many pins to wear them all at once if you begin to collect them. A bulletin board, possibly covered with a plain piece of fabric, such as dark blue velvet, serves as an attractive backdrop for a pin collection. The pins can either be pinned through the velvet and into the cork of the bulletin board, or they can be attached to the velvet beforehand.
A notebook is another way to display and store pins. If you want to bring some of your pins to an event where you can trade with other pin collectors, this method works well. Purchase sheets of hard felt or craft foam for the notebook. After attaching the pins to the pages, either punch holes in the sides so they fit into a loose-leaf binder or slide the pages into page protectors. The best type of loose-leaf binder for collecting pins is one that zips shut.
Sometimes lapel pins become scratched, particularly if they are stored in a notebook arrangement that causes them to rub against one another. Using a small amount of liquid car wax, the scratches can be removed. Using page protectors prevents future scratching in notebook collections.
Pin collecting is a popular pastime. People can find groups of like-minded individuals with whom to trade pins, making pin collecting a hobby that facilitates socialization.