Name: Nicholas Skillicorn

From: London

How long have you been collecting? Since London 2012 Games

How many pins do you own? 40

When the Games were about to begin, I was a bit nonplussed about pins. I worked for one of the National Olympic Committees (NOCs) so I got given quite a lot of standard ones. But then I started picking them up from the sponsors I work with and wore them all day around my ID lanyard. People began to comment, and I got more enthusiastic. Then people came up to me and began asking if they could trade.

I set myself a target of collecting several types of pins:
- My countries: UK, Germany, South Africa, Romania, Singapore (but I didn't get that one)
- Volleyball (my sport)
- Olympic sponsors I worked with
- Countries I saw competing during the Games: Brazil, Russia, USA, Czech Republic, Germany, Japan, Australia
- Paralympics pins

I was so happy that by the end of the Games I had a collection missing only one.

And then on the final day, on a night out, someone stole my lanyard and all my pins were lost. Gutted!

Name: David Reinhardt

From: London

How long have you been collecting? About 10 years

How many pins do you own? A handful of hundreds

Up until this Summer Games, pin collecting had been something I did to pick up a relatively portable souvenir. In the run-in to London 2012 I got engaged in the community through London Pins and decided to wait until I'd tried this trading malarkey before selecting a favourite story.

The most notable experience I had during the Games was undoubtedly the conversation I had with the South African Paralympic team doctor. On noticing the name on his accreditation - I asked him about it. We did a "name dropping dance" and - after introducing grandparents into the conversation - we worked out a link. Turns out we were distant cousins!

It's just a reminder - even on the world's greatest stage, you can never forget your roots. All that, just because of pin trading.

Name: Pam Litz

From: USA 

How long have you been collecting? Since the LA 1984 Games

How many pins do you own? About 6000

From a pin trader's perspective, Barcelona 1992 was one of the best Olympics ever because so many of the locals, from children to grandparents, discovered and embraced the joys of pin trading. No matter where one went in the city, even to the rest room, there was pin trading going on. It was a pin trader's dream!

One night my friend Dorie and I were having a late dinner at a charming restaurant off Las Ramblas. As usual, I set a small pad of pins on our table, just in case. As we studied our menus, we noticed that high above us was some scaffolding and on it, a painter who was touching up the ornate trim near the ceiling. We laughed to see someone painting so late at night and while people were still eating, but he was high enough up that no fumes were noticeable, so it didn't really matter.

In the meantime, our waiter Ernesto was admiring my pins. "Es muy bonito," he said of my USA rings pin, so I gave it to him in thanks for his service. "Muchas gracias, Senora," he responded with a huge smile and immediately pinned it to his shirt. Later, when he returned with our entrees, he also brought two glasses of wine "on the house." Now it was our turn for a warm "gracias."

As we were enjoying our wine, I became aware of someone peering over my shoulder. Looking back, whom should I see but the painter. From his perch way up above he had spotted my pins, and they had acted like little magnets to draw him down to our table.

"Te gustaria cambiar?" he asked jovially, as he held out a small key ring with a little black plastic bull on it and pointed to my Dream Team pin. This was the pin that was golden at the time because it featured USA basketball stars Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, et al. on the same pin with Cobi, the 1992 mascot. Everyone wanted it. Somehow his little plastic bull didn't quite measure up to that pin, so I tried to steer him to one with a lesser value. Chuckling, he shook his head "no," said, "un minuto, por favor," and left the room.

Minutes later he reappeared loaded down with t-shirts and key rings and some very interesting pins from a local movie studio, where it turned out he spent his days working as a set painter. After much humorous negotiation, we worked out an equitable trade, and he returned to painting the trim, very happy with his precious Dream Team pin, while we were delighted with our unique souvenirs, which included the bull key ring after all.

When we finished our meal, Ernesto asked us to come with him because the owner of the restaurant had noticed the USA pin he was wearing and wanted to meet us. We were escorted to another attractive room with a separate bar and introduced to the charming dueno, Antonio, who offered us after-dinner drinks and wanted to talk about - what else - pins! He had had some special ones created for his restaurant and presented us with a set. Fortunately, I had one more USA rings pin with me, which is what he had hoped for. Again everyone was happy, and we spent a delightful hour conversing with him, rejoined occasionally by Ernesto and by the painter, Rafael, who happened to be one of Antonio's cousins and who kept discovering more trading material in his truck, which resulted in more amusing trades.

And so once again my wonderfully crazy hobby of pin trading brought me adventures I never would have had and introduced me to people I never would have met otherwise. The latter has included Olympians, celebrities, rock stars, and even royalty, but for now those stories will have to wait as I revel in my fond memories of the Barcelona Olympics in 1992.

Name: Theresa Utecht

From: Minnesota, USA

How long have you been collecting? Over 25 years

How many pins do you own? 500

To me, the best part of pin trading is the people you meet and the special stories you keep.

I was at the Hyde Park Coca-Cola Trading Centre when in walked a woman and three little girls. They were all dressed in pink and looking very cute! They were particularly interested in pins related to horses, unfortunately, of which I had none. However, the two oldest found something that excited them and I gave them an extra one for their third sister.

After they left, the lady next to me gave me a "high five" and said that we had just traded pins with the 3 Princesses of the Netherlands! We weren't allowed to take their pictures or get autographs but I will always have this special trade as a memory of the London 2012 Games.

Name: Will Perkins

From: Trowbridge

How long have you been collecting? 5 years

How many pins do you own? 90

I am a Hard Rock Cafe pin collector and this started while I was on holiday in America with my mum and dad. I now have pins from all around the world (US, China, Japan, Egypt, Singapore and many more). My dad travels a lot with work and he is not allowed to come home unless he has been to the local HRC and got me a pin.

My favourite is a two piece pin that joins together to make a guitar. One half was only available from the HRC in Kuala Lumpur and the other from the HRC in Penang. Thanks dad!

Name: Zaher Bin Wahab

From: Singapore

How long have you been collecting? 3 years

How many pins do you own? 184

As you might remember, the inaugural Summer Youth Olympic Games (YOG) was held in Singapore in August 2010. Here is a pin project that I did with the student in my school.

My name is Zaher and I am a Primary School teacher from Singapore and this is my favourite Pin story...

In August 2009, after volunteering at the 1st Asian Youth Games (which was a test event for the YOG), I initiated a small project which I named the "Countdown to the 1st Youth Olympic Games" Pin Project with my form class - Primary 3 Gabriel.

What does this project entail you might wonder?

Well, basically I wanted to allow my nine year olds to have the opportunity to do several things during the 1 year countdown period to the inaugural Youth Olympic Games. (Note: We started this project in August 2009 - exactly 1 year before the YOG in 2010)

1) I wanted them to be immersed in the Olympic spirit and be at one with the Olympic values of friendship, excellence and respect.
2) I wanted them to recognise (or at least know the locations of) the 205 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) that would be participating in the Youth Olympic Games.

So what did I do?
With help from Mr Chris Chan (Secretary General of the Singapore National Olympic Committee), I managed to get the addresses of all 205 NOCs of the world.

What began in my 1 English class soon spread to the whole school! In total, 205 students from the whole school participated.

Each participant wrote a letter to one of the 205 NOCs to request for a generic NOC pin.

To help them, I set aside time during my English lessons (and sometimes after school) to teach the participants, the fundamentals of persuasive letter writing and after many drafts, they had written their very first formal letter.

I then collated all the handwritten letters and sent them to the NOCs. In total, during the countdown period, 184 NOCs responded to this project, some from as far as Zimbabwe and Seychelles!

Although we did not manage to meet our target of all the 205 NOCs, the students learnt:
1) to write a formal, persuasive letter
2) a bit of Geography - in order to participate in this pin project, the students had to show me that they knew what country they were writing to, hence they had to do some research and show it to me.

I am a pin collector myself and I have had many exciting moments trading pins but nothing beats seeing the joy on a student's face on the day a reply (and a pin!) comes back!

Many of my students said they truly enjoyed the experience and they definitely learnt many interesting things about the country they wrote to. In fact, I got some of them to share with the rest of the school during morning assembly.

This map now takes pride of place in our school library and that it why this is my favourite pin story.

Name: Jürgen Gorsler

From: Germany

How long have you been collecting? 2 years

How many pins do you own? 250

I was walking into the London 2012 Olympic Park after watching the hockey games. Suddenly I heard someone call out to me and I turned around and saw a little boy around 10 years old with his parents. He had seen my pins on my cap. "Do you want to trade?" he asked me.

He told me he came from Mexico and we had a nice talk and a good trade. I gave him some older pins too. This is the next generation of collectors.

Name: Marc Brenner

From: Bushey

How long have you been collecting? 4 years

How many pins do you own? 680

Two stories spring to mind: Volunteering at the Olympic Games at Heathrow airport, part of the Protocol Meet and Greet team and running into exchanging Atlanta 1996 pins.

Also escorting a Basketball Royalty down to his awaiting car and finding out that the giant man has his own personal pin collection of around 500 and giving him one of my London Union Jack flag pins from around my neck!! These are awesome memories to cherish for a lifetime.

Name: Lucy Gardener

From: High Wycombe

How long have you been collecting? Recently

How many pins do you own? 9

I've only really just started collecting, but I've already caught the bug and now just can't stop! Everywhere I go I am constantly looking for pins or trying to spy anyone else that might be a collector and willing to trade. I started collecting after I was awarded my first pin for being a Games Maker, and I have already collected several more and made my first swaps with other Games Makers and sponsors.

I didn't realise just how many collectors and traders are out there, but my ultimate goal is to one day have a collection which will always remind me of the time the Olympics came to London. At the moment although I am still waiting to find THE pin of all pins, I am hoping that my time as a volunteer at London 2012 will provide many more opportunities to collect and trade... the only problem is that the more I collect, the more attached I get to them, which is making trading tricky!

I know I will be collecting and trading long after the Olympics and Paralympics are over, I think until I am very old... what can I say I'm pinned!

Name: Darren Towers

From: Farnborough

How long have you been collecting? 18 months

How many pins do you own? 70

This is less a collecting story and more about the power of the pin!

While volunteering as a Games Maker at the Riverbank Arena for the London 2012 Olympic hockey, I was looking after the team that managed mobility and access to the venue. During a hugely busy morning with hundreds of people dropping off pushchairs, one poor toddler was pretty devastated to be separated from his buggy. His poor parents looked distraught as he cried his eyes out so I whipped an EDF Mandeville pin badge off my bag and gave it to him.

He stopped crying immediately and his eyes widened in delight! The parents were much happier too - and I was pretty pleased as I'd helped design that particular pin badge to raise money for the British Paralympic Association (BPA).

Such is the awesome power of the pin!

Name: Heather Barton

From: Australia

How long have you been collecting? Since Sydney won the bid

How many pins do you own? 90

My story is of a pin that has been with me since the year of my birth. It is a classic story of a pin languishing in a drawer.

An elderly family friend visited the 1956 Melbourne Olympics bringing back a pin brooch for my grandmother. It was a pressed metal bow with a small leather wallet containing a fold out of hand coloured photos of the venues and John Landy, a famous Australian Olympic athlete. Since it was my birth year, my grandmother put it in a drawer along with the bling I could play with each visit until I was old enough to be trusted to keep it.

For many years it sat in my jewellery box, only opened during Olympic Summer Games. For each Olympics it would be brought in for my school students to handle and dream of attending an Olympic Games. This pin inspired me to believe that my beautiful city would one day host an Olympics.

To my joy, through my work, I was in contact with one of the bid team at Monaco when Sydney won the right to host the Olympics. Upon his return I received a small black background bid pin. My collecting journey had begun.

That Melbourne pin is now the pride of my collection and a reminder of my grandmother's love.

Name: Selene Stephansson

From: London

How long have you been collecting? 18 years

How many pins do you own? Nearly 200

It all started when I was around 8 years old. My uncle always travelled to different countries and collected pins to add to his hat. I was impressed by his collection and one day he decided to give me a hat and a pin (my first one). By this time, I was passionate about pins and my goal was to have more pins than my uncle. He had this amazing pin from Moscow (Olympic Games Mascot) which I always wanted.

Unfortunately he passed away a couple of years ago and guess who could have all of his collection? That's right!

My favourite pin is from 1980 Moscow Summer Olympics - Misha bear - The first major mascot in the Summer Olympic Games. I wasn't even born. This is the only one I will never trade.

By Lauren Mattera

September 20 - During the unprecedented success of London 2012, insidegamescollecting's My Favourite Pin Story competition received an exciting array of entries from all over the world, and, with the spectacle now over, we want to hear the fascinating paths you followed to collect your favourite pins.

September 20 - You wait ages for a jigsaw set to appear, and then two come along at once.

September 19 - The Games may be over, but one of the best sets of pins we have seen (in our opinion) has been released - a puzzle/jigsaw set of the UK.