My pin collecting hobby started in 1988 when my wife, Patti & I were the guests of Eastman Kodak at the Calgary Olympics. When we checked at the EK hotel we were give a bag of pins. I said, ‘what are these for?” They said, “you display them on your hat/jacket, and you can trade them.” Well, as the saying goes --- the rest is history.

I did some modest trading in Calgary, facilitated by acquiring some more traders from the IBM contingent that was there. At the time I worked for IBM and – as I was beginning to realize -- had some great contacts to source pins.

I was now hooked but did not do any more trading until 1992 when my we again had the opportunity to attend the Barcelona Olympics with Kodak. My pin trading took a giant step forward here since I had gathered a nice supply of traders prior to arriving and had learned a little bit more about the type/value/tradability of pins. Patti & I traded whenever the opportunity presented itself. On the Kodak host ship, on the bus, at the venues, and especially at the Coke trading center. It was here that I met Al Falcao – a fellow IBMer at the time. I asked him a key question, “how do you go about trading pins between Olympics?” He told me about the Olympin Pin Collector Club which we immediately joined. I was now connected to a whole bunch of fellow collectors just like me. It was the best thing that has ever happened to me pin collecting wise. Not only did I now have a whole group of people to trade with between Olympics, I now had (and still have) an invaluable source of folks to turn to for advice, guidance & counsel about the hobby.

Barcelona was followed by trips to Atlanta, Sydney & Salt Lake City. Our son, Andrew (now 17) was with us for two of these Olympics (Atl & Syd). However, we were no longer the guests of a sponsor and had the much more challenging task of making our own arrangements. One of the neat things about this was meeting up each time with our Olympin collector friends – Al, Timm, Don H & B, Leonard, Randy, Jim, Larry E., John K, Craig, Ray, Sid, Bud, Mike R, and Scott R. Then there are those who I have never met in person but feel that I know very well like Fred S, Louis M., Jean-Marie, and Larry B. based on many trading interactions. And then there are those who I have not seen anywhere in print/on-line or heard about in a long time and assume the hobby has passed them by (where are you Harry S?).

So --- enough nostalgia. The pins shown here are those that I have taken the time to photograph. By no means is a complete list. For example, I have many Atlanta traders not shown here. These are listed on my “table” on the pinfever site: www.pinfever.com This assumes that this site is still active. If not, please send me an email for this list. I also have some Disney & HRC traders.

My Olympic pin collecting preferences are: media; sponsor (esp. Kodak & IBM); NOCs & bids. Above all, I love to trade and welcome any & all contact. Our hobby seems to have evolved to lots of buying & selling on eBay, and fewer & fewer trading transactions. However, I prefer trading and welcome the opportunity to do so.