What do I collect? I can’t collect real life mounts or pets (although that is a tempting idea) I do have a thing with collecting Pinny Arcade pins. I am always open for donations to either keep or swap with people at our yearly pilgrimage to PAX.
PAX for those unfamiliar is a gaming expo run by the Penny Arcade company. They have panels, discussions, tabletop areas, VR areas, an exhibition hall for vendors and dedicated areas for testing new games on the market. It is a 3 day event held in mostly the US, although they have had one in Aus since 2013. I didn’t go to the first event however I have been since the 2014 without fail. My hubby and I consider it our Christmas 🙂
Since the first one though, I have been hooked on the pins. Hooked. Here is the vest I wear to PAX every year (although I am still toying with ideas for this years PAX).
I need more space than a vest because here are the rest of the pins I own which are not displayed anywhere or worn to PAX. I am toying with the idea of making skirt or pants with front facing panels with a layer of this but sturdy plastic over the top to avoid any loss of pins.
This is my collection for exchange with others. I have a brilliant friend in the US who sent me a whole heaps of ship ones to trade with others, and I have some left over from last year which means I can buy less this year to trade.
The basic idea is you trade pins with others, for pins you don’t have and they want. You ask politely if they are willing to trade you X pin for Y pin and they can say no if they don’t think it is worth it. There are “values” associated with them in that some are limited edition, limited print runs, promo editions etc. They also have dates on the back as well. During PAX you can also trade pins with enforcers if they have pins on – they usually have rare or exciting pins and there is also a pinny trade meet up with the pinny arcade staff – you can get all their pins then or when you see them on the floor. There is also a trading session with other folks as well and that was mind blowing, the last one I went to I saw an older gentleman who had huge ziplock bags of each type of pin. It was insane – maybe he was the printer? LOL
The most coveted set I want is the Australian 2013 set. I wish I had one of those, they are as rare as hens teeth because they didn’t make a huge print run. Some others rare pins require you to talk to people and locate them during events. It is an effort but for a nutter like me – totally worth it.