Getting to watch the world's best athletes isn't the only reason people attend the Olympics. Pin trading has its own fans. Mike Rose is one of them. He's traded numerous pins since he started at the Lake Placid Olympics.
"In 28 years? countless. there's countless pins in 28 years. You know, I've been doing it this long, there's probably tens of thousands."
Rose currently has a couple of thousand in his collection. He travels from one Olympics to the next to get new pins.
Pin trading isn't just a hobby, it's a business. Countries, teams, and companies produce their own pins. Rebecca Welles is a pin designer. She tries to place the images of famous athletes on the pins so people will want them.
"The interesting thing that you also see is that if those athletes medal, or the get a medal at the Olympics, those pins become a lot more valuable."
Standup: "During the Olympics, a lot of people get into pin trading. Now I don't have too many, so I don't have too much bargaining power, but I was able to get this Beijing Olympic pin."
"They're actually like currency; pins are like trading money a lot of times. So the more complicated they are, the more value they have and the more people want to collect them."
Collecting the valuable pins is fun, but to Rose, it's more about the interaction.
"It's the chance to talk to people from all over the world. I've probably talked to people from 50 or 75 different countries today. Where else can you possibly do that?"
For people like Rose, pin trading is about the Olympic spirit. It's a sport that takes place off the field and everyone can win a medal.
(China.org.cn August 24, 2008)
