Thus far in our ongoing exploration of swimming and EBay, we’ve posted mostly high-dollar items. Some were worth the money. some probably were not, but were cool items none-the-less. We know at least one of them has sold – Pat DiBiase, who straddles the line between Vice President at Morgan Stanley and swim coach purchased it and posted a picture on his Twitter account here.
This week, though, we’re going to scale back and focus on some lower-dollar items. Things that almost all of our readers could realistically afford, and what’s more, could probably begin a nice themed collection out of.
We’re talking about “pins”. There’s dozens of them available for sale on EBay at any given time, and their costs generally run anywhere from$0.99-$20. This means one could quickly build a deep collection, and accent it with a few higher-value pieces.
Check out some of the really cool ones that we’ve seen this week:
1) 1984 Swimming Olympic Pin Badge from the L.A. Games ($5.99 – Buy it Now)
This pin, featuring a bald eagle in a U.S. Olympic “Uncle Sam” style hat, seems to be in great shape. It’s brand new and still comes in its original packaging. (Buy it here).
2) 1972 Olympic Games Swimming Pin ($2.99 – Buy it Now)
The 1972 Munich Games were the now-famous Mark Spitz Olympics, where he won his 7 gold medals and broke 7 World Records. Overall, this Olympics still remains as probably the biggest advancement in swimming skills all the way up until 2008. Overall, 22 World Records were broken in 29 events, and the other 7 events all had Olympic Records. (Buy it here).
3) London Olympic Mascot Swimming Pin ($1.49 – Current Bid)
This pin features Wenlock, one of two Olympic mascots that come with a storyline of being made from steel, cameras, and taxis. Overall, the wierdest mascots we’ve ever seen. Wouldn’t think all that medal could swim, but there we have it. (Bid here).
4) Canadian Olympic Team 2000 Olympics Pin ($9.99 – Current Bid)
This is a Canadian Olympic Team pin commemorating the 2000 Olympics in Sydney Australia. The Canadians got a single medal that year: a 400 IM bronze from Curtis Myden, who had won bronze in both the 400 and the 200 in Atlanta in 1996 as well. (Bid here).
5) 1973 World University Games Pin ($2.99 – Buy it Now/$1.99 – Buy it Now)
A swimming pin from the 1973 Summer Universiade in Moscow, USSR: the 7th edition of the meet. This one was a slug-fest between the Americans and the Soviets, as between the two countries they won every swimming gold medal. There weren’t a lot of really huge names at that year’s meet, but among them included Jack Tingley, a USC/Junior-College transfer who won an NCAA title in 1974. There’s actually two entirely different pins available from this meet – which would be a cool theme for a collection. (Buy one here) (Buy the other here).
6) 1996 Atlanta Olympics Swiss NOC Swimming Pin ($9.99 – Current Bid)
This is a pin from the 1996 Olympics issued by the Swiss Olympic Committee, and features a giant swimmer superimposed on a map of the United States. (Bid here).
7) 1960’s Soviet/Tajikistan Swimming Pin ($9.99 – Buy it Now)
Tajikistan swimming is currently somewhere toward the bottom end of federation rankings in the world. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, they sent one swimmer, a 35-year old woman, who finished 61st in the 50 free. Still, this is a cool little piece of Soviet history if one is in to that kind of thing: it features a national award from Tajikistan but with the Soviet name still stamped on it. (Buy it here).
8) 1970’s National Olympic Committee of Libya Pin ($175.00 – Buy it Now)
This one is not worth $175.00, especially without any obvious verification of its authenticity. Still, Libyan swimming items from the 1970’s, also known as the early years of the now-ousted Muammar Gaddafi, are very rare. (Buy it here).
9) 1947 European Championships Participants Pin ($225.00 – Buy it Now) ($32.04 – Buy it Now)
Still expensive, but this one is very, very cool. It’s a 1947 European Championships participants pin from the event held in Monaco not-too-long after its German occupiers were expelled at the end of World War II. This was the first post-war edition of this meet, following 5 before the outbreak., held in an off-scheduled year until in 1950, things got back on their regular four-year cycle in Vienna. Two of these available too (Buy one here – if you can stomach the price). (Buy the other one here).
10) Set of 10 Swimming Pins ($31.50 – Buy it Now)
If you’re looking to jumpstart a collection, this is a great place to start. It includes a lot of 1980’s and 1990’s pins, including Sam the Eagle (see number 1 on this list) in two different poses. The full list of pins in this collection is below. (Buy it here).
1) 1996 Atlanta Torch- width: 32mm height: 31mm
2) Coca Cola Sponsor 1996 Atlanta ~ Torch- width: 30mm height: 30mm
3) *Beatrice Hunt Wesson Sponsor ~ Seoul 1988- width: 28mm height: 29mm
4) Blue Cross Blue Shield Sponsor ~ Seoul 1988- width: 13mm height: 21mm
5) M&Ms Mars Sponsor ~ Barcelona 1992- width:26mm height: 22mm
6) *Mascot Izzy mini~ Atlanta 1996- width: 19mm height: 12mm
7) Good Will Games~ 1990 Seattle~ non-Olympic- width: 25mm height: 23mm
8) Sam the Eagle Mascot~Butterfly~1984 LA- width: 30mm height: 30mm
9) 1992 Barcelona ~ Mascot: Cobi ~ Sponsor: Pedigree- width: 20mm height: 26mm
10) Sam the Eagle Mascot~Breaststroke~1984 LA- width: 30mm height: 30mm
Oh good, you’re reviewing eBay items again. I have tons of swimming crap to sell. Most of the magazines went in the recycling bin, but everything else must go. Will list later in the month. Stay tuned.