London 2012 unofficial Pin Trading meeting (January 2012)

A short update on the forthcoming pin meet on Saturday 21st January in John Lewis, Westfield Stratford City.

Registration for the meet has now exceeded all the previous sessions and we will have nearly 30 traders at the venue. There are 8 new names on the list too, so if you're reading this and thinking of coming to your first meet, there will be plenty of other 'first-timers' there too. Feedback from previous meets from those who were new to the hobby spoke of a positive experience, so please consider joining us. Don't forget, if it's not for you, you can still go shopping!

I'm pleased to say that Honav, Coca Cola and Lloyds Banking Group will be represented at the meet and as well as the BT pins that were offered, I'm delighted that Cadbury's have also offered us some pins too.

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I am now able to confirm that the pin trading meet at John Lewis on Saturday 21st January will start at 12pm. The store opens from 9am until 8pm (Click here for John Lewis store information), but it seems best to wait until midday to allow those who come from a little further away to have time to get into London.

We have the Stadium Suite space all day but I think most people will start drifting away around 4pm.

I've had a few questions about the protocol or type of trading that takes place. To those that are not sure, the basic principle is to bring whatever pins you wish to trade. Don't worry if you think that they are not that exciting or unusual, you may find that you have just the pin someone is looking for! The main subject of the trades are London 2012 sponsor and internal pins, but that;s not to say that retail pins or pins from other Games are not traded. Remember, if both parties are happy with the swap - it's a good trade.

As for transport, looking at the TfL site (click here and then click on Future Dates and enter 21 Jan), it appears that all the overground and underground lines into Stratford are working. There is an outage on one DLR line through the station, but overall it appears that public transport will be functioning well in the area that day.

If you're still not signed up and think you would like to come, please drop me a line at info@londonpins.co.uk.