Pin #54: Phillies Pin

I have had this pin since at least 1993, from what I can remember.  That was the year the Phillies went to the World Series and right after they changed their logo.  I remember always having this pin and a 1993 World Series pin together.  I assume someone from family in New Jersey got it for me back then.  I really like it because the Phillies are my favorite team.

Pin #53: 2006 Winter Olympics Pin

This is quite possibly the most boring pin on my board.  It's a USA Olympic pin from the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, but it has absolutely no character.  There are much better Olympic pins out there.  I know this must have been a gift because I would never buy this pin.  But I'm still thankful to whoever gave it to me.

Pin #52: San Francisco Olympic Bid Pin

This is one of the coolest pins in my collection.  It is an Olympic Bid pin.  San Francisco was one of the cities in the running to represent the United States in their bid for the 2012 Summer Olympics.  First, the cities had to win the bid from the U.S. Olympic Committee.  This is one of the bid pins for San Francisco.  I have another one for New York that will be featured at a later date.  Obviously, neither city ended up hosting the Olympics.  I bought them during a trip to NBC Studios in New York in 2004.  It was my first trip to Rockefeller Center, also.  These pins were a pleasant surprise because they're kind of unique.  You don't see them very often.  Plus, it's just a cool looking pin.

Pin #51: A Dress for Cinderella

This pin is another one from my Walt Disney Classics Collections series.  I previously featured a Donald and Daisy pin that was also from this series.  This is a Cinderella pin, from when the mice are making her a new dress for the ball.  It's kind of different, and I like it.

Pin #50: State of Arizona pin

I believe I bought this pin during my first trip to Arizona back in 1993.  Wow, that was a long time ago.  I came with family and we stayed at a timeshare in Flagstaff and went to the Grand Canyon.  I remember participating in the Junior Ranger program at the Grand Canyon, but returning to the Visitor Center too late to get my certification.  One of the rangers felt sorry for me and my cousins, though, and gave us all a patch of some sort as a consolation.  That story has nothing to do with this pin other than I bought this pin on the same trip.  Also, my mom gave a bunch of these away at my college graduation.

Pin #49: Venezia

This is a pin that my parents bought me during their trip to Italy.  It's from Venice (Thank you Captain Obvious).  I like it because it has a gondola in it, which is symbolic of Venice.

Pin #48: Who Framed Roger Rabbit

This is another one of my favorites (I have a lot of favorites).  This pin is another one from the Countdown to Millennium series released by the Disney Store in 1999.  It represents the final scene from the movie when Judge Doom is threatening to dip Roger and Jessica (I know, I know, I should say spoiler alert, but seriously, it's a 25 year old movie.  If you haven't seen it by now, you're probably not going to.).  But the pin is cool because it actually dangles.  I really like the movie, so I had to have a pin to represent it, and this is one of the best ones I've seen.

Pin #47: Nolan Ryan No-Hitter #1

This is another free giveaway pin from an Angels game.  As you can see it is in recognition of Nolan Ryan's first no-hitter.  Ryan threw seven total no-hitters, in case you were wondering.  But, again, I don't remember what year this pin was released or anything about the game at which I got it.

Pin #46: Sydney Olympics Pin

This is a USA Olympics pin from the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.  It's not very flashy or exciting.  I don't remember who gave it to me either.  So there's not really much else to say about this one.

Pin #45: Houston Space Center

I got this pin during my visit to the Houston Space Center in 1997.  You might be wondering how I remember what year I visited the Space Center.  Well, I remember being in Houston when the Arizona Wildcats won the National Championship in 1997.  So that's how I know that is when I visited the Space Center.  For those following this blog, you know I have pins from both Space Centers, in Orlando and Houston  I like the Kennedy Space Center pin better than this one.  I should go back and see if they have a better selection now.

Pin #44: Padres Pin

I bought this pin during my first trip to Petco Park in San Diego.  There's not much else to say about it.  It's kind of a boring pin, but it was the only one they had.  One thing I've noticed while collecting is that many baseball stadiums don't carry a wide selection of pins.  But at least they had one.

Pin #43: Baby Stamp

This pin was part of a group of pins that were given to me by my aunt.  She was cleaning out her collection and decided to give them to me.  I've never really paid much attention to this one, but now that I am, it's honestly a little creepy.  I don't know the significance of the picture and can only assume it's a replica of a stamp that was released at some point.  Oh well.

Pin #42: Samuel Adams

This is another pin from my trip to Boston.  I went on a tour of the Samuel Adams brewery.  It was an awesome tour and I highly recommend it.  Funny story about finding the brewery.  During my time in Boston with my cousins we did a lot of sightseeing.  We knew what subway station to get off for every major landmark, but once we got off the subway we had no idea where to go.  The signage is quite poor in Boston despite the copious amount of historical landmarks.  However, when getting off the subway to go to the brewery we were greeted with a huge sign pointing us in the right direction.  Moral of the story: Boston wants to make it easy to find beer.  Anyway, after the tour, and tasting, we were dumped into a gift shop.  I bought a lot of stuff, probably too much stuff as I was pretty drunk, which was great considering it was a free tour.  This pin was one of the souvenirs I purchased.

Pin #41: Cheers

I bought this pin when I went to Cheers in Boston.  Yes, I fell for the tourist trap.  But it was worth it.  The actual bar looks nothing like the one on TV, and there was nothing very special about the food, but for the rest of my life I can always say that I went to Cheers.  And of course I had to buy a pin to commemorate the visit.

Pin #40: Main Street Electrical Parade

This is one of my favorites.  It represents one of the most iconic figures from the Main Street Electrical Parade, the snail.  Growing up, I loved watching the Electrical Parade.  It was magical and fun and one of the highlights of going to Disneyland.  I was so sad when they decided to cancel it.  I bought this pin during the last year of its run.  They had a series of pins memorializing the parade and this one just spoke to me.  Plus the head moves just like the actual snail in the parade.  I tried to make a video playing the music from the parade and showing the movement, but it doesn't move that smoothly, so I just took two pictures instead.  But, again, I absolutely love this pin.

Pin #39: Tower of Terror Pin

I bought this pin after my first ride on the Tower of Terror.  First of all, it's a great ride.  I've only been on the one at California Adventure and I've heard the one in Florida is better, but I still love it.  So naturally, after my first ride I had to buy a pin.  And boy were there a lot to choose from.  But I really liked the simplicity of this one.  It reinforces the Twilight Zone theme within the Hollywood Tower Hotel and I'm a huge fan of the Twilight Zone.  And there's a certain level of humor implied in the Do Not Disturb message.  Overall, a very clever pin that really stood out to me.

Pin #38: Big Bear Lake

I can honestly say that I don't remember when I got this pin or who gave it to me.  I can say that I didn't buy it myself, because, to my recollection, I've never been to Big Bear.  For those who don't know where that is, it's a mountain resort outside of LA.  It's a popular winter retreat for skiers and snowboarders.  Since I do neither of those things, I've never felt the desire to go up there.  But somebody did, and they bought me a pin, so for that I am thankful.

Pin #37: Elvis Record

This is a cool pin.  It's a gold Elvis record Love Me Tender pin.  Very simple, but still cool.  I think my aunt gave me this pin.  She's a big Elvis fan.  Funny story about that.  The preschool I attended was called the Love Me Preschool, or something along those lines.  Apparently, my aunt thought it was called Love Me Tender Preschool.  That would have been cool to have Elvis as a teacher.

Pin #36: Disney Princess Club

This is another pin I bought during one of my trips to Disneyland.  Again, you see the Princess fetish at play.  I like that this one has the six main princesses all dressed up with Sleeping Beauty's castle in the background.  I would love to be able to say that this is the last of the Princess pins, but I can't.  There's quite a few more to come.

Pin #35: Ashland Shakespeare Festival Pin

This is a really tiny pin so I know it's hard to see a whole lot of detail.  The pin reads, "Shakespeare in Ashland".  It is from the Ashland Shakespeare Festival in Oregon.  Apparently, that's a pretty big deal up there.  I've never been, but my aunt lives up there and she got me this pin.  I feel like it adds a little culture to my board.

Pin #34: Disneyland First Airing

This is another pin from a Disney Store series.  This one comes from the Countdown to the Millennium series which was released in 1999.  I really like this one.  First, it's a really cool looking pin, with Pluto watching the old school TV.  And, second, it represents a cool milestone, the first airing of the Disneyland show.  I'm glad to have this one in my collection.

Pin #33: Steamboat Willie

I absolutely fell in love with this pin when I first saw it.  I got it during one of my trips to Disneyland.  As you are already aware, I have a lot of Disney pins.  They make great pins, and I always spend a ton of time looking for more whenever I go to Disneyland.  I really love ones that are unique and represent the movies, characters, rides I love best about Disney.  As someone who has studied the history of Disney and loves to reminisce, this pin immediately caught my attention.  I had to buy it when I saw it.  It's Mickey's first appearance as Steamboat Willie!  It's a classic!  And it's now one of my favorite pins.

Pin #32: Nolan Ryan No Hitter #3

This pin was a giveaway pin at a California Angels game.  That's right, I said California Angels.  That's what they were called when I was growing up and when this pin was given out.  I don't remember the game when this pin was given out.  I don't even remember what year.  All I know is that I have a few of them, so I know it was a part of a series of pins.  This one commemorates Nolan Ryan's third no hitter.