Quick Take
Designing a standout trading pin for the Cooperstown All-Star Village is an exciting challenge that brings your team’s creativity to life. This guide breaks down five easy steps to craft the perfect pin and highlights the best places for trading in Cooperstown.
Designing the best team trading pin for your Cooperstown trip is no small task. It requires planning, organization and finding the right fit to represent your team. Below you will find:
- Five quick and easy steps to walk you through creating a dream pin for your Cooperstown experience.
- Nine best pin trading places.
Size and Material Matter
Most pin design companies state the average pin size is 1.75”; however, many teams opt for a larger size. When choosing your pin size, plan to select a pin between 2” and 2.5”. Also, material for pins can vary from plastic, soft enamel, photoscreen, or offset printing to metal. The choice of material will affect the overall cost of the pins. I would avoid plastics if possible, as they look a little cheap and pale compared to some of the other designs on metal. Our team opted for the soft enamel, and it turned out beautiful!
9 Best Trading Pins Places
Our team reached out to several companies for different pin designs. All companies provide FREE logo design and quotes! Most companies will even offer multiple edits or revisions of your pin based on feedback from the design you receive.
Our team used over ten different companies, which were quite a few. However, I would recommend using no less than three to five companies to see multiple designs, layouts, and pricing.
Whoever is heading up the pin design mission for your team should organize a Word document or spreadsheet to keep track of each company’s name, logo design, quantity, pricing per unit, and overall total pricing. This will help in presenting options to the families.
The following list of online pin trading sites was beneficial, prompt, and responsive to our teams’ requests:
- Trading Pin Superstore
- Trading Pin Junction Metro Pins
- Cooperstown Trading Pins
- Xtreme Trading Pins
- GH Pins, All About Pins
- Pin Zone
- The Pin Crafters
- Pin Maker
- Trading Pins 4 Less
You can see the variety of unique designs we received!
Quantity Pricing
If you are attending All-Star Village, there are roughly 50-55 teams each week. Plan for each player to have approximately 55-60 pins for trading. If you are attending Dreamspark, there are 104 teams each week. Plan for each player to have approximately 105-110 pins for trading. Including a few extra pins per player is suitable for any Super Pin trading or trading in Cooperstown with some of the stores.
Also, some umpires have pins as well.
Pricing can vary greatly depending on what your team is looking for. Pins can cost anywhere from a few hundred dollars to over $2000, and they need to be considered part of the overall player cost when planning for this event.
When reviewing final pricing, many companies offer additional incentives, such as free banners or pin bags. It also doesn’t hurt to ask for discounts or price matching from other companies. They want your business and want you as their customer!
Be Specific and Detailed in Team Request
When reaching out to pin design companies, you will need to complete an online request form. Items that are required are typically a contact or point person, team name, colors, home state, and team logo. You can also add specific details on the pins, such as player names, player numbers, upgrade information (see below), Cooperstown, trip year, etc. The more information you provide, the better the company can suit what your team hopes to see in the design. Also, don’t be afraid to ask for edits! If you like most aspects of the pin but would like to see an upgrade added, color change, names vs. numbers, etc., ask to see an edited version of the pin.
Upgrades
Glitter, Gems, Blinkers, Danglers, Spinners & Sliders…Super Pin or Not?
Pin upgrades make an excellent addition to team pins. If you’re working within a tight budget, a cheaper but cool upgrade includes glitter or colored gems. If the budget is open or sponsor-provided, more expensive upgrades include blinkers, danglers, and sliders. You can see some of these in the team designs above and in the collection our team gathered in our week at Cooperstown.
Super Pin
Upgrades can make your pin hot for trading, but they come with a cost! In addition, some teams opt to do a Super Pin, one that is larger and includes a high-end upgrade or all gold. This isn’t a must, and our team found that very few teams did this during their week at All-Star Village. When trading a Super Pin, players will usually request more than one pin from the player.
Once you have received your pin designs and quotes, your team will have to narrow down a select number of pins that best meet the needs of the team’s budget and design wishes. Our team had the players and coaches do a secret ballot vote on their top pin choice. Overall, our team was extremely pleased with the pin design process, and the pin trading remains one of the most memorable and lasting highlights of the Cooperstown experience for the players.
