Alright, so these US Open pins. Yeah, I’ve gotten my hands dirty with them. More than I probably should’ve, to be honest. It’s one of those things, you start off thinking, “Oh, a couple of neat little souvenirs,” and next thing you know, you’re halfway down a rabbit hole you didn’t even see.
It ain’t just like they make one pin for the tournament and that’s your lot. Oh no. They’ve got a whole universe of these things. You’ve got your basic logo pins, sure. Then there are the ones with the year on ’em, those are a must-get for some. Then you got player-specific ones, though those are rarer than hen’s teeth sometimes. And don’t even get me started on the sponsor pins. Some companies just churn ’em out, others make like five and you gotta know a guy who knows a guy.
Here’s a little list of what you’re up against, just so you get the picture:
- Official Tournament Logo pins (different each year, sometimes multiple versions!)
- Dated pins (the year is BIG on these)
- Sponsor pins (HSBC, American Express, Rolex, you name it, they had a pin)
- Media pins (good luck getting those unless you’re press)
- Volunteer pins (another tough one)
- And then the weird special edition ones that pop up.
And trying to find the older ones? Forget about it. Or, well, don’t forget about it, but get your wallet ready. Some folks think these little bits of metal are made of gold, the prices they ask. I’ve spent hours, and I mean hours, scrolling through eBay, forums, all that junk. And you gotta watch out for fakes too. Yeah, people actually fake these things. Some are obvious, cheap rubbish. Others? Pretty slick. Took me a while to get an eye for what’s what. You end up feeling like some kind of detective, squinting at blurry photos.
So how did I end up knowing all this, caring about little enamel badges? It’s a bit of a story, really. I wasn’t even a massive tennis fan, not back then. I’d watch the finals if they were on, you know? But I ended up at the US Open one year, purely by chance. My buddy had a couple of extra tickets, his girlfriend bailed, so he dragged me along. It was… an experience. Crowded, noisy, expensive water. But I snagged a free pin from some stall, one of the sponsor ones, I think. Shoved it in a drawer when I got home and that was that. Or so I thought.
Fast forward a few years. I was having a real rough patch. Got laid off. Just like that. One day you’re working, next day you’re packing a box. Hit me hard, that did. Suddenly had a lot of time on my hands, and honestly, my head was all over the place. Needed something, anything, to latch onto that wasn’t just… stewing. I was clearing out some old stuff, trying to feel productive, and found that old pin. Stared at it for a bit. Then, on a whim, I typed “US Open pins” into the computer.
Well, that was it. Like a switch flipped. Started seeing all the different types, the history. It was something to focus on, a hunt. Started buying a few cheap ones. Then I got a bit more serious, started looking for specific years, specific designs. It wasn’t even about the tennis anymore, not really. It was the collecting. The chase. Filling in the gaps. Gave me a project, you know? Something to get my teeth into when everything else felt like it was falling apart.
Now, I’ve got a fair few. Boxes of ‘em, actually. Sometimes I look at them all and think, “What am I doing with all this?” It’s a bit daft, spending all that time and cash on these little things. And the community? It can be great, met some decent people. But like any collecting scene, you get the sharks, the hoarders, the folks who’d sell their own grandmother for a rare pin. It’s not always sunshine and roses, believe me.
So, US Open pins. Yeah, it’s a thing. A thing I kinda fell into. It’s got its ups, got its downs. Can drive you mad trying to find that one missing piece. But then you find it, and there’s that little kick. Guess that’s the hook, eh? Anyway, that’s my two cents on it.
