A Hobby That Grew

My obsession with pin collecting began in the mid-1980s. We were living in England at the time and decided to take an exotic vacation — our family of five, including three teenage daughters, traveled to Moscow in what was then the USSR.

On one of our sightseeing excursions, we found ourselves deep in the Moscow underground subway system. Our girls discovered they could trade pocket candy and gum with the locals for small souvenirs. In one of the subway terminals, they met some young boys and traded for Russian trinkets — among them, Olympic pins from the 1980 Moscow Olympics.

For me, that was the beginning of a pin hobby that has lasted to this day.

I got completely hooked on Olympic pins. To help fund my growing collection, I started an Olympic pin mail order business in 1994 — and that soon led to internet selling on eBay, then Etsy, and now here.

Where We Are Today

Today, my wife Barbara and I are retired and live south of Atlanta, next to a creek that flows through the Georgia woods. We named our home Arborshoals — a house-naming tradition we picked up during our years in England. We find life out here far more rewarding than the city, and we feel the same way about growing Pinpal into its own home on the web.

Our collecting and sales experience spans more than 40 years. Most of our pins come from individual collections or unopened assortments originally sold in the 1980s and 90s. Every order ships in a box — because a pin in a bubble wrap bag is just asking for trouble.

If you're looking for something specific or have any pin-related questions, don't hesitate to reach out.

Happy Pin Collecting!
— John Gregor

Curious how this store was built? Read How I Built Pinpal with Grok Bot.