Bell Mascots Giveaway Pin

The Vancouver Sun runs a sidebar in its Road to 2010 weekly feature called Collectors' Corner ... and it seems tailor-made for this blog. Enjoy.

What: Bell Canada mascots limited giveaway pin.

Trade value: Undetermined.

History: As collectible pins go, sponsor pins rank up there among purists.

Retail pins -- those produced for sale to the public -- may be interesting, but their collectible value tends to be less.

Sort of like why stamps mailed from personalities are more sought after.

The most collectible pins are those produced in small numbers and distributed for private reasons, such as internal use, presidents' pins and the like. Bid pins and corporate sponsor pins fall in right behind them, since they aren't meant for public distribution.

So with that in mind, where does the new Bell Canada giveaway mascots pin fit in?

The pins were made available last week free to the public through a coupon program in major daily newspapers. But they aren't being put up for sale with the eight retail mascot designs being carried by HBC.

Frank Zavarella, one of B.C.'s expert pin collectors, says the Bell pin has a unique value. "What makes it collectible is that it has a mascot theme, is a corporate pin, is limited and isn't for sale," he said.

At 15,000, the production run is high, but it's still limited because it won't be reproduced, he said.