The Pin Scene Isn’t Dead

I don’t believe a collector’s scene can ever really die. I meet people who want to buy and express interest in collecting pins almost every day. Many of them do not possess fondness or funds for $30-50+ art pins. Art scenes almost never stay the same for extended periods of time. They evolve at a near-constant rate in the social media age.

Pinning has changed over the last few years. It’s much different than during the mania that occurred from 2020-2022. It would be wonderful to sustain that level of energy, but those 2 years were unique and I’m not sure history like that will ever truly repeat itself, nor do I believe the energy level could have been sustained forever regardless of world circumstances. It was moderately wild and uncontrolled.

The assertion that the pin scene has died because it no longer reflects trends that happened during an historically unique period is pretty unfair. Saying the pin scene is dead also does a disservice to the numerous artists and producers who continue to work hard to create them. It can be frustrating when pin trades and secondhand sales are significantly reduced, and I also understand many producers like myself have seen hard times over the last year. I changed my business structure to reflect the difficulties I was experiencing, myself. My point here is I still see people purchase pins within their budgets (often in person), generally to keep in their own collections longterm or to give as gifts. That doesn’t sound very dead to me at all.

Everyone has their own reasons for collecting things, and I generally just figure whatever works for them is great. But, if somebody tells you the scene is dead because they can’t sell a limited edition pin for several times its original price, I might suggest they aren’t so much interested in collecting art as much as they are collecting a paycheck. But that’s really none of my business…