Here's an oddity from the 2010 pin world that I think is both a delicious irony and also a sleeper that could become a hit among discriminating collectors. This is Arbie, the claymation-style mascot of RBC, the Royal Bank of Canada who often can be found in newspaper ads and television commercials. RBC is, as most collectors know, a long-time sponsor... [...] Continue reading...

It's been a while since I've written on that Olympic phenomenon of pin-trading. Faithful readers will recall that we'd be publishing in print and on this blog Collectors Corner, a piece that periodically reviewed new or interesting collectibles emerging around the Olympics. Most of them are related to pins. ( You can find a page of past... [...] Continue reading...

Leo Obstbaum , the man largely credited with many of Vanoc's iconic designs, died suddenly Thursday night. Young, vibrant, intelligent and gifted, Obstbaum had been behind the design of the look of the games, the mascots and even the yet-to-be-unveiled Olympic and Paralympic medals. His photo says it all; mischievous, bright, a bit cocky and self... [...] Continue reading...

Next week the International Olympic Committee's coordination commission for Vancouver makes its last trip here before the 2010 Games. Lots of i-dotting and t-crossing is planned, it seems, but much of the commission's major work was done in the last visit this spring. However, you bet a pair of top tickets to gold medal hockey that Vanoc's... [...] Continue reading...

The initial reaction around the newsroom this week to PETA's latest attempt to goad Canada over its seal hunt was one of mirth. Turning the three Vancouver 2010 Olympic mascots into malevolent blood-spattered alter-egos intent on clubbing a seal to death is, I suppose, to be expected by the likes of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals... [...] Continue reading...

I like to think of myself as a tough reporter, one who will happily dig into stories that, as the great journalist Finley Peter Dunne said over a hundred years ago, should "comfort the afflicted, and afflict the comfortable." Over my more than 30 years of writing, I've tried hard to do that. Sometimes, however, it is hard to step away... [...] Continue reading...

Got swarmed by three great furballs in my office this morning when Vanoc's mascots, Quatchi, Sumi and Miga showed up with an announcement that their cyber pal Mukmuk had been freed from jail . . . sort of. For the last year I've been advocating that the Vancouver Organizing Committee should turn Mukmuk into a full-fledged mascot. Readers may... [...] Continue reading...

Funny how a little thing like a furry marmot can get peoples' creative juices flowing. Today we launch our Free Mukmuk pages carrying the art and comments of our readers. The first page is here. We'll have more pages reflecting comment a little later. In our print edition, we also carried some of the pictures and words (and my apologies to Samantha... [...] Continue reading...

Well, I can't exactly say that Premier Gordon Campbell endorsed our campaign to release Mukmuk from cyberprison and make him a full-fledged Olympic mascot. But he certainly cuddled up to him. Last Monday, Campbell presided at his namesake Premier's Innovation and Excellence Awards in Victoria, where he gave one of the two top Gold awards to the Vancouver... [...] Continue reading...

Just think of what would happen if Quatchi, Sumi and Miga had the kind of backing that their virtual sidekick, Mukmuk the marmot has from a group like the Vancouver Island Marmot Recovery Foundation. Given the success of the foundation in bringing the island marmot back from the edge of extinction, we might have herds of tagged and radio-collared Sasquatches... [...] Continue reading...

Pity poor Mukmuk. While his friends Quatchi, Miga and Sumi galavant off everywhere entertaining children in the lead-up to the 2010 Olympic Games, Mukmuk the marmot is left to pick up the trash and pick up the rear. For those of you who don't know poor Mukmuk, he's the virtual reality sidekick to the Vancouver 2010 mascots. He lives mainly in cyberspace... [...] Continue reading...

What: Salzburg 2010 "Snowmo" bid pin Value: $30 History: Saltzburg, Austria, goes down in history for having some of the most aggressive marketing campaigns around its multiple Winter Games bids . It is also remembered for being one of the very few bid cities that actually produced a mascot for its bid. But then, being ostentatious was a trademark of... [...] Continue reading...

In June, 2007, The Vancouver Sun began in earnest to document the growing collectibility of pins, coins, stamps and other items related to the 2010 Winter Olympics. Of course, for collectors this is nothing new: Olympic memorabilia has been a hot area of interest since Baron Pierre de Coubertin and his friends held the first modern Olympics in 1896... [...] Continue reading...

When Vanoc unveiled its mascots November 27, it took all of a day for reporters to twig to the fact that the plush toys are being made in China. And that gave rise to legitimate questions about whether Quatchi, Miga and Sumi were being made with hazardous products. For months we've been inundated about stories of Chinese-made toys being recalled across... [...] Continue reading...

Well, Friday night and I wanted to go home, but oh no, I had to make one last check of the blog entries. Accidentally hit the delete button for the post " Quatchi, Miga and Sumi: other meanings for the 2010 mascot names " and discovered that blogosphere doesn't have the kind of football nuclear code protocols that prevent accidental detonation. And... [...] Continue reading...