A dozen people outside a Milan metro station on Wednesday stared intently at their phones until 8 am, when an Instagram post provided a location.

"Run, don't walk: we're in the Castello area," said the post. "Pins are available while supplies last."

It sent the group sprinting.

Early each morning in Milan, eager collectors have been gathering to await word of the exact spot where they can score highly prized, limited-edition Olympics pins that — if they're fast enough — are free.

Ilaria Pasqua has got up and out early every day since Saturday to snag the coveted pins from YesMilano, the city's promotional agency, and she plans to complete the collection of seven neighborhoods — including Isola and Porta Venezia — and five iconic landmarks, like the Duomo. She teamed up with three collectors she met on the first day, and they have developed a system to be among the first in line.

"I know it can sound like it's a bit extreme, and (like) it's a waste of time. But actually, I've met these people that I am doing this with, so it's nice," said Pasqua, an English teacher in Milan. "It's a way to get to know the city, if you live here, or if you are visiting. It's also social. I'm really enjoying it, to be honest. And you take a little treasure home with you every day, so it's fun."

Each day, after receiving her pins, Pasqua says she stuffs them deep in her coat pocket — out of view from latecomers looking for a trade that she doesn't want to make.

Pecking order

Pin collecting is an essential part of the Olympic subculture, with people traveling from far and wide to the Games just to add to what is often a very substantial array of enameled pins at home.

For those with little patience for treasure hunting who want to get right down to business, Milan is the first Olympics to offer an official pin trading center since Pyeongchang in 2018.

Sponsored by Warner Brothers, it features an area where children can interact with costumed Looney Tunes characters, encouraging the next generation of pin-traders, along with a dozen tables where diehard traders from as far away as the United States and Japan display boards with their wares.

Eddie Schneider of Lindenhurst, New York, has been trading pins since the 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles. Among his 25,000 pins is one from the 1948 London Games, which his mother attended.

"I consider it like going to a World's Fair every two years," he said at the center. "You get to go to different places and experience different cultures and have fun."

The king pins

Elite collectors know the intrinsic value of each category, including retail, delegation, team, sponsor, media and national Olympic committees. Japanese media pins are among the most coveted by die-hard collectors for their rarity, while, in Cortina, athletes were keen to get an Iran pin. In Paris, Snoop Dogg's pins were the most sought after.

Official pins incorporate the Milano-Cortina 2026 logo and the Olympic rings, which are produced exclusively by the Los Angeles-based pin maker Honav, the rights-holder for these Winter Games and the upcoming 2028 Los Angeles Summer Games.

Honav's owner Mario Simonson said his company designed hundreds of pins and produced millions for these Games — each bearing the Honav backstamp for authenticity. The International Olympic Committee collects royalties for the use of the logo and rings.

Pins without those official features have "zero value" for serious traders, he said.

Tight community

London resident Josh Waller, 21, collected his first pin at the 2012 Summer Games, when he was eight years old. He now has over 10,000 stashed in his room, and brought 1,500 to Milan to trade. "Pindemonium," he calls it.

His collection of London Olympic pins, including vintage issues, is award-winning. He belongs to a group of online traders that exploded after the Tokyo Games, when the pandemic kept spectators at home, and he has developed software to authenticate high-value pins.

Waller is a volunteer at the pin trading center, where he said thousands of people, including athletes and families with children, lined up over the weekend to buy and trade.

"The whole pin trading community is very tight," Mark Gabriel, a Warner Brothers consumer products' executive, told the reporters. He expects trading "to reach a fever pitch" on the Games' second weekend.

Landmark concept

Meanwhile, pin enthusiasts are crisscrossing the city in the early morning, in pursuit of the full YesMilano set.

The pins have been successful beyond the organizers' imagination. While city pins have long been part of the Games, YesMilano's campaign goes further by promoting under-visited parts of the city and encouraging people to seek out landmarks.

On the first day, more than 1,000 people showed up in the North of Piazzale Loreto (NOLO) neighborhood. The second day at the architectural landmark, Torre Velasca, that number was 600 — as word circulated of the daily 250 limit.

Latecomers receive stickers as consolation prizes, but can purchase the YesMilano pins at official souvenir vendors for 20 euros ($24) — up from an initial 12 euros due to demand.

Beatrice Biondi got up at 6:30 am to travel into Milan from Varese, an hour away, to be first in line at the Sforza Castle issue.

It was her first shot at collecting Olympic memorabilia, after wrapping up university exams the day before.

"We had to run a bit, but we made it so we are very happy," she said.

After collecting her Sforza Castle pin, she planned to add the little focaccia bag charm from the Esselunga supermarket chain, and a Coca-Cola pin from the Olympic sponsor.

"All the pins I can find, I will take," Biondi said.

Agencies Via Xinhua