Probably the cheapest souvenir or collectibles you could grab from the 2008 Olympic game would be the incredibly simplistic pin. The pins can have anything on them, ranging from small slogan's or team mascots. Nevertheless, the importance of having any kind of souvenir from this years games is increasingly high with the tension rising. These pins should cost you no more than ten United States dollars, and will be something you can always discretely keep with you.
A variety of the Olympic pins being sold contain images of mascots such as the YingYing, BeiBei, HuanHuan, JingJing, and NiNi. These all have different meanings all coinciding with the history of the Olympic games. First, each mascot is in a different color, each a different color of the Olympic Rings. JingJing, representing panda, BeiBei, representing fish, HuanHuan, representing the Olympic flame, YingYing, representing the Tibetan Antelope, and NiNi, representing the swallow, are all animals that are native to China itself, except of course for the Olympic flame. In addition, the first syllable of all the five names will read "Bei Jing Huan Ying Ni," which can be easily translated into "Beijing welcomes you." At an extremely cost efficient price, this well thought out and clever design is worth it.
Other pin designs can be slightly more touristic. Some designs of pins can be found with a Chinese lantern and the Olympic rings together, while some others may have a popular site seeing attraction present with the 2008 Olympics wording written on it. These pins can be considered as "logo pins." The logo pins can be just as creative as the next pin, with sculpted designs of classic warriors or ancient style settings. Notably, there is one pin with the actual 2008 Olympic calendar, making this pin not only a valuable souvenir representing your memory of the games, but also very handy to have at the particular moment needed.
Newer, more desirable pins feature every collectible category such as the Olympic logo, the torch, all five of the Beijing mascots, and the dates of ceremonies. This pin is called the Ultimate Beijing Olympic pin, and is a limited edition, classic exclusive. More exclusive collectible pins, for a much higher price, include an entire pin set, including 35 of the mascot pins with each set double matted and framed with a glass casing. This set can cost you up to three hundred dollars.
These various types of Olympic pins serve as not only collectibles to the event of 2008, but also of a memory of the games and entertainment that was held. While some pins are indeed more ornamental than other pins, all serve a large role as being a collectible. For example, by collecting all of the HuanHuan, JingJing, NiNi, BeiBei, and YingYing pins, you have now not only completed a set of pins including the Beijing mascots, but you also now have a group of collectibles that serve a great meaning.
While pins may be small in size and light on a wallet, they commemorate the 2008 Olympic games as well as other collectibles may. Extremists can collect all pins, a set that could very well be worth more than five hundred dollars. Whether you want to go all out or if you just want one single pin, the Olympic pins are definitely not a bad choice.