Melissa Sim meets a six-time Olympic pin collector.

In Beijing

ALONG Wanfujing Street, the main shopping street in Beijing, stands 74-year-old Merritt Canfield wearing a sign around his neck that reads: "Exchange Pins?"

That really is his quest here. To collect and exchange Olympics-related pins from all over the world and meet people in the process. 

“I’ve spoken to people from over 20 countries,” said the Texan retiree. “Where else can you do that except the Olympics?” 

Want to trade? ST PHOTO: Melissa Sim

This passion of his started in 1996 at the Atlanta Games where he saw other people collecting and trading pins. 

“There are usually hundreds of people doing it. But they all didn’t come to China,” said Mr Canfield, who was accompanied by grandson Bob Canfield, 10.

The grandfather-grandson team say they station themselves at different tourist attractions and Olympic venues to collect their pins. 

They will even travel to a hotel to pick up a pin that a passer-by promised them, but didn’t have on hand.

This is the sixth Olympic Games that the Mr Canfield has attended and after each one, he says he mounts the pins on a board that is about 2m by 1m. To date, he has thousands of pins at home, and even some spare ones for trading. 

This year he’s looking out for a specific pin – a Canadian pin made in Taiwan. 

He said the China manufacturers of that pin were so busy they had to farm the work out to a Taiwanese company. But because of political sensitivities, the pins were destroyed.

Mr Canfield believes some still remain. “I’m looking for it,” he said. 

He’s also looking out for a golden bird’s nest pin. “I already have one, but I would like one more,” he grinned.