How to Create Custom Hockey Trading Pins For Your Team

Creating and trading custom pins is such a popular tradition in youth sports because of how it promotes sportsmanship and helps promote team spirit! We’ve helped design and manufacture hockey trading pins for tournaments and league championships all over the world, and it’s always fun to see how they foster camaraderie and build lasting memories between teammates and opponents alike!

If you need help coming up with a hockey trading pin design or need advice on how to showcase team spirit, we’ve got you covered. Below are some tips for creating an unforgettable design that’s sure to be irresistible to pin traders at your next tournament!

Step 1: Incorporate Essential Team Artwork

The foundation of any great hockey trading pin design is your team’s colors and logos. Below are some of the essential elements to consider including in design.

• Team Name and Logo: Your team name and logo are the basic building blocks of a great trading pin design. It helps create a personal connection to your pins among players and gives you a chance to add a unique sense of personality.
• Team Colors: Sticking to your team colors scheme helps create a cohesive appearance, but we can include any colors you have in mind! If you have an alternate uniform with a fun color scheme or want to create something unique that aligns with a specific tournament, just let us know!
• Important Dates: If your trading pins are for a specific season or tournament, consider including the city, season, and year in the design!
• Unique Shapes: Going beyond the traditional round shape will help your design stand out and be the envy of all pin traders! Consider fun shapes that help tell your team’s story! Is your team from Florida? Your pins could be shaped like palm trees or a sparkling blue ocean wave! From Colorado? Incorporate mountains and snowy peaks into your pins. Hockey sticks, jerseys, helmets, and skates are all great visuals to include in your design that add a unique flair!

Step 2: Add Upgrades To Win Over Pin Traders!

The more interactive and eye-catching your design is, the more desirable it will be among collectors! We have a suite of upgrade options available to mix and match in your design!

• Glitter enamel: Glitter creates an eye-catching effect throughout your design. We’ve seen customers add glitter enamel to team logos, names, and backgrounds to add a touch of brilliance.

• Translucent enamel: Translucent enamel creates a stained-glass effect that helps elevate your design! Especially when paired with high polish silver or high polish gold plating, translucent enamel will look incredible in your design!

• Sliders: A slider is a small part of your trading pins that moves left and right or up and down across the surface of your pins. We’ve seen hockey pucks, skates, and logos used as sliders, but we can make any idea work!

  

• Danglers: We’ve made small danglers shaped like trophies, player numbers, and more! Each one dangles from the bottom or side of your trading pin, adding a unique touch and eye-catching effect!

• Blinkers: Blinkers require a small battery back on the back of your pins, and a flashing effect on the front! Red blinkers have been used to emulate the goal light, the eyes of mascots, and so much more!

• Spinners: There is a reason fidget spinners are so popular! Adding a spinner to your trading pins makes them fun to hold and share with friends!

Step 3: Submit a Quote, Order Early, And Get Ready for Pin Trading

Once you’ve listed all your essential design elements and considered what upgrade options you like best, the next step is submitting a free quote form on our website! The quote form is your place to upload reference artwork, ask for specific upgrade options, and outline your design idea. Our professional art team will create a free artwork proof for you to review and make changes too!

Once your trading pin design is perfect, it’s time to submit your order. Here at All About Pins, we can manufacture an order of hockey trading pins in 7-10 business days and we always include fast, free shipping! That being said, it helps to order your pins as early as possible to ensure you have time to get the pins and distribute them among players before the start of the season or tournament.

Every team has its own way of doing things, but a common theme we have seen over the years is ordering enough pins for each player to have at least 5 pins. That means they have 4 pins to trade, and 1 pin to keep! If you’re ready to start designing, fill out a free quote form! We’ll gather all of your ideas and have a free artwork proof ready in as little as 24 hours! We can’t wait to start working with you!