Project record
Sixty rare pins against nine hundred and forty.
A Cooperstown order in three tiers, and a design decision reconsidered while reconsidering was still free.
Cooperstown confirmed
- Quantity
- 1,100 pins
- Size
- 2.0" / 3.0"
- Pin type
- Three-tier set pins
- Process
- Die struck soft enamel
The brief
Sixty rare pins against nine hundred and forty standard — and a customer who changed his mind about player numbers, in the right direction.
How the design got made
- Beat 1
Cooperstown 2025 order across three tiers
- Beat 2
940 standard pins at two inch
- Beat 3
60 rare pins at three inch - the largest size, the smallest run
- Beat 4
100 blackout pins as a third tier
- Beat 5
Player numbers debated at length and eventually reconsidered
- Beat 6
Customer: 'FYI im not totally married to needing to have numbers on the pin'
- Beat 7
'cooperstown 2025' set into a banner element on the design
The full account
The ratio
| Tier | Quantity | Size |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | 940 | 2.0" |
| Rare | 60 | 3.0" |
| Blackout | 100 | 2.0" |
Sixty rare pins against nine hundred and forty standard — roughly one in sixteen.
That is severe, and deliberately so. Compare it with the Bulldogs order in this library, which ran about one in seven. Both work; they produce different weeks. One in seven means most kids end up with a rare pin. One in sixteen means most don't, and the ones who do remember it.
There is no correct answer, but there is a decision to make, and it should be made on purpose rather than by picking a round number.
The rare pin is the big one
The 60 rare pins are three inches — the largest standard size — against two inches for everything else.
Size is the cheapest way to make a tier feel different. A three-inch pin next to a two-inch pin is not a subtle distinction; it is obvious across a table, and it costs nothing extra in tooling beyond the mould you were already paying for.
Changing his mind, at the right time
The design originally carried player numbers. Partway through proofing:
"Id like 'cooperstown 2025' to be on same banner. I d like to rethink the number... perhaps on the sides? FYI im not totally married to needing to have numbers on the pin"
He moved the numbers, then questioned whether they belonged at all.
Three weeks of design went into this order, and that is the point. Every one of those changes was free. The moulds had not been cut. The same reconsideration a fortnight later is a new mould and a new lead time.
Teams that feel guilty about proof rounds have it backwards — the expensive thing is not iterating, it's iterating late.
Cooperstown on the banner
The event and year set into a banner element on the design, which is the convention: the team is the subject, the event is the caption.
Why this one is here
For the ratio, and for the timing of a change of mind. Both are decisions that cost nothing to get right and a great deal to get wrong.
Specification
| Team | Bobcat Baseball Club |
|---|---|
| Sport | Baseball |
| Quantity | 1,100 |
| Size | 2.0" / 3.0" |
| Process | die struck |
| Fill | soft enamel |
| Pin type | Three-tier set pins |
| Finish options | blackout |
| Banner included | No |
| Event | Cooperstown |
| Event confirmed | Yes |
| Inquiry | 2024-11-12 |
The banner threshold
This order sat under the threshold, so no banner was included. At the time the line fell at 1,000 pins at 2.0 inches or larger: the size step cost $0.20 more per pin — $1.07 to $1.27 — and brought a free 3ft × 6ft banner plus 100 bonus gold-metal or blackout pins with it.
Worth checking before you commit to a quantity: the bigger pin is frequently the cheaper total order.
quoted for this order onlyAbout the prices on this page
Every figure here is taken from a real quote for a real order. That is the point of it — and also the reason it will not match what you are quoted.
- Quantity moves the price more than anything else
- Size and build are priced separately
- Turnaround changes the total
- Import tariffs apply and are disclosed on the quote
- These are historical
What the customer said
“Id like "cooperstown 2025" to be on same banner. I d like to rethink the number... perhaps on the sides? FYI im not totally married to needing to have numbers on the pin”
Customer, Bobcat Baseball Club · 2024-11-20 · on reconsidering player numbers mid-design
Questions this order answers
Pins are trading currency there, not souvenirs, and the difference between a pin that gets traded and one that doesn't is size and finish. Two inches is the floor.
Not every player relies on the team's pin. One parent came to us specifically because their team's supplied pins, in their words, 'aren't really sought-after' — and had a single-player pin made for their kid instead.
Build in time. Rosters change between ordering and travelling; more than one design has needed a number pulled late because a player left the program before the trip.
Sourced — Two confirmed Cooperstown orders, 2026 season
Yes, and it's one of the most requested features — teams routinely choose it over spinner or slider construction when they have to pick one.
Numbers need contrast to stay legible at pin scale. White numbers on a dark element such as a black puck is a reliable pattern. Send the full roster with numbers when you send artwork, and tell us straight away if the roster changes.
Sourced — Multiple 2025–26 orders
Two inches or larger is the working floor for tournament trading — smaller pins get passed over. Sizes run from 2 inches up to 6.
One little league's four orders across three years show the migration in practice: they started at 1.25 inches and moved to 2.0. Larger sizes also unlock the banner threshold, which is why the bigger pin often costs less in total.
Sourced — Sizing guidance across multiple orders; Northern Virginia little league, 2022–2026
No. Every figure in this library is what one team was quoted for one order, on the day they asked. It is published as a record, not as a price list.
Quantity and size move it most: the break runs about $0.20 per pin for every hundred pins, and the range here goes from a 1,500-pin corporate run at 1.25 inch to a 3 inch dangler with glitter. Pin type and finish are priced per pin on top of that — a spinner was $0.65 more per pin on one order, glitter is $0.10 per pin per glitter colour.
Timing is separate again. Six weeks ahead of your date carries no delivery or rush charge; four weeks adds a $40 delivery charge; three weeks adds $40 plus a $75 rush fee. The pins are manufactured in China and are subject to US import tariffs, disclosed on the quote rather than at invoice.
For a price that applies to your order, send your quantity, size and in-hands date and we will quote it.
Sourced — Quoted ladders and fee schedule across the AP Pope, Corona Avengers and Brainerd AHA threads, 2025–2026
Heading to Cooperstown?
This order was 1,100 pins at 2.0" / 3.0". Send us your roster size and your event date and we will come back with a price.
Request a free quote