Top 5 Trading Pin Upgrades

Check Out Our Top Tips for Making the Perfect Trading Pin

The whole point of a trading pin is to get your hands on the best designs. Whether it’s a character you love, a mascot from a team you support, or just a fun and memorable design, pin traders are drawn to certain designs for reasons all their own.

But if you want your pins to be the envy of all pin traders, we’ve got all the tips and tricks you need. The most important thing is to create something you love, and if you can incorporate the top trading pin upgrade options, it’s sure to become a design everyone wants to get their hands on too.

1. Glitter Enamel

First on our list is glitter enamel. It adds just the right amount of pop to any color you’d like, drawing attention to certain parts of your design. You can add as many glitter colors as you like, but we recommend sticking to one or two - that way, the glitter can really make a statement without making the design look over-busy.

2. Spinners and Sliders

Spinners and sliders are two of the most popular upgrade options for trading pins. It turns out that people love having some kind of interactive element in their trading pins. Spinners usually take the shape of a ball, puck, or bat, but we can make just about any part of your design a spinner. As for sliders, the classic version we see for baseball and softball pins is a ball that slides across the surface as if being hit over the fence.

Think of creative ways to incorporate a spinner or slider that plays with the theme or mascot of your team. The more unique, the more popular your pins will become! For example, if your team is the Pirates, a slider feature on your pins could be a ship crossing an ocean. Or, if your team is the Heat, you could have a spinner take the shape of a flaming ball or sun! Whatever your idea might be, we’re sure to be able to make it happen!

3. Danglers

Danglers come in all kinds of different shapes and forms. On trading pins, we’ve seen teams use danglers for player numbers - giving each player a set of pins that only show their number - as a way to make each pin a little more special to each person. We’ve also seen danglers turned into anchors, arrows, baseball bats, flags, and more!

When creating a custom trading pin, keep it in the back of your mind that a dangler can go just about anywhere. Usually, teams put danglers in the center, but they can dangle from the sides or from protruding elements of your design. If you think of a fun way to include a dangler, let us know! We’re always on the lookout for new and fun ideas!

4. Blinkers and Bobbles

With just the press of a button, blinkers can change the whole look of our pins! Just as the name says, blinkers blink to draw attention to certain parts of your design and add a fun splash of color. Blinkers are often used to make eyes glow, to add some sparkle to player numbers, or to emulate something like a scoreboard or hockey goal light.

Similarly, bobbles give your pins a fun interactive element. It’s usually just one specific part of the pin that becomes a bobble - or bobblehead! We’ve seen player heads, mascot heads, and all kinds of other sports memorabilia turned into bobbles, and the effect is always fun!

5. Translucent Enamel

Similar to glitter enamel, translucent enamel is used to create an eye-catching effect with color! Trading pins with translucent colors end up with a glass-like effect on the surface. Light is able to pass through the enamel so that the metal plating of the pins gets to shine through. It’s a subtle upgrade, but it creates a wonderful effect that is sure to help your trading pins stand out!

Create Custom Trading Pins For Your Team Today!

Feeling inspired? Get started on your own set of custom trading pins right now! All we need are a few ideas, and a list of any upgrade options you’d like to include, and our professional team of artists will take care of the rest! We always include free artwork, revisions and shipping, so you’re sure to have everything you need to get the design perfect! We’re looking forward to working with you!

Trading Pins