2018 By the Numbers – The Year of the Pin

Now that 2018 is over, I thought it would be interesting to look back over the pin release numbers from the last year.

2018 was definitely a year of explosive growth, both for the band, and for the Pigeons pin/art scene. In January of 2018, the rules regarding designs of non-official merch changed. Prior to that, ALL merch designs had to be approved by the band’s management. The 2018 rules made it a little easier for new designs to come to market, while being very clear on what was allowed/prohibited. This definitely resulted in an exponential increase in the number of pins released, as the numbers below show (though if you’ve spent any time in The Coop, you already knew that).

With that in mind, check out these stats:
Note: For this, I only counted mass-produced pins, with every variant/color treated as a separate release. Also note that I am missing some release dates on the older pins, so these numbers may not be 100% accurate (but they’re very close).

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Here’s a chart by month if you’re more visual:

And now lets see who put out the most pins last year:

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No matter if you’re a serious collector, a curious newcomer, or just a fascinated observer, 2018 was a pretty crazy year in our pin market. Will 2019 continue to burn up our time? Or will the water get fucking cold? I’m not sure, but we’ll all find out together!

Special thanks, as always, to the artists and creators that make these pins happen! If nothing else, it’s amazing to see the creativity and range of styles that one band can inspire.