Name: Trudi Harmon

From: Bournemouth

How long have you been collecting? approx 6 months

How many pins do you own? approx 300

Dare I admit that I have become a bit of a pin head - well I think the answer to that is going to have to be a big fat yes.

It started harmlessly just visiting the London 2012 shop to buy a few pins for my son for Christmas to go with some of his other pins that he has collected over the years as a gift from Santa Mum.

To my surprise I thought they looked rather nice and took a bit of a shine to them. The decorations came down and the stocking put away and some opened presents were left under the tree. So I picked up the two box sets (mascot, guards and police) and told my son I would look after them and keep them safe for him.

I must admit these were my favourite when trawling through the website hence why I purchased them. I forgot about them for a time and I received an email from London 2012 about some new products on their website and that's when that little button got switched on.

The more I ordered the more I wanted. The more I wanted the more research I did. The more research I did I realised there was more to this pin collecting than just buying the odd pins that took my fancy. The wealth of information was huge and I was like a sponge wanting to find out more and more. I did not just have to buy official pins from London 2012 there were actually other places to buy them from and they were not fake.

But there were so many I thought this was mad, where do I begin? Was I about to enter the pinhead world and read all the latest news about new pins and where to get those sought after ones from? The answer I find myself saying is yes!

I knew I would not be able to get to the Games as my disability wouldn't allow me to so swapping wasn't an option and so retail pin sets were for me. I love choosing the next set I want to buy and the buzz of trying to find a complete set especially as I am rather slow on the uptake of pin buying, most have already sold out by the time I got the bug, so the search is much harder but so much more fun.

My favourite pin keeps changing with each set I have purchased...mascot guards to full English breakfast and Union Jack mascots,, Christmas set and then the nature pins. But my all time favourite has to be Wenlock Torch Relay, it is so cute. No doubt this will change with all the new pins that seem to come out daily at the moment. Too many to choose from and too many to buy... and a bank balance dwindling fast! I have just seen at the start of this page that fab pin trading hat I want one please. But shhshh got to go back to mum world again now.