Winning hopes on the pins

June 3, 2005

Winning hopes on the pins

Pinning your hopes on an All Black win in the upcoming test series? Or are the touring Lions your pin-up boys?

Whichever team you are backing, you can now wear your support on your lapel - or anywhere else you care to pin one of the new Lions Tour Collectables released this Monday (June 6).

And the great match-ups in the coming test series are not only on the field. The New Zealand Herald's Official Limited Edition Pin Collection pits player against player.

There are 31 pairs of pins to collect. Each day, two new ones are released - an All Black and a Lion. They can be bought from selected New World supermarkets and BP service stations nation-wide.

Readers who clip the daily coupon in the Herald and the Herald on Sunday can collect each pair for $2.95. Without the coupon they're $5.95. South Islanders can purchase the pins for $2.95 with any store purchase.

The Herald has also produced an album - free with a coupon from Friday's (June 3) newspaper - to hold the pins, preserving the memories of the tour for years to come.

But you'll have to be on the ball. Each pair of pins is available only on the day of its release.

The NZ Herald's Rob Billington says the portrait pins are future collectors' items.

"This is a strictly limited edition. If you miss out one day, your only chance of finding that pair is probably to trade with another collector - and you'll probably have to fork out a lot more than $2.95 if past experience is anything to go by.

"We expect the pins to generate quite a swap market."

Many of the collectables match-ups are classic. First players off the bench on Wednesday (June 8) are wings Joe Rokocoko and Jason Robinson.

Fiji-born 'Rocket Man' Rokocoko has scored 26 test tries since his 2003 debut on the left wing against England in Wellington. Weighing in at 98kg, Rokocoko is the first All Black to score two or more tries in four consecutive tests.

Robinson debuted against Italy in 2001 and has scored 110 test points for England and 10 for the Lions. At 84kg and 1.73m tall, Robinson is 26mm shorter and 14kg lighter than his potential All Black marker.

The last of the pins is to be released on July 6.

ENDS

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