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ABOUT THE INTERNATIONAL SPORTS HALL OF FAME AND OLYMPIC MUSEUM Eric Nash, Executive Director The Olympic Games of
today are by far not the same as the ones I knew when I was growing up in the
1930's and qualified for the Olympics in 1948 and 1952 and went on with the same
strictness of the Olympic Protocol and Ideal until1980, when they started to
change and professional athletes were allowed to compete and took most of the
gold, silver and bronze winners medals home. They are not the same Olympics
anymore that Baron Pierre de Coubertain, had designed and organized with
Demetrius Vikelas the first Olympics of the modern era in 1896 and were
strictly followed for 84 years by Comte Henri de Baillet-Latour, Sigfrid
Edstroem, Avery Brundage and Lord Killanin, until BIG MONEY came into the
picture and athletes of Amateur status were suddenly confronted with
Professionals that made yearly incomes of many millions of Dollars and win most
of the medals. I knew Avery Brundage for many years and all I know is that when
I saw him last in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, he was highly disgusted of what became
of the Olympics of the Baron Pierre de Coubertain Attending my first two Olympics and the four Olympic Flame Ceremonies in 1936 at age ten, as well as attending most Olympics since, always collecting pins and memorabilia, my collection encompasses an extensive Olympic collection of around 20,000 items, dating from 1896 to the present and by having been the distributor for the 1984 LAOOC pin licensee Ooh La La, we were able to have a complete collection of the 1984 Los Angeles and Sarajevo pins and pin sets, as well as all other 1984 memorabilia for our collection. While we were able to open the Olympic Museum to display my collection and share it with the public, we also were selling the 1984 pins and pin sets in the museum as well as at wholesale in gift shops throughout California and by specializing in the 1984 Olympics and purchasing all remaining pins and pin sets from the licensee after the Olympics, we are the only source left in the United States, who sells the original pins and pin sets from the 1984 Los Angeles and Sarajevo Olympics. I most honestly believe that the 1984 pins are more valuable than pins from Olympics after 1992 because they are rare and more beautiful and were the last ones of the U.S. Olympics that were not commercialized like the pins of the Atlanta and Salt Lake Olympics and are by far the best value for the price. Although we have only a few pins and pin sets left for sale from the Los Angeles Olympics and none from Sarajevo, we still charge the same prices as we sold them in 1984, although they are worth much more. E-mail checked daily at: enash327@yahoo.com or weekly at: museum@olympicsource.org Telephone: Summer: 541-765-2923 Winter: 702-346-1776 |
