Project record
One order, one invoice, every team in the association
A Minnesota association covered its whole program with a single 1,500-pin order — and a rush that had to be chased through the factory to land on time.
Baxter · MN · Brainerd Lakes · association
- Quantity
- 1,500 pins
- Size
- 2.0"
- Process
- iron die struck
- Finish
- soft enamel
- Proof rounds
- 1
- Inquiry to ship
- 18 days
Gallery
Image frames are in place with their final filenames and alt text. The binaries are held pending rights clearance and a minors review; dropping them in is a data change.
The brief
An entire association covered by one order — 1,500 pins on a single invoice, with a rush that TPC had to chase the factory to protect.
How the design got made
- Beat 1Association-level buy, not a single team
- Beat 2Rush window: in-hands 12/15, quoted with tariff pressure
- Beat 3Free 3x6 banner and 100 bonus pins included at the 1,000+ / 2.0" threshold
- Beat 4Ten-colour PMS spec plus glitter on one colour
- Beat 5TPC escalated to the factory mid-production to protect the delivery date
- Beat 6Shipped 12/6, nine days ahead of the in-hands date
The full account
Buying as an association, not as a team
Most hockey orders are one team, a few hundred pins, one set of parents. This was the whole association in a single purchase: 1,500 pins at two inches, plus a hundred all-gold-metal pins, on one invoice.
The arithmetic is why it's worth doing. At that volume the per-pin price falls to a level no individual team reaches on its own, the order clears the free banner threshold automatically, and there is one design cycle instead of six.
The trade-off is autonomy. Every team gets the same pin. Some associations want that; some would rather each team have its own.
Ten colours and a glitter
The production spec ran ten separate PMS colours plus a glitter, on a dyed black metal base.
Colours get specified as PMS numbers on the order, never described in words — "our green" doesn't survive the trip to a factory floor. If you have your PMS values, send them. If you don't, send a photo of the uniforms and they get pulled from that, which is why a uniform photo is part of the standard intake.
The rush
The in-hands date was 15 December, and the order didn't start until mid-November. That's inside the window where tariff exposure and rush fees both bite.
It got there. Not automatically — partway through, with the date closing, the shop went back to the factory directly to get a firm ship date rather than waiting on a status email. The pins shipped on 6 December, nine days ahead of the in-hands date.
Read this before your season starts
The pricing ladder is public and it's the single biggest lever on what an order costs:
- Six weeks out — no delivery charge, no rush fee
- Four weeks out — $40 delivery charge
- Three weeks out — $40 delivery, plus a $75 rush fee
Everything else on this page is design. This part is just a calendar.
Specification
| Team | Brainerd Amateur Hockey Association |
|---|---|
| Sport | Hockey |
| Level | association |
| Quantity | 1,500 |
| Size | 2.0" |
| Process | iron die struck |
| Fill | soft enamel |
| Upgrades | 1 glitter colour |
| Banner included | Yes |
| City | Baxter |
| State | MN |
| Region | Brainerd Lakes |
| Inquiry | 2025-11-18 |
| Artwork approved | 2025-11-19 |
| Shipped | 2025-12-06 |
| Deadline | 2025-12-15 |
| Proof rounds | 1 |
The banner threshold
This order cleared it. At a thousand pins over two inches, the banner and the bonus pins came with the run — the twenty cents a pin bought a larger pin as well as the banner.
- Pins only
- Trades poorly at tournament tables
- Free 3ft × 6ft banner — 13oz vinyl, CMYK, grommets every 2ft
- Free 100 gold-metal or blackout pins
- The size players actually trade
Threshold met at 1,000+ pins · +$0.20 per pin
What the customer said
“Yes, please proceed with the order.”
Customer, Brainerd Amateur Hockey Association · 2025-11-19 · on approval
Questions this order answers
Glitter is mixed into the enamel of a chosen colour rather than applied on top, so it won't rub off. It's specified per colour — one glitter colour, or several.
It's commonly used on a single accent area: the shape of a state, a star, a puck. A 1,500-pin association order ran one glitter colour across the whole run; another design used gold glitter only on the state-shaped element.
Sourced — Multiple 2025–26 orders
Yes, and it's usually the better deal. One Minnesota association covered every team with a single 1,500-pin order on one invoice, which cleared the banner threshold and brought the per-pin price down for everyone.
The alternative — each team ordering separately — means separate designs, separate minimums, and separate proof cycles. Some associations prefer that autonomy; it just costs more per pin.
Sourced — Brainerd AHA 2025 vs CCHA 2025–26
Tell us the in-hands date first, before anything else. Rush orders are possible and we've protected tight dates by escalating directly with the factory mid-production.
It costs more, and the fastest shipping is also the tariff-exposed shipping. Three weeks out means a $40 delivery charge plus a $75 rush fee.
Sourced — Brainerd AHA rush, November–December 2025
The pins are manufactured in China and are subject to US import tariffs. This is disclosed on every quote rather than surfacing at invoice.
Shipping method changes the exposure: the fastest air options are tariff-subject, while a roughly two-week freight-forwarding route avoids the tariff entirely. On a deadline with room in it, the slower route is usually the cheaper one.
Sourced — Shipping options quoted, October 2025
Yes — colours are specified as PMS numbers on the production order, not described in words. One association order ran ten separate PMS colours plus a glitter.
Send your PMS values if you have them. If you don't, send a uniform photo and we'll pull the colours from it — that request is part of our standard intake for a reason.
Sourced — Brainerd AHA 2025 production spec