September 4–7, 2026 • Seattle, WA
Gazette PAX West Coverage
PAX West 2026 —Traditions, Patience and a Little Bit of Luck
September 4–7, 2026
The PinnyPals Gazette — with Luckycharm
Photo Credit: Hacky
By: Anastasia ‘Luckycharm’ Cooper
Compiled from community stories and collector feedback
Hi Friends and Fellow PinnyPals!
PAX West 2026 has finished, and I hope many of you got home safe and rested after such a roller-coaster of a convention. Such a wonderful assortment of pins to earn, but what a challenge to actually acquire them!
This PAX had a totally different vibe from East. Where East was a ‘Welcome Back’ and a fresh start to the pin year, West had the feeling that someone kept moving the goal posts, while still holding onto the enormity and traditions of PAX Prime.
East had 15 3rd party pins, and only 1 was a time sink — and it wasn’t too difficult. West had 27 3rd party pins, almost double! Six became challenging demo time sinks, 1 required attending a specific panel, and 1 was so popular that it became the most sought-after purchase pin of the whole show.
With such a huge Pin Quest, it makes sense that everyone was focused on acquisition, and chat seemed quieter this year than in previous years.
But before PAX even officially began, the community was already getting started…
I love a good tradition! With the stress of a PAX Pin Quest, the crowds and the lines, having something familiar to rely on can really help ground you.
I love that Skelevader organizes a yearly meetup of friends for a Pre-PAX Board Game Night at the Sheraton. Of course, the trade binders come along too, so there is plenty of casual pin trading while everyone hangs out and plays games. THX42 was also trading in the 2nd floor lobby outside the Willow Room, including the first chance to trade for his new community pin.
Food is another important part of Pre-PAX planning! There is always plenty of discussion in the community about the best places to eat before and during the convention — because staying fed and charged for four days of PAX is important, preferably without having to survive entirely on convention center food.
And then there are the really important traditions…
Clix observing his traditional BIG BEER Pre-PAX!
Photo Credit: Pennychaser
In addition to prepping trade binders, a lot of effort goes into planning which pins to try for and figuring out the most efficient path around the convention. With West spread across multiple buildings and floors, knowing where you were going was particularly important.
THX42 once again stepped in to help the community by making super easy maps showing where to find the pins on the Quest and adding a simple graphic to show whether each pin was purchasable or had another method of acquisition.
What makes these maps more effective than the map in the PAX app is that they include a picture of the actual pin at its location, rather than just the Pinny Arcade logo. They also show whether the pin costs money ($) or has another way to obtain it. Such a useful tool!
Photo Credit: THX42
Pre-PAX West Traditions
Photo Credit: Time Tyrant
And what a Pin Quest! So many pins to love, acquire and trade, including the surprise Songs of the Past Wolf pin by CD PROJEKT RED.
But where the pins really shined this year was in the decorative card backers. 12 of the 3rd party pins had special card backs that didn't just complement the pins but enhanced the overall picture. The community definitely took notice!
Community Voice: Which pin backer art was your favorite this year?
Ragnarok2947 — Probably the Tanuki pin. For one, it's very colorful and vibrant compared to the standard light blue backer. But mainly, the motif is pretty neat. The pin itself is Pon doing what looks like a jump on their bike. The backer makes it look like they're high up in the air, so that was pretty cute.
CJ — Tough question, but I’d probably go with Rain98. I love the color blue, and that deep cool blue look they have going on with Reina’s pin is definitely my favorite.
RogueOverseer — The background art of the Trash Panda pin from Child's Play fits perfectly with the pin itself of the raccoon sitting on top of the garbage bin.
Photo Credit: PBTam
Pin Quest — PAX West 2026
Continuing the theme from PAX East, Penny Arcade once again had the very useful Pin Quest handout showing all the pins and where to find them in PAX Park ticket form!
PAX West 2026 Show Set
Limited Edition PAX WEST 2026 Pin
Photo Credit: AbyssalMelody13
Community Voice: What was your favorite pin from PAX West 2026?
Hacky — The PAX West Master Churro was my favorite pin. It's a delicious food, the small dots representing sugar being metal give the pin a subtle and satisfying texture, and it's a pin many starting pin traders might have to facilitate trades.
Community Voice: What was your favorite pin graphically?
Congiman — The Show Set Ticket pin. It shows the yearly progression, which ties the year together.
Photo Credit: PBTam
Photo Credit: PBTam
The Limited Edition pin once again brought an early morning line, but West used a ticket system trialed at PAX East so that meant collectors didn't have to stay in the merch line and immediately purchase their pin.
The daily allocation was 250 / 500 / 500 / 250, with each person able to receive up to 2 dated tickets. Once you had your ticket, you could purchase your LE later that same day, allowing you to head off and continue your PAX adventure rather than spending more of your morning waiting at Merch.
Although the official distribution time was 10am, the reality was a little different. With a crowd already waiting, Enforcers began handing out tickets before 9am. The convention centre had opened at around 8:15am, and community members reported tickets already being distributed by approximately 8:40am, with Merch beginning sales around 9:20am. By approximately 9:50am, the day's LE tickets were gone.
So while the ticket system gave collectors much more freedom after securing their LE, the old rule still applied if you really wanted one — get there early!
Photo Credit: CJ
The morning line at Merch Summit on Saturday was full of people waiting to secure their LE tickets. To speed things up, the Enforcers asked everyone to hold up either 1 or 2 fingers to show how many tickets they wanted.
EVERYONE could be seen holding up 2 fingers. Pins are doing fine!
Photo Credit: Occam
AbyssalMelody13 also pointed out a clear difference between the East and West LE pins. Side-by-side, the East LE has glitter in the oval behind the year, while the West LE doesn't.
Whether this was an intentional design difference or simply a difference in the production run isn't clear, but it's a fun little detail when the two are sitting next to each other!
PAX Trade Set 2026
The 'Kemper at PAX Land' Trade Set continued to be a winner with both new and established community members. People who attended East and had already acquired their Kempers were able to help out people who still needed their set, including the elusive Loot Drop Kemper.
Getting that final chase pin was considerably harder at West. At East, collectors had a 1:7 chance of landing the Loot Drop through the Plinko game. At West, you needed to roll a 20 on a D20 — giving you a 1:20 chance. Unsurprisingly, there was some frustration from collectors trying to get that final pin and complete the set.
Community Voice: What was your favorite pin from PAX West 2026?
-All the Kempers on the trade board. Made it fun to roll for and the theme was very cute!
Community Voice: Which pin had the most fun activity or challenge to acquire?
-Probably the Loot Drop, as I got it after multiple rerolls that kept giving me the pin I had just traded to the table for the chance!
Community Voice: What was your most memorable pin-related moment this year?
2spock — Rolling a 20 at the trade board. The Loot Drop pin was nice.
-Went to the trade board at Summit Merch on the last day and rolled a 1. Normally that is a re-roll, but there was a sticker over the roll sheet with a question mark. The Enforcer said it was a special prize and handed me a Witcher panel pin! I accepted of course!!
-Someone posted about trying to get the Loot Drop pin to complete their Kemper show set, and we ended up trading. She said she’d been running back and forth between Arch and Summit Merch trying to get it for 4 hours. I could feel her relief when I handed it over and released her from her quest. Plus, I got a ‘26 West LE to boot. Great end of Monday experience.
Of course, none of these Trade Set shenanigans happen by themselves! Several members of our community volunteered their time at the Trade Set table and other Pin Boards, helping run the game and facilitate trades throughout the weekend.
Photo Credit: ChildsPlayCharity and TempleOfDoom
With so many people wanting to trade and roll for the set, the boards also needed some crowd control. The Blip badge scanner was used to limit people to 2 pin trades or rolls per hour.
On Saturday, the Arch Pin Board also changed to roll OR look at the trade board. If you chose to look at the board and didn't find anything you wanted, you needed to return to the end of the line before having a chance to roll.
Community Voice: Did any vendors, exhibitors, or volunteers do something that really supported the pin scene?
Name Redacted — One of the Enforcers at the trade boards may or may not have given my daughter the chase pin even when she didn't roll a 20. I'll never tell!
Photo Credit: THX42
And no, before anyone asks — it's not a pin! It's a button! Lidija made them and gave THX42 a few to hand out while he worked the Trade Set table. Obviously, being banned from Pinny Arcade Pin Trading was not binding.
Honestly, I just want a ‘Banned for Trading’ button now. Please!?
3rd Party Pins
Pon
[CRITICAL REFLEX]
Photo Credit: PBTam
To earn the Pon pin, attendees needed to complete the TANUKI: Pon’s Summer demo and wishlist the game on Steam. The demo itself ran for around 20 minutes, and with only a limited number of stations available, the line quickly became one of the more difficult ones to catch without it being capped.
The funny thing is, while there was plenty of frustration about the line, there was a lot of love for the demo itself.
Community Voice: What was your favorite pin graphically? — 3 Votes
-Tanuki/Pon, really shows movement in the art style, cute design, and I appreciate that it’s physically not a huge pin.
-Tanuki Pon for the cute artwork and custom background.
-I love the whimsy of the Tanuki pin and think it's cuter.
Community Voice: Which pin had the most fun activity or challenge to acquire? — 3 Votes
CJ — I’d say the Tanuki game demo was actually a lot of fun! I ended up playing it multiple times in one day because I really wanted to squeeze everything I could out of that 20-minute demo. I tried to complete all the challenges before the timer ran out, but yeah, I failed lol. My favorite part was definitely the bar game where you have to pour the right amount of drink into the glass. It was simple but surprisingly fun! And on top of that, the pin is super cute, so it’s definitely a win-win for me!
Congiman — The Tanuki pin was a 20-minute fixed demo. It was ridiculous, did not take itself seriously, and was just fun. The wait was over an hour, but it was a fun experience.
Community Voice: Which pin had the least fun activity or challenge to acquire? — 3 Votes
Screaming Narwhal — The Tanuki pin line was so long the day I did it because the media took over halfway through my line wait and made it so 2/6 stations were usable. Turning the 20-minute line into 60+.
Time Tyrant — The line for Tanuki Pon was deceptively long. The problem with it was it was a small line, it capped quickly, only 6 demo stations (5 most of the time because one was reserved for Media, ughhh), and the demo was 15–20 mins.
-Tanuki Pon had a fun demo but the line was always capped and moved very slowly.
Photo Credit: THX42
Photo Credit: CJ
Photo Credit: PBTam
The Pale Visitor and Cat pins were originally advertised as rewards for completing the “No, I’m Not a Human Door IRL” Challenge and following Critical Reflex on Steam. What wasn't immediately obvious was that completing the activity didn't necessarily mean walking away with a pin — you had to win.
The Door Challenge quickly developed a reputation as one of the more difficult acquisitions at West. The line was frequently capped, waits could reach 45–60 minutes or more, and if you lost, you walked away without a pin. With two pins to collect, that meant potentially doing the whole thing again.
Word travelled quickly through the community. People in line shared their experiences, collectors reported unsuccessful attempts, and some who had planned to try the Door Challenge decided it wasn't worth the risk of spending an hour in line and leaving empty-handed.
From the second day onward, Buckshot Roulette became another way to earn the same pins.
Photo Credit: Skelevader
Buckshot involved four players and always produced a winner, the games cycled relatively quickly, and at times its queue was considerably shorter than the Door Challenge. Once collectors realised this, some deliberately switched over to Buckshot instead.
The community being the community, people also started working out the odds and strategies. Groups could play together and potentially distribute their winnings, while others played solo and simply considered repeated games of Buckshot a better use of their time than waiting for — and potentially losing — the Door Challenge.
Community Voice: What was your favorite pin from PAX West 2026? - 2 Votes
Utopia2064 — I really loved the No, I’m not a Human Cat. I didn’t know about the game, but wanted to be able to win the pin with the door activity. My daughter was into it, so I purchased the game and we spent an entire afternoon playing through it together, which was great bonding time. At PAX, it took me four times through the line to get both pins, but it was worth it!
Ragnarok2947 — The No, I'm Not a Human pins - mostly because of the memories associated with obtaining them is something that I particularly won't forget from this PAX.
Community Voice: Which pin had the most fun activity or challenge to acquire? — 2 Votes
Ragnarok2947 — Definitely No, I'm Not a Human. Having previous knowledge of the video game was actually detrimental - people that you knew were visitors in the video game could be humans in the IRL game. After a couple of attempts, I was able to see the patterns and it felt so good finally winning. This felt like a pin to actually earn. This was at East this year and I was able to win it first try - I suppose the allure of winning a pin this time really ramped up the anxiety and tension levels (I'm almost certain they made it harder for West). Shoutout to the enforcer that let me in towards the end of the day when every line was capping. I wouldn't have gotten that pin without you.
-The most challenging to get was either the orange cat or the green head, because the game you had to win was really hard (until they let you play an alternate towards the end of con).
Community Voice: Which pin had the least fun activity or challenge to acquire? — 6 Votes
Congiman — The I’m Not Human Game by Critical Reflex. You had to make 4 correct guesses to get one of 2 pins. Get one wrong and you don’t get a pin. The problem was, you had to look through a peephole, which had poor quality, and even if you used the logic they told you about, everyone felt like it was 50/50 each round. General feeling was about 1/8 (12%) of players got a pin. By day 3, Buckshot Roulette was giving the same pins, and that had a 25% chance - a much better choice. And, you needed to win twice to get both pins to complete the Pin Quest.
CJ — Critical Reflex’s No, I’m Not a Human demo was probably one of the most frustrating demos I played at PAX West. I tried it twice in one day and somehow managed to fail every single time. And to make it even more frustrating, if you fail, you don’t get the pin. [...] Personally, after trying multiple times, it just wasn’t worth standing in line anymore. At some point, I completely lost hope of getting both of their demo pins. Luckily, Buckshot Roulette came in clutch on the last day!
Hacky — No, I'm Not a Human. I avoided the relatively long line (~40-60 minutes from the end) for as long as I could because the chance to lose the game and not get a pin was high according to others. I did do the game at the end of the convention and won the pin on my first and only try, but I'm very good at logic-based puzzles and games and I feel that helped me... but I really do not like the possibility of standing in line and leaving empty-handed. I'd rather trade well for the pin at that point.
PinJacketGuy — You had to WIN the game to get a pin... so I wasted an hour in line to get nothing for my time. I’d rather have the option to also BUY the pin.
Community Voice: Did any vendors, exhibitors, or volunteers do something that really supported the pin scene?
Hacky — As much as I dislike the chance of not getting No, I'm Not a Human's pins, Critical Reflex did a good job of giving attendees a chance to get pins via demos. The Buckshot Roulette and No I'm Not a Human "IRL" experiences were also not just a gameplay demo, but each had a twist to make it unique to PAX.
CJ —My girlfriend and I decided to participate at the Buckshot Roulette, and since we ended up being the last group, one of their staff members was kind enough to give us one of each pin just for participating. Huge shoutout to them for that!
Community Voice: What was your most memorable pin-related moment this year?
Ragnarok2947 — The first time winning the No, I'm Not a Human IRL challenge. The Expo was about to close for the day and the line looked capped. My friend was able to go ask an enforcer if it was okay if I can join (I was too scared to ask - it's the severe social anxiety). Sure enough, I finally won after trying 2 other times that day.
Side Comment:
RogueOverseer — The Buckshot Roulette Pinny was fun to acquire since you're playing Russian roulette for a pin.
Trash Panda & Bigfoot
Photo Credit: PBTam
Community Voice: Which pin backer art was your favorite this year? — 4 Votes
CJ — A notable mention has to go to Jimothy (Trash Raccoon) from Child’s Play though! That one is just too good not to shout out haha!
Screaming Narwhal — Biased, but the Trash Panda.
-Trash Panda's backer forms a memorable scene in combination with the pin.
Community Voice: What was your favorite pin from PAX West 2026? — 1 Vote
Screaming Narwhal — Child's Play Bigfoot, because my son is obsessed with Bigfoot.
Community Voice: Did any vendors, exhibitors, or volunteers do something that really supported the pin scene? — 1 Vote
Congiman — Child’s Play booth with their pin board was amazing as always!
Town Hall Citizen & Trivia Murder Party Broc [Jackbox Games]
Community Voice: What was your favorite pin from PAX West 2026
Time Tyrant — it has to be the GOAT Natsuki. Pinny Arcade has begun getting way more anime inspired pins and I am here for it! Now I am looking forward for the rest of the DDLC crew to appear as pins.
Photo Credit: PBTam
Photo Credit: PBTam
Rebounder & Bing Bong [Aggro Crab]
Community Voice: What was your most memorable pin-related moment this year
- I tried the new game called Rebounder at Aggro Crab because of the pin and loved the gameplay
Community Voice: Did any vendors, exhibitors, or volunteers do something that really supported the pin scene- 1 Vote
PBTam — Aggrocrab! Glad they joined the pin community. I've seen them at several PAX but this was their debut pin. They had a really amazing booth that looked like a hut. If you look close enough, there was also a seagull at the very top of the booth. All in all a very fun booth to visit.
But it was Bing Bong who became the unexpected star. Aggro Crab hadn't anticipated just how popular he was going to be. While Rebounder pins were still available, Bing Bong sold out before the end of Sunday!
Community Voice: What was your favorite pin from PAX West 2026?
PinJacketGuy — Special shout out to our lord and Savior..... BingBong!
Photo Credit: PBTam
Photo Credit: PBTam
Photo Credit: Congiman
Rain98 Reina [C#4R4CT3R]
Photo Credit: PBTam
The Reina pin was another one of West's more involved demo acquisitions. To earn the pin, you needed to complete the Rain98 demo, take a photo of the final screen, wishlist the game on Steam, join their Discord and post feedback.
With 8 demo stations and a demo taking approximately 20–30 minutes to complete, the line moved slowly and was frequently reported as capped. Rain98 reportedly had 800 pins available across the weekend, so there were plenty of pins — the challenge was getting enough people through the demo to earn them.
The requirements also had collectors doing some Pre-PAX homework of their own, with people sharing the Discord link and working out which steps they could complete ahead of time before joining the queue.
Photo Credit: CJ
Photo Credit: Congiman
Photo Credit: Time Tyrant
Community Voice: Which pin had the least fun activity or challenge to acquire? — 4 Votes
Utopia2064 — The Rain98 pin, 20+ minute demos, very little line space. I was never able to see the line uncapped. I wish exhibitors would stop doing long demos, it is not needed and more people will get to see their game. At least the Voidwood devs listen to feedback and shorted their demo after day 1.
Time Tyrant — The other one which was just confusing was the Rain98 line. They made the last person in line hold a sign saying it was capped, but the confusing thing was that it was not actually capped and you would have to talk to the person holding the sign to figure out what was going. A handwritten sign would have been better than using a premade PAX sign that didn't actually describe the line situation. The line was also pretty small for the amount of demo stations it had. The actual demo was pretty good, and I look forward to seeing the full release.
— Reina98, the demo was entirely too long, line was always capped, and the pin isn’t all that special. AND booth staff told me at the end of the day Monday that they’re upping the demo time to 70 minutes in future. I’m hoping they were talking about the demos available on Steam but from the phrasing it sounded like their convention demo was what was going to be increased.
— Reina. I refused to even try, that was WAY too much.
Community Voice: Did any pins, quests, or releases surprise you this PAX? — 1 Vote
Congiman — Rain98 was some sort of fever dream. Definitely one of the stranger demos.
Community Voice: What was your most memorable pin-related moment this year?
Ragnarok2947 — The Rain98 pin for a very different reason. Every time I look at the pin now, I'm just constantly reminded that I had to intricately put socks on a girl as part of the demo, which made me question my life choices.
Folding Faces [Folding Ideas]
Folding Ideas took a different approach to their pin activity. You could play a dice game for a chance to win a discount and potentially score a second pin for free — or, if audience participation isn't your thing, you could simply buy the pin at full price.
Community Voice: Which pin had the most fun activity or challenge to acquire? — 1 Vote
2spock — The Folding Ideas pin was cool because you had a chance at another pin.
Community Voice: Did any vendors, exhibitors, or volunteers do something that really supported the pin scene? — 1 Vote
—The Folding Faces pin was fun, could play a dice roll game to win prizes. He also came to the pin trading event to trade.
Photo Credit: PBTam
Community Voice: What was your favorite pin from PAX West 2026?
2spock — The scuba cookie was a favorite, since it always goes to a good cause.
In the East 2026 Issue, I questioned what, if any, theme Cookie Brigade was going with this year. With PAX East ‘26’s Milk Carton, and now West’s SCUBA Snack, I am starting to sense a milk theme…
Will they do something milk-themed for Australia?
SCUBA Snack [Cookie Brigade]
Photo Credit: PBTam
Root Underworld Portrait [Leder Games]
Community Voice: Which pin backer art was your favorite this year- 3 Votes
Hacky — ROOT Underworld's backer has excellent art that is a great accent for the pin
Photo Credit: PBTam
Photo Credit: THX42
Eye of Sauron [Office Dog Games]
Before PAX, the Eye of Sauron pin was advertised as free with the purchase of any Office Dog, Z-Man, or Unexpected Games title from Zulu’s Board Game Cafe, while supplies lasted.
When collectors arrived at West, however, the goal posts had moved. The Eye of Sauron pin was only available with the purchase of either of the two Lord of the Rings trick-taking games, with a limit of one pin per game, per trip through the line.
Photo Credit: PBTam
Photo Credit: Zulu's Board Game Cafe Facebook Page
Photo Credit: Hacky
This caused frustration for collectors who had already purchased these games at PAX Unplugged to acquire previous Lord of the Rings pins. If they wanted the new Eye of Sauron, they were now looking at buying another copy of a game they already owned.
Then came another problem — what do you do with all the games?
For people travelling home, suitcase space and weight are precious, and multiple copies of a board game aren't exactly easy to squeeze into your carry-on. Some collectors traded the games away as fodder rather than trying to take them home.
PBTam ran into this problem on a much larger scale while fulfilling proxy requests. After purchasing more than 20 copies of the games to acquire Eye of Sauron pins for his Proxy Fam, taking them all home simply wasn't practical. A member of the community came up with a much better solution — donate them to Child's Play!
Around 20 of the games ultimately went to Child's Play, turning a rather ridiculous Pinny logistics problem into something wonderfully generous.
Community Voice: What was your favorite pin graphically? — 1 Vote
2spock — The Eye of Sauron pin. I like the stained glass look.
Community Voice: Which pin backer art was your favorite this year? — 5 Votes
Time Tyrant — I think the Lord of the Rings backer art is still the coolest one, despite being recycled from the Unplugged pin. At least the art matches the pin this time, haha. I just really like the stain glass type design it has.
But that wasn't the only Pinny surprise hiding at Zulu's over the weekend.
Community Voice: Did any pins, quests, or releases surprise you this PAX?
Hacky — Zulu's had a special deal on Sunday, bundling a copy of Cozy Stickerville with a pinny... which turned out to be PAX Unplugged's hard-to-get Wolf Pup pin. Since the Zulu's storefront with this bundle was not the same storefront handing out the Eye of Sauron pin, it seems that this was off the radar for most. They could have done a tweet to update everyone, but social media never informed the community.
A big thank you to Hacky, who shared his find in the PinnyPals Community Slack PAX West channel so others could take advantage of the opportunity too!
Hello, Slumber Cat! [NIS America]
Photo Credit: PBTam
Available for purchase from the NIS America booth, Hello, Slumber Cat! sold out by Saturday, so while we didn't get any specific Community Voice comments about this one, it certainly seems to have found its fans!
The design may also look familiar to collectors. NIS America's previous PAX West pin, Slumber Cat, featured the same adorable artwork, just with our sleepy kitty in a different position. A cute little companion to the previous pin!
Photo Credit: PBTam
Slumber Cat - PAX West 2025
The VOIDWOOD Tree [Santa Barbara Games]
The Santa Barbara Games Booth at PAX West is probably one of the best examples of learning and adapting on the fly I have ever encourtered.
On Friday morning, the VOIDWOOD demo was running for around 15–20 minutes, with 4 stations all starting at the same time. The line quickly became difficult to manage and had to be regularly capped, with at least one community member reporting waiting almost 2 hours.
Photo Credit: PBTam
Photo Credit: THX42
Photo Credit: AbyssalMelody13
But rather than just accepting that this was how their demo and lines would run for the rest of PAX, the VOIDWOOD team recognized there was a problem and changed it not just during the show, but on the first day!
Their engineers shortened the demo on Friday, temporarily holding the line while the changes were made. According to Santa Barbara Games, the change allowed them to put through close to twice as many people afterwards.
And it seems that effort was appreciated, because despite the difficult lines, VOIDWOOD received some of the most positive feedback of any timesink pin in the survey. Both because of their experience, and from the physical appearance of the pin.
Community Voice: What was your favorite pin from PAX West 2026? — 4 Votes
SirOccam — Voidwood. Not only is the pin beautiful, but the booth itself looked amazing. The staff at the booth were incredibly cool and the game was a lot of fun.
— Of the show pins, the Voidwood pin was my favorite. Big fan of purple and the subtle glitter effect on it is *chefkiss.
— Cute animals and purple trees!!
Community Voice: What was your favorite pin graphically? — 6 Votes
Hacky — Voidwood Tree, for its excellent use of enameled sections to form leafy textures and its wrinkled tree trunk.
PBTam — Honorable mention to Voidwood! The pin came out amazing and the blend of colors really made the pin pop in a non-showy way.
Screaming Narwhal — The Voidwood pin looks way better in person, I thought it was striking.
— Voidwood. Perfect choices with Enamel and metal colors.
— Voidwood - I love purple and nature.
Community Voice: Which pin backer art was your favorite this year? — 3 Votes
PinJacketGuy — Best unique new one goes to VoidWood. Matches the pin in a very pleasing way.
— It matched the pin design and game vibe well.
Community Voice: Which pin had the most fun activity or challenge to acquire? — 3 Votes
SirOccam — Voidwood, just due to how fun the game was and how engaging the staff at the booth were. They had cool little foam hatchets too, for wishlisting the game.
PinJacketGuy — This was my girlfriend's first PAX. We tried to get the demo pins. VOIDWOOD was the only one we got to try. We enjoyed the game.. she was the last to die!
— I didn’t get all of the pins, but of the ones I did, it’s a close race between Voidwood and Pon, but I’d give it to Voidwood because I enjoyed the game more, and the booth ambiance was great.
— Voidwood had an interesting demo and my friends and I enjoyed the co-op challenge.
Community Voice: Which pin had the least fun activity or challenge to acquire? — 1 Vote
— Voidwood. Stood in line for almost 2 hours. The devs shortened the demo thankfully and things started moving after that.
But this is not where the story ends, but where Santa Barbara Games really impressed me.
After PAX, Santa Barbara Games made a public post thanking everyone who played and directly addressing the problems they had experienced over the weekend. Read the post here: https://www.reddit.com/r/PAX/comments/1weeg23/thanks_to_everyone_who_played_voidwood_and_sorry/
They also had something lovely to say about us Pinny people. VOIDWOOD was their first PAX as an exhibitor, and they thanked the Pinny Arcade community for being so welcoming to a booth that nobody knew. Apparently several members of their team have now started their own pin collections — something they admitted they “did not budget for!!”
YAY! Open communication, receptive to feedback, AND engaging with the Pinny Community!! As someone who has been struggling with building connections between exhibitors and the Pinny Community, this is like finding a chase pin on a trade board. It brings me joy and inspires me to keep working.
We have to keep in mind that demo pins aren't always going to go perfectly, especially when exhibitors don't know how popular their booth or pin will be until thousands of PAX attendees actually arrive. VOIDWOOD listened, adapted, communicated what had happened, and thanked the people who stuck with them. That gets a gold star from me!
And sometimes trying to get a timesink pin becomes about much more than just the acquisition.
Community Voice: What was your most memorable pin-related moment this year?
— After tangentially circling the pin groups for several years, I finally got a chance to hang out with folks a couple times. The peak was when I ended up in a group with 3 of the regulars playing the Voidwood demo. We lost in the end, but I managed to res three teammates before going down myself, and I’m usually the first one out in these types of survival games.
A pin brought them to the booth, but the experience brought them closer to the community. I think that's a pretty great result.
Photo Credit: CJ
CJ found a bug while playing the demo and one of the devs gave him this!
Modern D4 Capibara [Q Workshop]
Photo Credit: PBTam
Photo Credit: THX42
Community Voice: What was your favorite pin from PAX West 2026- 1 Vote
Halo GO Spartan [Gamers Outreach]
Photo Credit: PBTam
The Halo GO Spartan was easily one of the most popular pins of PAX West. It was a recognizable IP AND a really good looking pin, and unfortunately, that popularity quickly became a problem.
On Friday morning, collectors headed straight for the Gamers Outreach booth, creating a large line almost immediately.
Photo Credit: CJ
Photo Credit: THX42
Ragnarok2947 — The morning stampede to the Gamer's Outreach booth to get the Halo pin made me feel like Simba from The Lion King. 100% there were people running.
Gamers Outreach did try to adjust as the weekend continued. After Friday's line and rapid sell-out, a ticket system was introduced on Saturday, along with tighter purchase limits and a set daily allocation.
KittyRetro — On Friday they were selling 3 per person, but they were only allotted a certain number they could sell each day. After they sold out on Friday, I was talking to them and was told someone had offered $200 if they would sell him one, but they had to say no because of the daily allocation. On Saturday, a ticket system went into effect, with tickets limited to 2 per person.
Unfortunately, while the changes helped manage how the available pins were distributed, they couldn't solve the bigger problem — there simply weren't enough Halo pins to meet the demand. Each day's allocation disappeared quickly, leaving collectors trying again the following morning.
And it wasn't difficult to see why people wanted one!
Community Voice: What was your favorite pin from PAX West 2026? — 2 Votes
PBTam — My favorite pin from this show is the Halo Spartan pin. Halo is an iconic game and an original title for the xbox. This one hits nostalgia along with introducing a really great design.
Community Voice: What was your favorite pin graphically? — 8 Votes
CJ — I really love this Halo pin! Growing up playing Halo, this one definitely hits different and has a lot of nostalgia behind it for me. Add in that awesome and unique backer, along with the great details, colors, and overall design, and this pin is just perfect. Everything about it is perfect! Easily an overall 10/10 for me.
PinJacketGuy — The Halo pin. I loved the fact that they got their company colors as part of the Spartan Armor.
Time Tyrant — I think I, as many others, would have to say the Halo pin by Gamer's Outreach. Not only did it look cool in the preview, it looked absolutely stunning in person. The colors and linework were so clean and really made the pin shine. I am not even a Halo fan but it is a great addition to my growing collection.
PBTam — Halo. Design. Color palette. Raised design on silver outlines of the pin adds a really amazing textural element to the pin. The backer is also surprisingly well done.
RogueOverseer — The Halo pinny looks great. The graphic is sharp and fits with the atmosphere of the game.
—Halo, it was a very good version of Master chief. Well done art!
Community Voice: Which pin backer art was your favorite this year? — 1 Vote
Congiman — The halo backer was pretty cool, because it matched nicely with the pin. It was fairly plain, but really accentuated the pin.
But being one of the most popular pins of West also made it one of the least enjoyable to actually acquire.
Community Voice: Which pin had the least fun activity or challenge to acquire? — 4 Votes
PinJacketGuy — Halo was difficult because even if you got in line for expo hall early people who ran (when not allowed to) got there first.
RogueOverseer — Probably the Halo pinny for to the limited number available each day and selling it with an hour of the expo hall opening.
Hacky — Someone tell Microsoft to let Gamers Outreach print more pins. I'm hearing that's why there were not enough Halo pins to meet demand...
— Halo pin was always sold out almost immediately after the expo opened.
— The Gamers Outreach pin. It was just very poorly handled.
Community Voice: Did any pins, quests, or releases surprise you this PAX? — 3 Votes
Ragnarok2947 — The Gamer's Outreach Halo pin. That was mostly out of left field considering there's no Halo release on the horizon.
—The Halo pin debacle. Letting people buy 8-10 at a time Friday and then limited to 1 per person for 100 pins Monday. Jeez.
Unfortunately, when you have a pin this popular and only a limited number available each day, there is only so much that queue management can fix, but Gamer's Outreach kept trying to improve the process as the weekend went on, so thank you for trying!
Photo Credit: KittyRetro
The Secret of the Weepstone [DreadXP]
Photo Credit: THX42
Photo Credit: PBTam
Community Voice: What was your favorite pin from PAX West 2026- 1 Vote
Community Voice: Did any vendors, exhibitors, or volunteers do something that really supported the pin scene- 1 Vote
PinJacketGuy — DreadXP gave me a free pin for having to waiting so long to demo their game and ask questions.
Crit Like You Mean It
Photo Credit: PBTam
Photo Credit: THX42
Kira from Petal Runner [iam8bit]
Photo Credit: PBTam
Abigale
The Abigale pin was acquired a little differently from most time sinks or purchase pins. You had to enter a Magic: The Gathering tournament! Laughing Dragon Events ran three Pinny Pins events each day with different formats, giving collectors several opportunities to gain the pin. The events included The Hobbit Sealed, Chaos Draft, and The Hobbit Pre-Con Chaos Commander Party. You did have to pay to enter the tournament based on the event chosen since you were opening Magic card packs, so in essence you paid for the cards, and got the pin for participating.
But what if you didn't play Magic? Or don't like interacting with people in this situation? This one produced an obvious split in the Community Voice. If you already enjoyed Magic, this could be one of the most enjoyable pins to earn. If you didn't play Magic... well, that was a very different experience!
Community Voice: Which pin had the most fun activity or challenge to acquire? — 2 Votes
Hacky — Abigale, because I like card games. And while Magic the Gathering might not be everyone's cup of tea, the pin was fair to acquire -- many of the events to get the pin were available to sign up for right up to the start time (even extending the player cap as they were able), they often were formats that are more beginner-friendly, and they later put pins up on their prize ticket wall for more avenues to get the pin (or multiple!)
Community Voice: Which pin had the least fun activity or challenge to acquire? — 2 Votes
Ragnarok2947 — 100% the Abigale pin. I'm almost certain there was no other way to earn that pin without signing up for one of the tournaments. As someone with severe social anxiety and a complete lack of knowledge of MTG, that felt like a setup for me to make a complete fool of myself. Luckily, I was able to let the officials know my entire situation and they were able to drop me from the bracket. So essentially, I paid $32 and some change for 3 packs, a pinny and a whole lot of stress.
SirOccam — 2nd place, distantly so, would be Abigale from MTG. You couldn't buy it; you had to enter a paid MTG tournament to get it. Which is not particularly fun if you're not a MTG player, and probably caused issues in the tournaments too, with players dropping after they got the pin.
—For me it was the Abigale pin. I am not a magic player, I don't really want to play magic, and I didn't want to spend 35 dollars and take a slot from someone who might actually enjoy it.
Abigale was also added to the Prize Wall for 24 tickets, providing another way for attendees to acquire the pin. Playing in other Laughing Dragon events would earn you at least 8 tickets, more if you won.
I think the Abigale pin is a great example of how the exact same acquisition can be fun for one collector and a barrier for another. For Magic players, there were multiple events, beginner-friendly formats and eventually the Prize Wall. But for collectors who didn't play Magic and simply wanted to complete the Pin Quest, entering a paid tournament could feel like a step too far, resulting in many to just say 'No Thanks and try to trade for it instead.
Photo Credit: PBTam
Among Us Story: On Guard
Photo Credit: PBTam
Photo Credit: THX42
Glow Cadavre [Kris Straub]
Photo Credit: PBTam
Songs of the Past Wolf [CD PROJEKT RED]
Photo Credit: PBTam
When the Pin Quest dropped, the community saw something we had never seen in 13 years of Penny Arcade pins. A Super Secret Unannounced pin?!
We've had pins appear that weren't on the Quest. (Pilgor the G.O.A.T.) We've had pins not show up at a show. (Crunchyroll.) But this was new!
The community had fun guessing what it could be based on upcoming games and the exhibitors listed for West. I guessed that the mystery image itself would be released as the pin, just to troll us.
Then the Official Pinny Arcade account put out this Tweet.
What?!
Those eyes said it all!
There wasn't a CD PROJEKT RED pin listed on the Pin Quest, so our mystery pin suddenly had a very likely suspect. Looking at the newly released schedule revealed a CD PROJEKT RED panel in the Main Theater on Sunday at 2pm.
Of course, it was scheduled during a Pinny Community Trading Session! Having a panel giving away a pin and a Pinny trading session overlap during PAX happens all the time.
And then came another complication. The panel was rated 17+ because of the age rating of The Witcher. Many community members attend PAX with their children, and unfortunately PAX had neglected to provide a children's bouncy castle where you could leave them unattended for an hour while the parent enjoyed the panel and obtained the pin. So for some collectors, the challenge became whether they could actually attend the one event where the pin was available!
Thankfully, once you made it into the panel, acquisition itself was straightforward. Attendees enjoyed the Songs of the Past presentation, and the pins were distributed as people left at the end.
Community Voice: What was your favorite pin from PAX West 2026? — 4 Votes
RogueOverseer — I would have to say the Witcher pin was my favorite as it is celebrating one of my favorite game series and the design of the medallion on the pin looks great!
— The Witcher pin- I've gotten all the other witcher panel pins from their panels and it was a great reminder of the earlier days of pin trading. I also just think it's a great looking pin.
Community Voice: What was your favorite pin graphically? — 2 Votes
Ragnarok2947 — Honestly, The Witcher pin. It looks very simple at first glance with what seems like just the Wolf Medallion at first. But there's also the surrounding vines around it, which brings in the motif of Songs of The Past, or at least what we saw in the demo. I'm a fan of simple designs that convey much more under the surface.
Community Voice: Which pin had the most fun activity or challenge to acquire? — 2 Votes
Screaming Narwhal — I enjoyed the Witcher panel. It was fun hanging out on the line waiting for it trading pins and seeing a sneak peak of the game.
— Witcher panel pin. The playthrough was so good!
Community Voice: Which pin backer art was your favorite this year? — 1 Vote
SirOccam — Songs of the Past has a faded red baker that looks very classy and complements the pin well.
Community Voice: Did any pins, quests, or releases surprise you this PAX? — 7 Votes
SirOccam — The Songs of the Past pin definitely kept me on my toes. I arranged to have my young daughter with me for half of PAX this year, and as luck would have it, the pin turned out to come from a Witcher panel that was heavily cautioned to be 17+ and not child-friendly, and the panel of course took place on one of the days I had her. Luckily, she had a tablet and headphones, and the NSFW-ness was a bit exaggerated (a couple mild swears and some combat we couldn't really see too well from as far back as we were).
CJ — The Witcher pin really caught me off guard! I wasn’t expecting it to be the ‘SUPER SECRET UNANNOUNCED’ pin, so seeing this one come out was a fun surprise. I’m glad it was relatively easy to get (attending a panel) because the design is honestly amazing. The shiny gold finish looks fantastic, and I really love the wolf imprint, it gives the pin such a nice extra detail. The backer is also awesome and fits the whole design perfectly! Also when is the last time we had a Witcher pin? 9 years ago? Definitely a 10/10 pin for me.
Time Tyrant — The Witcher pin was unexpected. I also saw CD Projekt Red learned their lesson from the Cyberpunk pin giveaway and gave the pins at the end of the panel instead of the beginning.
Mystery solved! Well played, CD PROJEKT RED!
Other Booths and PAX People
And of course, a huge part of making all of these activities actually work are the Enforcers! With some of the lines and acquisition challenges this year, there were plenty of moments where individual Enforcers made a stressful situation just a little bit better.
Community Voice: Did any vendors, exhibitors, or volunteers do something that really supported the pin scene? — 4 Votes
Ragnarok2947 — Mostly, a shout out to all of the Enforcers at the No, I'm Not a Human IRL challenge. They were all very understanding and accommodating for the most part.
—I didn’t catch their name but an Enforcer gave me a 3D printed Mario star (which I promptly hung on my lanyard) when I said I’d been trying to get in the line for the Critical Reflex No I’m Not a Human activity for two days and that I was STRESSED about succeeding at it.
Time Tyrant — Not pin related, but it's always interesting seeing what the line entertainment folks come up with next. Someone gave out random trinkets and another was using a puppet. Gives it those unique PAX vibes that I am here for.
—Thanks to the enforcer who had a single ticket for the Halo pin left when I got there right after the line was capped.
Sometimes it's the smallest interactions that can turn around a stressful moment at PAX.
Not every exhibitor needed a new Pin Quest pin to make an impact on the Pinny community. There were also some familiar faces around the show helping collectors out.
Community Voice: Did any vendors, exhibitors, or volunteers do something that really supported the pin scene?
Utopia2064 — I was happy to see Double Fine back and selling their older pins. Those have been a bit hard to get in trade.
Enforcers
Thank you, Enforcers!
Community Trading
Trading at PAX West has always proven tricky. With PAX spread across multiple buildings and floors, there wasn't necessarily one obvious place where PinnyPals would naturally gather outside of the scheduled Community Trading sessions.
That didn't stop people from trying!
Photo Credit: THX42
THX42 set up his trading game and displayed the Gazette flyer during community trading, giving new community members a way to learn more about Pinny Arcade and the resources available.
There were also attempts to find new places for people to sit down, spread out their traders and make use of some of the spaces around PAX.
Photo Credit: Hacky
Hacky — I was not able to convince other pin traders to use the rock band stage area, but understandable - it was on the top floor, and merch was 2 floors below. even though proper tables and chairs were here with "live music."
Community Voice: Where did you do most of your trading this PAX?
Community Trading — 6 Votes
Hacky — Almost all of my pin trading was at scheduled Community Pin Trading. I had a lot to do this PAX between panels, other activities, and spending one day working in Pink Gorilla Games's booth. The scheduled pin trading sessions went well, as between the two sessions, I was able to trade for a significant amount of the Pin Quest.
Trading Boards — 5 Votes
SirOccam - I didn't have a chance to do much trading, between having my daughter and chasing the demo pins. We did hit the trading boards as much as we could, though, to complete this year's set.
—I’m too intimidated by the community meet ups, so I just go to the trading boards.
—Official trading boards. I feel like I don't know the value enough to trade with other people.
Merch Summit — 3 Votes
Time Tyrant — I traded mostly by Merch summit. I did notice that there were fewer pinnypals than previous years. Not sure if that meant there were less people attending or if certain events caught their attention.
Summit Entrance — 2 Votes
PinJacketGuy — I opted to trade at the Summit building this year by the Security entrance to get the most foot traffic and use my jacket of pins to draw more people into trade with me on their way out.
Merch Arch — 2 Votes
Time Tyrant — On the last day I traded near Merch Arch and I kinda wished I started there. The flow was way more constant and I got some cool stuff in trades like a Godzilla pin and a Castlevania Tarot Card I was trying to get for a friend.
Discord/Pre-Arranged — 2 Votes
—I usually use Discord for specific trades - which I'll specify what I want and what I'm willing to trade for it. I've found that many people I've impromptu traded with are pretty greedy and unfortunately, I'm pretty easy to take advantage of.
What I find interesting is just how spread out these answers are! There wasn't 'THE place' where everyone went to trade. Scheduled Community Trading was the most common answer, but people were also trading at Merch, the official boards, building entrances, booths, online and pretty much anywhere two people with pins happened to find each other.
Time Tyrant — Now that I have obtained the hardest pins to chase, it’s really hanging out with the community whenever I can and asking them how their PAX went and how their pin quests went. Setting up near merch summit around expo hall closing hours usually lends to some cool chatter. We were talking about the new PAX Unplugged Houston and what are takes and past experiences with the area was.
Also the After PAX trading at the Sheraton continues to be a highlight of my PAX. It is why I stopped leaving for my flight the last day of PAX.
Photo Credit: Time Tyrant
The Trading Doesn't Stop When PAX Does
LEEERROOOOYYY JENKINS!
By: CJ
Leeroy has been one of my biggest wanted pins for a while now. I’ve been saving up some of my high-tier pins specifically for a chance to trade for it. I tried asking and making offers through both Slack and Pinny Pals, but had no luck. I wasn’t really in a rush, though. I knew that eventually a Leeroy would show up and make its way around the collector community. A handful of collectors even told me to just buy one, but honestly, I really wanted to challenge myself to get this pin without spending any money.
I actually found one last year during community trading. The collector told me they already had a couple of people lined up to trade for it and were waiting to see what offers they would get. I showed them what I had, but they passed and explained that the value of my offer wasn’t quite on par with their Leeroy. I respectfully walked away and told myself, ‘Alright, I’ll just try again next year.
Fast forward to this year, I went to the pre-PAX pin trading event hoping I might get lucky and find someone with a Leeroy sitting in their traders. And sure enough, someone had one! Unfortunately, it belonged to a veteran collector who was holding onto it. I asked if they were willing to trade, and they simply said they were keeping it, so I respectfully accepted the no and kept looking. Then I decided to have some fun with it. I made a ridiculous ‘trade offer’ meme and posted it on Discord and Slack looking for Leeroy and Triad Wars, along with pictures of my high-tier traders.
And… absolutely nothing.
That was until Day 2 of PAX! Someone from Discord replied to my post and DM’d me. We chatted for a while, and I showed them some of the pins I had available. Turns out, I had something they had been hunting for a long time and were having a really hard time finding: Moogle! Luckily, I had an extra sitting in my traders, and that pretty much locked in the trade. I added a couple more pins on top of it like Play Lab Sprigatito and one of my favorite cute pins, Professor Pigglesworth.
The funniest part? We had no idea what each other looked like. We started messaging each other and then realized we were both standing in line at the Critical Reflex booth at the same time. Honestly, I think that was probably the highlight of my pin trading experience this year.
After all the searching, waiting, failed offers, and near-misses, finally getting Leeroy through a trade felt so much more rewarding than just buying it. Definitely worth the challenge!
It's Not Always About the Biggest Trade
SirOccam — I arranged a trade back in March, and since we'd both be at West, we decided to trade in person. But what made it funny (to me) was that these were essentially fodder-level pins, so just to save a few bucks on shipping we had to keep these pins safe for 6 months and remember to pack them. A whole lot of buildup for one of the least momentous trades ever.
More Trades
Photo Credit: PBTam
I do enjoy M3rcious’s In/Out Poker chips! In the whirlwind of the convention, I never remember all the pin trades I make, and when I do take pictures, without the In/Out chip, I question which side was I on if it’s not laid out clearly. M3rcious includes them with their trades, and the current Poker Chip is Unplugged Purple!!
Photo Credit: THX42
Don’t see many Pinny Arcade Logos in the wild these days and the Wambo Cambo is just a fun pin to say!
Photo Credit: AbyssalMelody13
Photo Credit: AbyssalMelody13
THX42’s Community pin this year was the Pokemon Card – a Snuggle of Eevees. (A group of Eevee’s is called a snuggle!) You could back the creation of the pin or earn it by doing a trade with THX42. Considering the trade was with a Corgi and for a shiny cat, perfect.
Community Voice: What was your most memorable pin-related moment this year
Congiman - I traded for a LRR 2023 moonbase pin! I didn’t have that variant!
Photo Credit: Congiman
Why did the chicken cross the road?...Because it was traded for some awesome pins!
Photo Credit: PBTam
I included this picture to show that 10 Dr. Luckys = 1 Halo. A new standard of value!
Time Tyrant - THX42 is always a cool person to talk and trade to. He helped me get some more magic cards and disney pins I was looking for. These are my favorite types of trades.
Community Voice: What was your most memorable pin-related moment this year?
RogueOverseer — For this year my most memorable moment was finally completing the Zodiac pins collection. I love seeing the complete circle of pins after having gaps for a couple years.
Screaming Narwhal — Getting a few of my friends to start pin trading, and by the end being obsessed with making trades and hunting down rares.
PinJacketGuy — Last hour of last day I was able to do a lot of trading to get almost another set of pins for a person I was proxying for.
—Another PinnyPal sketched a dog on a skull pin for me - I collect the AI skulls and have several dogs!
—Had a couple of trades where we helped someone fill in gaps in their collection.
—I also finally had enough higher value pins to get a start on my LE dice spinner collection, and the West d10 now lives on my lanyard.
Sometimes the most memorable trade isn't necessarily the biggest or rarest one. It can be finally filling a gap, helping someone else with theirs, or watching a friend discover that they might have a new pin problem!
Photo Credit: Time Tyrant
Other Fun Things Around PAX West
A New Tradition?
Meet Blip!
Time Tyrant — I got to meet Blip! I love the Disneyland theming this year and how PAX has leaned into the theming for everything, including creating a costumed mascot that you can meet. I hope to see them on a pin soon.
Photo Credit: Pennychaser
Pennychaser — The face is interchangeable, and if you took a pic with them you got a keychain.
CJ — We got button pin instead of the keychain
Photo Credit: Paul
Paul — A bunch of people showed up with a cake, lei's, and the horse and said they were celebrating their marriage.
Photo Credit: Paul
Photo Credit: Pennychaser
Blip Mini - Mini from the Paint and Take - an exclusive one that they have 100 of each day.
Photo Credit: Eseell
This isn’t the first time we’ve meet Blip. They were seen at PAX East this year as well. A mascot made for the PAX Park theme, but many of us are wondering how long do we have to wait until we have a Blip Pin?!
Time Tyrant — Magic Sword Concert. Truly an out of this world experience. Felt like an EDM concert and rock concert rolled into one. A big highlight of my West.
Photo Credit: Time Tyrant
Concerts
Cosplay
This cosplayer was dressed as a pizza delivery person, complete with this incredible Pinny pizza display! They even included the little white plastic pizza table that stops the cheese sticking to the lid.
If this was you, or you know who it was, please let me know! I would LOVE to see the whole costume!
Now I’m tempted to find a Pineapple Burblo pin and add it to the pizza...
Photo Credit: Time Tyrant
Displays
Magic the Gathering was promoting their Star Trek collaboration by having a MtG Transport Platform!
Photo Credit: THX42
Photo Credit: AbyssalMelody13
Azalea (dilute tortie) and Petula (black)
Side Quest: Mandatory Rest
It’s all fun and games until your calf says you’ve had too much fun! Serpicobc had a little bit of trouble on day 2 and had to rest. Luckily, he was able to rejoin PAX the next day and got some well deserved Kitten Cuddles!
At PAX Aus 2025, they had a meet and greet with service dogs at the diversity lounge and that really helped a lot of people un-wind in such high social situations. Having a Kitten Cuddles booth should be at every PAX! Look how the kittens cured Serpicobc’s leg with the power of purrs!
Photo Credit: PinJacketGuy
Photo Credit: Serpicobc
Non-Pinny Arcade Pins
Dr. Exoskeleton
Of course, Pinny Arcade isn't the only pins you'll find at PAX! There were plenty of other pins, challenges and collectibles around West that caught the community's attention.
Photo Credit: Utopia2064
Utopia2064 — One part of West-specific culture is the Dr. Exoskeleton 3 day scavenger hunt that many pinnies participated in. The Dr. had a new set of three minion pins for people who finished, though they aren't officially pinnies, they are still really neat.
One of the coolest long-running traditions at PAX West is the The Dr. Exoskeleton scavenger hunt! It has been going at PAX West for around 10 years. It's incredibly organized and high-tech, but who is behind it and hosts the hunt has never been publicly revealed.
To start, you need to find an envelope hidden somewhere around PAX — sometimes in a bathroom or tucked away in a hidden corner or be invited to a team by someone who already found one. You might see one of the Minions walking around and ask them for an envelope.
Fun fact: the Minions don't ever talk, keeping the whole thing mysterious!
The photo above shows one of the Minions handing out the prizes people earned after the hunt was over.
FF7 Revelation Panel Exclusive Pins
Time Tyrant — The coveted Final Fantasy Pins. They were so much tinier than I expected, but cool nonetheless. The polygon designs were just very nostalgic to me, despite never playing the original games. It got pretty crazy that people tried to loop to get multiple, reminded me of last years poster madness at East. People actually stuck around to trade for the characters they wanted. It was the most organic trading that had spawned imo.
Photo Credit: 1ceByte
Community Pin by Time Tyrant - Sabrina
Photo Credit: Time Tyrant
Time Tyrant — I gave out my community pin Sabrina for the first time at a PAX! based on the TCG pocket card) with completion of challenges. While the small response was expected (about 5 people participated), I am glad I was able to think up some challenges on the fly. It gives me an idea on how to tweak it for Unplugged.
Again, big thanks to the incredible THX42 for making it happen.
NIS Booth Pin & Loot
Photo Credit: Time Tyrant
Community Voice: Which pin had the most fun activity or challenge to acquire- 1 Vote
Time Tyrant — The most fun one I had was the stamp rally for the NIS booth. It was pretty easy, with the most time consuming one was to play one of their demos. The other stuff was photo shoots and a throwing challenge. The prize was not a pinny, but it was cute and said PAX West on it so it was worth the effort.
Farming Simulator - Gamescow
Photo Credit: Congiman
'Udderly Ready to Game'
Post-PAX Community Thoughts
After all the demos, lines, trading, dice rolling, panels, mystery pins and a little bit of luck, how did the community feel about PAX West 2026?
Overall, there was a lot of love for this year's Pin Quest. Even amongst the frustrations of some of the harder acquisitions, having such a large variety of pins gave collectors plenty to hunt for across the four days.
—The West pin quest in general was so good! Other non-pin parts of PAX were lacking this year, so I am so happy to have a great pin quest.
Ragnarok2947 — By having a strong pin quest like this recent West. When I was starting out, I was into pins based on my favorite games (looking at you, Elder Scrolls). That was the "gateway drug" as you will, for my growing curiosity with the Pinny pins and the community in general.
Community Voice: How could PAX West better reach, support or grow the Pinny Community?
Give Trading a Home
This was easily one of the clearest themes in the responses. With West spread across the two convention center buildings, community members wanted somewhere visible and consistent where Pinny trading could happen outside the scheduled sessions.
Hacky — PAX West making some sort of dedicated space for pinny trading, aside from scheduled community room slots, would probably be the single best way to support Pinny trading at West. Since we're split between two convention center buildings now, there's no "funnel" location that makes sense to catch passing attendees' eyes like East and Unplugged -- Summit Merch is out of the way, and the Arch Atrium didn't have as much foot traffic this year.
—Designated pin trading area. Mark it on the world map.
—Trading - on the floor. If there was a way to advocate for some tables or a designated pin area, that would help the community grow by bringing more awareness to the pin trading scene.
—Tables near merch lite for trading.
—I’d love a set of tables closer to the merch booths that trading could happen at, in either building. And maybe a banner sign for it next to the tables, or even a sign the size of the LFG signs that are in the Tabletop area would help.
—They could give us more time in the community room, maybe 2 hours.
Bring Back the Pinny Panel
Another recurring request was the return of a Pinny Panel at PAX West. While the scheduled Community Trading sessions were appreciated, there was definitely still interest in having a panel as well.
—I would have loved to attend a Pin Panel. Unfortunately they don't seem to happen at West very often! I'd like to hear stories and news, maybe strategies. A fun guest appearance from Mike or another staff member would be fun too.
—I would have attended if there was one. To be honest, I was just thrilled that we had community trade times on the schedule each day. At West 2025, we didn’t even have trade times on the schedule at all.
—I miss the panel. I love going. I love the pin trivia and give aways to people who are genuinely new to the hobby.
—If there was a Pin Panel this year, I would have volunteered to be a panelist. But I don't really know what I would want to see from a future panel... it has been a very long time since West had a pin panel, so I can only assume that a 101-style panel would be appropriate.
—I think a general Pinny panel was absent unlike East. However I think these panels are geared towards newcomers so I wouldn't make a big effort to attend one. If they were more like the AUS version where we get some insight of how Pinny Arcade as a brand operates or previews of future pins, then I would try to attend it.
Help People Find Us
Time Tyrant — I think at this point, it is on the shoulders of the pin community to figure out how the outreach can grow further. I plan to print out a physical flyer that can give a summary of the ins & outs of the pinny trading for Unplugged. Hopefully that will catch peoples interest further because I have noticed many people don't look ahead what a con has to offer so word of mouth can really have a big impact with some people.
—Having the Pinny trading event in the schedule definitely helps.
—The little flyers of the pin quest that I saw near one of the trading boards is definitely very helpful to let people know about all the pins available at the show.
—The main PAX social media should advertise the Pinny program, quest, and community meetups more in my opinion.
Working With Pin Exhibitors
With so many activity and demo pins at West this year, there were also plenty of suggestions about how future exhibitors could be better prepared for the number of collectors who might arrive at their booth.
PinJacketGuy — We need to position demo pin booths along the wall for better and larger Line management.
SirOccam — I was happy to see several pins available for free through activities. Just need some tweaking to manage lines and/or provide the option of purchasing.
—Work with exhibitors to lay down ground rules for distribution/availability of pinnys to help reduce frustration...
—Provide guidelines to vendors on how to be reasonable about their pin sales or demo requirements.
And While We're Making Suggestions...
2spock — I know its inconvenient, but there should be 2 lines for the official trading board. One for people who want to spin for the years trade pins, and 1 for people who want to trade on the boards. Or another person to watch the boards so people can move to the side. The line backs up quite a bit while people look at the boards.
PinJacketGuy — I think we could use the Child’s Play and merch pin trade booths to look for kids and adults who are genuinely new to the pin collecting and give them a free pin to get started.
Finding Your Way Into the Community
Utopia2064 — I’ve been in the pin game for 4 years now, but I only attend PAX West, not the other PAXes. While people are generally friendly, it’s been hard to kind of break into the community when you are there in person. Everyone seems to know each other, but there’s not a great way to get to know the group. I can imagine it’s hard for other newer traders too, because there’s so much that you need to be ‘in the know’ for, like getting LE tickets or getting there early for the Halo pin, etc. We need a Pinny Newbie ambassador!
CJ — I think the community is going strong and getting even better! I’ve been seeing a lot of new faces lately and have had the chance to invite some newer collectors to Discord and Slack, which has been really awesome to see. I think as long as we continue to welcome new collectors with open arms and keep the community friendly, helpful, and inclusive, we’ll continue to grow and stay strong. That welcoming spirit is what makes this community special!
I think these two comments together give us something worth thinking about. We can have an incredibly welcoming community once someone finds us, while still making it difficult for a new collector to work out how to actually join in.
Maybe we all could be better Pinny Newbie Ambassadors!
Parting Thoughts
— One of my favorite parts of PAX is getting to see friends from outside Seattle, along with all the familiar faces I’ve met throughout the years! It’s always awesome catching up, trading pins, and making new memories together. As always, I’m super thankful for everyone in the community and for all the fun memories we’ve made. PAX is officially an annual tradition for me at this point so see you all next year!
And I think that's a pretty good place to leave PAX West 2026.
This was a HUGE Pin Quest. Some pins were easily bought. Some required demos and skill. Some needed patience and luck. One needed a panel. One needed you to become a MtG player. And occasionally, the hardest part was simply getting into the line!
But through all of it, people were sharing information, helping each other find pins, making trades, introducing new collectors to the hobby and continuing the strange little traditions that make Pinny Arcade what it is.
There are definitely things we can improve. Better communication, somewhere visible to trade, helping exhibitors prepare for Pinny demand, and making it easier for new collectors to find their way into the community.
But after 13 years of Pinny Arcade, we're still celebrating the release of new pins, enjoying established traditions, meeting new people and apparently discovering entirely new ways to make acquiring a tiny piece of metal unnecessarily complicated.
Traditions, patience and a little bit of luck indeed!
Until next time — may the Pin Gods bless your blind boxes, your trades be fair, and your timesinks be just the right amount of painful.
Anastasia ‘Luckycharm’ Cooper
Thank You!!
Thank you so much to the community as a whole, and to everyone who took the time to answer the Gazette Survey about their PAX West experience.
Special thanks to Congiman, SirOccam, CJ/CJCollects, Utopia2064, Ragnarok2947, PinJacketGuy, Hacky, Time Tyrant, 2spock, PBTam, RogueOverseer and Screaming Narwhal, and everyone else who remains anonymous!
Without your voices and pictures, there would be no article!
A special thank you also needs to go to PBTam, who somehow survived his 20th PAX proxy at West!
PBTam has been proxying since PAX East 2017, helping members of the community get pins from shows they can't attend. He was also incredibly generous in sharing his experiences from across all four days of West with me while I was putting this article together.
Thank you, PBTam!
A Note from the Gazette
Post Note: The PinnyPals Gazette is a community-run project and is not affiliated with Penny Arcade or PAX. All opinions are our own and written for the community. Most pictures are provided by the community on the PinnyPals Slack or PAX Official Discord #pinny-arcade. Direct pictures of the pins and the backer cards came from https://www.pinnyshop.com/ with assistance from https://pinnypals.com/ and https://pinnydb.com/. If I have used your pictures in error, please contact me to give credit or remove the photo from the article.
The PinnyPals Gazette
Contact:
Anastasia "Luckycharm" Cooper - Editor
PPWebsite/Slack Username - Luckycharm
The PinnyPals Gazette is a community-run fan site and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or officially associated with Penny Arcade or PAX. Pinny Arcade, PAX and related names and trademarks belong to their respective owners.