Walmart pins and memorabilia is it really worth collecting ?, will it ever be worth anything ?

The answer to both these questions is YES, Sam Walton created a major company with millions of employee's, it is known the world over, it has become a highly respected company and its success is envied by many.  When he started the company i dont believe he would of ever thought the company would grow to the size it is today, with any success this big,  it always attracts followers, believers in the dream that they can just like him or be a part of the dream or just to have and own a small piece of a major success storey. Sam Walton started selling the lapel pins to raise money for charities in local niebourhoods which his stores operated in, also to show his gratitude to his employee's for their hard work, there are pins for the Associate of the Month, Best Cashier, Outstanding Customer service, Safety and many other aspects of life within his company, it soon grew into a collecting frenzy within its company employee's, they started wo want pins representing their individual jobs, their departments, their individual stores, they started to swop and trade amongst themselves with other stores within the the company, some even started to wear their pins proudly on their work vests, it was not a uncommon sight to see a Walmart employee with their work vest covered in walmart pins. It was not long before the pin collectors outside the company started to say they wanted the pins.  Certain pins were replaced with newer versions as time went on, and the deleted pins were then starting to take on a new meaning to Walmart pin collecting, everyone wants what they cant have, if the pin was no longer being made its market price rose quickly, it has been known for some pins to sell for over $40 each, yet they only cost a few dollars to buy originally.  This did however lead to problems, scam artists noticed that certain pins were in high demand, they started to make replica's of the deleted pins, selling them as the real and original pin, there are many ways to detect a copy, all the original pins  were made by a Arkansas company called Hogeye Inc., their name is always indented into the back of the pin, B2 promotions and AdMerica also started to make pins for walmart, all had thier company names indented onto the rear of the pins, a pin with no name on the back is a copy/replica of the original, these copies/replica's are not very valueable, early Hogeye pins are the most desired, Sam walton had a say in their designs in the early years that they started to be made, the smiley face became a walmart image, it represented the attitude that walmart employee's had in the company, good pay, good working conditions, a fun place to work, this attitude was often passed onto customers, bringing them back again and again, so the happy smiley face was a excellent image for the company.  The blue vest was also becoming a famous symbol, it too became incorporated into the Walmart pins.  Sadly Sam Walton died in 1992, but the making of new pins and selling to help charities continues, the pins have become a major collectors item whilest helping the less forntunate at the same time.  How many different pins are there is a common question, the answear is truly unknown, so many different designs have been made over the years, new ones still being released every year, the number of different pins could be in the thousands, so if you have fifty or sixty and think you have a lot, think again, i personally have over eight hundred pins at my last count, i am sure there are still many out there for me to find.

Points to look for on a genuine Walmart pin :-

Name on the back, is it a Hogeye, B2 or a AdMerica pin ?

Is the colour quality good, Walmart pins are always colourful.

Is the metal the pin  made of bendable ?, Walmart pins are made to last, they are made to a high standard.

Is it totally blank on the back ?, if so, it is a cheap copy.