August 9, 2012

5 Most Expensive Pieces of London 2012 Olympic Tat

You may have bought your golden Wenlock or logo’d hoodie at a London 2012 venue, but there is a world of expensive Olympic tat (to put it honestly) out there for the undiscerning consumer

You may have bought your golden Wenlock or logo’d hoodie at a London 2012 venue, but there is a world of expensive Olympic tat (to put it honestly) out there for the undiscerning consumer

‘Tom Daley Team GB signed swim trunks framed’ – £395
Because nothing says ‘Olympic spirit’ quite like the swimming trunks of an 18-year-old diver, 150 signed and framed pairs of Tom Daley’s Adidas diving briefs have been released on the London 2012 online store. Hopefully unworn, these Speedo-like efforts are sure to set hearts racing among all of his more ‘attached’ fans. It is unclear who exactly this product is aimed at, though, with the price of £395 probably being out of reach for the majority of those teenage fans, and I’m not sure that those who can afford it are also those who are willing to display them on their wall…
London 2012 website

Break in case of emergency: Tom Daley’s signed and framed swimming trunks

London 2012 Olympic Games Stainless Steel Limited Edition Flag Cards Set – £650
With details ‘etched by craftsmen’ and laser engraved onto that most precious of materials, Stainless Steel, this is clearly no ordinary set of cards. Costing £650, the set is the most expensive commercial pack currently sold in the world. In fact, one can fairly purchase deck of regular stainless steel for under £100, so that’s a 550% Olympic uplift.
John Lewis

Pictured left: London 2012 stainless steel playing cards

2012 Limited Edition T-Bar Cufflinks 18ct Gold Logo – £1,900
Enamoured with the garish 2012 logo? Well how about having it in 18-carat gold? On your wrists? One of the most expensive of all official Games goods on sale, these cufflinks are available for the wholly disagreeable sum of £1,900.
Links of London

Pictured left: London 2012 gold cufflinks

London 2012 Silver 50p Sports Collection Complete Set of 29 Sports – £1,350
There’s cheating and then there’s simply ruining the game, and this appears to be a case of the latter from the Royal Mint. Having released twenty-nine individual coins into circulation back in 2011, each adorned with an image representing an Olympic event, they have now opted to sell the completed set for well over a thousand pounds.

This is a way of allowing customers to give up on the ‘hunt’ for all 29, and instead pay £1335.50 more than the coins themselves would be worth. Well, maybe it’s not quite that bad, as the coins are struck in sterling silver to what the Mint describes as a ‘Brilliant Uncirculated standard’, but I really cannot see the long term benefit when collections can be made using the actual coins that can also serve as legal tender.
The Royal Mint

Pictured above: London 2012 silver 50p sports collection

London 2012 Olympic Torch – from £6,599
Certainly one for the braver amongst you, eBay is home to some real one-offs. The ‘90’s Opening Ceremony outfit’ appears more like a random selection of horrific clothes, rather than the £1,200 ‘original’ artefact that it is advertised as, but that might just be Nineties fashion.

Among the replica medals (£439.99) and vaguely Olympic-themed license plates (£4,995), there are a few genuine pieces put online to fund good causes. An Olympic torch is being sold to raise funds for the Amethyst Foundation, but any would-be-philanthropists will be paying upwards of £6,599 for their kindness.

Pictured left: London 2012 Olympic torch from the torch relay

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