My itabag / pin purse
This is the first pin bag I ever got, and currently my only one. I’m calling it a “pin bag” and not an “itabag” — that’s because its lack of a cohesive theme means it doesn’t qualify as a traditional itabag (although I do still refer to it that way for brevity’s sake). Most people won’t get, like, actually upset at you if you call your unthemed bag “ita,” but it is a term with its own history and community behind it, and knowing the difference will make you look cool and savvy to other itabag enthusiasts.
It’s a generic cat ear backpack I got from Amazon (*The Price Is Right losing horn*) in late 2021. I’m not going to provide a link to the shop because, one, I’m trying hard as a new adult to decrease my use of Amazon, and two, I later found out that said shop was just an Aliexpress/Taobao reseller, and that they were selling this bag in particular at over twice its original cost — a practice that’s become increasingly common on Amazon. This same bag can be found on a laundry list of other shopping sites with the keyword “cat ita bag,” and there are some pretty cute handmade designs on places like Etsy that are similar in spirit to this one.
Favorite pieces
Sasha (ACNH) keychain by Nerdile Art
I got this charm from Nerdile’s booth at Beckley Causeacon 2022. It’s double-sided with a nice clear acrylic finish. It also came with a working Sasha amiibo card with custom art, a cute and practical bonus. Sadly Nerdile doesn’t appear to be selling their ACNH charms on their online storefront, but if you can catch them at a convention you may be able to bag one.
Knife bunny pin by Mimosa Studio
I got this pin from Mimosa Studio’s booth at Beckley Gaming Expo 2021. This was one of the first indie (read: not from Hot Topic) pins I bought, and it’s quite a fitting first since I still haven’t found many designs that appeal to me in quite the same way this one does. Mimosa’s pins are absolutely wonderful and they have an extremely varied catalog that can be easily viewed and shopped, so go pick up a few!
Spooky the Fox Glow in the Dark Pin by Planet Plush
Another Causeacon 22 find (I also bought the Water Kabuki Fox pin from them, as well as the absolutely delightful Cinnabunny plush). I just really, really like this little guy. A friend and a boy. He was a little more expensive than a regular pin at $15.00, but the glow-in-the-dark accents as well as the larger-than-average size more than makes up for it.
PowerA Mario Kart Collector Pins Lakitu
Yes, these are from that PowerA! Turns out they make other things, too. Anyway, I got this pin (along with the Peach one from the same set) in May 2022 at an all-purpose ‘nerd’ shop in Pigeon Forge. Lakitu is one of my all time favorite Mario characters, and there really isn't that much merch of him out there. These are blind bag pins, so the fact I was able to get the exact character I wanted in two tries is something of a miracle.
As for the technical side of things, these pins are pretty big and hefty for their price point, with some impressive detail in their molds. The Shigehisa Nakaue 2D Mario illustrations, with their crisp lines and clean colors, lend themselves really well to soft enamel pins.
I’ve got some other pins I could talk about, but they’re mostly either your average Hot Topic selection or I don’t exactly remember where I got them.
HALL OF SHAME — my beloved (and bootleg) Squirtle pin
This pin right here is an Amazon best seller. It’s also a very blatant ripoff of a design by MaracuyasArt. I took the L on this one, folks.
When I discovered this, I ordered the artist’s official Pikachu pin to display alongside my poor little bastard child, both as a cute piece and a sardonic reminder that we’re all human, and we all fuck up.
(pic to be uploaded later)
It arrived four days before the beginning of Etsy's estimated time frame, which I was pretty happy about. I ordered a seconds/B-grade pin, and as advertised, there were some small issues with the piece (cloudy spots in the enamel, surface scratches, fuzzy lines). They're all very minor, to the point I actually had to look at it from multiple angles to spot them — other reviews of the seconds pins echo this sentiment.
Right off the bat, the pin is much larger than its bootleg, the colors are nicer, the metal parts have a really nice shine to them, Pikachu's widdle face is just so cute, it's all there. Even when not displayed next to the bootleg, it looks and feels like a premium product. The more I look at the official pin, the more flaws I find in the bootleg. No wonder it was half the price of the real thing!
General tips for itabagging
- Inserts are your best friend: A growing amount of itabags come pre-packaged with an insert, a cloth-covered board that sits inside the bag's window, for you to put your pins on.
Using inserts to hold decorations (instead of the bag itself) is highly recommended for a lot of reasons:
- they help you keep up with your pins' backs
- they protect the items stored in your bag from getting poked by uncovered pins
- they allow you to switch out and rearrange decorations on the fly
- they tend to just look nicer
- they can even be customized themselves to provide a nice backdrop for your arrangement.
If your bag didn't come with its own insert, there are a few good tutorials online that show you how to make a custom one yourself.
- Know your pins: Enamel pins are a subject that could fill a page in their own right, but itabag wearers who collect enamel pins even casually should still do a little research. Some important terms to know:
- Hard enamel pins are filled in and finished to a completely smooth surface. They often have a metallic or glossy sheen to them, and tend to be more expensive and less popular than soft enamel pins.
- Soft enamel pins have raised metal edges, and appear more “3D” due to the variation in depth. These are by far the most popular kind of enamel pin, and are what the majority of licensed or “mainstream” pins will be, although many stores that sell pins sell a mixture of both. They’re cheaper to produce and will generally cost less than hard enamel pins.
- Die struck pins have all of their details imprinted directly in the metal of the pin, and aren't colored. They look more like a commemorative coin or a lapel badge than your average enamel pin. They're heavier and more expensive, and very few "nerdy" pins are die struck in the first place, although some do exist.
- Buttons are just your average pinback circular buttons. These are generally much cheaper and more abundant than enamel pins of any kind, and come in a near endless variety of different sizes. Better yet, most of the stores that sell enamel pins sell buttons, too. Can badges are the Japanese name for a type of pinback button made out of aluminum.
- There are several different types of pin backs, with the two most popular ones being locking backs and rubber backs. While rubber backs feel a bit nicer to the touch, locking backs help keep your pins from falling out (although this isn't as much of a problem with an ita bag).
Rubber backs are quite a bit cheaper than locking backs, but both are sold in bulk and relatively inexpensive. If you’d prefer your pins to have different ones, don’t be afraid to switch them out! Most commercial pins use the same or similar size backs. They also tend to get lost or broken, so having extras can be useful. - NEVER EVER BUY ARTIST PINS FROM AMAZON. They are almost always fakes of independent artists' designs, and the originals can usually be found with a quick Google search. For example, this hilarious 'Fuck You' Blue Shell pin? Stolen from an Etsy shop.
Not only is this deeply harmful to small creatives, these pins are generally vastly inferior in quality to the artist's original, at only a $2-$3 discount.
Some legitimate licensed pin companies like Zen Monkey, Figpin, and Great Eastern do offer their products on Amazon, but a good rule of thumb is this: if you don't recognize the shop name, look them up. A legitimate company should return hits outside of Amazon, including an official website and/or a few social media pages.
- Get creative: Don't limit yourself to just enamel pins or other official merchandise. There are tons of things that look nice as part of an ita bag. Try experimenting with jewelry, embroidery, patches, ribbon, or beads!
Shopping for your itabag (WIP)
Itabagging is often viewed as a somewhat expensive subset of collecting, and while that can be true, there are certainly ways to make the process easier and more affordable.
Official merchandise
Depending on what franchise/character you're collecting for, official merchandise can be the easiest part or the hardest part. The difficulty of finding official merch usually depends on two factors: how many different items are/were actually produced, and how rare/available those items are.
If you haven't already, you might want to make an account on MyFigureCollection. Despite the name, the site catalogs all kinds of character merchandise, not just figures. By adding items to your wishlist, you can sign up for alerts when site users or partnered storefronts are selling the item you want.
Useful Japanese terms
The following search terms tend to get better results when looking for official goods on Japanese marketplaces.
- 缶バッジ - Can badge (aluminum pinback button)
- キーホルダー - Keyholder
- アクリルキーホルダー - Acrylic keyholder
- Alternate form of "keyholder" キーチェーン (keychain) is sometimes used instead
- 痛バッグ - Ita-bag (refers to base bags)
- キャラクター - Character(s) (often used to distinguish general brand merch, e.g. Disney Characters or Sanrio Characters)
- Shortened form キャラ is sometimes used instead
MyFigureCollection also provides the original Japanese names for characters and items.
Fan merchandise
Fan merchandise can be a great alternative (or supplement) to official merchandise for a whole lot of reasons. Even if your subject has a lot of official merchandise already, you should still have a look at what fans have to offer! Oftentimes fan designs are cute, interesting, and unorthodox when compared to official ones.
How to buy fan merch
This section of the site is still under construction.