I am now the proud owner of a pin backpack from It's My Obsession. One of these lovely yellow ones, to be precise. In this article, I'm going to review the bag.
Now I have to say upfront, we were given this bag precisely so we could review and advertise it. Those of you that know me, know that I'm not going to lie about something just because money is involved. Still, I'd feel weird if I didn't disclose something!
Now, onto the review! Which I've turned into a video if you prefer watching over reading.
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First of all, what did we get?
Our lovely yellow ITA pin backpack from It's My Obsession
One yellow backpack, two yellow inserts, and two material covers for over the inserts. The bag comes with two detachable straps, both yellow.
It arrived from America well-packaged and everything was in perfect condition.
A picture of the insert covers and straps, as they arrived
Currently, there are two types of pin collector bags: 1)fast fashion on Amazon that won’t last a long time and are very generic 2) artisan-designed bags that are usually 1 note designs based on a character from a franchise and cost 3 figures.
It’s My Obsession wants to be the happy medium where the products are functional, universal, and easily obtainable. Each product is designed for different customer’s life stories and usability in everyday use.
I really think they've nailed the quality here. This is the best quality ITA bag I've seen. A combination of high-quality manufacturing and design details which show these bags are meant to be used by actual people every day.
The bag is spacious, with decent-sized pockets, and of course a generous window for actually displaying pins.
The main material is PU Leather, which I've found to be a hardwearing material that is easy to clean. I haven't had the bag long enough to vouch for either, but I will update the review if either of these things turns out not to be true.
Screenshot 2022-11-24 at 08.22.21.png1.83 MBThe inside of the bag, it is really well presented and very spacious!
On first use, the zips were a little stiff, but even after using it enough to make this review, they seem to be a lot better. One minor quibble is it would be nice if the pull on the zipper was slightly bigger. I sometimes have issues with dexterity and a larger surface area would be nice. This could be fixed by adding a keyring of course.
You can easily fit the pin inserts and plenty of day-to-day essentials. The laptop sleeve inside should comfortably fit a small laptop or tablet.
The outer pockets are handy for smaller items, including a small water bottle, unfortunately, the size of bottle I normally carry wouldn't quite fit in.
Inserts
A lot of inserts you get in these types of bags are of hard foam, which works well initially but quickly degrades and the pins start to feel a bit unsafe. These inserts require you to use your pin back, which is a little more effort but keeps them way more secure.
As such, these inserts are better for displaying but not as good for quick pin trades. This is fine because this entire bag is designed around showcasing collections and is not necessarily used as a pin book for trading.
I really like the additional covers that came with the inserts. They could be used to add a nice backdrop to set your pins against, or even to go over your pins, keeping them safe if you're transporting them inside the bag.
A close up of one of the insert covers
Communication
Even though I didn't technically place an order through the website, I did go into their "purchase flow" so got timely emails such as when things were dispatched with tracking numbers.
Ordering from outside America, I really appreciated that the website shows things in £ GBP, it gave me lots of confidence in their international shipping.
Their website is easy to navigate, and they describe and photograph their products well. Speaking of products, as well as backpacks, they also have Nintendo Switch cases which you can use to display pins on, and they are developing a cross-body bag as well!
Look how beautiful Jack and Sally look through the clear cover
Conclusion
If you are in the market for a pin bag or switch case (!!) then I really think It's My Obsession is worth your consideration. The quality, price, and professionalism mean I have zero qualms recommending them to anyone!