[Kyle]

I have boxes and boxes of FIRST pins stored away, all of my medals are hanging up for everyone who enters my room to see and ask about. I have been more then lucky to be on a "successful" team in my career in FIRST but the idea of everyone getting a chance to hang a medal in their room or door and be able to explain "I was in a contest where I helped build a robot that competed in a competition with students from across the world with some of the largest corporations on the planet sponsoring that has been aired on ESPN and every major news station in the US" is a pretty cool thing to be able to say while showing off a medal, no one outside of FIRST knows the bronze is a participation medal, they see a medal and know that the person who has that was part of something great and they accomplished a task that was deserving of a medal.
Pins would be great for awards of some kind but giving every student who participated in FIRST a medal at the end of the season is one of the reasons why I love FIRST so much, its not a ribbon that is can be made in my basement or a piece of paper that costs 30 cents a copy with fancy letters.

Sorry for the long response but there are other ways to cut costs in FIRST, honoring each and every student, mentor and sponsor who gave so much throughout the season is worth the extra cost in my mind.