Pin Trading

[dthogue]

I noticed on Ebay that there are a ton of DCL pins for sale. My girls love to do pin trading at WDW. Can we buy DCL pins on board? IS there anywhere else to buy DCL Pins? What is the price range for the pins? Are the rules the same for pin trading on board as they are at WDW - Disney pin for Disney pin or will they only be able to trade DCL pins? Do the crew members have pins to trade with?

Thanks,

[BeanoC]

Yes, pin trading rules are the same on board as in WDW - A Disney pin for a Disney pin. The crew members on board ship wear lanyards just as the CM's in WDW do, and the same rules apply. No, it is not just DCL pins but all manner of pins being traded on the ship. You don't see all the crew wearing lanyards, but the people working in the stores always have them on, and just as in WDW, they are always happy to trade with guests.

As for buying cruise pins? I've only found them in 2 places: On Ebay or on board!! :)

My advice is to get a bunch of cheap pins to trade (Make sure you buy ugly pins so your daughters won't want to keep them!) Take your cheap pins with you and trade away!

They have many great cruise pins on the ship, and in your 'Navigator' (the on board daily newspaper) you will find the listings for specific times and places where trading 'events' are happening on the ship. But even if you miss these events, the CM's in the stores will always trade, and of course you can buy pins off the rack there too.

Ther price range is like in WDW - from around 6 bucks up to about 9 bucks.
But remember: They will trade you those 8 and 9 dollar pins for the cheapo's, so stock up!


ENJOY !!!




'Beano':cool:

[mcnuss]

Great advice, Beano. My DD8 has just started collecting pins, but she adores all the ones she has and they have special memories. I saw them on Ebay but never thought to buy cheapos for trades. Thank you very much!

I do have one q about the rules -- what if someone wants a pin she does not want to trade? May she decline? This happened at WDW and she felt guilty for having said no, but the pin was her very favorite and she had only had it about 2 days. She has an over-developed sense of right & wrong (a real rules girl) and she was worried that she had violated the code.

[cruisnfamily]

Speaking of pin trading....I had at one time found a website where you could buy disney pins pretty cheaply and now I can't find it again. I was interested in buying like a set of 10 or 12 pins cheaply that the kids could trade away for good ones.

Anybody know any good websites for cheap disney pins???

[BeanoC]

mcnuss - That CM definitely violated the code! They are not allowed to decline a trade with a guest. The only time they can do that is if they already have the pin you are wanting to trade. If it's already on their lanyard, then they can decline, but you can always just offer a different pin. She made a big no-no! That surprises me. I have never seen a CM even hesitate to trade - it's what they're supposed to do!

Sonya - Try cheappins.com. They usually have some Disney packages that average out to around 3 bucks a pin. Not bad!


'Beano':cool:

[mcnuss]

I must not have communicated what happened well. My DD8 was approached by another guest who wanted to trade and DD8 did not want to. She felt bad bc she thought she had to trade if approached. I told her she did not have to. There was no CM invloved.

[BeanoC]

Oh, I see. Sorry, my misinterpretation!

Of course she doesn't have to trade anything she doesn't want to. Tell her not to feel bad- they're her pins! I got used to that pretty quickly. I have had to say no to people a thousand times.


FYI - I just ordered 13 pins for $33.00 !!! That's a little more than $2.50 per pin. And they're all ugly! LOL

Now watch me go to Epcot and trade 'em away for $8.50 pins! ;)

Got 'em at www.cheappins.com


'Beano' :cool:

[atigeg]

cruise pins are like the park pins, for the LE's they are more expensive. $12.50 and you are limited to 2 per person per day. And they only during pin trading times (on the 3 day it was at 7:30 by the Atrium). On our 4th of July cruise they had a special fireworks LE that was $15 each.

[PinClubs]

Let me make a few ammendments to the last post....

I was on the July 4th cruise - Wonder - and there were two places to buy pins.

Mickey Mates - a store on deck 4 and the "Pin Trading Station" from 7:30 - 8:30 on deck 3 or 4 depending on the evening.

Rack pins: $6.50 - $8.50
Limited Editions (LEs): $8.50 - $15.00
Artist Choice - $12.50

The rack pins are commons, no big deal, cute but inexpensive. The LEs are more popular because they are limited. The 4th of July pin with Goofy was an LE of 1000. There was also a Chip & Dale LE of 3,500. Also another DCL slider pin that was a LE 3000

The most sought after pin is the DCL Artist Choice because it is an LE of 750 - 375 per ship - and the ship is the only place you can buy the pin. As a matter of fact the pin is not sold at Mickey Mates only the Pin Station and it is limited to two per person. A new DCL Artist Choice is released every month.

Jeff (Buddy Bear) Langdon

[mcnuss]

Thanks for the helpful hints!

[Lisa F]

Originally posted by PinClubs
Artist Choice - $12.50


Actually, just a minor correction... the AC pins vary in price also. Last January the Chip 'n Dale pins were $15 each. But, us elitsts are sticklers for correct information. ;)

In my experience, the only people who try to convince you that it's not okay to decline a trade are pin sharks who are just out to cheat you out of your pin.

Lisa

[PinClubs]

For the first time today Lisa F and I are in agreement. Maybe it is Disney pins that can bring us together :)

To further expand on pin trading. It is perfectly normal to decline a trade. The most important thing to remember is to educate yourself on the hobby.

Pins come in a range of very common to very rare. There are some pins that can have a limited edition size of 75 or 100 (very rare).

If all your interested in is making money on pins, well then buy up all the LEs and sell them on eBay. The true collectors like myself hope you don't.

As stated by Lisa there are sharks out there that will prey on unsuspecting newbies and try to trade you a common rack pin for a LE or another hard to get pin.

Disney pins from their retail stores are common (for the most part) because there are some many Disney stores.

You also have pins that are exclusive to WDW or DL, so they are a little harder to acquire unless you are an annual pass holder.

Furthermore, the DCL and Castaway Cay pins are considered rare because they are only sold on the ships, so keep all this in mind when you are making a trade. The more you know about the pins you trade the less chance you will be "sharked".

Lastly, there is a unwritten rule by some people (sharks mostly) that if you are wearing a pin on your lanyard they will think it is a trader and will be annoyed if you don't want to trade it (I don't agree with this school of thought, but some do).

Conversely, if you have a pin on your clothing, people will normally assume that it is a pin that you are not interested in trading. Although, they may still ask about it.

I hope this wasn't too much information :)

Jeff (Buddy Bear)

P.S. If you have anymore questions, please feel free to email me directly.

[atigeg]

Originally posted by PinClubs

Lastly, there is a unwritten rule by some people (sharks mostly) that if you are wearing a pin on your lanyard they will think it is a trader and will be annoyed if you don't want to trade it (I don't agree with this school of thought, but some do).


PinClubs, I'm with you. I have a wide collection of Disney pins, including some very rare ones, and I wear them on my lanyard because that is why I have them...to wear and enjoy. My special interest is CM pins, so they are great conversation starters with the cast and crew. I would never let a shark try to make me feel like I am obligated to trade the pins I am wearing. They are in it for one-upsmanship and money, and I am in it for fun and to collect something that I enjoy. The only time I sell pins on Ebay is to get money to buy more...I have gotten DCL Opening Team and Partners in Excellence by selling AC pins (although I prefer to think of it as a form of "trading" because otherwise it would disturb me to think about how much money has passed through my hands!). Maybe I am wicked, but when I run across the really annoying sharks, I like to pull out my crown jewel (the DCL wedding pin set) and watch them drool. I would never sell it because it is very special to me, but its price is obnoxious on Ebay.
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.*****************

[mcnuss]

I think I started a little tempest in a teapot. Let me clarify that the person who approached my daughter (who was 7 at the time) was very nice and did not pressure her in any way. My DD is very conscious, though, of breaking rules and so was tormented that maybe she should have traded. But let me emphasize that when she said no thanks, the other person was pleasant as can be. I think that the person who approached her was just trying to engage her in the hobby. Other than my DD's needlessly guilty conscience, there was no harm done.

Thanks everyone for all the tips today bc we bought her those pins as souvenirs and they have great meaning to her. Today I bought several cheapies on Ebay so that she can try her hand at trading if she wants without upsetting herself.

[DreamsDoComeTrue]

Beano (or anyone),
Are pins described as "Soft Enamel Pins" and "Semi-Cloisonne Disney Pins" qualify as traders??

I'd like to get some cheap traders for my kids to get a "souvenir" on the ship too. But I don't have much clue on the topic.
Sonja, did you find any?

Thanks,
Lori

[mcnuss]

Hi Dreams -- I didn't know a thing about this stuff either. It's like there's this whole world of pin-traders that I never knew existed! Anyway, my dd8 has gotten into pin collecting and wants to do some trading so I did some research. Check out:

http://psc.disney.go.com/eventservices/index.html (It has the rules)

http://www.dizpins.com/

http://www.wdwig.com/mil_pin.htm

I learned alot from these sites, then went on Ebay and bought some that won't have sentimental attachment for DD when we're on the cruise.

Good luck!

[kfahygc]

Let me see if I have this right. The artists choice pins are limited to 700 each month. 350 each ship. A new one comes out each month. Now I'm cruising on 7/28 does this mean that there will be no artists choice pins available? Doesn't seem fair.

Thanks for you info.

Kathleen

[PinClubs]

Originally posted by mcnuss
Hi Dreams -- I didn't know a thing about this stuff either. It's like there's this whole world of pin-traders that I never knew existed!

You don't know how right you are. Although pin trading has been around for quite some time it really took off in October of 1999 when Disney released a set of 100 Millienium pins. They were so successful that they created another set of 100 called 100 Years of Dreams. These pins were released in the Disney stores and really accelerated pin trading to what it is today.

The official Disney pin trading phamplet can be found here. http://disney.go.com/eventservices/howtopintrade.pdf It describes what is a fair trading pin. It is in Adobe Acrobat PDF format, so you need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader to view the online phamplet

BTW...Disboards has a great section on pin trading too. Looking under "Just for Fun" > "Disney Collectors Boards" Here is the link http://www.disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?forumid=37

Happy Pin Trading,

Jeff (Buddy Bear) Langdon

[PinClubs]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by kfahygc
[B]Let me see if I have this right. The artists choice pins are limited to 700 each month. 350 each ship. A new one comes out each month. Now I'm cruising on 7/28 does this mean that there will be no artists choice pins available? Doesn't seem fair.

Hi Kathleen,

Almost right...I may have mistyped in a earlier post. The LE is 750 where there are 375 per ship. Depending on when a new pin is released it is possible and how fast it sells that they may be sold out. The release dates are not always on the first of the month.

The CMs on the ship do their best to make sure that a shark doesn't get unknowing passengers to buy pins for them, since they are limited to two per person. Of course no system is perfect.

If you have any other questions on pins or pin trading, please feel free to write me directly.

Jeff (Buddy Bear) Langdon

[BeanoC]

Dreams:

In an attempt to answer your question as best I can: No, "semi-cloisonne" and "Soft enamel" pins are not considered Disney-tradable pins.

Of course, fellow pin traders can trade for whatever the heck they want, but CM's won't trade for these.

Help me out guys - am I right here?


'Beano' :cool:

[GOOFY D]

We just returned from the July 6 cruise (just missed the AC pins). It was my daughter's first time pin trading and she was a little shy. The good thing is that they have a binder at the pin trading times that you can "trade with" by just selecting a pin and replacing it with one of yours as long as the page in the binder does not already have that pin. It was an easy way to get here started. She then moved on to the cast members and that was pleasant. However, some of the pin trading times got somewhat unpleasant. As my daughter was looking at the binder, some young girls (early teens maybe) started pushing their way in and grabbing as many pins out of the book as they could (none of the pins in the book were anything special, just rack pins). When the cast member told them they could only do two trades per day from the book, their mother actually encouraged them by pushing in also. They seemed to have purchased a 4 pin set at CC for $10.50 and traded one at a time for the ones in the book. Well, this sort of scared my daugher off as they were pushing and shoving. It is a shame that the CMs could not control them, but it was sort of busy at the time.

[Mike Bartenhagen]

Questions in regards to the pins. I have a daughter who is 5 and last week I bought her the pin collecting starter kit from the Disney Catalog because the kids (also bought one for my three year old but she was not nearly as interested) always want to get something at the Disney Store when we are in town and I got tired of buying things they only played with for a few minutes and then they were tired of. I also thought it would be fun for them to get some pins on the ship which would last mcuh longer than a Captain Mickey toy. She is excited about her pin collection and I think it will be fun for her. What I would like to know is what are the pins that we should buy that will sell out? On the pin rack at the store there were many pins that all referenced movies and charachters which appeared like they were always available. There were also a few Lilo and Stitch pins that were in a little nicer package and a few that we bought the girl at the counter told us they were the last ones. Do pins come out with every movie that are sold for only a short time, is this what the Lilo and Stitch pins were? Also does everyone take the pins out of the packages? My girls are doing this for fun so I am not so much worried about the future value but I have a toy tractor collection and I am very aware that tractors in the orginal package sell for much more than those that aren't. Is this the case with pins? Just wondering as I knew many had pins on lanyards which would obviously require removal from the package.

I guess ultimatly I would like to know which pins we should look for that will sell out quickly. They don't need the 80.00 sets that I have seen in the catalog but I don't mind buying the 7.00 pins such as the Lilo and Stich we bought the other night.

[PinClubs]

Hi Mike,

Below you will find an early post by me. It should answer most of you questions.

Original package: Usually just the Disney Store pins come in a package, but not always. Since the store pins are more widely available, you won't find anyone of them in high demand, so in or out of the package isn't going to make much difference.

Originally posted by PinClubs
Let me make a few ammendments to the last post....

I was on the July 4th cruise - Wonder - and there were two places to buy pins.

Mickey Mates - a store on deck 4 and the "Pin Trading Station" from 7:30 - 8:30 on deck 3 or 4 depending on the evening.

Rack pins: $6.50 - $8.50
Limited Editions (LEs): $8.50 - $15.00
Artist Choice - $12.50

The rack pins are commons, no big deal, cute but inexpensive. The LEs are more popular because they are limited. The 4th of July pin with Goofy was an LE of 1000. There was also a Chip & Dale LE of 3,500. Also another DCL slider pin that was a LE 3000

The most sought after pin is the DCL Artist Choice because it is an LE of 750 - 375 per ship - and the ship is the only place you can buy the pin. As a matter of fact the pin is not sold at Mickey Mates only the Pin Station and it is limited to two per person. A new DCL Artist Choice is released every month.



If you have any other questions, you can email me directly,

Jeff (Buddy Bear) Langdon

[Obi-Wan Pinobi]

Originally posted by BeanoC
Dreams:

In an attempt to answer your question as best I can: No, "semi-cloisonne" and "Soft enamel" pins are not considered Disney-tradable pins.

Of course, fellow pin traders can trade for whatever the heck they want, but CM's won't trade for these.

Help me out guys - am I right here?


'Beano' :cool:
Well, the things I find when I'm at home and just do some searching. :)

Okay, I'm assuming the rules for DCL pin trading are the same as rules for WDW, since the DCL port is so close to WDW and I haven't heard differently from any traders that have been on the pin event cruises. In WDW, any metal pin with a Disney copyright or a Disney affiliation (Rainforest Cafe and Planet Hollywood in WDW, DTD McDonalds and Lego store, etc.) is tradable with a CM. The rules at DL and DCA do differ slightly -- IIRC, pins that are metal in appearance with no coloring whatsoever and pins that are basically a photo with an epoxy dome over it are not tradable in DL and DCA. Pins that are non-tradable in all the parks include rubber pins, name pins, non-Disney pins, and forgery Disney pins (looks like Disney but doesn't have the Disney copyright).

Pretty much most pins made by Disney are enamel or semi-cloisonne and there are very few true cloisonne pins made these days. I won't go into details on the differences between true cloisonne and enamel, but when you're in WDW check out Scoop's seminar at Expo Hall in MK.

Pinclubs posted a link over to the Collectors Board. I have one in my signature also. If anyone has any questions, come on over and ask away. The pin collectors there love to talk about pin trading.

p.s. to the DCL forum mods ... hope I didn't get TOO off topic. :)

[Mike Bartenhagen]

I want to make sure I've got this right. There is a set of 60 pins on cheappins.com for 60.00. So if I buy these and my daughters take them on the ship they will be able to trade the CMs for DCL pins. How do the CM's display the pins that they have for trade? Do they always add DCL pins to their collection of pins to trade? Otherwise I would think that most people would want to trade for DCL pins and they would have none of these but plenty of cheap pins from DIS members. The collection of 60 has many duplicates, would this be a problem?

[PinClubs]

Mike,

What they do in the parks and I am pretty sure they do on the ship is this.

Before they go to work, the CMs are handed a lanyard with 12 pins, which they hang around their neck. These pins belong to Disney and not the CMs. When they return at the end of their shift they are required to have 12 pins on their lanyard.

Depending on when you catch the CM they can have a bunch of cool Disney pins or some not so nice cheap (common) pins. The CMs on the ship can wear any Disney pin that meets pin trading requirements and they don't necessarily have to be DCL pins.

As far as your cheap pins are concerned, if they meet Disney's criteria for pin trading then go ahead and buy them.

The duplicates can be a little bit of a problem, because one of the pin trading rules states that you cannot trade a pin to a CM that they already have on their lanyard.

Jeff