Pin Fakes - please be careful (mousepinsonline)

[Mousin' Around]

We just purchased a lot of 150 pins for trading on our next trip from a website that was recommended here. It is mousepinsonline. These pins are fakes/scrappers/knock-offs/faux/copy-cat pins - or whatever you want to call them. The site advertizes that you will not get duplicates and we did...several of them. Anyhow, we could tell because there was a dwarf pin where one was correctly colored and another where the dwarf had a GREEN nose. Also, there was a pin where on one the color was bright and vivid and another was very dull and washed out.

I emailed the site owner before ordering and asked, because of the price, about them being real pins and he assured me that these were Disney official trading pins. Wrong - try again!

I just wanted to let you know.

 

[stargazertechie]

That's a bummer- and one of the reasons we've all but given up on trading in the parks.

 

[bytheblood]

I have posted this before, but here is my 2 cents.

I am not condoning or questioning ethics, but wanted to share my thoughts on this. This is MY opinion for MY pins. One size does not fit all.

• Most of the pins you get from CMs come from these same lots. This could mean that you are trading an $8 pin for the same pins that are causing you so much stress.
• Disney is allowing this, therefore it is not a "Disney abomination" by their standards
• Disney CMs do not inspect the pins to see if they are genuine or knock-offs.
• They are not really worth any major significant value. If I pay $8+ for a pin, it is because I really do like it and intend to keep it. If I should trade it for a "counterfeit pin" but I like the counterfeit, then there is no real loss for me as I am still getting what I want.
• I cannot take them with me when I die.
• If I am collecting them because I like them and decided I don't want them one day, I am never going to get what I paid for the pin in the park because pin trading is so big.

Disney allows people with pin books to sit in certain locations within EPCOT and Downtown Disney and rip their guests off. They sell some pins for $100+ and tell you they are retired when they are in fact available. If Disney isnt going to put a stop to this, they really are not that interested in what is being sold on the internet. If they were, they would sue and shut down many of these sites like pin castle, mousepinsonline, etc.

 

[MinnieLovesMickey12]

I think it is pretty obvious they are fakes to begin with when they are being sold for $1 each or less.

That's an OBVIOUS FAKE. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out if you are buying super cheap crap, that is exactly what you are going to get, super cheap crap.

I never got pins for my kids to trade because of all the posts I have read on these message boards about ppl buying these big lots of pins off Ebay and other sites KNOWING they are getting fake junk and yet they buy them and trade them anyway.

Let me ask you...how much did you pay for those 150 pins? I am going to throw a wild guess and say it wasn't even $150.

REAL PINS would have cost you at least $500 for 150 pins.

You even asked them about the low price before you bought them.

 

[sarobison]

If it says Disney on the back and has the mouse ear pin back then you can trade it right? We buy pins off eBay specifically for trading with CM's. Usually though we end up keeping half of them because we like them.

 

[eastcarolinafan]

So I bought a lot of 10 in ebay for $10. They looked like Disney pins. They smelled like Disney pins and they sure felt like Disney pins. Were they Disney pins? Apparently not, if we are to believe some of the posters here. But the thing is, when we took those pins to WDW and my girl started trading them with cast members, they sure traded like they were Disney pins. At the time, I didn't know that there was even a black market for Disney pins. We did it for the enjoyment of the interactions my daughter had with CMs and other guests. And besides, some of these pins are really cool looking.

What I do know is that whatever enjoyment "real" Disney pins are supposed to bring is no different than the joy my daughter gets out of trading pins we buy on ebay. There is no "legitimate" Disney joy and "illegitimate" Disney joy, even according to WDW which apparently lets pin sellers sell fakes right there in WDW.

I, in fact, just bought -- and I mean two days ago -- a batch of 20 pins for $17.50 on ebay. We like to give pins to our girl for different good things from time to time. She'll find one in her lunch bag or on her pillow before bed, that kind of thing. This is where I bought the latest batch:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Disney-Trad...me=WDVW&rd=1&ih=024&category=143&cmd=ViewItem

Are they real? All I can tell you is that the CMs at TT and COP and at the gates of the Magic Kingdom itself say they are and they traded for them. That's real enough for us.

 

[davedmaine]

I've never understood why some people buy pins with the purpose of trading them. Why not just buy the ones you want and keep them? But yeah, if I'm buying with the intent to trade, of course I'm going to buy some junk lot and trade those. Those who don't are fools.

 

[Cais]

I've never understood why some people buy pins with the purpose of trading them. Why not just buy the ones you want and keep them? But yeah, if I'm buying with the intent to trade, of course I'm going to buy some junk lot and trade those. Those who don't are fools.

Because there are a lot of pins that you can't purchase, of course.

 

[jessthemix]

Most of the people that purchase pins from Ebay and other "discount" sources purchase them for the sole purpose of trading. Most of the people that trade pins are trading for the sole purpose of the fun interaction pin trading brings.

My son and daughter trade in the parks, and they have a blast doing it. In fact, it has been very instrumental in pulling my otherwise very shy son out of his shell. During our last trip in September, we bought 5 starter packs from our resort gift shop; we bought these "starter" pins so that they could trade for other pins. I, however, also collect pins, but I don't trade. I see one that I like and I buy it. If you compared my lanyard to the lanyards of my son or daughter, you would probably notice that all of my pins are genuine, "authentic" Disney pins, but that is just because I only by them at the parks. Several of the pins on my children's lanyard may looks a little "questionable;" however, I agree with one of the previous posters who says there is no illegitimate Disney experience.

In other words, if you are looking to avoid "fake" pins, buy your pins only from the parks or Disney sources like the website or Disney stores.

 

[bytheblood]

I think it is pretty obvious they are fakes to begin with when they are being sold for $1 each or less.

That's an OBVIOUS FAKE. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out if you are buying super cheap crap, that is exactly what you are going to get, super cheap crap.

I never got pins for my kids to trade because of all the posts I have read on these message boards about ppl buying these big lots of pins off Ebay and other sites KNOWING they are getting fake junk and yet they buy them and trade them anyway.

Let me ask you...how much did you pay for those 150 pins? I am going to throw a wild guess and say it wasn't even $150.

REAL PINS would have cost you at least $500 for 150 pins.

You even asked them about the low price before you bought them.

Maybe I am misreading, but your post reads like you are attacking (with tone) the OP. I dont think she is shocked about them being fakes. I read the point of her post being that Mousepinsonline was suggested on the Disboards as legit and they are not, although the site owner claims they are.

If you take 2 minutes to research, you can find the price on the website. They are roughly $1.40 a pin.

 

[bytheblood]

Because there are a lot of pins that you can't purchase, of course.

Bingo! I thought that was common sense.

 

[eastcarolinafan]

I was sitting here reading the posts and i just rememberred that after trading some of her ebay pins for CM pins in the parks, myy girl ran out of pins with which she was willing to part -- including many pins we bought on ebay. So, reluctantly -- VERY reluctantly -- we went into the gift shop at CS, where we were staying, and I bought a starter pack which included many ice cream cones and such -- many on here likely know exactly what I'm talking about. Honest to goodness, I don't even know if those are "legit" Disney pins or not because I can't tell the difference.

I bought the pins because, real or not, my girl was totally unwilling to part with her remaining pins and she really digs the interaction with CMs and other guests. It's a big part of her WDW experience, and, thus a big part of ours (my wife and I).

 

[davedmaine]

Because there are a lot of pins that you can't purchase, of course.

You can purchase them .. Think about it..

 

[Luv2CtheMouse]

You can purchase them .. Think about it..

Not sure if you have a magic pin machine or something to give you what you want, but there are pins that cannot be purchased. Most of the ones in the lots are from that group. Cast Lanyard pins, retired CM pins, retired pin packs, etc.

 

[eastcarolinafan]

I've never understood why some people buy pins with the purpose of trading them. Why not just buy the ones you want and keep them? But yeah, if I'm buying with the intent to trade, of course I'm going to buy some junk lot and trade those. Those who don't are fools.

It's not always that you buy with the intent to trade, really; it's that, over time, you find pins that you like more than the ones you have. You know, you have something for a long time and see something you want more, so you trade it in? Think of pin trading as an inanimate, amicable divorce.

And remember, one man's junk is another man's treasure. Just because I don't like the Pluto pin and thus it means little to me doesn't mean you won't like it and it will become irreplacable to you. That is the purpose of pin trading. We can't know EVERY pin that's ever been made, so how can we buy it to keep?

The very purpose of pin trading is to share your love of all things Disney, not get a pin and hoard it for eternity. What good is that? It's a Disney pin, not the Mona Lisa. And it's kind of harsh to call somebody a fool, I think. I mean, really, what you are doing is calling fools the very people who decry the practice of buying pins on ebay in the first place.

 

[Mikesport]

i agree there are alot of pins you cant buy, i mean you could but 90% of the fun is running around the park looking for that last pin to complete your set. me and my wife love pin trading weve been doing it for years now. its a great way to interact with CM and other diney fanatics.

ive also been ordering pin lots from ebay almost my entire pin trading "carrer" and ive only found maybe 1 or 2 pins i didnt think looked right but i just threw them out. but also we do check the backs for all the right marks and other good stuff i know i would be bummed to get a fake pin from a CM so i wouldnt want to do it to another trader.

 

[JadeDarkstar]

Ok I am not reading the whole post how ever here's my two cents. You buy off ebay and Mousepins online to trade. If they are traded in the park then they are fine. I have been using that site that the op is giving a bad name too more than 5 times and not once found a fake or scraper. Every pin i got was traded unless i kept them for my collection. we don't do it for the money in the collection we do it for fun in the park with our family. Not once have i had trouble so yes ill defend mousepins online.