I noticed several pin traders collecting certain hidden Mickey collections to great success and wondered: what do they know that I don't know?!
Hidden Mickey pins are ones that only be obtained by trading with a CM. There are usually multiple designs in a set, so it can take some work to get an entire set. They release different pins (and sometimes the same) at DLR and WDW.
DLR:
http://www.disneyparksmerchandise.com/blog/hidden-mickey-pins-disneyland-resort/
WDW:
http://www.disneyparksmerchandise.com/blog/hidden-mickey-pins-walt-disney-world-resort/
Which brings me to my thread post, any tips to make pin trading more successful or to tips to collect certain pin lines?
Look everywhere you can to see if CMs have pins. The common stops are stores, janitorial, and management. You won't see to many ride operators or similar CMs with pins. Check for pin boards at the stores. Guest services (in parks and at the resorts) often have pin books.
I started collecting and trading pins on my last trip. What do you consider a "scrapper" ? I see some cool sets on
Amazon for a good price. I was thinking about picking some up to trade on my next trip but didn't want to be peddling junk.
Scrappers, Counterfeits, and Fakes: The second issue is scrappers, counterfeits, and fakes. For some folks this matters, for others it does not. You'll need to decide which camp you are in before you get heavily into pin trading. To the average pin trader, I don't think the difference between a scraper, fake, or counterfeit really matters (because none of these are legitimate pins), but there are slight differences.
Basically a scrapper is a pin that looks legitimate, but is not. It can be a factory overrun (i.e., the factory was contracted to make 1 million, but they made 1.1 million instead) or a pin that has some kind of error that should have been "scrapped". A counterfeit pin is a copy of legitimate pin made by someone that was not authorized by Disney. A fake is a pin design that was never authorized by Disney.
Unfortunately, it's not always easy to tell what pin designs are fake unless you know a lot about pins and what designs have been released. These pins can often look like legitimate designs and may contain all of the markings (e.g., copy right) to look legitimate, but they are not. You'll often be able to tell a scrapper/counterfeit because the colors are weird/off or the back stamp (the copy right) is wrong/missing/damaged. Others say you can tell because they feel "rough" or the edges are sharp/pronounced. Sadly, there is no sure fire way to tell a scrapper/counterfeit. It's worth noting that if you do end up trading with CM, the CM lanyards tend to be filled with scrappers, counterfeits, and (to a less extent) fakes. So if you really dislike scrappers/counterfeit, I would avoid trading with CMs. That's the crux of the argument: those that dislike scrappers/counterfeits feel they cheapen the trading and make it not worthwhile. Those that don't care, tend to say that they like the pin, so it doesn't really matter if it's a scrapper/counterfeit or not (they also say that if you can't tell, does it really matter?). Both points are valid.
