Trading Pins on Ebay

[2Tiggies]

Most of them are obvious.

Material is not the same (very light compared to authentic Disney pin)
Colors are off or missing
Picture is printed incorrectly or bad quality (colors bleed)
Rusty

But in general the easiest way I spot scrappers are the first 3 items I mentioned above.

Usually I can spot CM scrappers within seconds while looking at a lanyard (from item 2 and 3).

Also sometimes the post of the actual pin is not aligned properly. DD was picking a pin to trade on the trading board at POFQ gift shop a few years ago and when she removed the one she had selected it was glaringly obvious. It was a good opportunity to teach her, as she was only 10 and spends her own money on her pins so if she really likes a scrapper it's her choice but I want it to be an informed one.

We've done fairly well with starter packs and laynards when they've had them on sale at the various Disney shops onsite or at DTD. Yes, we probably pay a little more than we would on eBay but we know they are genuine. They had lanyards with 6 pins on (standard starter sets) for $12 reduced price at Pin Traders DTD last time we were there. She bought 3 packs and traded one pack at a time, keeping one of each of the ones she added to her collection.

 

[JeremyGNJ]

Here's the thing I don't get.

Why do people care so much about "scrappers". Arent these just fun trinkets that look cute? It's not like they are collectors items that will be worth money some day.

 

[momabbate]

I did get started on collecting my pins with a bulk buy or two on ebay. I bought them like this cause I think the pins are cute to have around. When we went to WDW I only traded one out with CM. We gave two little kids two of them. I guess I don't care of getting fakes. I do buy pins when at the parks. I don't really traded.

 

[Luvchefmic]

Here's the thing I don't get.

Why do people care so much about "scrappers". Arent these just fun trinkets that look cute? It's not like they are collectors items that will be worth money some day.

If you check some of the limited edition CM pins or Disney Auction pins are worth $100s now they are
Very collectable

 

[River Country]

Yeah i agree with PP. I have been collectiong pins since 1998 and some of the values have gone sky high which makes them very collectible. I wouldn't call them trinkets at all. The same goes for Vinylmations. My DD has over 200 Vinyls, some of whihc are worth over $100 becasue of the rareness of it. So trinket I think not.....

 

[Anonomom]

Here's the thing I don't get.

Why do people care so much about "scrappers". Arent these just fun trinkets that look cute? It's not like they are collectors items that will be worth money some day.

Can't answer for anyone else, but for me it's a moral and legal issue. Most of the so-called "scrappers" are illegally-made versions of copyrighted designs. That right there is enough for me. I'm not knowingly going to be party to copyright infringement. I know I can't stop anyone else from making/buying/trading such pins, but I won't do it.

My kids got into pin trading this year, and before I knew better I bought a batch on ebay. When they came, it was immediately pretty obvious I have a bunch of fakes -- they were terribly quality and had tons of mistakes, etc. I tried to return them but the seller never responded. I ended up buying other pins directly from Disney for the kids to trade. It sucks when they trade those pins for scrappers. I can only hope enough honest people trade that scrappers become less common.

 

[JeremyGNJ]

Can't answer for anyone else, but for me it's a moral and legal issue. Most of the so-called "scrappers" are illegally-made versions of copyrighted designs. That right there is enough for me. I'm not knowingly going to be party to copyright infringement. I know I can't stop anyone else from making/buying/trading such pins, but I won't do it.

Yea, but Disney CM's do it. If they aren't taking any time to vet out "scrappers".....when why would I care if I trade for one? or trade one back?

I guess we're not "collectors", we just look at it as a fun activity and decorations.

 

[heartse]

Yea, but Disney CM's do it. If they aren't taking any time to vet out "scrappers".....when why would I care if I trade for one? or trade one back?

I guess we're not "collectors", we just look at it as a fun activity and decorations.

I am with you. I wouldn't purposely go out to purchase the scrappers, but there's no guarantee that I will be getting an authentic one from a CM anyway. My DD just loves to trade, that's what she's in it for... and I will try to trade for a full set of some collection (I was able to trade for the entire Pirates of the Caribbean set one year!). If it's crappy, then I won't trade for that one, but I don't care if my daughter does. One year she traded with a CM for the same pin she just traded some other CM for a minute before. (she was 5 at the time) If there's a particular pin that I love, more often than not I will simply buy it.

 

[cseca]

Can't answer for anyone else, but for me it's a moral and legal issue. Most of the so-called "scrappers" are illegally-made versions of copyrighted designs. That right there is enough for me. I'm not knowingly going to be party to copyright infringement. I know I can't stop anyone else from making/buying/trading such pins, but I won't do it. My kids got into pin trading this year, and before I knew better I bought a batch on ebay. When they came, it was immediately pretty obvious I have a bunch of fakes -- they were terribly quality and had tons of mistakes, etc. I tried to return them but the seller never responded. I ended up buying other pins directly from Disney for the kids to trade. It sucks when they trade those pins for scrappers. I can only hope enough honest people trade that scrappers become less common.

Exactly!
I understand that people don't care "getting" scrapers but what if everything you see on the cm lanyards ended up being scrapers?

They are bad quality stuffs. That's the only reason I have stopped collecting from cm lanyard.
But I refuse to add on to the problem.
People might not care, but I do. We used to have so much fun trading for these little gems. Now they're just filled with shoddy printed metal. Really disappointed.

I hope people even if they don't care they still would avoid adding on to the scrapper problem.
The more scrapers you buy and trade the less authentic pins are out there. The scrapers will continue producing yucky pins and you and your kids will have less chance of trading with a great authentic Disney pins.

Then again, I've been hoping for that since this whole scrapper mess started...

I hope all the new traders get to see the difference between real and fake pins and realize how awful their quality really are.

 

[JeremyGNJ]

Exactly!
I understand that people don't care "getting" scrapers but what if everything you see on the cm lanyards ended up being scrapers?

They are bad quality stuffs. That's the only reason I have stopped collecting from cm lanyard.
But I refuse to add on to the problem.
People might not care, but I do. We used to have so much fun trading for these little gems. Now they're just filled with shoddy printed metal. Really disappointed.

I hope people even if they don't care they still would avoid adding on to the scrapper problem.
The more scrapers you buy and trade the less authentic pins are out there. The scrapers will continue producing yucky pins and you and your kids will have less chance of trading with a great authentic Disney pins.

Then again, I've been hoping for that since this whole scrapper mess started...

I hope all the new traders get to see the difference between real and fake pins and realize how awful their quality really are.

There's a simple solution. Have them made in America. It's because they're made in china that people get the designs and are able to mass produce them cheaply.

But if Disney did that, they wouldn't make 5000% profit on each one. hehe

 

[Reddog1134]

There's a simple solution. Have them made in America. It's because they're made in china that people get the designs and are able to mass produce them cheaply.

But if Disney did that, they wouldn't make 5000% profit on each one. hehe

From what I understand, most of the scrappers are made in the same factories that make the regular pins. They are either "extras" that the factory produces beyond Disney's order or rejects from the Disney batch.

 

[cseca]

From what I understand, most of the scrappers are made in the same factories that make the regular pins. They are either "extras" that the factory produces beyond Disney's order or rejects from the Disney batch.

That's one rumor.
Another is that they use incorrect dies that never were approved.
Another is that the licensed stamper sold the die to another stamper for unlicensed production.
I don't know if any of them are true but you can spot cm Mickey head scrapers real easily from lanyards.
I wish I had taken some pictures before I throw them away so I can post the differences.

http://www.disney-pins-facebook.com/2013/08/hidden-mickey-scrapper-real-pin.html

 

[cseca]

http://www.disney-pins-facebook.com/2014/02/fake-vs-real-haunted-mansion-hidden.html

 

[2Tiggies]

That's one rumor.
Another is that they use incorrect dies that never were approved.
Another is that the licensed stamper sold the die to another stamper for unlicensed production.
I don't know if any of them are true but you can spot cm Mickey head scrapers real easily from lanyards.
I wish I had taken some pictures before I throw them away so I can post the differences.

http://www.disney-pins-facebook.com/2013/08/hidden-mickey-scrapper-real-pin.html

http://www.disney-pins-facebook.com/2014/02/fake-vs-real-haunted-mansion-hidden.html

Thank you for those links. Both very informative and interesting to read (and look at!)

 

[heartse]

I do wish the cast members would get rid of the junk... but honestly, no one is telling you that you HAVE to trade pins. We haven't bought pins from Ebay in a long time, in fact the last time we bought them from Ebay was before I even knew there were fakes. Most of the pins with the CMs it seems are the junky ones... but I don't have to get any of them. I look, and if they are junk I pass over. Eventually they will go away because no one is trading anymore, because everything is junk.

 

[cseca]

Ok here's a link for a listing on ebay.
I am not related to this seller, I've just bought from them many times and they are awesome.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Disney-Worl...-/191135758413?ssPageName=ADME:B:FSEL:US:1123

If for some reason my link got censored, look for rosethorns!

http://www.ebay.com/usr/rosethorns!?_trksid=p2047675.l2559

There's only 5 sets available, so if you need 90 AUTHENTIC pins to trade here it is.

 

[jrjankowski8]

I've ordered directly from Disney before and gotten crummy looking pins too so there really isn't a rhyme or reason. It's not like any of the pins I'm buying or trading are meant to be sold for thousands of dollars one day. I don't think there is that much of a market since the pin boom is come and gone.

This happened with baseball cards in the 90s. There were so many produced that even if you had the best cards in the set, they're worth $1.

 

[GoofyGolferGirl2]

I think you can usually tell the fake or scrapper pins look cheap!

 

[kaytayprincess]

Someone mentioned Amazon earlier. Do the same rules apply as I'm choosing a seller: good reviews and long-time seller? Could one of you recommend a seller on Amazon?