A question for those that have been doing this for a while...

[NHMickey]

Do you have a set of pins or just one pin that evokes a memory of a great adventure? I sit and look at the POM set from 2000 everyday (it hangs on the wall next to my computer) and think of all the fun I had getting the last few pins in that set…

And all the fun I had with Scott and Vince on a certain day in Epcot getting one of them… Oh and I know who ran for pins… Cause they where right behind me… And talking with Sue Ellen who related a story a cast member told her about these two guys who flew in from NH and MD just to get a pin and leave the next day…
Good times…

So how about it you old timers… What pin or pins bring back those moments (and what are the moments) for you?

 

[Eeyore's Pal]

Is the WDW 2003 Princess Event set.

Yes, all I had to do was send in my RSP and pick up my merchandise. . . but there was really much more than that.

Our RSP merchandise had been misplaced, so we ended up following some CMs hither-and-yon to find it.

We were soaked, resoaked, and soaked again as we waited for breakfast, our missing pins, and then the mystery pin. Not too mention the extra soaking as we got our maps stamped all over the water-logged MK.

But we did it all in the company of pinpals . . . so that set is even more special to us.

 

[Goofy4Pluto]

many of my sets remind me of the process to
get them...

but the Kooky set from WDW - the ones that
came out in 2000....
the Pluto pin for that set I got one and my room mate
got one both off ebay and because my room mate
had played SO MANY dirty tricks on me, that when
my pin arrived and was scratched, I decided to
go into his pin book and swap mine for his that was
mint! (Don't worry, he ended up getting it back)
He opened his pin book like the next day and
immediately saw the scratch and said, hey that is
not my pin! And wanted to see the pin I had...
and from there it was this running joke to keep
his pins under lock and key!

Also, the blue DL 45th anniversary balloon pin...
that is special to me because that was the very
first pin I bought at the commencement of pin
trading... I had several from years past but didn't
really have the idea that they were collectible, and still
have those... but the blue balloon is what got me
into trading and really obsessive collecting like
I do now!

 

[Parkhopper]

I definitely share some of the same memories as Nat! That was the November POM after they had dropped the edition size down to 3000 and we flew down just for that release and back. That was totally awesome! I remember who ran too (Note that Nat mentions who was behind him).

The Walt Disney World Pin Trader Pin reminds me of our very first pin trading trip was magic because we had no idea what to expect and my wife Suzi and I spent the whole trip meeting people and trading and having a ball! Suzi asked everyone she met about the Pin Trader pin and finally one Cast Member said "Yes, I know that pin and I have one. If you come back tomorrow and find me here I will have it with me." Needless to say we came back the next day!

I can remember enjoying trading so much that we started traveling to meet friends in person that we had only met on the internet. I remember our first trip up North to a pin meet in Natick Massachusetts. We had never done anything like that before and it was fantastic! That was in 2000 and we have made numerous trips back up to New England for friends and pins every year since! In fact we will be travelling up there in just two days!

Early pin event pins remind me of some pretty great times. I will never forget spending the night out (in a parking lot, or in line at the parking plaza) before a pin event because you needed to be one of the first so many people in line to be able to get the pins!

I have soooooo many memories of good times I could go on and on!

 

[karinmac]

the DS state pins sets still stick in my mind. between trying to get them all and meeting so many people on line in different states and calling Disney stores all over the country, I will always remember my pursuit of these pins. It took just about a year but I was able to get them all.

 

[Luv2Roam]

I would have to say my many DL pins I bought on our first and only DLR trip.
I have wonderful pins like Pin 1868: Goofy's Gas Station 2000 and Pin 2965: DL Glow in the Dark Haunted Mansion.
I also was able to trade for the entire set of the DLR 45th anniversary balloons from CM lanyards.
That trip was when the pin bug bit me hard. I remember returning home with what looked to be an entire pin cart.

 

[JudithM]

WOW! This thread brings back memories! I finished the 2000 POM set after Lynnie (hey, has anyone seen her since she moved to FL?) started a thread about needing pins to complete a set. Wasn't it WVrevy who traded me a pin & later realized he really didn't have an extra? And Goofymom/pop helped me find the last pin in that set which was available on cheappins - maybe she got tired of reading about my needing that pin in every post .

And yes, those TDS pin sets! I wonder if we would all stand in lines every Saturday morning again ? Big thanks to Karinmac & Luv2roam (& others) for all their help - I now have a pin to represent every state in union - Mickey with the state outline, state outline with characters & Mickey with state flags.

I'm even thinking about using some of the pins in my Disney scrapbooks!

 

[goofymom/pop]

Hi Judith...ahhhh I remember finding that pin for you....it was so fun to help you complete your set.

Some of my fondest memories come from surfing the web and finding someone elses holy grail and letting the know about it. I love that!

One pin set sticks in my mind. When I first started the insanity a few years ago the "hat pins" where the hot item. Now mind you I had nothing, and I do mean nothing to trade for them. They were totally out of my league. So sad. Later that summer Jeff and Lauri hosted the first pin event. My husband and I were able to attend Jeffs event and the Epcot event that week. My hubbys goal was to obtain the entire hat pin set before we left. I went armed with a few good pins to trade and loads of pixie dust. Low and behold after Paul made his rounds at the two events we came home with the entire set. He is quite the negotiator. He asked what people wanted for them, then set out to buy/sell/trade to get those pins and went back and made the trade. We both love that set. It hangs framed in our home and reminds us of the fun we had at the
Great pin adventure and at Epcot. Ahhhhhhh I sure do miss all that hubbub.


cindy

 

[daber]

How about a non-pin memory..... Our GPA II passport still brings smiles to our faces as we dashed around WDW trying to perform 80 trades each in a little over 24 hours. Don't have the pins as we kept trading them away, but the memory still lingers on! Hope Jeff and Laureen can make it this year, last year wasn't the same without them....oh yeah, their faces were there, but they weren't!

 

[Eeyore's Pal]

I was waiting to go in to that horrible little retail store in Innoventions, and all of a sudden this CM Manager grabs me, and says: "I'm sure this person can help you with your problem."

This very angry guest had registered for the event, waited in line for hours (didn't we all?), and <i>still didn't have his <b>passport!</i></b> He had been remonstrating loudly with several CMs, and then pointed at my passport to show them what he wanted. Of course the poor CMs could not help him.

I had to explain to everyone about the DIS, DISpals, GPA, etc. I still don't think the guest believed me that this had nothing to do with ODPT.

 

[Goofy4Pluto]

Originally posted by Eeyore's Pal
I was waiting to go in to that horrible little retail store in Innoventions, and all of a sudden this CM Manager grabs me, and says: "I'm sure this person can help you with your problem."

This very angry guest had registered for the event, waited in line for hours (didn't we all?), and <i>still didn't have his <b>passport!</i></b> He had been remonstrating loudly with several CMs, and then pointed at my passport to show them what he wanted. Of course the poor CMs could not help him.

I had to explain to everyone about the DIS, DISpals, GPA, etc. I still don't think the guest believed me that this had nothing to do with ODPT.

Robyn... please help me out...
what is a passport? (I know the official kind, but obviously this
one has to do with pins...)

what is GPA? (I know grade point average, but uh, that has
nothing to do with pins unless you are the mother of a
collecting kid that gets good grades with pin rewards)

DISpals...? is that us?

I've never been to an event, or to WDW.... I feel SO out of
the loop here!

 

[wvrevy]

Originally posted by JudithM
Wasn't it WVrevy who traded me a pin & later realized he really didn't have an extra

That sounds like something I'd have done all right I don't remember it specifically...but then, maybe that's all the evidence you need to know that it was me

Actually, there are a couple pins that we have that have some special meaning...One is the "100 Acre Wood" dangle pin that a great cast member traded Elaine (for a rack pin)...thereby ensuring that she was hooked.

The other is the "It's a Girl" pin that was given to us by Larry at Epcot when he found out we were having a girl That one isn't likely to leave the collection anytime soon...

 

[Eeyore's Pal]

DISpals ~ <b>WE</b> are DIS pals! A friend met here on the DIS, who has some above-average interest in things <i>Disney</i>, and possibly willing to wear something lime green if asked.

GPA ~ <b>Great Pin Adventure</b> ~ A series of stories and activities, originated by our very own <i> AZJazzyJ</i>, through which to enhance a Pin Event experience, in person or from home.

Passport ~ At GPA II (September 2002, Epcot), each participant was given a paper booklet to attach to their lanyard, and "stamp" with each of 80 trades made during the weekend. This was a DISpal added experience, <b>not</b> part of the Disney plan.