Advice please for pin trading novice

[Comet5]

Would appreciate advice on pin-trading. Planning to acquire starter pins as a Christmas gift for my sons (8 & 10) - and then introduce them to trading/collecting. We're headed to WDW in March, 2005.

What should I look for - avoid - ?

 

[Laralyn]

I don't have any answers for you, but since I'm considering starting pin trading too, I figured I'd bump this back up to the front page.

 

[miste76]

I just recently started collecting pins for my upcoming trip (2 weeks away - woohoo!!!) I've been keeping an eye on ebay and picking up some cheaper ones there to trade... and also getting a few that I like.
IMO... the most important thing would be to get the pins that your kids like... for instance: If they're a big fan of the Buzz Lightyear movie, then get all pins having to do with buzz lightyear. Any pins that you pick up that are not buzz lightyear could be used to trade with other people for the pins that are buzz lightyear related.
You may want to also post this on the collector's board... Lots of DISers that know about pin trading over there

 

[ErinInCT]

Since you are going after Xmas here is my advice. I got a HUGE set of pins from Disney store online after Xmas when they went on sale. They were SUPER CHEAP, I got 16 of them (would have gotten more but the rest were sold out). They also had lanyards on sale. I thought 16 was way too many to bring, but we traded out of them pretty quickly. This year I will buy way more. We got sooooo in to trading. Next time dh & I want to do it too (we let dd4 do it, not realizing how much we would ike it!). So wait until after Xmas & keep checking Disney store online for the deals. (Don't worry that they are Xmas themed, no one turned us down when we traded, in fact I think the CM's have to trade as long as it is an approved Disney pin).
You can also get good deals on pins on eBay. Here is my recommendation, don't worry about what character is on the pins, just get the cheapest ones you can. Remember you want "bad" ones so you can trade for good ones. My dd ONLY wanted princesses so we traded all our Xmas ones for princesses. If I got her princesses to begin with she would have never traded them, thus defeating the purpose!!
It is so fun and addictive!!! Enjoy!
One more thing, make sure you get them an autograph book too, my dd loved getting character autographs. I felt so bad for the kids who did not have pins or autograph books - they looked very sad when my dd traded pins or got autographs!!

 

[webmomom]

I would also suggest to post over on the pin trading area. There are rules of equitte (sp?) that go with the pin trading. Also to know if a CM is wearing a green lanyard, they are only allowed to trade with children. I think this is wonderful. Just be careful about who you trade with, some people no matter where you are will try to get your good pins if you have any and give you something that is not that good. Needless to say that is up to you if you want to trade it or not. Also the only people that HAVE to trade with you are the CM. If they don't work for Disney and wear a lanyard, they can trade if you want to, but they don't have to. Also do not touch the cm lanyard ask to see the pin. If they have let say a Mickey sking and you have a Mickey sking *same one) they are not suppsoe to trade for the matching pin. Some will, but most won't

Don't be afraid to walk up to a Cm whether they are in a costume or as we call them "suits". that is why they are wearing them to trade. Just be polite and wait your turn, or untill they stop talking to who ever they are talking to.

I hope this helps a little. I got my grandkids into it, and my children JUST LOVE ME FOR IT. I use to do it big time, but I don't anymore.

 

[Feelin' Goofy]

Be careful of the cheapest ones on Ebay. Take a look at this tread.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?threadid=605726&highlight=+Sedesma

 

[buzz2400]

Have been trading for a few years now. I buy the pins on ebay for about $3 and sometimes get them at disneystore.com when on sale. Basically you go up to any cm wearing a lanyard and ask if you can see their pins. If you see one you like they have to trade with you if the pin isn't broken and if it says disney on the back. It also has to be a metal pin. Throughtout the parks you will get different answers on trading. Some cm's will trade two at a time per person, some will only trade one per family. The green lanyard is only for kids, and here again the rule is either 9 or 12 years old or younger. About the sedemso (sp) pins, some cm's will trade and some won't. If you have them you can always go to the marketplace and trade with them. We found that they were the easiest to trade with (some even traded as many as you wanted). Just a caution that this is a very addicting hobby.

 

[mketting]

This past Feb. trip we did our first pintrading and we are hooked!!

Don't worry what pins you start with, the trading is the fun part . If your kids "love" the pins they have already trading won't be any fun.

I would get them at least 15 pins each to start, especially if you will be visiting the parks for several days.

When we go in Feb. I plan on having about 20 pins each for my kids and then when we visit the parks each day they can take take different pins to trade each day.

If you don't already have lanyards wait until you arrive and buy the lanyard/pin starter sets. You get a nice lanyard and 4 pins for trading for $16.00 a pretty good deal.

 

[Comet5]

Thank you all for your suggestions and insight!

 

[rapriebe]

mketting,

I thought the starter kits with 4 pins and a lanyard were $25. When I was there last month, that's what they were priced. Boy if they were $16, that would only be $4 a pin and that's pretty cheap for pins at the parks.

Anybody else remember the price for starter kits - my memory could be failing -- over 50 ya know.

 

[Mommy Poppins]

I'm pretty sure when we bought them last Christmas they were $25 each.

 

[SyracuseWolvrine]

If you're going to trade with a CM, we'll be happy to let you look at our lanyard, but PLEASE ASK! It's kinda awkward to be standing there and have someone come up and start staring at your chest without saying anything. (more awkward for some of my female co-workers than for me, but still awkward)

(I haven't done this, but I know at least one CM that, when someone started staring without asking, actually said "Yes, you can look at my pins, thank you for asking" in a pretty harsh tone)

 

[lovethattink]

My ds(10) has been collecting/trading Disney pins since Oct 1999. His favorite way to trade is on the trading boards at the Pin trading nights. They have special boards just for the children. The kids may trade up to 5 of their pins for pins on the boards. These PTN's are Wednesday afternoon (don't remember the time) at Port Orleans French Quarters in the old/closed restaurant, Thursday night at the All Star Sports Resort food court from 7pm to 10pm, and Friday night at the 4th floor pin station of the Contemporary from 7pm to 10m. The Friday night pin trading has a raffle for the kids at 8pm and 9pm. They have a chance to win special pins or merchandise. Each of these kids trading areas has a table set up for the kids to color pictures and/or trade pins.

 

[Kallison]

My DD only looks for Pooh pins, she has gotten a lot of Santa Poohs from CM's. It's fun, definitely buy cheap to trade. I like black/white Mickey or Walt Disney pins. It's easier if you only concentrate on one area. Otherwise it can be overwhelming.

 

[disneymom1]

My kids each received a free lanyard with 2 starter pins as part of a Disney package. We have also purchased several other pins for them.

They would like to trade one of the 2 identical starter pins for something else. Will a cast member do this? The kids really do not want to trade any of the other pins they picked out themselves.

Does any one have any suggestions where they might be able to trade the starter pin?

 

[bobcat]

They can trade it with any CM that doesn't have that pin on their lanyard. Many CMs wear lanyards at the front desk so you may get lucky and be able to trade right away.