Am I the only one who buys pins and doesn't trade

[carrie1626]

I love to buy pins when I'm at the world( and even when I'm not!).
I just don't want to trade. I found out a few years back, just having them on my person brought too much attention. The lanyard thing is out. A hat?
How does anyone else wear their pins without trading?

 

[kldmom2000]

I buy them too-but I don't wear them(and I don't trade them)... just bring them home and keep them as souveneirs... I've got about 50+ of them since they started doing the pin "trading" and just like to keep them as a memento

 

[resol37]

I prefer to collect rather than trade, too. I think I've only traded three pins. I'll wear them as a lanyard in the parks, but only trade certain ones. I have a bunch of pins that I got for free once at a CM pin party and I'll trade those. If the other person has one that I really want (especially if it's hard to find), I'll trade one of the ones I like if it's easy to re-buy.

Like I said, I use a lanyard. Usually if you let people know, "I'll only trade these three" you can still have fun trading in the parks.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

I bought pins last year in Disneyland and on the Disney Magic as souvenirs of the trips. My DH also ordered some from the Disney catalog for my bday. We generally buy pins that we really like and we wouldn't want to trade them. DH put some on his hat during the trip. I put a few on the outside of my purse. I might wear one or two at a time on my shirt collar just for fun, but not for trading. I think the lanyards attract would-be traders because they assume if you're wearing one you want to trade.

Interesting story - when we were reboarding the Disney Magic in Puerta Vallarta (we took one of the special Mexican Riviera cruises last summer) a gun-toting port guard asked my DH for a pin from his hat. We just laughed it off and kept walking but the guy kept stepping in front of us with his hand out. We had our two sons with us (10 and 6 at the time). At first it was funny and then it got just a little scary until the guy finally gave up and let us walk through the gate and toward the ship. I asked DH if he would have given the guy a pin if he had really insisted. He said, "No way - especially not my Donald pin!!!" I feel the same way about my Pluto and Dumbo pins!

 

[Mickey1122]

We don't trade either. We feel that they are souveniers. We pick ones that commemorate our trip. They might feature a ride or parade we particularly enjoyed on that trip. We have 50+ pins as well, and we have never traded. We like the ones that actually are about the parks rather than one of just Mickey or a princess. I think it's also special to get AP pins, festival/event pins, and tour pins. It's a piece of a trip that you can look back at and say "Oh, I did the Segway tour." Or "The Flower and Garden Festival was really fun." I like our Happiest Celebration on Earth ones quite a bit-they're a lasting momento from the 50th anniversary. We made four trips during this period, after a year or two of not making any, and it was a special series of trips that we will remember.
It's also interesting to see how the design/mechanism has changed. We made many trips before 2003, and that was really before pins got to be a big deal. They had the old-fashioned backs with the safety pin clip. And before that they had a mechanism where you twist, turn, and then lift the rod up. We have a VERY old Jiminy Cricket pin that has this mechanism. It's interesting to see how pins have progressed.

 

[paintnolish]

I buy pins for ds,6, and dd,5. They don't trade them, as they are typically special, souveniers. However, in the future, I think I will purchase some for them with trading in mind. I think it would be a fun way for them to interact with other guest and cms.
Must...not...start...buying them for myself!

 

[ilovemyears]

We buy the pins for our DS8 and DS6. We buy them to commemorate a special event - for example DS6 rode Dumbo with Stitch so we bought him a Stitch pin and DS8 was picked to play Gaston in the Storytime with Belle so we bought him a Gaston pin. That way, when they look at the pins, they have a memory to go along with it.

When we visit the parks, we let them pick one or two pins to wear on their shirts. No one has ever asked them to trade so it works for us!

 

[Samandmom]

My 6yr old DS does not trade. He says they are my special pins I 'm not trading. His lanyard is very full. I did not want to get the book for him since he does not have that many. We let DD start her own pin collection this last trip. We kept telling her she could not start her collection till she was a little older. Well I guess she became older on our last night. (We spent it at the Hyatt in airport) I just decided to let her start her own collection since she kept asking all week. I just kept stressing that the pins were NOT to be played with just displayed. I was worried she might play with them and poke herself. She has been good about it. We got her a lanyard at one of the Disney Stores with a Jo-Jo pin and then a Dora pin from the Universal store.

 

[dmk1021]

I'm not really into the pins, but my sister and mom are.

They will buy pins on ebay or on sale at disneydirect just to trade. They only trade for pins they actually like, though. I saw a young girl trading that was about 10 once, and the CM said, "Oh, this one is really pretty," to which she replied snottily, "I only want the cast lanyard pins. I don't care about ordinary pins." Sometimes it seems to take the fun out of it when people only are looking for pins that are rare or worth money. To each his own, though.

Of their pins, I'd say about 75% of them they get to actually wear. The other ones they get because they think they're unique. My mom especially likes to wear them, particularly at holidays. People always comment on how cute they are.

 

[helenm29]

I guess I've been exposed! I do the very same thing! I buy the pins I like and do not like to trade them most of the time...though I sometimes will buy pins that are not my favorites just so I DO have something to trade if I see something old that I wantI I found a really cool Elliot the Dragon pin the last time I was there that I had never seen before! Too much FUN! Yo Ho Helen

 

[WDW Poly Princess]

I'm the same way- I only have a few pins, probably around 20, and they're all ones I really like, and wouldn't want to trade. Most of them come from things like the backstage tours, or otherwise have sentimental value. I should eventually buy some just to trade with, but haven't managed to yet!

 

[ppony]

In the words of the "Finding Nemo" seagulls: "MINE MINE MINE MINE!" Once I buy them, I can't part with them. Each one means somthing to me be it my favorite characters or where I got them.

 

[CruznLexi]

I have just started trading about a year ago. We are going in 36 days and I have 2 pins I would trade and the rest I do not want to trade so they will stay with me or not go. I have a cool disney plane pin, the mupetts, spectromagic, and some other pins. Going to Disney soon so will try to get some more.
Lexi

 

[blondeheroine]

I buy them as gifts as sometimes its the only way I can get merch with the more rare characters. For instance, there's very little Mary Poppins merchandise in the parks. As of last Christmas, there was a pin and the DVD. So I got the pin.

(But that's another gripe entirely - More Mary merch!)

But you're definitely not the only one. My friend buys them and puts them on her messenger bags. I don't think she's even familiar with the concept of in park trading.

 

[Magic2000]

My youngest DD and I are in to pin collecting. She loves finding Stitch pins. I usually buy her some pins from e-bay or other sites (cheap) that she can trade. She loves being able to trade Stitch pins most, but she's also been collecting pins of all the Disney dogs - Pluto, Goofy?, Lady, Tramp, Scamp, etc (she loves dogs!!).

We're already on our second book of pins!!!

 

[Fitswimmer]

I don't trade either. I used to buy T-shirts, but they get washed out because I wear them so much! So, I started buying pins because they last forever. I started with the 4 parks, then collecting pins from each resort I stay in. Now, my next theme is going to be favorite rides. I want to put them in frames and hang them on my walls!

 

[mattsdragon]

We collect. We have 2 shadow boxes for pins, and a large set of mouse ears that we made with round styrofoam and black fabric from the hobby store.

We do buy the little boxes of 5 for $5 to trade with CMs for the good ones on their lanyards though. We've gotten some GREAT ones that way.

 

[momofprincess]

I also buy pins but hardly ever trade. I am loathe sometimes to trade with my kids! I'll just buy them whatever of mine they want.
I usually buy pins to commemorate whatever I've done on each vacation. I have them hanging on my bedroom wall on pegs, each on its own lanyard with a date pin somewhere on it. And where we stayed, what we rode that was new, etc.
Only one time did I trade...a little boy (6 or 7) sitting in front of us at Fantasmic turned around and was looking at my pins and asked if I wanted to trade pins...how could I say no? I let him pick whatever he wanted (I think it was a Gaston?) and I told him he could choose a pin for me.

 

[DeterminedOne]

No trading for me either. I wear pins on a lanyard but have never been approached about trading. I'm glad about it though since I would have to tell the person thanks, but no thanks. The only thing I don't like about the lanyard is it makes me feel hot and sweaty if I wear it too long.

 

[Brise Nannie]

I used to trade pins but don't anymore. Pintrading helped me find some really GREAT new friends for which I'll always be grateful, but that being said it became too expensive a hobby for me and not much fun struggling to get the Holy Grails. Now I buy pins that commemorate a memory but the best fun is framing the pins so I can enjoy them all the time.