I still enjoy pin trading, but I'll admit my enthusiasm has waned over the last few years due to all the fakes and scrappers being traded in the parks.
My name is theblackpearl on PinPics if anyone wants to reach out and say hello or perhaps trade.
Apparently, Disney’s QC is going down hill, too— which is only going to blur the difference between real and fake more and more.
For sale, at stores & kiosks
inside the parks, I have seen pins that have various (supposedly “telltale”) characteristics of “scrappers”. For instance, I’ve seen:
- pins with tiny bubbles or divots in the enamel;
- pins with a rough edge (not as well finished as they normally are… like the pin missed the final “buffing” before leaving the factory);
- pins that have coloration issues (color that is subtly streaked or swirled where it should be an even, solid color; pins with odd color variations, like Mickey’s face seems a little too pink, etc)
- metal tarnishing over time
- pins that are different colors at different shops (CM’s explanation is they came from different shipments)
- several other things that are supposedly “red flags”
On my last trip to DL, while I waited for family members to use the restroom, I was looking at someone’s collection they had displayed on the “pin trading tables” they used to allow near the entrance to Frontierland. There were actually a few collectors there “showing their wares”.
Out of nowhere one of them says, “You’ve got some scrappers there.” and pointed at my backpack, where my pins are displayed. I corrected her, and said, “No… every pin I have here was bought in the parks. Some are 20+ years old, but they’re all 100% real.” And she nudged her friend, pointed and proceeded to tell me *
why* she knew my pins were scrappers, while her friend nodded in agreement and threw in a comment or two.
Well, one of the pins she had issue with was one I had just purchased at WoD in Downtown Disney. I told her that, and as I turned to leave with my family, she stepped toward me. She was determined to shame me for some perceived irregularities on several pins. She said that I should be ashamed of my fake pins not proudly displaying them. As I left, I replied that she should be ashamed of trying to bully people. I saw her roll her eyes, and she muttered some other choice comments — I just thought “Classy. Jeez. Watch your language.” And we were off to… umm, Tiki Room, iirc. Then we kept on working our way through Adventureland.
The main pin that got that lady all worked up, was a WDW 50th Anniversary pin. I know exactly where I purchased it inside MK— and it did have a pinhole sized divot in a corner of the design that had literally never seen before. As I scrutinized it, I also noticed that the gold finish on the large, stylized “50” is starting to either rub off or tarnish.
The other was a Disney100 Mickey and Friends with a noticeable pinkish hue to Mickey & Minnie’s faces. But that’s the one I bought at WoD… so I knew it was also genuine.
I’ve seen virtually every single “trait” of a scrapper on the pins right inside the shops. It’s diminishing their own product when Disney no longer cares about the quality and if Disney doesn’t care, why would anyone else care.
I know this thread was several months old. But Brian’s comment struck a chord with me.
