Are my pins worth anything?

[rocknraider]

Hello,
I was wondering if any of my pins were worth anything. I bought them off of ebay for about $12. I think they are all official trading pins because they have the seal on the backs of them.
I'm going to Disney World this summer, so I wanted to know which ones I needed to trade and which I needed to keep, if any.

I hope these pictures are good enough.

Thanks

 

[agnes!]

There are a lot of what regular pintraders call "scrappers' floating around EBay & other Internet sources these days. They mostly seem to be made off the same equipment & come out of the same factories as the pins bought directly from Disney. So while they are made off the authentic designs, they are not directly authorized by Disney. There can be condition issues with these unauthorized-but-kinda-authentic pins. The colors might be a little 'off', the finish seems somewhat rough, the Disney stamp on the back could be strangely configured. You can always research your seller, see if they have been offering pin lots for ages and if perhaps the pin lots are always the same pins...that's usually a pretty good indication that the seller is selling unauthorized pins
That being said, from these pics your pins look like they are probably fine for trading with a CM, but if they were offered to me (if you wanted to trade Guest-to-Guest), I might turn down the trade (as any of your fellow Guests are free to do) mostly because to me the finish & colors seem a little 'off'. I do like that Jiminy Cricket though :teeth ...

You can look up your particular pins on Pinpics.com. Just put descriptions into the pin-search engine, like, for instance, "Goofy patriotic" for that one pin. You might have to scroll through a bunch of hits but you'll eventually find your pin - you can look at all the pin info and sometimes, if a pin design is a known 'scrapper' that information will be posted in the pin description.

Welcome to our happy band of addicts...I mean "pin enthusiasts" .
agnes!

 

[pixiewings71]

The Pluto K9 Corps and the Donald Seal team, those are the only 2 I know for sure could be scrappers. You can tell by looking at the back of them. If you'd like more info PM me and I can help you with that. Your pins look fine to be traded with CMs but without seeing them for myself (in person) I can't say if they are scrappers or not, except the 2 I mentioned already, those I've seen in person and have had scrappers myself so I can help you with those.

 

[rocknraider]

Thanks for the replies. I don't know anything about pins, so I won't be able to tell if they are fake. I could take another picture of the backs of some of them if that would help.

Also, the seller has 100% feedback. The people are saying they were great pins so I'm guessing that they are real .

Anyways, can anybody tell me which pins I need to trade off and which I need to keep? They probably aren't worth anything. I like the jiminy cricket and the mickey ones.

 

[NHMickey]

I like the goofy pin. Not saying it has a high value but it looks cool.

 

[rocknraider]

I like the goofy pin. Not saying it has a high value but it looks cool.

Yes it does. When I go I will just get pins that I think look cool.
Hopefully I dont get ripped off. I'm pretty sure I didn't get lucky enough to get a rare pin.

 

[pixiewings71]

Look at the backs of the 2 I mentioned, if there is 1 single post then it is a scrapper. The "legit" pins we received from CMs have 1 single post and on the sides of that post are 2 smaller "nubs". That's how I tell the legitimacy of those and the snowflake pins. Otherwise they are almost exactly the same as the "real" ones.

Most eBay sellers have great feedback because most of us don't know what we are looking for when we get pins. It took me a while to figure it out but I finally did.

As for trading, I would trade what you don't like and keep what you do. Out of that lot I only see I might keep.....OK maybe 2. And that's not because they are anything special, it's just because I like them.

 

[NHMickey]

That is what I do... I get what I like. I may have a scraper pin (I don't know if I do) but to be honest I don't care. If I like it I will keep it.

 

[agnes!]

Keep what you like, trade what you don't, make little kids happy - maybe even give a pin away, don't let any pin-sharks/hard-nosed traders get you down, ask nicely to see pins on a lanyard (be it Cast Member or fellow Guest), always say "thanks!".

It's all good .
agnes!

 

[rocknraider]

Look at the backs of the 2 I mentioned, if there is 1 single post then it is a scrapper. The "legit" pins we received from CMs have 1 single post and on the sides of that post are 2 smaller "nubs". That's how I tell the legitimacy of those and the snowflake pins. Otherwise they are almost exactly the same as the "real" ones.

Most eBay sellers have great feedback because most of us don't know what we are looking for when we get pins. It took me a while to figure it out but I finally did.

As for trading, I would trade what you don't like and keep what you do. Out of that lot I only see I might keep.....OK maybe 2. And that's not because they are anything special, it's just because I like them.

I'm not sure what you mean. Is the post the part that you pin it on with? If so, there are 2 little "nubs" by it. It also has Disney Pin Trading 2008 under that and hidden mickey 4 of 6. Under that it has a disney copyright. Does that sound right?

Keep what you like, trade what you don't, make little kids happy - maybe even give a pin away, don't let any pin-sharks/hard-nosed traders get you down, ask nicely to see pins on a lanyard (be it Cast Member or fellow Guest), always say "thanks!".

If a little kid asks me to trade, I probably will say yes. I like making people happy anyway heh.

 

[pixiewings71]

That is what I do... I get what I like. I may have a scraper pin (I don't know if I do) but to be honest I don't care. If I like it I will keep it.

I have a TON of scrappers, I know they are scrappers but I like them so I keep them. I won't trade them, they will stay in my collection forever....lol

I'm not sure what you mean. Is the post the part that you pin it on with? If so, there are 2 little "nubs" by it. It also has Disney Pin Trading 2008 under that and hidden mickey 4 of 6. Under that it has a disney copyright. Does that sound right?



If a little kid asks me to trade, I probably will say yes. I like making people happy anyway heh.

Yes, that's exactly right!! You have a good pin there! That particular set is a set of 6, they are all military in style. I trade with kids all the time, with CMs, with regular people. I like trading but I don't let anyone take advantage of me. Altho I haven't said no to a kid yet, unless it's one of my keepers, those are on my lanyards with locking backs and they don't come off. In that case I just try to direct their attention elsewhere for a trade and explain to the parents that those are keepers not traders, haven't had a problem yet.

 

[rocknraider]

I have a TON of scrappers, I know they are scrappers but I like them so I keep them. I won't trade them, they will stay in my collection forever....lol



Yes, that's exactly right!! You have a good pin there! That particular set is a set of 6, they are all military in style. I trade with kids all the time, with CMs, with regular people. I like trading but I don't let anyone take advantage of me. Altho I haven't said no to a kid yet, unless it's one of my keepers, those are on my lanyards with locking backs and they don't come off. In that case I just try to direct their attention elsewhere for a trade and explain to the parents that those are keepers not traders, haven't had a problem yet.

Cool. I guess that means I have 2 of the 6 in that set. Maybe I can try to get more of that set

 

[pixiewings71]

You can go to pinpics.com and do a search for Pluto K9 Corps and it will take you to that pin, then you can search for the numbers of the pins in the rest of the series. Or you can go here http://eventservices.disney.go.com/files/2008 DLR Hidden Mickey Checklist.pdf to see them. That page lists all the Disneyland Hidden Mickey sets from 2008.

 

[princessCKL]

So if someone buys "scrappers" off of ebay and trades them with a CM, then my child trades one of a starter set with that CM later, wouldn't he be likely to get a scrapper off of the CM's lanyard? How do you ever know if you are only getting authentic pins?

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

So if someone buys "scrappers" off of ebay and trades them with a CM, then my child trades one of a starter set with that CM later, wouldn't he be likely to get a scrapper off of the CM's lanyard? How do you ever know if you are only getting authentic pins?

You don't.
We travel with the laptop and try to check the authenticity of pins every night. Of course if you have scrappers you are stuck with them, which is infuriating if you bought authentic pins to trade and then you "wasted" them trading for fakes.
Of course there are plenty of folks who will march out the next day and trade the scrappers back to the CMs.
It's a vicious circle.

 

[CJS~MOMMY]

Altho I haven't said no to a kid yet, unless it's one of my keepers, those are on my lanyards with locking backs and they don't come off.

Where can you get locking backs? I lost a couple of pins last year getting on and off rides.One was special just because my DS picked it out.I went and rebought it but it made me sad to lose any.

 

[pixiewings71]

You can get them in the parks. We go to DL not WDW so I don't know where the pin stores are in WDW but you should be able to find the locking backs at any pin store in WDW. We get ours wherever we buy pins.

Oh I should explain, they are gold and they go on and off with a small allan wrench so they really don't come off unless you've got the "key" for them.

 

[3disAddicts]

We bought some of the locking pin backs on our last trip in Sept. 08. I don't know if DH didn't quite lock them tight enough or what, but we still ended up losing a couple of pins. Some of the backs just didn't seem to want to tighten as much as others. But, then again, lost some using the rubber Mickey pin backs as well. Either way, the locking ones probably are a little more secure.

 

[Sleepless Knight]

I don't think there's a 100% guaranteed way to keep pins locked on. My friend had a locking back on his pin fastened to his shirt and it came off on Big Thunder. Fortunately, he caught it so he didn't lose his brand new pin.

To minimize the risk of losing pins, I use my lanyard for the express purpose of showcasing my interests. I only put duplicates on there and I use locking backs. I keep my traders in a small pin book I bought at WDW a few years ago.

 

[pixiewings71]

If they are tight enough they shouldn't even move let alone fall off. I've got pins I've had locked onto my lanyard for a loooong time, talking 2 years at least, and I've never had any problems with them. I do check them thru the day but the back we have do not come off without the little wrench.