Are they real pins

[rthib]

Just bought some pins off ebay.
They arrived today.
They feel slightly lighter then the other disney pins I have.
The backs have only vertical stripes not the usual checkerboard that my other pins have.
And the finish just looks a little cheaper.
They all have (c) disney.
And they have a pinpics number and look like the pins there so I guess they are ok. (The pins there have the same "cheap" look)
It says there they are from Europe and no they are not "Sedesma"
The dealer is one that some folks here have mentioned.

So my question is.
1) Do all Europe pins look and feel this way?
2) Can my daughter still trade them?

 

[HayGan]

You proably received some EruoDisney pins. They are tradeable.

Can you give a few of the pinpics numbers so we can give a little more info.

 

[rthib]

46140
It's not a fuzzy pictures, that's how the pin looks.

 

[megaelch]

but i think they are bootleg pins ... i do collect Paris pins since 99 and these pins recently popped up in cheap lots on ebay only ... maybe you can get a refund from the seller ????

Stephan

 

[IWannaBeAPrincess]

I got some of these on my trip (8/20-8/22) and I quickly traded them back off, because they were obviously fakes. They were made to look like the real pins with the thick gold borders, but they felt like they were made of aluminum. Very cheap, similar to the feel of the Euro Disney pins, but the Euro Disney pins are a bit heavier and flush on the front and even, where as those are like a mold filled with a color and have little dips in the finish.

 

[rthib]

So what is the deal with PinPics?
I thought that was a good source for telling real from fake.
The pins all look like the ones on pinpics.

Still confused.

 

[megaelch]

but cannot be 100% correct all the time .. Maybe the seller added these pins to pinpics to make them look "Real" before he started selling them ..
will add comments to the pins to have them marked as bootlegs !

Stephan

 

[rthib]

I contacted the seller.
I will see what they say.
Luckily I did not spend much on them - this was to see the quality to begin with.

 

[HayGan]

So what is the deal with PinPics?
I thought that was a good source for telling real from fake.
The pins all look like the ones on pinpics.

Still confused.

The pinpics page does say that the pin listed in an unauthorized pin so it wouldn't be tradeable. By saying that it is unauthorized does mean that it is a fake - sorry!

 

[Dsnyfam]

This post makes me scared to buy anything off Ebay. I have seen so many pins I wanted to buy, but have no way to tell if the ones they have in the photo is the same one they will send, etc.

Is there anyway to tell "before" you buy from Ebay, whether or not the pin will be real?

 

[megaelch]

i would recommend buying from sellers with a good rating or see the dizpins.com sale board. Sometimes it helps posting your wishes on this board here and see if any offers come up in PM ..
If there is a specific pin you are looking for just post the pinpics # and i will try to give you a recommendation .
If you are looking for pins to trade away on CM lanyards, disneyshopping has it's pin sale right now and use a coupon code for a further 25 % off ..
so you will be able to get really nice pins for 3 USD a pice or cheaper .
When they started on onday you could get LE pins for 1.25 USD per piece !!

Stephan

 

[rapriebe]

I was always told that as long as the pin has the Disney name on the back, then you could trade it with CMs. When I have traded back some undesireable pins to CMs, they would look at the back but I have never had a problem as long as it states Disney on the back. They may be "unauthorized" or "bootleg" but I still believe that they will be tradeable. I have seen these pins for sale on eBay also, that seller seems to have numerous "lots" of them to sell.

I'm not happy seeing these pins on eBay because that means that eventually they will windup on CM lanyards. There are enough junk-type pins that are placed on the lanyards which make it difficult to find good pins when trading with the CMs.

 

[IWannaBeAPrincess]

I found a card, the type that hooks to the bottom of the CM lanyard, that states the official rules. It says that they must trade if the pin is metal and says (c) Disney. So technically, you can trade anything in those parameters to a CM.

After I read the card, I did turn it in the a nearby CM.

 

[3DisneyKids]

I purchased the exact type of pins you are describing (and I bought off of eBay, too). They traded without problem in all of the parks. None of the CMs even looked at the backs. Now, these were my kids who were doing the trading, so that may have made a difference. I did feel bad about trading lower-quality pins, though. However, now I know better and am buying better pin lots. If you would like the eBay ID of a fantastic pin seller, PM me. All of hers are fabtastic and at great prices.

 

[rthib]

Got a bunch of pins during the DisneyShopping Pin Sale.
With the discount and the 25% off, made a deal on pins I know are real Disney.

Think I will stick to that route from now on.

 

[EpcotMatt]

Just remember that Disneyshopping only holds those big pin sales twice a year. So if you don’t stock up big during one of those times, you’ll just have to keep your eye out for other opportunities. Personally I think Ebay’s great. After awhile you get a feel as to what’s legit & what’s not. If there’s any question at all, I don’t bother. There are tons of auctions out there to choose from. There’s also a pin collecting book{the title escapes me right now} that’s very useful as a reference guide. Have fun!

 

[rstamm]

i would recommend buying from sellers with a good rating or see the dizpins.com sale board.
Stephan

Can't always trust the high number either. We bought a lot of 50 or something back in July and the vast majority were junk when we got them. The seller refunded back the purchase price AND the shipping, but there was still lots of time involved in getting the refund.

I'd say keep your eyes on www.disneyshopping.com for sales. We got a bunch of Incredibles pins for less than $2.50 before our trip last month. When we got back the semi-annual pin sale was going on and we were able to get 36 pins at less than $2 a piece from the site. Good quality we won't hesitate to trade at WDW in December.

 

[rstamm]

Just remember that Disneyshopping only holds those big pin sales twice a year. So if you don’t stock up big during one of those times, you’ll just have to keep your eye out for other opportunities.

It seems those "opportunities" come around pretty regularly. In addition to the Incredibles pins we got in July, we also bought a bunch of LE sets that had 5 and 6 pins per set. They were only $24 or so for the set--by spending $70 or more we got something like 25% off. Really brings the price per pin down and you know you can trust the authenticity unlike Ebay.

 

[mamacatnv]

I bought a few during the Disneyshopping sale, although the majority of the "sale" pins were gone quickly. I have seen some of the Dshopping sets that were on sale starting to pop up on ebay for twice the $.

I have bought a few pins off of ebay, after reading up on PinPics and the signs of a fake. I stay away from the large "Lots" of pins for dirt cheap. So far my purchases have been for small lots (5-7) of LE pins averaging in the $4-5 each range. I am buying them so the kids have lots of tradeables for our upcoming trip.

 

[EpcotMatt]

It seems those "opportunities" come around pretty regularly. In addition to the Incredibles pins we got in July, we also bought a bunch of LE sets that had 5 and 6 pins per set. They were only $24 or so for the set--by spending $70 or more we got something like 25% off. Really brings the price per pin down and you know you can trust the authenticity unlike Ebay.

Just a reminder with certain pin sets, technically you’re supposed to trade the entire set at once, not breaking it up. I don’t get the feeling that CMs really enforce this rule too often. But just be aware that it may crop up.