best way to start dd pin collecting?

[nlesl2000]

My DD is 4 1/2 and loves pins. She currently only has a few and I know she would NEVER trade them. We are going to Disney in January and I thought I might get her a few pins that she wouldn't mind trading - she would get a big kick out of trading pins. So, the question is-what pins are worth getting to trade and are there some that I should stay away from, pins that you just can't get rid of? Please let me know and let me know the best way to get her started. I now I've seen pin "kits" in the Disney magazine, and I'm sure I can find some on ebay-but I don't want to get pins that shouldn't/can't be traded. What do I need to know? Thanks-

 

[jcriket]

I would stick with the cheap ones (6.50 I think) and let her trade with CM because most pins they have to trade, i've never bought pins online so I can't help you there. But everytime my DDs traded they did it with CM because they dont try and bargain with you. I do think that I've read somewhere that some CM wont trade with pins from online stores. Maybe someone could help me on that.

 

[marymrg]

I have bought some pins for my son on ebay just for trading. I research the seller to make sure they have good feedback and that they are actually selling real Disney pins. Sometimes, you can save on shipping by buying from the same seller or bidding/winning on a lot of 2 or 3.

My son usually only trades with CMs. The CMs wearing the green lanyards can only trade with kids.

 

[Aneille]

My daughter trades a bit but only with CM's. Recently I started buying some pins online for xmas gifts for my daughters but on our next trip I plan on purchasing a bunch online to trade.

Ebay is definetly cheaper overall than buying once you are at Disney.

The pins that you don't want are Sedesma pins made from Spain. My daughter got one from a CM's lanyard last trip and its really cheap looking.

Propins I've read are better if you are looking for cheaper pins that are fully tradeable. I don't think we own any though.

I found this link here on the DIS recently. They sell Propins but I honestly don't know too much about them so I would research the type of pin on pinpics.com & dizpins.com and find out what they say about trading.

http://mousepinsonline.com/tp40/Default.asp?ID=18157

 

[WDWLinda]

You're exactly where I was one month ago...I wanted to start trading with my 4 yr old son, and got overwhelmed by all the info out there. I looked on ebay and someone said search on "pin lots", or "Disney pin lots", or something like that...but I didn't want to buy 40 - 50 pins at once, so it wasn't worth the great savings.

I finally bought 10 pins @ $3 ea from mousepinsonline.com and I think they'll be fine. They say Propin on the back, but they're good quality, and the website says they're perfectly legit for trading. Not a huge selection, but if you bought 10 pins you got an 11th free (an Oct. special, I think). I explained how trading works, because I too fear that he'll like the idea of getting new pins, but won't want to part with his old ones. I'd just keep any ones that you don't want to trade off the lanyard, and let him do the rest. I'll also only let him trade with CMs. And I know my son will pick pins based on what he likes, so if he gets a Sedesma (sp?), so what - as long as he likes it. We're getting a free lanyard and pin with a coupon I got from our AAA package when we get down there (tomorrow - Yea!), so I hope this all goes well! I'll probably buy him 1-2 pins at Disney each trip, but that's it (I hope!). I've made the initial investment, now we'll see if he enjoys it.

Good luck!

~Linda

 

[disneymama73]

I never thought my oldest DD would trade any of her pins, but I have been surprised on many occasions! She only trades with CM's, also. My 4-yr-old has decided she wants to start on our next trip.

I hope your DD enjoys pin trading as much as mine does!

 

[Aneille]

My only problem with the Sedesma pins isn't that my daughter didn't like it, she did and I think thats great! But once you hold one in your hand as an adult you can see and feel the difference.

I bought my daughters pins at the park and I don't feel the Sedesma pin was worth my 6.50+ that I had to pay to get it.

Also I've read that some CM's will not trade for a Sedesma pin. So I wanted to caution you.

When my daughter goes back and if she picks up more Sedesma pins, so what, but the less that are brought to the park to be traded the least likely it will happen and the less ripped off I will feel!

 

[buzz2400]

I have bought from mousepinsonline.com and they are tradeable. As long as "disney" is stamped on back, they are tradeable. CM's will now trade sedesma because they do have "disney" stamped on back. Right now for october, mousepinsonline.com has a special. The pins are only around $2 if you buy from their special.

 

[Aneille]

I have bought from mousepinsonline.com and they are tradeable. As long as "disney" is stamped on back, they are tradeable. CM's will now trade sedesma because they do have "disney" stamped on back. Right now for october, mousepinsonline.com has a special. The pins are only around $2 if you buy from their special.

Thats good to know about the Disney stamp. Honestly I don't go checking what my daughter trades for so I didn't know any difference between the pins until she got the Sedesma pin. Right away I knew it was different then all the others but I hadn't heard of Sedesma pins at that point. I found out later that they are undesirable to collectors.

Back on topic, I think your daughter will love trading. My daughter was 3.5 on our last trip and really enjoyed it. I explained how it worked and when we got back to the room every night we would go over which ones she wanted to keep. I would put a locking back on those ones so she wouldn't accidently lose them, and two so she remembered that she had said she wanted to keep that forever.

I am taking the pins my kids choose on each trip and putting them a display case with the month and year so it will kind of tell a story about them. I was just looking at the pins from our last trip and they brought back memories. My daughter can remember some stories relating to many of the pins. Its really neat.

 

[cleo]

Just giving you a bump over to the board where everyone is 'in the know'!

 

[Obi-Wan Pinobi]

Just giving you a bump over to the board where everyone is 'in the know'!

Who, us??

One thing I didn't see anyone mention about the Sedesma and the Propins is that one runs a chance of finding them on a lot of the CM lanyards. CMs are not allowed to accept a pin for trade that they already have on their lanyard. Yes, you will end up with quite a few inexpensive traders, but you may have a harder time trading them.

 

[FairyAuntMother]

I've purchased a bunch of pins on eBay. They all say "official pin trading" or something like that (?) on the back of them. I paid, on average, with shipping about $4.00 each. I'm stubborn, I place my bid and that's it - if it goes higher I won't get into a bidding war.

I have lots of time to put a small collection together for my nieces. They will be 8yrs, 6yrs, 4yrs. and 2yrs. old at the time of our trip (Dec 2006). I know the little one probably will not know what is going on to trade hers but if I don't have a lanyard for her too this Auntie will be in big trouble...LOL!

At first I didn't think pin trading would be something they would be interested in but then friends of thier's went to WDW and came back and told them about the pin trading, etc. That's all that was needed to start them asking about it.

How do the CM interact with the kids? Do the engage them, asking them about their pins, etc. Or do they need to be approached by the child first? I'm hoping to get a few pointers to pass on to the kids - this way they won't be so shy about it.

Thanks!

 

[AZ JazzyJ]

Most of the Cast Members really enjoy the pin trading interaction with the guests. With our kids they approached the Cast Member and politely asked to see their pins. Many would kneel down to allow the kids a better view and then strike up a conversation with them about what they collected, if they were enjoying their stay, what was their favorite pin, etc. In all cases it required the kids to make the first move so even our youngest was not intimidated by someone approaching him. I would recommend that you also look for Cast Members wearing green lanyards as those are only for kids. These members went out of their way to make the kids feel comfortable as they started trading.


Jeff

 

[Cheshire Figment]

Several months ago Suzi (Parkhopper) posted a nice comment about pin trading and her son. She says that it teaches three things.

Patience, where if the CM is busy with another person (such as at a cash register) he will wait until it is his turn.

Assertiveness, where he has to go up to people and initiate a conversation. Also that he politely will not allow someone to cut in front of him once he is in line.

Politeness to the CM and others. Suzi says that if he fails on this part he is not allowed to do any pin trading, and he is a real collector.

I definitely agree with these.

 

[nlesl2000]

so, let;s say my dd likes jasmine and ariel-i don't want to buy her those pins as i want her to be able to trade in hopes of getting one of those characters-knowing that some pins are more common to the cm's, should i look for say peter pan pins or villian pins-i guess i'm just trying to get a few "interesting" pins that won't be a problem to trade. i know there are no guarentees as to what the cm will already have-but are some pins just too popular to trade? what do you think?

 

[Disneyland_emily]

Yes some pins are way to popular to trade but I doubt you'll find any of those on the beginner level (Most are older or very small editions- Most ones you'll find on the racks are not "huge")

Most basic characters seem to trade well- Definetly shy away from ones that may become "keepers" rather than "traders" if its an issue

I also am against Propins and Sedemsa as I HATE to see them on lanyards as they tend to choke them- Ive been able to find good traders between 2.25-2.75 a pin on ebay

-em

 

[BONITATIME]

I am not sure if they should be tradable or not. I dont feel it is my place to comment. I would not trade for either pro pins or sedesma pins but that is purely that the design and quality are no way the same as disney trading pins.

 

[WDWLinda]

We just returned and my 4 yr old son really enjoyed trading. We had 13 pins to start with - 11 propins from mousepinsonline.com, and 2 "real" Disney pins. He wanted to go up to every CM he saw with pins and trade. They never chose a pin from his collection - just accepted whatever he wanted to trade - but I always said "Now let him/her pick what pin they want", and they always declined, saying it was up to him. He did pick 3-4 Sedesma pins from CM lanyards, but they were all accepted back by another CM down the line. I never saw a CM with a green lanyard, but they were all very nice to my son. It was hard not to push him towards certain pins - for example, I would bet that the pins with a year on them would be valuable, and one or 2 of the CMs tried to suggest certain pins that I guess were valuable, but my son went his own way. We made about 20 trades, and now we have all new pins. The only pin I saw on about 3-4 lanyards was a Buzz & Woody pin, and my son got one too.

He does have one pin from Nightmare before Xmas that says limited edition - 1000 made (something like that), so that sounds like a good one...how can I check out the value of a pin?

Thanks for all the advice we received on these boards - we'll definitely do it again next trip!

~Linda

 

[BONITATIME]

You can try searching on ebay for old auctions and see what they sold for.

 

[TinkTatoo]

Sorry I meant to post this as a new thread I'll go and do it now