Disney Pin Trading

[ClapYourHands]

If your kid sees a pin they like/want does it matter if it's a scrapper?

Personal preference. Are you collecting or just having fun? If you get a scrapper, will you feel like you HAVE to keep it so it's out of circulation or are you okay with keeping it in play? Is it an obvious scrapper (rough edges, odd paint colors, etc.) or just one that's likely to be fake due to known scrappers for the design?

For those who can't bring themselves to trade them back, I have read about some pin collectors using the scrappers they pick up in fun ways. Some will continue to use them as pins, but on purses, book bags, etc. Others have removed the backs, and used them as thumbtacks on bulletin boards. I've even seen one blog where the collector snipped the post off the back, and then used the decorative element in other crafts, like hot gluing it to the center of a hair bow.

 

[philbrody]

If you are diligent about checking disney.com, the outlets in LBV, and any local outlets you can find new Disney pins for $1.00-$1.25 per pin. When I find them I buy 200 or so and havent needed to buy anything off of Ebay or Amazon in 10+ years

 

[philbrody]

If you are diligent about checking disney.com, the outlets in LBV, and any local outlets you can find new Disney pins for $1.00-$1.25 per pin. When I find them I buy 200 or so and havent needed to buy anything off of Ebay or Amazon in 10+ years

 

[bopper]

I assume kids just like Stitch or Cinderella and want to trade for those pins.
I don't think they care what kind of pin it is.
You may care...but kids don't.

 

[LisaDKG]

Scrappers also drive me bonkers - not so much because I am too concerned with inadvertently receiving one in a trade - if I like a pin and it fits with my theme of mostly collecting villains then I don't mind too much. BUT the problem with people buying and trading their huge quantities of cheap, scrappers is that EVERY CM lanyard and the many pinboards around the whole resort have the same crappy, boring pins!
I get an inordinate amount of pleasure trading while at the parks and also scour my Disney store here in Canada for marked down official pins. I make my family take a fair bit of time out of their park going to check all the boards and check all the CM's lanyards and it is becoming VERY unrewarding to constantly see the same lacklustre, weird pins that nobody wants.
I actually asked a CM manning the pin post at the Trading Post if Disney ever collects and tosses the obvious, multiples of scrappers and she said they do every week but the scrapper traders are relentless. It was really disheartening this past trip to find so few treasures and I will probably buy fewer pins in the future to trade because it is just not as fun!

 

[RedHeadedMomma81]

If I was an avid adult trader I would definitely care more. To do it as a fun side activity for my 7 year old...Im not too invested.

 

[Haley R]

Dh and I both bought our starter sets on amazon. They were hidden Mickey sets which means only cms could’ve had them (theoretically). I think it’s easy to tell if they’re scrappers or not though and there were some in our batches. I don’t mind getting scrappers from cms and I’m an adult. The only pins I buy in the parks are for the resorts we’ve stayed at and I would never trade those.

I do agree with a PP though that a lot of the cms have the same pins because of these large batches being sold online.

 

[Lizgistix]

I have read about some pin collectors using the scrappers they pick up in fun ways. Some will continue to use them as pins, but on purses, book bags, etc.

Yep! I bought a lot of 25 for cheap on eBay before I knew what the term scrappers were, so I picked out I think 10 that I thought were really cute and liked and put on one lanyard just to wear (and not trade) and then I gave the rest to a friend's daughter who doesn't care if they're scrappers. But since you mentioned it, I may have to put a few on the bag I'll be carrying at WDW in several weeks. That's a neat idea. Now to go buy some locking pin backs.....

 

[KateMW]

Wow I guess it's been awhile since we have traded pins bc this is all much more serious than it was back when my daughter fell in love with them. Guess I won't start my son doing it on our next trip.

 

[ClapYourHands]

Scrappers also drive me bonkers - not so much because I am too concerned with inadvertently receiving one in a trade - if I like a pin and it fits with my theme of mostly collecting villains then I don't mind too much. BUT the problem with people buying and trading their huge quantities of cheap, scrappers is that EVERY CM lanyard and the many pinboards around the whole resort have the same crappy, boring pins!
I get an inordinate amount of pleasure trading while at the parks and also scour my Disney store here in Canada for marked down official pins. I make my family take a fair bit of time out of their park going to check all the boards and check all the CM's lanyards and it is becoming VERY unrewarding to constantly see the same lacklustre, weird pins that nobody wants.
I actually asked a CM manning the pin post at the Trading Post if Disney ever collects and tosses the obvious, multiples of scrappers and she said they do every week but the scrapper traders are relentless. It was really disheartening this past trip to find so few treasures and I will probably buy fewer pins in the future to trade because it is just not as fun!

What are the common ones you're seeing?

 

[starry_solo]

To me it doesn't. If they like it, they won't re-trade it anyway, and I'll start them off with new authentic pins the next time we go to the park, so there won't be any chance of them trading a scrapper back to a CM again. If spending money in the parks was an issue for me, I wouldn't be at a Disney park. So if I buy my kid a mystery pack and the pins they trade them for are worth less in value...it's just part of the expense of the trip for me. No biggie. We're never going to sell the pins, so their value exists only in if they make us happy.

I could spend time ranting and raving about ebay scrapper sales, but I know there's no point to it. Too many people simply don't care. They want 50 cent pins and that's that. So, instead of being sucked into to the negatives of pin-trading, we found a solution we can live with and go with that. My kids enjoy the trading. We all like buying one or two special Keeper Pins each trip, and we do our very best not to let any scrappers travel from us into the park. That allows us to be positive and have fun while not making matters worse for other collectors.

If you have Facebook or IG, there are people that sell authentic pins for $2 to $3 each (plus shipping)...still cheaper than Disney but at least they are authentic!

 

[starry_solo]

What are the common ones you're seeing?

Probably something like these?

 

[ClapYourHands]

Probably something like these?

View attachment 439492

I've seen those pin pile lots on eBay, but was wondering which are common scrappers in circulation right now. Most lots have some kind of disclaimer that the buyer will get a random assortment, and not necessarily what is pictured. @LisaDKG and @Haley R both said the same pins keep popping up on a lot of CM lanyards.

I really don't know enough about pin trading to be able to reliably spot ones that are likely fakes, so I'm hoping someone can give me some tips about ones to avoid. To my untrained eye, all of the pins in the picture look fine.

 

[ajh88]

I take issue with you calling people names, to be honest. Once upon a time, probably 10-12 years ago, I had no idea that scrappers were even a thing. I was trying to find groups of pins to trade and purchased what were probably lots of scrappers from ebay. We traded and traded and traded to our hearts delights. And not ONE CM ever said to us that we might have scrappers - I wish they would have. I only stumbled across the information several years later and I was mortified!

I wasn't a cheapskate. I wasn't trying to diminish any kids' enjoyment. I wasn't trying to rip anyone off. I would say most of the time, it is simply being unaware. I have also never purchased scrappers again (at least not obvious ones).

That said, we have NEVER traded with CM's trying to get something valuable - I assume most of what we get back are scrappers too. There are pin trading events where you may trade for pins of value - but CM trading isn't where that's at. As others have said, if your child enjoyed the trade and liked the pin that was received, isn't that sort of the point?

 

[Haley R]

Probably something like these?

View attachment 439492

I haven’t seen hardly any of those on cm lanyards.

 

[Haley R]

I've seen those pin pile lots on eBay, but was wondering which are common scrappers in circulation right now. Most lots have some kind of disclaimer that the buyer will get a random assortment, and not necessarily what is pictured. @LisaDKG and @Haley R both said the same pins keep popping up on a lot of CM lanyards.

I really don't know enough about pin trading to be able to reliably spot ones that are likely fakes, so I'm hoping someone can give me some tips about ones to avoid. To my untrained eye, all of the pins in the picture look fine.

I’m not sure if I have a picture of what the pins I normally see look like. There’s a set of wilderness badge pins I think that I see all the time. The two pictured below are pins I see everywhere and there are always tons of them. They are hidden mickeys so should have only come from cms in the first place

Honestly though, Dh and I don’t even care. If we see a pin we think is neat we trade for it. It doesn’t even cross our minds to check if it’s a scrapper.

 

[RedHeadedMomma81]

I think I might take some of the scrappers I got from a lot and make badge reels or integrate into my keychains. Just pop the pins off the back.

 

[LisaDKG]

View attachment 439492


Yes @starry_solo and @ClapYourHands, some of these pins here and in the pics that @Haley R has posted are the ones that I see on so many pin boards and lanyards - namely that little mushroom guy from Fantasia, and many of those round Hidden Mickeys. Those terrible ones made to resemble a World of Color water spout too. Who signed off on those designs in the first place???
To be honest, that is my main rant - that the same boring pins are everywhere and not the flooding of scrappers into the pin trading scene. Like I said, if I like a pin that goes with my current collecting goals, I trade for it and I don't really even know how to check if they are scrappers - the fact that they are everywhere and no one seems to want them just naturally points in the direction of something more nefarious going on in the pin trading scene!

 

[Haley R]

View attachment 439492


Yes @starry_solo and @ClapYourHands, some of these pins here and in the pics that @Haley R has posted are the ones that I see on so many pin boards and lanyards - namely that little mushroom guy from Fantasia, and many of those round Hidden Mickeys. Those terrible ones made to resemble a World of Color water spout too. Who signed off on those designs in the first place???
To be honest, that is my main rant - that the same boring pins are everywhere and not the flooding of scrappers into the pin trading scene. Like I said, if I like a pin that goes with my current collecting goals, I trade for it and I don't really even know how to check if they are scrappers - the fact that they are everywhere and no one seems to want them just naturally points in the direction of something more nefarious going on in the pin trading scene!

I love when I can tell the cms got a new set of pins. They recently got some cool ones with Mickey, Donald, goofy, Minnie, etc that I traded for. I asked and they said they got them that day.

I have seen that mushroom guy around a lot too.

 

[starry_solo]

I love when I can tell the cms got a new set of pins. They recently got some cool ones with Mickey, Donald, goofy, Minnie, etc that I traded for. I asked and they said they got them that day.

I have seen that mushroom guy around a lot too.

Yup. He just multiplies! Oh and Caesar's Ghost...

You will also find Le300 Shanghai grand opening pins - gold mountain, tron cycle, pink carousel, purple castle and one other...all fake