Well you come to the right place or at least one of them. There are many great resources for Disney Pin Trading. I list some of the here -
Pin Clubs
Pins come in many categories. Some are fairly common and others very rare. The more you know about Disney pin trading the better off you will be.
As you learn more about pin trading you will be surprised to find that some pins sell on ebay for hundreds of dollars and others you can't give away.
Some sources for pins are websites like cheappins.com and yes they are legitimate.
Your Disney sources are as follows and in no particular order:
Walt Disney World
Disneyland
Disneyland Paris
Tokyo Disney
Disney Cruise Line
DisneyAuctions.com
Disney Store Online (the Disney retail store has sold pins in the past and may have more in the future, but for the moment they are not selling pins).
Usually "rack" pins (common pins found in the theme parks) are nice but common so you will probably wind up trading a rack pin for a rack pin. Limited edition pins garner more attention and it is important to find out which are in high demand.
There are also pins called Artist Choice pins, which are often held in high regard. The artist gets commissioned to make a pin and appartently has his choice on what it will look like. These pins are always limited editions and sometimes hard to get. Ebay is actually your best "measuring stick" to see what a pin is worth.
Pin trading is done either in the Disney theme parks or sometimes at a local Pin Club like the one I belong to in Central Jersey.
I just got back from a 24 hour pin event that was held in Connecticut. It was a lot of fun and we made some great trades with other pin traders: Check out the
photo album
A great place to trade online is via a Disney Pins Trading database called
Pin Pics
Also lest I forget the
Official Disney Pin Trading website. You can get some good information there too.
The best advice I can give is that knowledge is king. Over the last 3 years (approximately) the Pin Pics database has included over 25,000 pins and that in no way comes close to covering all the pins available.
It is impossible to keep track of all the pins, but it is important to be aware of what you have, its worth, and what you are trading for. There are a few folks out there (often referred to as "Sharks") that will trade for a valuable pin and give you not much in return.
Good luck and ask all the questions you want.
Jeff (Buddy Bear) Langdon
