Getting Started - Pin Trading

[huskies90]

Hi Everyone!! We are heading to WDW Thanksgiving week for our second family trip. My two daughters 9 and 6 are very interested in pin trading. What is the best way to get started? Where is a good place to get a starter set or at least a lanyard and some pins. We each bought one pin on our last trip so right now we have 4 total. How many should each child have going into WDW to really enjoy the experience?

Also, I have looked on eBay for pins. There are ton out there. Any advice for buying pins on eBay?

Any help would be VERY much appreciated. Thanks!!

 

[NYMomof4]

Best bet is ebay! For trading purposes you might want to buy one of the pin lots. Look for genuine Disney pins and check the sellers ratings. At Disney we bought the starter 4 packs of pins for $22 plus tax ($23...) and though that was good but ebay is better. The regular individual pins are $6.95 and $8.95 each at Disney.

When you're trading, check or ask for lanyard pins from the cast members-you cannot buy them.

HAve fun!

 

[AZ JazzyJ]

Ok, here are my steps to starting to pin trade.

1. Get some pins
2. Go to the parks
3. Find Cast Members with long pieces of nylon webbing around their neck
4. Trade your pointy back pins for their pointy back pins
5. Rinse and repeat

We took our family last year and I started each child off with 12 pins. By noon they had traded all of their pins for other pins and wanted more pins because the new pins were now collectibles and not traders. For four children we went through 100 pins in 7 days. Of course your mileage may vary. Looking on eBay for "pin lots" will usually get you listings of people selling multiple pins as a set. The cost per pin is usually cheaper that way. Try to find a variety to put on your kids lanyards as it helps balance their artwork. It also allows them to choose a theme or character they want to trade for and collect. And just remember, when you are in the parks and they need one more pin to trade than you have that the cost is approximately the same as a child's meal. And don't eat the pins.

Jeff

 

[huskies90]

And just remember, when you are in the parks and they need one more pin to trade than you have that the cost is approximately the same as a child's meal. And don't eat the pins.

Jeff

HeHeHe - The kiddies will be using their own $$ to buy pins, so hopefully it won't come down to having to eat the pins unless, of course, I get hooked too.

Is there anyway to get free pins? Someone mentioned you get a DME pin? And one with a package? Are there any other ways??

 

[daber]

Don't worry....you'll get hooked too.

Not sure about FREE pins, but sometimes packages like DME will come with a pin and/or lanyard (the thing you have around your neck so people can yank on it and strangle you).

Watch out for special pin releases (for example when you are down there, you can go to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. They have pins you can only buy if you go to that event. Since you are going at the begining, you can even buy the framed set of all the MVMCP pins (only around $200))

Welcome to the poor farm with the rest of us addicts!

Also try to attend one of Scoop Sanderson's pin talks (1:00 @ Main Street Expo Hall). Tell him you are new to pin trading and ask for a primer.

 

[AZ JazzyJ]

sometimes packages like DME will come with a pin and/or lanyard (the thing you have around your neck so people can yank on it and strangle you).

Ack! Please don't say lanyard!

You can never have TOO many lanyards. Well, unless you talk to Trina and she will probably tell you the difference between 15 and 290 is too many. There is not a month that goes by that I am not reminded of the time I asked her to make a few lanyards for a small pin meet.

Jeff​

 

[annie1995]

When we were in Disney last week, I looked at the pin cases and ended up forgetting to buy one to keep our pins in when we get home. Anybody have any suggestions as to what else I can use we have probably close to 75 now that we are back and bought some while we were there. Right now they are in a zippy bag, but I don't really like them cause I don't want them to get scratched up. We bought a bunch on Ebay for traders for our kids when we got there and now we are all hooked!

 

[raksha2]

the easiest (and cheapest way = saving monies to buy more pins!)
is to mount the pins on a cork notice board, you can cover it with paper or material so the pins stand out and its easy to change around the collection.
Just use the zip lock bag to look after the pin backs.

Toni
addicted since 1999

 

[muffy0110]

like beanie babies this can become expensive
stick with a theme or two
and ofcourse the occ. pin you cannot live w/o

 

[willis37862]

Do you have to have the ones you want to trade on a lanyard or can you carry them some other way? I am just not that into the lanyards. Where did you find the best ones for trading? Thanks!

 

[rdrjj5]

When we were in Disney last week, I looked at the pin cases and ended up forgetting to buy one to keep our pins in when we get home. Anybody have any suggestions as to what else I can use we have probably close to 75 now that we are back and bought some while we were there. Right now they are in a zippy bag, but I don't really like them cause I don't want them to get scratched up. We bought a bunch on Ebay for traders for our kids when we got there and now we are all hooked!

I made each of my kids a pin binder. I used a 3 ring zip up binder (saw lots on clearance at walmart this week) and bought the foam sheets at michael's crafts, punched holes with a hole puncher in the foam sheet to fit in the 3 ring binder. I used an extra sheet to go between each sheet of pins to prevent backs rubbing against the front of the pins. The kids love them.

 

[ElizK]

The Character Outlet in the Prime Outlets Mall (used to be Belz Outlet) at the end of International Dr sells quite a few of the pins for $3.00 each. You can buy up to 20 of them. It doesn't matter what the pins are, because they'll all be traded within an hour! My girls (10 and 13) LOVED it! Much better than the $8.00 a pin!