Got a question....

[NHMickey]

I have been reading and participating in a disussion on Dizpins about Counterfit Pins... I was wondering if anyone here has heard of or knows of any Disney pins that have been copied and passed of as Disney pins... Not the older Coke and McDonalds pins but the more recient ones from the last few years. Pins that have the Disney TM on the back and everything... I have heard rumors and stuff but have never been able to prove a "Fake".

Any thoughts?

 

[Mickey527]

Nat,
I had heard that the January POM from the year 2000 had been made and was being sold in CA and on Cheap pins. I don't know if that rumor is true maybe someone else might know.

Also, I traded for a huge pin during the event. I was told that it was made in Paris and they were able to put the Disney name on the back because they have no copyright laws there. It is a huge pin with Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald et al... I would never trade it, because it is so neat. But I did have alot of comments about it, especially from CM's who wanted to trade me for it.
Other than those I don't know about any pins that may have been made counterfeit. I wouldn't think Fantasy pins fall into this category because they are not copyright. Peggie

 

[daber]

The only one I have seen and think it was counterfeit was a 100 acre woods dangle. From what I have been able to piece together, the "real" pin has a brooch pinback and not too many were sold. However, with high demand, some enterprising souls took a metal magnet of the same design, removed the magnet and attached a tie-tac backing making it look like a regular trading pin. I received one of these and the tie-tac had fallen off while in shipment.

 

[BeautyLLM]

I traded for a January pom from 2000 that has totally different colors from the one we all know. I have since been told that it is:

a). a prototype/artist proof
b). a counterfeit

Who knows? It's kind of cool either way...

 

[hopemax]

About the Jan 2000 POM, I guess I'm wondering what people have heard. I know Cheappins had it for sale July 2001, was it sold there at any other time?

At the NFFC convention in 2001, during the sale day my parents and I were like 3rd in line, for the "right" ballroom [if people were there, they'll know what I mean]. We entered, and went around counterclockwise. At the table in the right, front corner was a table with lots of pins. I was the first person at the table, and they were still setting some stuff up. I assumed that these people were from WDW because the majority of the pins they were selling were WDW pins, including some of the old Epcot stamp series framed sets for $100. They had a couple little bins of 2000 WDW pins that they were selling 5 for $10. One of the people said that during the first hour they had some special deals for their convention friends. [The first hour is restricted to NFFC convention attendees]. The 5 for $10 was one of them, but also they had some 1999 and 2000 Tinkerbell Magic Delivery pins for $5 and the 2000 January POM, I think they were $10. They had a bag full them. I paid for my pins, and lots of people were gathering around the table. Before I walked away, someone else came up and started picking up the remaining Tink pins and POMs. Later on, in a different part of the same room I found the cheappins table, so the person I bought from wasn't cheappins.

When I got home there were messages about the Jan POM on cheappins. I assumed that the person I saw buying the rest of the POMs was from cheappins. And I assumed that the place I got it from were WDW pin people and had bought a lot of them when they were originally for sale. The Jan pin didn't sell out on the first day, right? So if someone was speculating that the first pin of a series would be worth more, they would have had the opportunity to purchase a large quantity.

 

[3kids4me]

I have a McDonalds pin that a friend gave me. Her daughter worked at McDonalds a while ago, and she knew I collected Disney pins, and it has Mickey Mouse on it (with a Mcdonald's "M" on it) so she gave it to me because she had no need for it. It has Mickey and the World Trade Center on it. Then at GPA II I was told it was a "counterfeit" pin. Well, I know it's not because of where my first one came from. (Incidentally, it does have the Disney copyright on the back.) Subsequently, I saw some of these pins being sold on one of the pin websites and I bought a couple more because people seemed to like it and I didn't want to give mine up.

Anyway, I ended up e-mailing the website owner to ask him about the pin and to tell him that there were some rumor going around about its being counterfeit. He replied that he already knew about the rumors and one of his customers told him that she had heard the rumor directly from one of his competitors.

I do not know who was being referred to, nor whether it was true. I only know that this particular pin was given out to my friend's daughter and other people the worked at her store. I guess now that this has come up, I'll go look at pinpics now and see what is being said.

Anyway, when I read the thread on dizpins it made me wonder about pins that do have the Disney copyright, that people are saying are counterfeit. How do they know? Is it just more rumor? Are sellers starting these rumors to hurt other sellers?

I don't know the answers to any of these questions, but it does seem kind of like the "seedy" side of pin trading....

 

[SueEllen]

Just because a pin has a (c) Disney on the back does not make it a legit pin. Many of the Fantasy pins have the Disney Copyright on the back, but were not authorized by Disney. An unscrupulous pin counterfeiter can make a pin and include the (c) on the back without any difficulty.

As for counterfeit pins, I have heard of it. It is a terrible way to make a buck, but then again, that happens often. Look at the "designer" bags being sold on the streets.

Sue Ellen

 

[Eeyore's Pal]

Many fantasy pins have legitimate <b>non-Disney</b> copyrights on the back.

If the fantasy pin does not violate an existing Disney copyright or trademark -- e.g. Mickey's face, Epcot ball, etc. -- the artist who designed the fantasy pin has every right to protect his/her own design.

One example would be Barbara MdStrwbery's "Will Work for Pins" design. She used some Mickey-type gloved hands and a Disney-like artist's brush, but the hands and brush alone are not trademarked. So, the overall pin design is copyright-able as her own original design. And, I believe that it is marked as such on the back.

But please do not confuse me with a legal expert.