Is The Pin Trading Buzz I Hear True?

[Maleficent Dragon]

I am hearing that Disney has pulled its focus from Vinymations and Christmas Ornaments and it is going back on pins and pin trading. As part of that, what I am being told, is that Disney is going to cut down on all of the scrappers we are finding on CM lanyards.

I am not sure that Disney would ever direct their CMs to refuse a trade with a guest, but perhaps get rid of that scrapper and replace it with a non-scrapper pin from their pocket or something of the sort.

Anyhow, just wondering if anybody knows anything about this. Our family loves pin trading, but we get tired of each CM having the same pins that come from pin lots on ebay and from MousePins. Would be great if that issue was fixed.

 

[Maleficent Dragon]

?

 

[KarmaCat]

I am not sure that Disney would ever direct their CMs to refuse a trade with a guest, but perhaps get rid of that scrapper and replace it with a non-scrapper pin from their pocket or something of the sort.

I have definitely heard stories of cast members refusing to trade legit pins for scrappers when people have gotten large lots off of eBay. And yes, I've also heard that they are cracking down in this area, which I actually appreciate because it's not reasonable for them to trade a pin someone paid 50 cents for online with a genuine pin worth many times that much. I'd like to know that all the pins my kids are looking at on a lanyard or on a pin book would be fair trades, which means I have to do less policing of the pins when they want to make an exchange!

 

[Cuppie]

how can you tell a scraper?

 

[hogwartsdropout]

I haven't heard about this but praying it's true! I love pins, I used to go to the Pin Trading nights at the Contemporary, not sure if they still do them.

To the poster above, you can tell scrappers normally because they are a lot lighter than real Disney pins/also not as great quality and the backs of them are normally different.

 

[Monykalyn]

how can you tell a scraper?

Quick and easy "tells"-edges are rough, back side stamping is uneven, and quite commonly-words are mispelled on the back. Run your fingers alongside a "real" pin and a scrapper and you will quickly see the difference.

My kids pin trade for fun and just liking the pin-however if they have spent their money on a pin they love (genuine) then I encourage them to wear the pin somewhere other than a lanyard (my Olaf pin is on my wallet actually ) when we are out in the parks.

 

[mom2rtk]

I'm surprised by this. With everybody wearing magic bands now, and ditching the lanyards, I thought pin trading might have taken a back seat.

 

[polymerpig]

I am not sure that Disney would ever direct their CMs to refuse a trade with a guest, but perhaps get rid of that scrapper and replace it with a non-scrapper pin from their pocket or something of the sort.

This is exactly what my CMDD does. She will not argue with or embarrass someone because some people honestly don't know the difference and are not trying to scam anyone. But she will replace it so someone doesn't trade a true Disney pin for a scrapper.

 

[bigmac5]

I am hearing that Disney has pulled its focus from Vinymations and Christmas Ornaments and it is going back on pins and pin trading. As part of that, what I am being told, is that Disney is going to cut down on all of the scrappers we are finding on CM lanyards.

I for one don't get the vinymations. I think they are actually a bit creepy. but I love the pins even though I just collect rather than trade

 

[Bullseye]

DD got me into pins a couple years ago and I'm really enjoying it. If CM's had a way to discern fake from bonafide pins I wouldn't have a problem with them refusing a trade. That would bring back some integrity to the process.

 

[bigmac5]

DD got me into pins a couple years ago and I'm really enjoying it. If CM's had a way to discern fake from bonafide pins I wouldn't have a problem with them refusing a trade. That would bring back some integrity to the process.

I agree with that ...if people knew that if they had a fake it wouldn't be traded then it would really cut down on people taking chances on ebay

 

[CandleontheWater]

I really hope this is true, but I have my reservations. It would be really tough to educate all front line cast members on which pins were legit vs. scrappers, and new scrappers come out daily. I'm a pretty avid pin trader, and sometimes I can't even tell at first glance which pin in a scrapper, you often need to compare two pins because it can be based off of something like shades of color. Front line CM do not have the time to scrutinize each trade to make sure the pin is real.

If Disney really wants to get serious about this, the best way would be to go after the source of the scrapper pins, and keep tighter controls in their pin making factories in China. I really don't understand why Disney doesn't do this, they are really proactive in perusing patent infringement when it comes to other things, but they seem to turn a blind eye to pin fakes.

 

[Raenstoirm]

I dont buy it. There is no way to tell a scrapper from a fake unless you have something to compare it to or it is a really bad scrapper (the rough edges as some mentioned, part of the pin not painted right, etc. I saw one of snow white and her hand was green, so that is obviously a fake).

This is not the best pic, but it is a prime example of what I am talking about. All of these pins have the exact same quality (backs are the same, font is raised the same height, no rough edges, etc). Yet I have two blue and 2 purple. Which are the scrappers? I still don't know, so I kept them all. I went online to see and it is hard to determine color shade when looking at a picture on a monitor. Every single one of them came from a cast lanyard, btw.

Honestly though, I don't care if they are all scrappers. Despite what some crazy people think. They have no value. Its not like 20 years from now someone is going to buy my pin collection. They hang on the wall in my nursery. The fun and "value" in them was collecting and hunting for each one in the set and the WDW trip where I got them. One day they will go in a box and be forgotten.

 

[Bullseye]

Honestly though, I don't care if they are all scrappers. Despite what some crazy people think. They have no value. Its not like 20 years from now someone is going to buy my pin collection. They hang on the wall in my nursery. The fun and "value" in them was collecting and hunting for each one in the set and the WDW trip where I got them. One day they will go in a box and be forgotten.

Right! If the scrappers look as good as the real pins and they make you happy, then who really cares. The only thing that bothers me is it seems like a lot more CM's have a crappy selection to choose from....and I assume some of that is because of all the scrappers that have infiltrated the system.

 

[kangaroodle]

Honestly though, I don't care if they are all scrappers. Despite what some crazy people think. They have no value. Its not like 20 years from now someone is going to buy my pin collection. The fun and "value" in them was collecting and hunting for each one in the set and the WDW trip where I got them. One day they will go in a box and be forgotten.

My kids do it for fun, not for an investment.

 

[TLSnell1981]

I really miss the days of great pins. I hope, this rumor bears fruit.

 

[niroc]

I have definitely heard stories of cast members refusing to trade legit pins for scrappers when people have gotten large lots off of eBay. And yes, I've also heard that they are cracking down in this area, which I actually appreciate because it's not reasonable for them to trade a pin someone paid 50 cents for online with a genuine pin worth many times that much. I'd like to know that all the pins my kids are looking at on a lanyard or on a pin book would be fair trades, which means I have to do less policing of the pins when they want to make an exchange!

I so hope this is true. This is a major pet peeve of mine.

 

[SmileEar2Ear]

Despite what some crazy people think. They have no value. Its not like 20 years from now someone is going to buy my pin collection. They hang on the wall in my nursery. The fun and "value" in them was collecting and hunting for each one in the set and the WDW trip where I got them. One day they will go in a box and be forgotten.

This is exactly why Disney won't make any major changes to pin trading. The vast majority of people do it for fun and to collect a certain character or theme they love. They don't even know what scrappers are. We have traders and then we also buy 2-3 real pins each trip to commemorate a new ride or event. Those pins get locked on and not traded. I'm sure my kids collection's are filled with some scrappers, but who cares? It's all about enjoying what you have and how you got it. We'll never get rich from our pin collection.

 

[JadeDarkstar]

We pin trade for fun but we do not trade the pins we buy from Disney. We each get one or two pins from the Disney stores around parks and Dtd.
The rest we trade we get from a site i found on here. I have used them for 7+ years I think. I have recently the last 3 or so years been careful about scrapers and only found maybe two pins out of 4 different 25 or 50 lots we bought that I didn't trust and tossed them out or gave them to a friend who liked them.

Other wise we have had no trouble with scrapers but do look them over before we go to a park. Sadly in DL we were unlucky with pin traders and found only a few cm's with them in Nov.

I hope WDW has more.

You just have to try and keep an eye out and make sure you don't purposely trade scrapers.

 

[Missyrose]

The one thing that has slowed my own pin trading in recent years isn't scrappers, it's those stupid starter pin sets that Disney periodically sells as the "purchase with purchase" gift.

By 11 a.m. each day, the CM lanyards will be filled with nothing but the pins from those sets. It's just not worth it at that point.