New to pin collecting.... tips appreciated

[rhysd2]

Hello all

Just back from my first trip to DLP where I finally got to do something I kept meaning to do whilst visiting the florida park. Pin trading.

My wife was kind enough to buy me a nightmare before xmas starter set with lanyard and its snowballed from there lol. I now have 10 odd pins including some slightly different ones and I really enjoyed the trading with different cast members. Alas I only saw one visitor there with pins to trade and I didnt have any she really wanted.

However I have a few questions. the cast members in DLP didnt seem to know to much about the whole process other than they had to trade with me. And the one cast member who seemed to be a collector too didnt speak quite enough english to explain it all.

So any advice much appreciated. I've read the FAQ on the board but it seems more America based than anything. Not to much info on the DLP side of things. I had very mixed results with the staff there. Some were happy to trade any pin for any pin. Regardless if they had it already or not. Some said I had to trade the same size for the same size. Others bartered with me! one cast member had a "hidden mickey 2 of 4" pin i really quite wanted and we haggled for 10 odd minuites over which pins I was to give him in exchange. Another cast member I was talking to gave me one as a gift! So whats the norm and the rules? and when approaching other guests to trade whats the considered etiquette?

I've already worked out I need not put pins I wish to keep on my lanyard(after nearly losing my lovely tower of terror room key pin) but otherwise im a bit lost.

Also is there a guide as to how rare what pins are on the web? I have several that are marked "limited edition XX" "cast only limited edition XX" and "cast lanyard only" or things along those lines. In perticular I traded for a badge from Disney tokyo that says limited edition 500 on the back. Tried to find it amongst one of the links in the FAQ with no luck. Only reason I'm quite interested in it is despite being on my shirt several cast members tried to offer me trades for it.

So yes anyway new to this whole thing and loving it. Aiming to limit myself to star tours/wars and tower of terror pins I think for now but still its fun seeing the wide variety.

Any tips and help much appreciated

Rhys

 

[Darth Sidious]

well, welcome to the horrific thing that is pin trading. haha no, im just kidding. my sister and i love to pin trade. im 20 and she 12, almost 13 and we love it and have been trading for about 3-5 years now. a little background before i answer your questions if i will.

pin trading and the pins you see today first started back with the millenium celebration and it was such a great hit and success with guests, disney continued it. im pretty sure thats the story, feel free for anyone to correct me.

anyway, there are 4 different types of pins. rack pins, limited edition pins, cast exclusive and cast lanyard/hidden mickey pins. so i guess there are really 5. the rareity and the value of each pin depends on what kind of pin it is. though there are some obviously that are worth more than others.

rack pins are classified as pins you can buy in the stores off the racks. hence the name rack pins. these usually start at $6.95 i believe and can go anywhere up to $15 depending on also the size of the pin. these are usually the most common pins you will find on cast members.

next there are limited edition pins. limited edition pins are the same as anything else limited edition. they are only out for a certain period of time and have a set number as to how many are released and in circulation. now there are some rack pins that are limited edition and you will see that they are when you look on the black card. if you are trading with a cast member you will not know unless you look on the back. all limited edition pins say on the back, "limited edition of 1500" for example. there are also limited edition tin sets which are pins that come 2 or sometimes even 4 in a tin. those are limited edition and each pin inside has a different number. these pins are totally random so you don't know what you are getting until you open them.

cast exclusive is pretty much what it sounds like. only cast members can buy those pins at the Company D store behind the scenes. these will sometimes be on cast members lanyards but i haven't seen alot of them in all my years(iv been there 30 times) and i also worked there as a cp(college programmer) so i have some myself. you can tell if they are a cast exclusive because they will usually say on the front, "cast member exclusive" or "cast member 2007" for example meaning the year the pin was made. these are quite valubale as they are sometimes the hardest to come by.

next there are cast lanyard pins. these are pins only found by trading with cast members. these can NOT be bought in stores. there are so many out there, many many sets and each park(dl, wdw, paris, tokyo, hong kong) have their own sets though you will probably find the sets everywhere. this may sound confusing so go to dizpins.com and go into DizPinventory to see what sets are where and stuff. i love dizpins casue it gives me information as to what pins go with which sets. when i mean sets i mean there are some exclusive to either wdw or dl. like theres an alice in wonderland set that has each character on a little clock, that is exclusive to dl which means you will more than likely find them there than any of the other parks. then theres also ones exclusive only to wdw. when it comes to cast lanyard i find that most personal pin traders try to avoid them due to the fact that there is just way too many to keep track of. i spoke to this one pin trader at wdw i believe in august and he said he avoids cast lanyards for that very reason. to each his/her own. my sister and i only go for cast lanyards.

now what are hidden mickey pins? those are cast lanyard pins just with a different name. they remade all the old cast lanyard pins and called them a different name. this may all seem very confusing but with enough research and enough questions asked and enough questions answered its actually a quite easy thing to understand.

ebay is a great place to get pins. thats where i have gotten alot, and i mean ALOT of my pins lately. though i go every year to disney, i still like to buy the rare ones and ones i don't have that i don't think ill find. ebay can get very frustrating but just keep at it.

im sitting here in school waiting for my next class to start and im trying to think of anything else i can tell you. i don't think so. if you have any questions feel free to PM me. glad to tell you anything i know. just a word of caution. THIS IS A VERY EXPENSIVE HOBBY!!!! hahaha, last august i spent easily $100 on pins alone on my trip to wdw. it can also add up on ebay with the price of the pin + shipping. alright then, anything else feel fre to PM me. happy pin collecting!!

 

[2xlechemom]

For finding info on what pins you have or would like to have, check out pinpincs.com

I've only traded online a couple of times, so I'm no help there.

 

[rhysd2]

thanks guys thats fantastic info and now I understand the different pins alot better.

yea I figured it was kind of expensive but if I limit myself to just specific areas like tower of terror and star wars/star tours it shouldnt be to bad though of course i'll trade for some along the way I like the look of heh.

OK so let me see if I have this right. I have a donald pirate pin with a message saying "hidden mickey pin 2 of 4" on the back. this is a old cast lanyard pin rebadged and was a set of 4 originally?

 

[Darth Sidious]

not necessarally. the newer hidden mickey pins are grouped differently than their older cast lanyard counterparts. for the most part, cast lanyard pins didn't say a "# of #" on the back. but the hidden mickey pins are all grouped now. for much more information on the grouping of cast lanyard/hidden mickey pins visit www.dizpins.com

thats a great site and i love to go there

 

[NJBlackBerry]

An excellent Pinformation resource is the Official Disney Pin Trading web site at http://www.odpt.com - check out the Getting Started section. Loads of information on Cast Lanyard, Hidden Mickey, Limited Edition, and all the other types of pins!

It's not horrific - more of an addiction

 

[PalMickey55]

You need to figure out 1 certain pin to collect and buy cheap ones and find them on others lanyards

 

[chaoscent]

It is like an addiction. THe more you have the more you want.
I have well over 1,000 pins. I have close to 1,000 to trade also. I get most of my information from PinPics and DizPins. If you have a specific question, feel free to ask. Penny
Chaos Cent on Pin Pics.

 

[PinCrazed]

I agree with what everyone already said. Start small, get cheaper pins and trade them, find what you like and most of all it is an addiction.

Most of all have fun with it. It can be a great way to enhance your Disney trip and keep that memory alive througout the year through online trading and going through your collection. Hopefully you can meet some great people as we have the opportunity to grow real friendships. If you are planning to make it a business then worry about LE sizes and how much pins are worth on ebay.

First and foremost make it a fun activity you can share with your family. To me, ultimately, that is the true magic of Disney.

 

[tinkergrumpybuns]

I agree. I buy inexpensive pins and try to trade with CM's for more desired pins. Then I keep my eyes peeled for ones I like and hope I have something someone likes.
Does anyone wear a lanyard anymore? I can't handle it around my neck. I have been putting pins on a cardboard in a baggie until I see a need to trade.<G>

 

[Triton7979]

run, RUN and don't look back!!