New to trading/collecting

[nkjzmom]

On this most recent trip my children bought the starter lanyards and began trading...we allowed only CM trades until we can learn more. One CM really taught us alot and told us about the Lanyard Pin Series pins and that those are special because you can ONLY get them from a CM...they are not for sale.

I have searched a few of the most popular sites but haven't found out much information. Are these really worthwhile pins? My kids ended up wanting to trade only for these kind. My 7 yr old now has a lanyard full of them and doesn't want to trade any away. I want them to learn the different values of pins but I also want them keep ones they really like...not just ones that someone else said was important.

Any advice?

 

[LynniethePooh]

First...your children are beautiful!

Take a look at Pinpics.com. It is a database of pins, created by traders/collectors just like you and I. The numbers assigned to the pins have no signifgance other than the order in which they were added to the database. Also check out this thread at the head of the Collector's Board:

FAQ's

 

[daber]

You and your children should sit down and talk about what they want to collect. Some people just collect lanyard pins. Others choose a movie, a character, a ride, etc. This way you don't go too crazy trying to collect everything. For example, Lynnie collects pooh/pooh related pins. I collect Maleficent, Fantasia, Haunted Mansion, Figment (from EPCOT) and penguins.
The problem is the list starts small and somehow grows rapidly. My niece started in June and was sticking with Cinderella, Minnie Mouse, and Robin Hood. Somehow the list now includes Pocohantas, Aristocats, and Rescuers.
Some also collect Holiday pins (e.g. Thanksgiving, Christmas, Halloween, July 4th) or patriotic pins.
As you can see there are many ways to go in this.

Worth, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. What may be a valuable pin to me may be worthless to you depending on what you collect. Also, over time things change. The pin I adored last year, after looking at it over time, may be something I can now live without and into the trade pile it goes.

Hopes this helps and welcome to our crazy world.