New Traders -- buy strtegy for best traders?

[BedKnobbery2]

Hi there!

Well, this is the year my boys have finally decided to plunge into pin-trading. So imagine my delight to find that the disney store is having a b1g1f sale! Up to this point, I'd been buying the boys 2 of everything--1 to keep, and 1 to trade. With the sale, however, I'm thinking a better idea would be to 'stock up' on good traders. Obviously, it seems those that are harder to find are the best traders. Now, the problem is figuring out what those are!!

Certainly, the state pins make sense. Unfortunately, our local disney store is out of stock for the Maine state pins, but I managed to order them from the store up north, so my boys will have a handful of those to trade. I am going to be traveling a little through New England this week, and thought I'd pick up state pins as I found them. Somewhat of a limited budget here, so I can't buy them willy-nilly, but I wondered if anyone had any advice? Does the 'tradeability' of a pin REALLY matter when at WDW, since CMs can't refuse a trade? I'd still like to get pins they'd want, just to make the trades fun for them too!!

I travel a lot through Massachusetts, NH, and Maine. And I've noticed that there are slightly different pins available, although I realize that 'technically', they are available at any disney store (except the state pins, which are state specific). For example, I only found the Mayflower pin--and a huge amount of them--at one store, the other 3 stores on my 'route' didn't have them. Which leads me to think, that might be a good one to buy, as perhaps the other stores sold out for good reason? <sigh> Or should I just focus on 'bang for the buck', and get as many as a can as cheaply as I can? Man, and I thought figuring out Yu-Gi-Oh cards was tough!!

Anyway, this week, I'll be in CT, RI, MA, and NH. What would you do--just focus on state pins, or pick out others? At this point, the boys have about 10 "keepers" and 10 "traders". I think my shopping now will focus on "traders".

I checked the Pin Collecting FAQ I could find, but didn't see advice on buying good traders. I also searched the boards for similar questions, and went back a month with nothing truly germaine. (Although I did see one question regarding the state pins).

Thanks in advance!
BK

 

[Gytchy]

If you are planning on only trading with the CM's then any of the Disney Store pins will be fine. The state pins would be a great choice.

Be sure and stop in at the pin meet on Friday night at the Contemporary, it starts a 7 pm, on the same floor as Chef Mickeys. The gang there would love to trade with you and your kids, there is even a kids only area.

 

[Buzz2001]

Hey Bk, Buzz2001 here. Long time no see/talk.

Your right, the CM's can't refuse a trade. So your best pin trader for use at WDW would be your cheapest pin. A new series of pins that came out this year and are very hot right now are the CM Lanyard pins. These pins can only be obtained through a trade with a CM or another pin trader. Visit pinpics and search lanyard series to see them. I think they are up to 47 different pins.

You can buy reasonable priced pins from Cheappins.com. They have a large selection of Disney Store pins and others. A big debate has been the use of the Snow White & 6 dwarfs pins for trading (grumpy is hard to find). You can get these for $1.00 (I think) on cheap pins. When you are trading at WDW, you will see your share of these pins on CM lanyards. Some folks use them as traders to get the lanyard pins from CM's to then sell on eBay.

Which brings me to another way to get pins, eBay or Yahoo Auctions. Obviously this isn't the cheap way to go but you can get the "Rare" and "Hard to Find" pins you want.

Dizpins.com and Dizneypins.com are sites to keep you informed on all pin happenings.

The new state pins are still somewhat easy to trade for, not necessarily at the parks but on pinpics which is a "broker" site for pin trading worldwide. Much easier that the state flag pins and there is only 47 of them.

Good luck and happy pin trading!

 

[daber]

As Gytchy said, if just trading with a CM, any Disney pin will do.

If you are planning on trading with guests, then it is a gamble as to which pins become more desirable. None of TDS pins are LE (limited edition), so their tradeability is somewhat minimal. My advice is not go out of your way to buy TDS pins, your local store is fine. Stock up so you can trade with the CMs. I'm still not sure about how to answer you about the State pins. Not sure about the level of interest in trading with them at the parks.

 

[Buzz2001]

ps - have your boys focus on a movie or character or theme. This will help cut down on the spending for pins. For example, my daughter collects Lilo & Stitch pins, movie poster and calendar pins from the Disney Store. I collect Walt pin and patriotic pins. Helps me keep the cost down and not have to get every pin that comes out.

 

[BedKnobbery2]

Thanks so much for all the great advice. Buzz, I especially like the advice regarding focusing on one character....I think the boys are a bit overwhelmed with all the choices they have out there. (PS--we are really looking forward to our stay at CSR! It'll be my boys' first stay ever on disney property!)

We are going to go to the TDS pin-trading night tonight. It'll be our first ever trading experience, so we are all kind of excited.

We will definitely be taking in the pin-trading evenings at both the Contemporary and the BW.....we'll be down at Disney Aug 15-30.

 

[Buzz2001]

They're going to love the Dig Site pool area and the slide. Have a great trip. Your down to just a few weeks away. If you like mexican food, try the wet burrito at the Pepper Market

 

[disneydreamer1970]

Bedknobbery2, we are practically neighbors!!! (I live in Windham, but work in Portland)! My DS (11) collects pins as well and we have purchased quite a few of them from TDS for him to trade during our next trip in November. He also attends pin trading at TDS as often as possible, however, we are not sure if we will make it tonight or not!

Have fun!!!!! (The CM's in the Portland store are so awesome!!!)