NHMickeys Question of the week... 8/21/01

[NHMickey]

Well the event is fast becoming a memory... It was a great time and I would do it again in a second. But during my 8 days of trading I had something happen that has never happened before. And that leads me to this weeks question...

Have you ever hit a wall??? Have you ever traded so much or for so long that you just could go no further?

After 6 full days of trading I was in search of one last pin... I had just finished a 2 day quest for the Pin Club pin from the Ak and need only the Poolside Mickey to complete my list of wants for this trip. After a few close trys I was sitting at a table with a few friends and it hit me... I had had enough. I became very tired and all I wanted to do was leave. Well I went to get Sandy to head out of the hall and see some of the park... During my search for her I ran in to Perdita and was able to trade for the Poolside Mickey (thank you Nancy). It was my last big trade of the event. I was burnt out. I went out in to the park and went on a few attractions. My wife and I spent the next few hours of the day and a few hours in to the night just being tourists. We missed the dinner at the Big River Grill (sorry about that) and while we almost did not make the Pin Adventure... This is the part of my trip were a CM gave me their one year service pin off there name badge... That was truly a special moment in trading for me. We did go and while there I did very little trading (one or two trades) and just enjoyed seeing everyone. I have to say that was one great time Lauri and Jeff put on...

Well after a great nights sleep we did finish off the last day of the event and had a great time at the auction... After saying good bye to our friends both old and new my wife (god bless her) told me to put the pins away and we went off to Park Hop for two days... I did keep my lanyard but no pin books. It is now 9 days since the end of the event and... are you ready... I have not even opened my pin books to put away my pins that I traded for or bought. I will in the next day or so but I'm still a little tired... But I could be ready for a quick trip to WDW

Has anyone else had this happen? What is your story?

 

[Dar20]

Nat,

I consider myself very new to pin trading, and I don't have even close to a big collection. However, several months ago I had hit a wall. Not really a trading wall, but I'd had enough. Perhaps it's because hubby and I go to WDW more than often. But, I'd had enough with all the s****s that we see. Not that the traders I've met are bad people, but it's the 'other' people that were getting to me. For instance, the guy that wanted a Mickey for President for his MSEP Spinner. I think that one put me over the edge. For about a month or two, I went to WDW without my pin bag, without my lanyard, didn't even look at lanyards or trading books. I still bought some, but didn't do any trading.

I still haven't quite come out of that funk. I've never been a good trader (ask my hubby), so jealousy rears it's ugly head when I hear about great trades. I try to stick to just collecting. I have come to terms with the fact I'll probably never get those 'great' trades.

Dar

 

[JudithM]

Nat, I can relate! We arrived at WDW on the Saturday of the pin event after a night on the Autotrain (next time will someone please remind me how much I DO like to drive/ride in the automobile & NOT on a train?!). We got into our room, & by noon or so we were at the Pin Event. I had no idea how many different times we would have to stand in line. Plus we had a friend with us who had never been to WDW. Gee, let's stand in line after line your first two days at WDW! Also, I think every CM who plans these ques should drive an ECV through them with a crowd of guests! It isn't easy. By Sunday a.m. I told the CM I was not goingthrough the line & that I would meet my party when they gotto the front! Anyway the three of us signed up for pins, got some lunch, went back to stand/ride in lines, saw some friends, etc. We watched Illuminations that evening before heading back to the hotel. I took a quick shower & drove over the Swan meet. So what if I didn't get there until 11 p.m.! I traded a few pins, stuffed some envelopes, & left before I fell asleep on the floor (got little sleep on the Autotrain - got even less on the way home last weekend!). Now I am sorting through my pins (I spent how much money?!). My pinpics is up-to-date as far as I know, so if anyone wants to look - go for it - JudithM. I'm open to suggestions!

 

[Sarangel]

I find that I need regular breaks from pin trading. It's not that I don't enjoy it, but I find myself missing the parks, the people, the sun...

4 days of hard pin trading was more than enough for me, even though we took day 3 more or less off (filled out our RSF's & went away, then came back around 6:00).

Sarangel

 

[Mickey527]

Nat,
And I thought I was the only one.
The first night at the Boardwalk was when I made my best trades, 2 Poolside Mickey's, Surfer Mickey, and CM Retreat.
The first day of the event was when I was awarded my Continuing the Tradition pins, I guess after that everything was an afterthought for me.
I had enough after three days and I kept telling the other Caballeros that I hoped the next event didn't go over three. That fourth day was a real struggle to get through, I wanted to just go home and sleep, or maybe, heaven forbid, ride a ride or see a show.
The one day events just weren't enough, but 4 was too much.
I came home and went through my pins just to take inventory of what was stolen from my hotel room my last night and haven't touched them since.
I have a rough idea of what I have, and have made some promised trades, but I just don't seem to have the energy to go through the pins and see what I have and farm them out.
So all of you who I am working on trades with, please be patient, I just can't do it right now. I am pinned out.......... Peggie

 

[MeanLaureen]

originally posted by NHMickey
Have you ever hit a wall???

Oh yeah. I think it was the 4th day of getting up at 6am and I tell you those halls in the Dolphin have one too many turns in them. It's okay though, the bruises went away in a couple of days, although Jeff and Trina pretended they didn't know me the rest of the day....

ummm.. something tells me this isn't what you were asking...

nevermind

 

[goofymom/pop]

I dont know if this constitutes a wall or not....I think the reality of the cost
of this hobby hit me on the last day of the event. I totalled the bills and found
we had dropped a thousand bucks......HOLY POOP....my husband had insisted
on buying almost everything we were allowed to buy. I got very sick, and depr
essed just thinking of all the things i could use at home, or the school clothes'I
should have been buying with that money.....ugh!! I am still having a hard time
enjoying the trading here at home, as everytime I look at the pins I just want to
sell them all off and quit......Has anyone else ever gotten discouraged with the
cost of this little hobby???? On top of it, I had a list of pins for a DLR trade with
a fellow from Cali....he told me what to buy to trade for the pins I wanted. Then
when I got home, he had already gotten them and didnt want them anymore.....
This is really not cool, and it made me want to take a HUGE break from trading.
Needless to say I am a little more than out of it right now....I am sure it will pass.
But I think the cost is the biggest thing for me. We live on a pretty tight budget and
we should have been much more frugal at the event.......So on that note who needs
event pins???????




cindy

 

[Duckfan]

I have had my share of hitting the wall just in everyday things where I just didn't want to do whatever anymore. Usually too much of a good thing. i am sure from looking at your trades that you just had spent too much time on a continous thing.

Like Goofymom/pop I get tired of the cost at times and have to pull back. But the other thing that gets to me at times is when my traders don't trade. The small fish syndrome and I think about quitting off and on all the time. I spend more than I really should but I get caught up in wanting a pin. I get discouraged by trading and not being able to share experiences as much as I like. It passes.

I bet by Thursday you will start to feel better but you are probably also maxed by getting all the pins you wanted. What next.

 

[pin addict]

Yes the wall sounds alot like our story. We drove from Michigan for 2 days did the four day event and on the fifth day we went back home. We did do alot of trading and talking. I was able to meet some nice people like Nat and his wife. Talk with some old friends and make new ones. We were able to get all the event pins and doubles. I guess the money thing will hit us when the company who owns those little plastic cards sends us the bills.
Like Nat says we would be ready to do it again in a heartbeat.
Kris

 

[RamVA]

Well, I have only been at this for 2 months, and already in that short time I have hit a "fence", and a wall. I got a little discouraged at the beginning of the month, and mentioned I was discouraged, and two of you sent me messages cheering me up. So, I climbed the fence. Then I hit the wall on event weekend, and I wasn't even there! Those of us that were home had "letdown" not being able to go, and "letdown" when you all came home. And being a small fish, and not very adept at trading, it's kind of hard to get over the wall when you think you're probably never going to make it into the "big school". That weekend when I added up what I had spent acquiring pins since I got home from our "pin collecting initiating trip", and what I had asked to buy from friends who were so kind to offer to bring home, I was shocked! How could these little pins add up so quickly to so much?! And to think that I have stopped myself from buying a new small tv for my bedroom, because it was a splurge, and I could make do with what I have, and I could use a new pair of contacts, but didn't want to spend the money, and so on, and as it turns out I have spent waaaaay more than that on pins! So, I'v stayed off of e-bay for a week, and will try to make a pin budget, but if you don't buy the pins you don't have the pins to trade. I don't know what the answer is because I really like these little pieces of Disney art, and I love getting the LBEs in the mail, and the people here are all great, and obviously some really good friendships can be made sharing this hobby; but after a very brief 2 months, if I'm honest, I'd have to say that so far the most fun was starting out at the Parks, running up to all the CMs, and thinking you had found a real treasure if you found a Countdown to the Millennium pin! Is there a way to bring that innocent, childlike fun back to the hobby?

 

[Mickey7811]

I keep sitting here and wondering why I need all these pins.

I keep thinking I could sell my Mickey for President and Augnaguration pin and help pay for our November cruise.

I did not get to the event, I did not get to share my collection and did not get to trade, so I sit here with all this stuff and for what.

And then I am realizing I can not take it all to WDW so no one will ever see it.

Just trying to make sense out of why I ran to the Post office on my lunch hour today to purchase all those money orders to pay for all those pins that I just have to had.

I think I need a trip real soon - I am sure it will make me realize what it is all about again.

I need to see a sea of lanyards and pin books and bags so I can get the excitement going again.

I NEED DISNEY WORLD.

Darlene

Mickey7811@aol.com

 

[RamVA]

.........I feel what you are feeling. I could have used that money to start saving for more points at DVC! We have to start a new club! I have to try to remember that pin collecting is PART of what I love about Disney, not the center of my love for Disney--maybe that will help.

 

[TIGGERSMOM]

Nat - you know I did. That last day especially after you finagled the Special Activities trade. I was done. I don't think I opened a book after that or maybe a little before that even.

After I said goodbye to everyone, we did the same only mine was kid time. I brought a lanyard (kept in my waistpack) but actually only did one trade for a pin my DS wanted. We had a great time did all the rides, and the Sunrise Safari at AK. My time was too short with them. So I am under orders re the convention - pin meets are ok but family gets 2 for 1 time. So every hour I spend at a meet I need to spend 2 hours with the people I actually live with.

I do love to trade but 4 days was about all I could handle. When a CM mentioned Disney was thinking of 5-7 days next year all I could here was "NO WAY" even my family has its limits. And I have been disney addicted since birth just about.

 

[~Kathie]

I find this post interesting because even though I wasn't at the event I can relate to it. Not only with pin trading but with collecting in general or any hobby.

Last year at Disneyana was when I "Hit the Wall" during that whole Tinker Bell Toma Saga that I went through. I finally had to get away from it all and a friend and I left the convention for a time and went over and had lunch at Cinderella's Castle. It was just what I needed. I needed the magic, I needed to be with my friend, I needed to be waited on, and I needed to have a good cry and get over it. I did all of that (especially the crying part ) and I was fine for the rest of the week. I needed to get it out of my system.

Every once in a while we need to take a step back and catch our breath. We can't do it all. No matter how hard we try, no matter how much we want to, we can't. So if you need to put things back into perspective, put your pins aside for a week or two, or leave your pins in the room and go on rides or see shows or put that needlepoint away. Or do what I have done and left my pins at home. Imagine!!! And I survived!! Take a break from it all. You won't miss much.....and if you do, you'll eventually catch up. It will still be there when you come back to it.

To quote a famous Dis'er, "Life is what happens when you're busy making plans."

 

[goofymom/pop]

Glad to know I am not alone in this "state of mind" I too remember coming
home in May and beind so excited about trading with the CMs it was some
of our best memories from the trip. Well sometimes I think when you overdo a
new hobby you burn out for a while.....hopefully the Magic shall return.

I shall share a secret....I sent out a LBE to a fellow board member, just because
he is so helpful when he travels to Orlando. That helped me feel better....
Try it, spread the magic. Maybe it will come back to all of us just by sharing.

Smiles and Smoochers everyone....maybe its all just postvacation let down that
we really all have...


cindy

 

[Dar20]

Well sometimes I think when you overdo a new hobby you burn out for a while.....hopefully the Magic shall return.

I completely agree with this. When I first started scrapbooking, I was SO into it. Then, I lost all my creativity. I couldn't do a thing! So, I stopped doing it. I was getting too frustrated. Then, I started pin trading. And you already read where I'm at with that... Well, I've recently been getting ideas for new scrapbook pages, and maybe I will finally finish that wedding album!!

Dar

 

[goofymom/pop]

AHHHHHHHHH!!!! we must be two peas in a pod.....I have so much money
in scrapbooking and right now it just sits.....I always say tomorrow I shall
do a page. Guess everything fun has its limits......LOL!!

cindy

 

[Mickey7811]

Have either of you thought about doing the scapebooking with Disney pictures and inclding the pins in the scrapbooking.

I wanted to do that with my pins, but realize I would need an 18 wheeler to take my collection anywhere.

But if you have some pins that you just want to keep and enjoy, they would look kind of neat with the pins on the pages.

Just I thought.

As you can tell, I have a fortune invested in scapebook material too - and found the cutest Disney stuff to make my pages - gee - one of these days I will get to it.

Darlene

 

[goofymom/pop]

I love that idea. Especially if it is a pin that really goes with the moment. Like the
TON parade pins with the pix.....Wow!! you've got me thinking.....hmmmmm


Hope everyones wall is smaller today.......lets trying climbing them together
its much more fun.....

cindy

 

[Dar20]

Oooooh! What an idea! Considering I don't have the funds for framing right now... but tell me.. How would I do that? Break the back off the pin?

Dar