Ornaments & Pins

[Cruise]

Hi everyone,

First post for me over here on the collector's board. I was thinking of getting into the pin trading and felt a bit overwhelmed with all the information on what to get, what's a good trader, etc. It all got started because I got a few of the state pins to give to CMs on our upcoming cruise.

The other thread about picking what to collect made me think about my Disney Christmas Ornaments. I've been collecting these since 1992 or so... almost exclusively the Hallmark ornaments.

So I suddenly thought, wow... this is going to get out of control fast... LOL. I don't have enough room on my 8' Christmas tree for all the ornaments anymore and now I want to start with pins!?!?

Yes, a bit insane. So, here I am, hoping to muddle through and just start collecting what seems to hit me as something I'd like at the time. The ornaments started with collecting everything then had to be scaled back to just a few a year (at $15-$20 each, it was getting to be a bit much).

Any suggestions about how to get into the pin trading? For some reason, my local store only seems to be carrying pins from certain series - like the calendars, birthstone Pooh, etc. I'd like to get just a variety of pins. Can someone recommend a reasonable online source?

Thanks!
Julie

 

[Obi-Wan Pinobi]

First of all, welcome to the Collectors Board. Trust me, if you ask the right questions, you'll even find quite a few ornament collectors on here as well. DW Lauri a.k.a. MeanLaureen is one.

From the start, don't try to collect everything. Yes, you will want to, but if you stick with certain themes or characters, your wallet will love you for it.

Each Disney outlet -- WDW, Disneyland, the Disney Stores, the parks in Tokyo and Paris, etc. -- all carry their own line of pins. The sad thing is that, unless someone returns some park pins to their local store, you won't find them outside of the parks. Your best chance is to trade for them or buy them from people. Selling Disney pins is permitted on the Collectors Board under certain conditions (see the link to the FAQ in my signature for more details). There are also the auction sites such as eBay or DIS Auctions. Also, there are sites that sell pins. Links to those sites are prohibited on the DIS, but I'm sure that other members will be glad to send you the links in e-mail or private message.

BTW, where in VA are you? Lauri and I are in Richmond.

 

[Cruise]

Hi Matthew,

Thanks for the welcome. I'm in Roanoke, but I'll actually be in your area next weekend for a wedding. Was thinking of hitting the Disney Store at Chesterfield to see what they have to offer

Going to the local store tomorrow to pick up my copy of B&TB, so I'll have another look there too. I'm really looking forward to the cruise as a place to get some pins I wouldn't normally have access too. I'll have to look at the trading boards here too

Thanks again!
Julie

 

[Obi-Wan Pinobi]

Julie,

The Chesterfield Towne Center store is the one we frequent. They probably won't have much different of a selection than the store in Roanoke, but they have a great staff.

And the cruise will be a great place to get pins! Not just for your collection but also for trading.

 

[Disney-Junkie]

The last few years or so I have been trying to "collect" WDW stuff I could hand down to my kids. I collect smashed coins and a few trips ago my wife bought me a few pins and said, "here, collect these". So I said cool. Man, are there a lot of pins!!! So I decided to just collect ones I thought were neat or my favorite characters or pins I know won't be out for long at all like the Millennium ones. In other words pins that might not necessarily be valuable as far as price but be valuable when I tell my grandkids about them in 25 years. (Just felt a grey hair come in as I typed that).

As far as Christmas ornaments that is another funny story. We started collecting them in 94 from Grolier. Back then Disney ornaments weren't that easy to find. Maybe in the Hallmark store. Now they come in sets. Anyway, we had a 4' tree just for the kids with our 15 or so Disney ornaments. When we would goto WDW we would pick up 1 or 2 special ones. (We love that Christmas store in MGM).

Now, 9+ years later we have so many Disney ornaments (62) that we had to move them to the big tree in the livingroom. Of course my DS had to put the monorail under it.

Sorry this is so long and probably pointless but you said Disney ornaments and pins and I had to share my stories.

Take care.

 

[Cruise]

Disney-Junkie,

Thanks for sharing your stories... I'm trying to get a perspective on how to go about all this

I never have counted my ornaments before. All I know is they take up a couple of big Rubbermaid containers. I'll have to try to keep count this year when I put them up!

Julie

 

[SueEllen]

I have a 10ft tree that is PACKED with Disney ornaments. In fact, I have so many that the tree ONLY has Disney ornaments on it! All of my other ornaments (you mean there are ornaments other than Disney ?) are packed safely away in the garage. The ornaments are addictive, just like the pins. I have been collecting Disney ornaments since 1989.

Sue Ellen

 

[daber]

And I thought this thread was about ornament and pin sets like the ones I just picked up at the HMH last week!

I'm going to add to the welcoming chorus to Cruise. And yes, they make sets where the pin and the ornament are the same, so you can add to both collections at the same time.

 

[Cruise]

Originally posted by daber
And yes, they make sets where the pin and the ornament are the same, so you can add to both collections at the same time.

Wow...didn't know that. Thanks for the info! And I just bought some pins today

Went to pick up B&TB and got two of the musical B&TB pins (Belle & Beast and Belle & Prince) along with the new hinged Pooh pin and the Hakuna Matata pin. I think my strategy is just going to be to get the ones I like so that even if I don't end up trading any, I have pins I like

Julie

 

[daber]

Julie,
The problem is you can't be everywhere all the time, so you may find pins you like, but you can't just drop everything and fly to Tokyo DL. So trading is the only way to get those pins. If you only buy one of the pins you like, you don't have any to trade.
Don't know if anyone has told you, but two other places to check out on the Internet are dizpins.com which gives you news on upcoming pin releases, and pin events. and pinpics.com which is a database of disney pins put together by the collecting community. So if you are interested in Tinkerbell pins, you type Tinkerbell in the search box and it will show you all Tinkerbell pins.
There is an area for you to enter what pins you have in your collection, what pins you have to trade and what pins you want. When you ask it, it will search and find possible trades and you have the option of sending an e-mail to start trading over the Internet. Most important about this hobby......have fun!