Parents of Children Pin Traders Beware

[Sk8Leigh]

My question for those of you who have a 'CM only' rule- if the CM's have to trade when approached, isn't it fair to assume that a good amount of their pins will be cheap or knock-off pins that they have received in a trade? It was my understanding that they only receive a certain amount of pins from disney to add to their lanyard. I do not know that this is ensuring (sp?) fair trades for your kids, especially since many CM's aren't traders themselves.

Their lanyards belong to Disney. They're part of their costumes, for the ones who are trading.

And yes, the lanyards do get filled up with "cheap" and not-so-desirable pins, but they do refresh them at some point. However, if the CM is doing their job they should all be tradable pins. They just might be Sedesma or ProPins (pins from Spain or Germany, respectively, that are tradable, just not very good quality). You just have to keep looking for those good pins!

 

[I'mNoPrince]

The CMs lanyards get traded out as well so they do have a lot of great pins on them at the beginning of their shift.We get our pins from E-bay in bulk from traders getting rid of inventory.So we give great pins for the ones we recieve it's just ones we don't keep.There was a E-bayer that just got rid of 4 or 5 sets of 50 pins each most were Cast Lanyard pins and they went ffrom $2.00 to $4.00 per pin when they all ended.

We still have some traders from the last time we bought a batch of them so I didn't get any but if not I would have gone after 2 or 3 of his sets listed.

As for the locking pin backs it's not a key persay it's an Allen wrench or Allenkey that gets inserted into the small hole and tightens the setscrew inside.It's L shaped and has 6 sides bit it is small about 2 inches long.

 

[Torontogal]

You should have taken a photo of these snakes for us all to see.
Some people have no class.

 

[TiggerPiglet]

.
About the locking pin-backs- I *think* we bought these the last trip, but I don't recall any key coming in the bag to unlock them. Anyone have a pic to post or a link they can share. My DS10 is a master pin 'loser'- at least 4 pins dropped from his lanyard last trip. We recovered all but 1, but he now will not wear his lanyard. I would love to be able to lock the pins on.

It's not a key per say, it's a long skinny bent piece of metal. I can't think of the name off the top of my head. Maybe someone on this thread knows the name

 

[dkostel]

I believe it is a teeny Allen (or Hex) wrench.

 

[princesspwrhr]

My question for those of you who have a 'CM only' rule- if the CM's have to trade when approached, isn't it fair to assume that a good amount of their pins will be cheap or knock-off pins that they have received in a trade? It was my understanding that they only receive a certain amount of pins from disney to add to their lanyard. I do not know that this is ensuring (sp?) fair trades for your kids, especially since many CM's aren't traders themselves.

I guess this also depends on *why* your kids are trading. Are they trading just to trade? to get up the courage to talk to someone? are they collecting a certain kind/theme of pin? are they budding collectors with pin value in mind?

The CMs have to trade if the child wants to trade with them and they don't already have the pin in question on their lanyard. That doesn't mean that your child has to trade with them upon seeing nothing of interest on the lanyard. There have been a few times we've stopped to look at a CMs lanyard or hip pocket and my dd hasn't seen anything she wanted to trade for but still had a wonderful conversation with the CM. She's even taken to designating 1 or 2 of her traders as mystery pins like the CMs do.

I personally have the CM only rule becuase in general I don't want to deal with other parents when it comes to trading. When my dd trades with CMs I know w/o a doubt that the CMs parent isn't going to jump down my throat that their angel wasn't supposed to trade that pin or my daughter should have given 'angel' a *better* pin. My dd trades becuase it's fun, she meets amazing people from all over the world and she wants that darn last Doc pin! LOL not to be all stressed out over some irate parent.

 

[TiggerPiglet]

I believe it is a teeny Allen (or Hex) wrench.

Yes, thank you. Here's a picture of it: http://www.tippmannparts.com/images/product/50.jpg

 

[I'mNoPrince]

Yes, thank you. Here's a picture of it: http://www.tippmannparts.com/images/product/50.jpg

I just had to laugh when your link went to a Tippmans Sight. We had parts and tools allover the place when I helped out at a paintball place.Up until last year I played almost everyweekend for the past 5 or 6 years.


I never thought to check my paintball stuff for an extra key to keep with us.I will have to do that tonight as my regular Allens I have around the house are all to big.

 

[canwegosoon]

Actually, that would be $180 at the very least! (30 pins @$6) I can't believe anyone would actually say "Sure! Let me go buy those 30 pins for ya, be right back!" I wonder if the guy walking over with the big bag of pins was a setup? ("Okay, Earl, when someone comes over here and talks to me about trading, you come over carrying the bag of pins, and act like you're getting a great deal!") I checked e-bay, and the highest price for a single pin was about $120, and that was for a 20 year CM pin. I can't imagine one pin being worth about $200 worth of pins!

It makes me really sad that someone would try to scam people like the OP posted I know that a lot of kids like to trade just for the fun of trading itself (ie they don't really care what they get), but they should at least be able to re-trade the pin they recieve!

I have some pins, but I've never traded- I usually just buy the ones I really like, or get them from doing tours, etc. I am tempted to pick up one or two for trading in case I come across one that's not sold anymore that I really want, though.

In my case he wanted 30-40 dollars worth of pins...he had specific pins he wanted me to buy...not 30 pins...for anyone who is worried...

 

[canwegosoon]

You should have taken a photo of these snakes for us all to see.
Some people have no class.

I thought of that YESTERDAY....but if I seen him in March I will snap a photo

 

[meandtheguys2]

I'mnoprince, I love your towel! My youngest has a bed just like that and a million pins! We've tried bulletin boards, etc, but haven't been happy with the results!

 

[mamaprincess]

We just started our DD's trading last trip. We never would have thought of trading with any one other than CM's. I tend to stand right there with my DD's and lord over the trade so to speak so they don't trade something good for something not-so-good.

 

[Sk8Leigh]

I thought of that YESTERDAY....but if I seen him in March I will snap a photo

If you get a picture you should give it to Disney Guest Relations.

 

[Disfan3]

that sounds scary!!

not to mention WRONG!~

 

[bytheblood]

I think trading with CMs only is a good idea. I let my daughter (who loves pins) read a lot of this thread and she has decided that she either will not trade at all or she will trade only with Cast Members.

Most of the time, she likes what she picks so much that she is not willing to trade.

 

[TiggerPiglet]

I just had to laugh when your link went to a Tippmans Sight. We had parts and tools allover the place when I helped out at a paintball place.Up until last year I played almost everyweekend for the past 5 or 6 years.


I never thought to check my paintball stuff for an extra key to keep with us.I will have to do that tonight as my regular Allens I have around the house are all to big.

Good luck searching and I also love your DD's towel. It's a great idea

 

[tjmw2727]

Thanks for the warning, that leaves a sour taste for sure

So far my dd's have only traded with CM's and now I know that rule will stick! My dd's are 9 and 11 so I can totally understand how that would happend with your 8yos.

FWIW my dd's only bring "traders" to the parks with them and they use the pin bag and keep it cliped to a belt loop with a small carabener (Mickey of course!). This way they are not approached and the traders are handy to trade. They have a few favs they will wear on a hat or jacket with a locking clip as well. If they trade for a great pin they want to keep it goes in my backpack so as not to get inadvertantly traded.

I would never give up trading however, just use caution. Many great pins are not available for sale. Both my dd's have gotten some great Lanyard pins and other special pins from CM's that we could not have purchased. They have also met and talked with many wonderful people they would otherwise not have engaged with. Especially around the WS we have met some fun and interesting people when trading with CM's.

As far as the "junk" the CM's lanyards get refreshed every day and in some of the busy spots they can refresh more often. Also, just a fyi for anyone who dosen't know - the Green lanyards are for trading with kids only anytime my dd's spot a CM with a green lanyard they have to check it out.

TJ

 

[lovethattink]

I think trading with CMs only is a good idea. I let my daughter (who loves pins) read a lot of this thread and she has decided that she either will not trade at all or she will trade only with Cast Members.

Most of the time, she likes what she picks so much that she is not willing to trade.

I hope you and your daughter don't let a few bad apples discourage you from a great hobby of pin trading. The majority of Disney pin traders are awesome people. Over the years we have met so many wonderful people from all over the world who trade Disney pins. It's a fun, but expensive hobby, and great for the whole family.


Our family has made hundreds of trades over the years, both online and in person at Disney. DS started trading in 1999, and dh and I in 2002. Since 1999, we have only had 3 bad experiences.

 

[CarolA]

I hope you and your daughter don't let a few bad apples discourage you from a great hobby of pin trading. The majority of Disney pin traders are awesome people. Over the years we have met so many wonderful people from all over the world who trade Disney pins. It's a fun, but expensive hobby, and great for the whole family.


Our family has made hundreds of trades over the years, both online and in person at Disney. DS started trading in 1999, and dh and I in 2002. Since 1999, we have only had 3 bad experiences.

I wish I still felt this way. However, I have found the overall pin trader culture to be rude, selfish and just the personfication of the "anti-Disney" LOL! I am sure you don't fit that mode, but I have no desire to get started again.

 

[meandtheguys2]

Flip side, since we ran into several sharkish kind of folks, was the nice couple at DTD that saw our boys trading pins, and offered each of them a pick from their pin pouch thingies (they weren't even asking to trade). They had special pins to pick from, like the Chip and Dale, mugs, and monorails. We decided to pass the same option on to some other youngsters we met during our trip.