Pin Sharks/Nazis?!!

[sylvenmaid]

Ok. So I think I got a pretty good feel and understanding of the pin trading. My sil went on her honeymoon to WDW this past Jan and they have gotten bit by the pin trading bug. LOL!

I bought dh a brand new POTC lanyard and several CM hidden mickey pins off another site (similar to ebay). I think I got about 10 pins to start off with and only 2-3 are ones I would like to keep and would trade the rest. I understand the safe trades are with the CM's.

What I want to know is how do you get a bad trade with these pin sharks/nazis? I mean I looked on ebay and none of the pins I got are really valuable but all from an actual CM at WDW. The pins look authentic from the pics and didn't say Sedenso or the other one. Anyway, just wondering what to watch out for when we go. We are only going to MK and Epcot and the pins will be for all of us including ds. I read that the green ones are for kids only so do we need to let him wear it or is it ok if dad is wearing it for him? I am doing this strictly for fun and not to profit off the pins. Is there a pin for legos?! My ds and dh are HUGE Legos freaks!

One more question. DS will have his b-day while we are there so I read something about telling a CM while at MK and they announce it at the town square and give him a special button or pin? I really want him to feel special at MK while we are there since it will be his b-day so just wanted to check with anyone that had a b-day while there, esp for the kids. He will be 7.

 

[alanburger88]

I have the same questions - my DDs 10 and 14 are excited about Pin trading for the 1st time. I also bought a load of pins off e-bay that are to be included in gift baskets that will be delivered to room at POR to get them started.

 

[Mrs Potato Head]

Ok. So I think I got a pretty good feel and understanding of the pin trading. My sil went on her honeymoon to WDW this past Jan and they have gotten bit by the pin trading bug. LOL!

I bought dh a brand new POTC lanyard and several CM hidden mickey pins off another site (similar to ebay). I think I got about 10 pins to start off with and only 2-3 are ones I would like to keep and would trade the rest. I understand the safe trades are with the CM's.

What I want to know is how do you get a bad trade with these pin sharks/nazis? I mean I looked on ebay and none of the pins I got are really valuable but all from an actual CM at WDW. The pins look authentic from the pics and didn't say Sedenso or the other one. Anyway, just wondering what to watch out for when we go. We are only going to MK and Epcot and the pins will be for all of us including ds. I read that the green ones are for kids only so do we need to let him wear it or is it ok if dad is wearing it for him? I am doing this strictly for fun and not to profit off the pins. Is there a pin for legos?! My ds and dh are HUGE Legos freaks!

One more question. DS will have his b-day while we are there so I read something about telling a CM while at MK and they announce it at the town square and give him a special button or pin? I really want him to feel special at MK while we are there since it will be his b-day so just wanted to check with anyone that had a b-day while there, esp for the kids. He will be 7.

To trade off the kids lanyard, your child has to be wearing the lanyard. Otherwise, the CM may refuse the trade. It's to avoid folks who use their kids to get stuff off CM's when the kids don't really trade. (it happens)

I don't know about the birthday announcement. I've not heard any announcements about birthdays, but I do see the buttons everywhere. You get them in Town Hall in MK.

Pin Sharks are there, it's unfortunate. But you never have to trade with anyone if you don't want to. If you are approached by another pin trader, just make sure you feel comfortable with the trade. Only a CM has to trade with you, other guests do not. You will encounter serious pin folks in Downtown Disney at times - and/or Epcot's Pin Central. They usually have books full of pins and set up at the tables outside the pin stores. You can stop and look, and if you see something you want, they will tell you what they want for that pin. Again, if you aren't comfortable, walk away.

Pin trading/collecting is fun in the parks, but it's a serious hobby and some of the folks doing this have been trading/collecting for many many years. Some of the pins get to be very expensive, and therefore, more collectible. A trade that seems unbalanced to you might actually be fair if the pin you ask for is highly collectible.

There are over 50,000 pins currently listed on www.pinpics.com - which is the only current database of all Disney pins. There is also a large community of online pin collectors and traders at www.dizpins.com.

I started pin trading about 7 years ago in the parks, but got much more serious about it last year as we now frequent WDW 3-4x a year and I have the flexibility to get some of the newer limited edition releases.

It's an expensive hobby....run away now if you can!

 

[I'mNoPrince]

If starting out just trade with the CMs and trade for pins you like. Don't get wrapped up in the entire have to have pins when starting out . You can always retrade those pins later if you want to.

Look at the back of the pins for the Disney logo or Ears with a date on the back.

Tradeing with a Green lanyard CM should only be done with the child but he does not have to be holding the pin just making the decisions.

Legos is not a big pin option but you might find some go to pinpics.com and search lego to see whats avail and then let the hunt begin. here's a few

http://www.pinpics.com/cgi-bin/search.cgi

Go to City Hall and get him his B-day button during a parade get a CM attention and sometimes they will have everyone sing Happy birthday to him before the start of the parade. They made the B-day buttons all the same so you can get it at any Guest services location or even at the front-desk at check-in sometimes.

 

[sylvenmaid]

Thanks for all the advice. I am basically doing this as something fun for us and not going to get carried away. We are only going to be there for 2 days so I won't have too much time to get carried away. LOL! I will have a few to trade and will be buying a few at the parks (cheaper than most souveniers). I will get ds his own lanyard to wear but I know how he is and will want to take it off more than wear it. We will have our 10 year anniv that year too so this is a b-day, anniv, family vacation all rolled into one.

 

[I'mNoPrince]

Thanks for all the advice. I am basically doing this as something fun for us and not going to get carried away. We are only going to be there for 2 days so I won't have too much time to get carried away. LOL! I will have a few to trade and will be buying a few at the parks (cheaper than most souveniers). I will get ds his own lanyard to wear but I know how he is and will want to take it off more than wear it. We will have our 10 year anniv that year too so this is a b-day, anniv, family vacation all rolled into one.

In stead of the lanyard he might like one of the waistpack type pin holders
.

DD never liked the lanyards so she has had some of the other pin bags to do all of her trading. I think they keep the pins on better so less chance of losing one if the back comes off.

 

[dzneprincess]

In stead of the lanyard he might like one of the waistpack type pin holders
.

.

Can you tell me what these are officially called? I saw some kids with them last month, and they looked much more reliabe then a lanyard...I could not find them though..can you point me in the right direction? Or better yet, a link to buy them?!?!

 

[tnmomof4]

In stead of the lanyard he might like one of the waistpack type pin holders.

I too would like to know where you can buy these. My boys hate wearing the lanyards. They usually just put their pins on their hats, but a waistpack might be better. I also have seen CMs wear their pins on a thick piece of fabric kinda like burlap with a clip hanging on their beltloop. Has anyone else seen these for sale anywhere?

 

[alanburger88]

Can you tell me what these are officially called? I saw some kids with them last month, and they looked much more reliabe then a lanyard...I could not find them though..can you point me in the right direction? Or better yet, a link to buy them?!?!

I would like to know too. My DDs are just starting and I believe Pins sometimes tend to fall off lanyards?

 

[hezreck]

Any of the pin carts or stores that sell pins will have the waist pouch. I don't know how much they are, but it may be worth it to buy. My DD8 wore a lanyard with about 10 pins on it and she lost 3 of them because they fell off when she was leaning on railings and just walking trough the parks.

My DD started out with 10 pins off Ebay that I knew she wouldn;t want to keep. We were there for 7 days and I would bet she traded those 10 pins over 100 times. Sometimes she would get a pin she liked and trade it less than 5 minutes later. She only traded with CM's. Finally by the last 2 days of our trip, she had narrowed her pins to 4 that she was trading. She would sort her pins each night at the hotel and keep the ones she really wanted in the room. It took alot of time to trade that much, but she really had fun looking for different characters that she wanted.

 

[dzneprincess]

Any of the pin carts or stores that sell pins will have the waist pouch. .

Hmm strange...because I looked at a couple of pin carts, because the ones I saw DID have the Disney pin trading logo on them, and never did see one..Maybe I will look closer next month

 

[alanburger88]

Thanks - will keep a lookout for them as well.

 

[hezreck]

If you can't find the waist thing at the parks, try Downtown Disney at the pin store there. I'm sure they would have it. Have fun!!

 

[aprild873]

Speaking of pins, does anyone know if they are still selling the MLB mickey pins? I seen some on ebay the other day, but not the team I was looking for. I am a huge White Sox fan and would love to get a few for myself and the sox fans in my family.

 

[Nienor]

Speaking of pins, does anyone know if they are still selling the MLB mickey pins? I seen some on ebay the other day, but not the team I was looking for. I am a huge White Sox fan and would love to get a few for myself and the sox fans in my family.

My husband bought the Mets one last September. We got it at a kiosk on Main Street. They had several major teams on display.

 

[Princess Stitch]

Just want to mention for those of you complaining about pins falling off that all of the pin trading places sell locking backs for the pins as well. They're not in the shape of mickey's head, but will lock the pin in place better so that they don't fall off that easily. You buy them in a pack of about 10 I believe, don't remember the price though.

 

[justwinnie]

The locking pin backs are $10 for a pack of 10. You need a tiny allen wrench (included) to lock it in place.

Pin trading is fun and addictive. I didn't think we'd ever trade pins, but my niece started and my daughter just had to do what her cousin did! She was a bit shy about asking CMs to trade, but would get very excited about a trade. I'd ask her what she liked and then try to find it for her.

 

[CampbellScot]

Pin trading is a really fun hobby for grown ups and kids. You just have to be careful of those people who are out to get something for nothing. It can happen and it does more than you'd thing.

Story of caution!!

My step daughter had an experience with a man and his kids who were trading "Mexico" pins for Disney pins. They were going up to kids and trying to trade without talking to the parents. Very bold these guys...we were all sitting on a bench. My step son had a bloody nose and I was holding a kleenex to his face and trying to calm the hysteria that tends to follow the sight of blood! (it wasn't a bad bleed...just enough to set up some drama!) My step daughter was on the other side of me. In the span of one minute two kids came up and "traded" two really nice pins from my SD's lanyard for two junky not even remotely related to Disney, Mexico pins. She was just 7 and I think felt intimidated. And the boys were WHISPERING to her. They knew I couldn't hear what was going on over the noise. When I turned back to her, she held out the pins and said some boys took the pins off her lanyard and "traded" her. I took one look at the garbage pins said "WHO?!" She pointed them out. My husband arrived with more kleenex and I went to get those pins back. The dad of the boys kept saying "No no it's a fair trade, she traded for them." I explained that my 7 year old step daughter was not in a position to trade anything. I purchased the pins, they were MINE and I did NOT want to trade two disney pins for garbage that said "Product of Mexico" on it! I also explained that it was not a legal trade and we could ask a CM about if he was confused. Suddenly the pins the boys had taken were in my hand and they and took off at a fast clip. I told the first CM I saw anyhow and then we went to guest relations. I explained what happened and the CM there said that he had had three other complaints that day about Mexico pins being traded off on little kids. He very nicely gave my step daughter a pin from his lanyard for being so brave and honest! She beamed!! Gladly she really only remembers that part of the day!

After that I got locking backs for all of her pins! She has no idea how to get them off. It's a bit of a pain if you want to trade, but she loves wearing the lanyard, so they all have to be locked. We love pin trading with CM's. It's really fun and it teaches the kids about value and fairness.

have fun, just be careful!!

 

[AngieWin]

I'll definitely have to pick up some of those locking pin backs for DS4. My older kids (DSS12, DSD13) will be trading and I know he will want to do it too.