Pin trades

[buzz2400]

If she's not painfully shy, she should be fine. My DS was doing this at about 5. It's a nice way for the kids to get comfortable with cast members (in case they get lost, they'll know who they can approach). Most of the CMs are really good with kids.

And one more -- a PP said that you should try to trade like-value pins -- with CMs, it really doesn't matter. Don't worry about trading a small pin for one that's really fancy. They just got it from another guest, and if you tried to buy big pins to trade for big pins, you'd go broke. But if you try to trade with other guests (which I never really do, anyway), you'd better be trading same value pins -- and guests can turn you down for trades, which cast members generally won't do.

Erin

Even if she is shy, it wouldn't matter. I have traded for many years and have always found that the cm knows what to do. They also haved figured out when someone is looking at their lanyard and they will just show it to you. Anyway you just go up to the cm and just ask if you can look at their pins. The cm's are very accomodating and nice.

 

[WantToGoNow]

We bought about 125 off of Ebay for trading. I did get a few possible scrappers but they were still tradeable because they had the Disney copyright on the back. We did not do any trading with other guests and kept the trading to CM's only. We had expected myself, my 2 smaller kids (8 and 5) and my cousin's 3 older kids (9, 5 and 4) to trade but my cousin's 5 and 4 year olds were not interested and wore the same 5 pins on their lanyards the entire trip. But my kids really got into it - and even though dd25 wasn't planning to trade, she did help dd5 select her pins most of the time. We pretty much traded (or lost) all of the pins we took. We did have a problem with backs falling off at first and we lost 3-4 pins the first day. I then bought my ds a cheaper lanyard that was a thinner material for $5.50 or so and we didn't lose any more pins. All of the traders and the ones we bought are displayed on a cork board in my bedroom.

 

[shelie girl]

I bought a lot of about 40 pins on ebay to start my dd7's collection. All were official pins and some were super cute! She had a great time trading, but was a little put off when guests wouldn't trade with her. I got a Cinderella and a Sleeping Beauty Lanyard at the dollar store.

 

[vroomagain]

What is a good age for Pin Trading? My daughter will be almost 5 when we go. I am wondering if this is too young.

DD3 loved trading! She has a speech delay so we did help a lot. We asked the CM's if we could check out their pins and then asked DD if there were any she wanted to trade for. When she picked one we asked which she would like to give up. She did fine! It was interesting to see which pins she picked and gave up and sometimes she didn't want to trade any. If you get any "special" pins that you don't want her trading I would leave them at the resort.
I feel that DS2 was too young-he didn't really want to trade but he liked collecting.

 

[beautyqueen]

DD3 loved trading! She has a speech delay so we did help a lot. We asked the CM's if we could check out their pins and then asked DD if there were any she wanted to trade for. When she picked one we asked which she would like to give up. She did fine! It was interesting to see which pins she picked and gave up and sometimes she didn't want to trade any. If you get any "special" pins that you don't want her trading I would leave them at the resort.
I feel that DS2 was too young-he didn't really want to trade but he liked collecting.

I'm glad to hear this as well, my 3y/o dd is a little delayed in speech herself and I was unsure of how well she could even do with all the interaction of pin trading.

 

[jemmls]

My kids didn't get that they could trade pins with CMs. We kept explaining it, but I don't think they believed us. Finally at one of the parks one of the CMs came up and talked to them and them they were trading fools!

We're going this summer so I'm buying a couple of lots off of eBay so we're ready to trade.

 

[humboldthny]

We love pin trading! It started with dd when she was 4 - it's great for encouraging her manners and the CM's are really good with the kids. I eventually started trading and so did my mom.

I typically buy pins off of eBay and share them out so we each get 5 per day to trade...once the original traders from that morning are gone, you get to trade with what you've got (a good lesson in decision making!). I had a weird moment on our last trip when I had to sit both dd and my mother down and explain the them (once again) that I was not a pin ATM and that 5 a day was the limit!

Each evening we take our favorites from the day off and put 5 new traders on for the next day.

And I agree...locking backs are a must!! We lost a couple of neat pins before we figured that out.

In general, we trade only with CM's...dd's been asked to trade by other guests but she really doesn't like to. The one time we did trade was with a serious pin collector in DTD who wanted a Nightmare pin dh had just gotten for me...dh wasn't too happy with me, but I traded it for a Sleeping Beauty pin from Disney Paris!

 

[beautyqueen]

I just looked on ebay and there is one auction for 100 pins, with at least 50 different pins going for $50 with only 30min left! I have 3 kids trading so what is a good size to start with?

 

[humboldthny]

It just depends on how many pins you want to give them to trade with...5 pins per day works well for us and we usually have a few left over at the end of the trip. It's better to have too many than too few, KWIM?

That's a good price BTW...I usually aim to keep my price at $1.75 of less per pin, and that's a lot easier to do when you are buying the larger lots of pins. Just make sure the seller has a good rating and that they state that they don't have any of the 'fake' pins in the lot (Spanish Sedesmas, etc.)

 

[plutotek]

The way everyone makes it sound, I may just try trading on my next trip.

 

[beautyqueen]

It just depends on how many pins you want to give them to trade with...5 pins per day works well for us and we usually have a few left over at the end of the trip. It's better to have too many than too few, KWIM?

That's a good price BTW...I usually aim to keep my price at $1.75 of less per pin, and that's a lot easier to do when you are buying the larger lots of pins. Just make sure the seller has a good rating and that they state that they don't have any of the 'fake' pins in the lot (Spanish Sedesmas, etc.)

I think 5 a day for each child will work good for us too. So that would be 5x9x3kids....I didn't bid on that auction because I'm still unsure of what to watch out for with fake pins and such, thanks for the tip on that!

 

[patink]

How hard/easy are these backs to get on and off? We always use the black backs on our traders, but without fail someone always trades for a pin they love and then loses it. I was thinking about getting locking backs and then letting the CM keep their back when we trade. Will that be a pain in the neck?

Great info guys!

Where do you get the locking backs, just from disneystore.com?

I have used the Disney locking pin backs and I have to say with the teeny tiny screw and the little allen wrench they are a pain in the neck. But I have found a spring loaded kind on ebay that are fantastic. (and cheaper than disney) Search for locking pin backs.
PM me if you want the name of the seller I have used. (I am not sure about the rules for posting ebay info on the DIS)

 

[FigNewton]

We bought about 125 off of Ebay for trading. I did get a few possible scrappers but they were still tradeable because they had the Disney copyright on the back.

sigh. This is the kind of attitude and practice that is ruining pin trading for a lot of people.

Please I implore all who are interested in pin trading to avoid scrapper pins and if you receive some DO NOT trade them at the parks. Remember that when you trade with cast members you are in reality trading with OTHER GUESTS by proxy. If we all put junk pins on the lanyards then all anyone will be able to trade for is junk pins.

Stay away from eBay sellers that offer multiple huge lots of pins for absurdly low prices. You are asking for bootlegs and scrappers. I know pin trading is an expensive hobby, but by utilizing these cheap knock offs everyone gets screwed.

 

[DaniB]

Please I implore all who are interested in pin trading to avoid scrapper pins and if you receive some DO NOT trade them at the parks. Remember that when you trade with cast members you are in reality trading with OTHER GUESTS by proxy. If we all put junk pins on the lanyards then all anyone will be able to trade for is junk pins.

Stay away from eBay sellers that offer multiple huge lots of pins for absurdly low prices. You are asking for bootlegs and scrappers. I know pin trading is an expensive hobby, but by utilizing these cheap knock offs everyone gets screwed.

Totally new to pin trading here! How do I learn what a "scrapper" pin is? I originally thought any pin that has a disney copyright on the back would be a true Disney pin. Does not sound like that now though..

 

[FigNewton]

Totally new to pin trading here! How do I learn what a "scrapper" pin is? I originally thought any pin that has a disney copyright on the back would be a true Disney pin. Does not sound like that now though..

Scrapper pins are pins that either were made beyond the amount ordered by Disney or were defective. In the former case they look exactly like official pins, because they ARE the same - while Its not good that these pins are pit there they aren't so much of the problem. The latter are pins have minor to major defects with anything from missing design features, incorrect colors, or just flat out poorly cast from the molds. In either case these pins were supposed to be destroyed and not released. They should have been scrapped - therfore they are called scrappers.

Although a bit of a misnomer, scrapper is also used to describe outright bootlegs. These pins are generally very easy to tell apart from the real thing. Poor molding, cheaper light materials. Etc etc.

There are a LOT of these pins out there now owing in great part to the eBay sellers who buy from Chinese suppliers for pennies and then sell them
to people wishing to participate in pintrading at the park for absurdly low prices.

It can be difficult to avoid them at this point though there are reputable sellers. The best thing to do is hang around pin boards with lots of pin traders like the Collectong board here or the Dizpins forums.

 

[roselark]

I LOVE pin trading! I started last May and am completely addicted.

There are so many pins out there! My suggestion is to choose something you want to collect and stick to that. I collect ride themed pins (especially Haunted Mansion) and Mickey.

My SIL and I were in line for a ride last October and we started chatting with the couple behind us about pins. He had some really neat ones and I mentioned that I liked them. It just happened that I had a Star Wars pin on my lanyard which was the last one he needed to complete a set. So, it was an improptu trade with another guest. I have also traded with kids before. Pin trading is a great conversation starter.

I agree that Ebay is a great way to get some trading pins to get started. Also, it is a great way to find that one or two pins you might need to complete a set. I have also purchased several Haunted Mansion pins that were only available in Disneyland. Since I am able to get pins (in a lot) inexpensively, I always take a bunch of extras and give them to kids. I have given pins to kids who seemed unhappy, to kids with empty lanyards, etc. I gave a really pretty Belle pin to a little girl last year who had all princess pins, but did not have a Belle.

I have been very lucky with my Ebay purchases. There have been a couple that were very poor in quality that I just threw out (though I have never received an "illegal" pin). I carefuly examine each pin. I did get an "illegal" pin once from a trade with a CM. To me, a collector, it was obvious, but he had no idea and the person who traded it to him first probably did not know either. Since he did not seem to care, I kept the pin and tossed it in the next trash can I came across so that a less aware guest would not get it on another trade.

 

[tinkerbelletreasure]

I highly recommend checking out the thread abotut reputable ebay sellers! I bougth some pins before I knew any better...turns out the seller flaked and I never even got them. But before I bought more I checked out that thread and it was amazing how many of the sellers whos auctions I was looking at were on the don't buy from list. Generally if you are paying $1/pin though it is a big tipoff that something isn't right.

 

[Jiminy'sGirl]

Ok, now I'm worried...

MY two kids, 7 and 5, have been to the world 3 times and gotten tons of autographs... MY DS and DH thought pin trading might be fun to try on our next trip (2 weeks from today!). I bought some pins off Ebay from a seller recommended on the DIS. But the truth is, we know nothing about pins. The pins look nice to me and have the disney stamp on the back, but apparently that means nothing?

I just don't want to A. unknowingly trade junk with a CM who HAS to take it, thereby passing junk to another collector, or B. embarrass my son if he tries to trade junk with another guest. We truly won't know the difference.

To be honest, we are not collectors and doubtful we ever will be. My DS and DD just like the pins they think look neat and could care less if they are collectible. But it sounds as if pin trading has become pretty serious business..... Should people who know nothing like us just stay out of it? I'm truly looking for an honest answer and won't be offended!

 

[justcantwait]

I'm sure there are many who would disagree with me, but I don't think you should forget about it just because you're not as knowledgeable as others. My kids are trying it on our Dec trip, and even though the pins look ok to me, they very well could be junk. Does that stop the fun for them? No. If someone is willing to trade for it, where's the harm there? It seems to me that so many people are too concerned about the value of each pin traded vs. the value of the one received. For me, the value for my kids is having fun, talking to different people and CMs and going away with happy memories. I don't care how much a pin is worth. I'm not trading to be able to sell them later at a huge profit. It's for the fun, not for the $$$.

Kathy

 

[ougrad86]

I tried trading last time we were there, but my DS and his friend were not interested. So I've got this lanyard, and everytime we are near a CM am scanning their lanyard, but never found anything I really liked. I would rather trade with other guests, especially kids. They are so cute. This one little girl asked if she could trade and choose a Tink pin. She gave me a pin that probably came from one of the starter sets - it showed the male leads from Cinderella. I keep thinking she really didn't want one with guys on it since her lanyard was full of princesses and fairies! I didn't mind, she was so happy.

Will probably bring my lanyard this time even tho we are doing a quick trip, and maybe try and trade with the CM's more. Never tried ebay, slowly built up pins over a period of time from our local World of Disney store - which doesn't seem to carry them anymore!