Pin trades

[WantToGoNow]

Now I am not sure if this is true but I would think on those specific lanyards they would not accidently trade for scrappers, because I think the chances are better when trading off the regular blue lanyards where everyone is allowed to trade with the Cast Members.

I would say that it would not be true. Let's say my ds trades a pin to a CM with a teal lanyard and that pin is a scrapper (whether we knew it was or not). Then your child comes up to that same CM and trades one of their pins for the pin that my ds gave the CM - now you have the scrapper.

 

[BillyLitt]

I viewed this thread because I have a 5 and 7 year old going to Disney November 2010 and was thinking about introducing this to them.

I found it amusing how sour this thread got. The next thing we will see is a pin trader pulling out a jeweler's eyepiece out before a trade.

Real traders know which ones are "scrappers", at least they should anyway.

Skip over them and let the kids have fun with them. Or, maybe adults should stay away from the kid's lanyards and the CM's green lanyards and stay with other adults and the other CM lanyards.

I would say that it would not be true. Let's say my ds trades a pin to a CM with a teal lanyard and that pin is a scrapper (whether we knew it was or not). Then your child comes up to that same CM and trades one of their pins for the pin that my ds gave the CM - now you have the scrapper.

 

[HMGar]

I've bought pins from Disney stores, and I've bought pins from EBAY sellers. I've examined these pins closely trying to figure out what these so called scrappers look like.

I'm the type of person that scrutinizes most things before I buy them. I'm very picky and since I don't have a lot of money, when I spend it, I want to make sure I'm buying the best.

Having said that. I SIMPLY CAN'T SEE WHAT PEOPLE ARE TALKING ABOUT WHEN THEY SAY SCRAPPERS ARE RAMPANT.

The pins I've purchased from EBAY (and it's been many) seem perfectly fine. And frankly, it's a better way to afford this hobby that could potentially break the bank, especially when my whole family loves it. My husband and I order pins from EBAY with the intention of bringing them to the park to trade. Much of the time, those pins end up in our collection because we simply can't bring ourselves to part with them. I just don't understand the fuss.

If you get a pin from a seller other than Disney and there seems to be a very real flaw, throw it out! The pins we are bringing to the park with us look exactly like the ones we got off of lanyards and bought from the stores from our last trip in October.

By the way, the sellers we buy from have thousands of positive ratings and when we receive the packages, the return addresses many times are either from Orlando area or Anaheim. Might there be discount stores in the area that sells pins that are no longer in circulation??

 

[Anjelica]

Real traders know which ones are "scrappers", at least they should anyway.

Yeah - my 6 year can spot them a mile away. Actually, no she can't. I don't think this thread turned sour. Just people trying to help educate people about scrappers, trades, etc. If people want to turn the other cheek and knowingly trade scrappers then so be it. I can only control my actions and those of my daughter's.

 

[BillyLitt]

I don't think this thread turned sour.

It did turn sour because those who are bickering about the scrappers are those worried about the value of the pins.

My daughter will wear pins because she likes it being Tink or Mickey, not because it is a rare find or its more valuable than the others.

Along the lines of one poster, the look the same, feel the same, what's the big deal?

 

[LPZ_Stitch!]

This is going to sound like a dumb question but... what does everyone do with their pins when they are not in Disney? Do you display them somehow?

We put ours in a 2' x 3' "shadowbox" picture frame (in which I mounted a piece of cardboard "upholstered" in black velvet. We just pushed the pins through the velvet/cardboard and hung them on the wall ... they look great!

 

[shalom]

If you get a pin from a seller other than Disney and there seems to be a very real flaw, throw it out!

I'll go further. If you get a flawed pin direct from Disney, don't trade it! If you think collectors get wound about trading for a scrapper, you should listen to someone who bought direct from Disney and what they bought has a flaw. Disney has a pretty good quality control system, IMHO, but flaws do get through sometimes. I've hung out with collectors who have to inspect every pin/other collectible on the rack until they find a perfect one, and woe betide the CM if said collector detects what they consider an on-going problem!

And if they don't notice the problem until they get home, particularly if they bought it on a trip so taking it back is a serious hassle...

 

[ElliePeters]

We got our starter pin free through a Disney promotion when the first started it, then started collecting each trip. Ebay has alot of sellers who you can buy lots of 20 and higher to trade. Just make sure they are the real deal and not Sedesma or any other kind of fakes-most Cast Members wont trade the cheap ones.

 

[RSoxNo1]

As fun as pin trading may be, some people take it way too seriously.

I've found that I may purchase the occasional pin on Disney property, but for the most part I buy stuff on eBay. You're never going to be able to collect every pin, so pick some categories. Some of the ones that I like are the Disney World, Disneyland, and DCA Fastpass pins, and then my favorite set that I have is the Epcot 15th Anniversary pin collection (9 Logos of the Future World pavilions, 11 Flags of World Showcase and the one Epcot pin).

If you're looking for more information, definitely check out www.pinpics.com.

 

[FigNewton]

It did turn sour because those who are bickering about the scrappers are those worried about the value of the pins.

My daughter will wear pins because she likes it being Tink or Mickey, not because it is a rare find or its more valuable than the others.

Along the lines of one poster, the look the same, feel the same, what's the big deal?

Apparently you didn't read enough because as I said before, it's NOT about pin value. I've never sold a pin, never considered selling a pin. Maybe you think I'm lying about that? The value issue has been consistently only brought up by people arguing in favor of using scrappers and bootlegs.

As far as "look the same feel the same", that part I can at least get behind. Some do indeed look the same and feel the same and on that note I can even say that a number of pins in my collection I suspect may be scrappers, but they look basically the same and feel basically the same, so the small differences (such as a small detail on the back of the pin like saying "Series X 1 of 4" when it should say "Series X 4 of 4", or a missing minipost) I can easily put out of my head, and put it right in the collection with the rest of the pins and call it a day.

A friend of mine got a Gadget pin off of eBay - he's a HUGE fan of Rescue Rangers and had wanted a good Gadget pin for a long long time. This particular pin was only sold as part of a framed set of which only 50 were made. We're fairly certain the pin he bought is a bootleg - but it looks so close to the real thing, neither of us really cared. We can't tell the difference, since it's for his own personal collection, no point for us TO care really. It was an awesome pin, and he kept it and is very happy to have it.

Many, however, do NOT look and feel the same. Missing design features, obviously wrong colors, poorly formed moldings, distinctly lighter and cheaper materials, etc etc. At this point I wish I had a couple of these on hand to sit beside real official pins to illustrate the difference. Alas every one of this nature that I've acquired has gone in the bin.

Just ask yourself this - Disney has certain rules when it comes to pin trading so what do you think the intent of the rules are? The intent is make sure only official Disney pins are traded, to maintain the integrity of the experience for everyone. Unfortunately, no rule they can make can keep scrappers and bootlegs out completely. It's sad, to me, that so many are willing to knowingly put junk out there.

 

[luvmy2boyzz]

My boys love trading pins. DS started on the Disney Cruise when he was 5. My boys like to collect sets of pins. One year it was parking lots, last year it was the alphabet. They each got one set of alphabet in two trips last year but boy were we running around! However, we made friends with many cast members doing this and learned lots about Disney. Don't know what they will collect in June but I'm sure they will have me running all over Disney on "tips" of where to find them I usually purchase on ebay and make sure that the description says official Disney pins no propins, sedesmas or Europins. Last time we did run out (26 alphabet letters each) and I did purchase some starter pin sets at Disney. In some of the shops in DTD they have certain times set aside to pin trade, they bring out a book and you choose a card to decide when your turn to look at the book will be. This can be fun and it and it can be dissapointing. The first time we did it DS then 12 was just starting his alphabet collection. We were 6th in line and the 5 people ahead of us were all collecting for one person. Well, they took every alphabet letter in the book even though they had many doubles. It was sad to see DS's face shrink with every trade. However,for the most part we have always had lot's of fun!

 

[BillyLitt]

It's sad, to me, that so many are willing to knowingly put junk out there.

I didn't even start doing this and I can already see that some take it too seriously. There are probably some pin traders out there that would take a nicer pin from a little kid, I'm sure of it.

I wouldn't trade junk, if I knew it was junk. My point is, if it doesn't look like junk, and it doesn't feel like junk, why is it junk?

It's a pin and if it has Tink on it, I'm sure kids would love it.

I got two bids on ebay for pins.

I'm going to look and see if I can tell what these scrappers are. I hope I can because heaven forbid I trade a scrapper not knowing....

 

[shalom]

I wouldn't trade junk, if I knew it was junk. My point is, if it doesn't look like junk, and it doesn't feel like junk, why is it junk?

The more I read, the more puzzled I am by this as well. Maybe I haven't thought it through, but generally counterfeits are a problem for one of two reasons: (1) they're poor quality using a quality name to get you to buy without looking closely, or (2) they're good quality, but they're duplicating something rare, which devalues that rare thing. With Disney pins, it seems to be more about "how evil these scrappers are; it's next to impossible to tell the difference between a scrapper and the real thing" - yet people insist their outrage isn't about money.

And I know there are traders who tell kids, "Those are all scrappers" because they don't feel like trading with the child, when the child has pins on their lanyard that were bought direct from Disney. That kid wasn't devastated by the scrappers - that kid was devastated by a mean pin collector.

And more than once I've run across someone claiming, "It's the same weight and quality as my Disney purchased ones, but I'm afraid it's a scrapper," being told it must be a scrapper based on some minor detail, much emotional agony over same, then someone else saying they bought a pin from Disney that has the same detail, and it eventually becomes clear that it's a legit pin, but a different printing. So here this person has gone through this whole emotional agony of betrayal over a pin that is such good quality they couldn't tell it was a scrapper without studious examination - and it most likely wasn't a scrapper anyhow.

I can see getting ticked about poor quality merchandise being released under the Disney name. But all this angst about stuff of such good quality you're constantly told "It's impossible to tell the difference," that I do not understand. Angst over counterfeits of limited editions, sure. But angst over unauthorized but identical pins with unnamed but undoubtedly lengthy runs?

If this isn't over poor quality or the fact that people feel their pins are being devalued, then I think it must be the first time I've seen this many collectors get emotionally involved in a copyright issue. [I'm excluding "Disney stole from Ub Iwerks"-type copyright rants as not involving collectors, or at least, not involving their collections.]

 

[Tinker_Tam]

I didn't even start doing this and I can already see that some take it too seriously. There are probably some pin traders out there that would take a nicer pin from a little kid, I'm sure of it.

TOTALLY agree with you. I am sure there are many people out there crying that they got taken advantage off because they got a scrapper...and many of these same people wouldn't think twice before taking advantage of a child. I always thought you were supposed to be at WDW to have fun. I guess we all view fun differently.

 

[elleherself]

To be clear, I am not advocating using or buying scrapper pins. However, I also think it is taking things too far to tell a child "no you can't have that pin" from a cast member lanyard when that's the one they want! Nor do I think someone should have to do hours of study to trade pins in the parks. I don't know how your six-year-old is, but mine has a mind of her own and would certainly balk at the idea of me telling her she couldn't trade for a pin that she chose! Also, she is six-- she has absolutely NO IDEA that some pins aren't approved for sale by Disney and I am not going to be the one to tell her.

And that's basically what I am saying, that if your kids and you have fun, then great! And if the hobby has become too stressful and upsetting for you or your child because of the prevalence of scrapper pins, then just buy pins only from Disney and do not trade. Or if you are good and conscientious about spotting scrappers, then go ahead. Bootlegs are a fact of life and not going anywhere, however you can choose your reaction, you can choose to be upset about it or not!

I don't think people should deliberately try to cheat the system. That is wrong and terrible. But for a six year old to unknowingly trade a scrapper pin, or trade for a scrapper pin, and then be made to feel upset by an adult telling the child that the pin is "less than"... I don't think that's necessary.

 

[FigNewton]

Ok, I think somewhere in the fray the message has been lost. There seem to be a behaviors and actions that people are railing against, when no one has argued for them.


The ONLY thing I am advocating here is this:
1) Don't buy from eBay sellers offering "any size grab bags" of pins for extremely cheap prices. These are the people who buy directly from China, and you can guarantee those pins are not legitimate. You may get some pins that are the same quality - you may get a lot of pins that are complete junk. Either way, by purchasing from them you are supporting the system by which scrappers and bootlegs.

2) Just take a look at each pin you buy. If it looks off, check it out on pinpics. For example anyone can tell a character is missing design elements - most recently I've seen characters missing mouths, missing eyes, missing noses. Anyone should be able to tell if something is poorly molded.

That's it. Just those two things. I make no comment on how children are treated in the parks by other guests. I make no comment on how anyone should control what pins a child chooses off a CM's lanyard. Scrappers enter the parks through all of us. Only way to fight a problem is at the source.

Yes, some pin traders are jerks. That's going to be a given, because some PEOPLE are just jerks. You will find jerks in all walks of life, in all hobbies, in all professions, in all religions, in all political groups. It's just the sad unfortunate nature of life and is not directly related to pin traders.

 

[shalom]

Ok, I think somewhere in the fray the message has been lost. There seem to be a behaviors and actions that people are railing against, when no one has argued for them.

Sorry. I should have made it clear that I, at least, am expressing my bewilderment with the whole phenomena, rather than with things said specifically in this thread.