Pin trading at the parks

[Mome Rath]

How do you ‘store’ the line while in the parks? I’ve tried to keep them on a lanyard I wear around my neck, but it’s both cumbersome and the pins fall off. I would love to hear some fun tips - especially for my DD8 and DS5.

Depending on the person, and what they are comfortable wearing, you can put them on hats, vests, jackets, cross body bags (like a pouch/purse/messenger bag), backpacks, etc... And, if you want to make sure the backs stay on, you can buy locking pin backs online. I personally had a cross body bag with a mesh type strap and put them on there. At home they go in pin books.

 

[Haley R]

Ok quick question. My daughter wanted to do this, so i too bought a set on amazon that was guaranteed to be real. I checked and as far as i can tell its like 25 percent real, 75 percent fakes. I did look them up. So , my dilemma is, since i know there fake, i told my daughter we cant trade them. Shes 7 and realy dosen't care about fake or real. So is it dishonest to trade with cms ? Or from what im reading there stuff is the same? Should i just go with it and let my daughter trade them with cms only?

I’m sure you’ll get conflicting answers on this. I did my best to check which ones of mine were fakes but honestly the majority of mine looked legit so I went ahead and traded them. I really don’t look too closely at them when I’m trading with a cm and if they look weird to me I just don’t trade for them.

 

[teachmedis]

I've looked at Pin Trading a few times over the years. My father is an antiques dealer and that causes me to really dislike the creation of replicas I think. I would like to pin trade, and for kids to get to experience it, but I would be very uneasy every time we made a trade. Also, recently I watched a Tim Tracker vlog about Pin Trading and all of the boards they looked at seemed to have very "meh" pins on them. I also can't wrap my head around picking a pin, and then trading it away. Like how do you buy a pin you like and trade it? I keep trying to convince myself to do it, then I come up with all of these problems!

 

[BadPinkTink]

I've looked at Pin Trading a few times over the years. My father is an antiques dealer and that causes me to really dislike the creation of replicas I think. I would like to pin trade, and for kids to get to experience it, but I would be very uneasy every time we made a trade. Also, recently I watched a Tim Tracker vlog about Pin Trading and all of the boards they looked at seemed to have very "meh" pins on them. I also can't wrap my head around picking a pin, and then trading it away. Like how do you buy a pin you like and trade it? I keep trying to convince myself to do it, then I come up with all of these problems!

For me and I'm sure it's the same for most pin people, I have certain pins , characters, themes I collect. These pins I don't trade, I don't even bring them to the park. I buy pins to trade, pins which I know others may want, such as limited edition or popular characters or attractions or holidays. I use them like currency, to trade for pins for my collection. I rarely buy pins for my collection.

 

[teachmedis]

For me and I'm sure it's the same for most pin people, I have certain pins , characters, themes I collect. These pins I don't trade, I don't even bring them to the park. I buy pins to trade, pins which I know others may want, such as limited edition or popular characters or attractions or holidays. I use them like currency, to trade for pins for my collection. I rarely buy pins for my collection.

That's a smart method.

 

[Mome Rath]

I've looked at Pin Trading a few times over the years. My father is an antiques dealer and that causes me to really dislike the creation of replicas I think. I would like to pin trade, and for kids to get to experience it, but I would be very uneasy every time we made a trade. Also, recently I watched a Tim Tracker vlog about Pin Trading and all of the boards they looked at seemed to have very "meh" pins on them. I also can't wrap my head around picking a pin, and then trading it away. Like how do you buy a pin you like and trade it? I keep trying to convince myself to do it, then I come up with all of these problems!

The mystery pins are fun for this, because most likely there are a few you like and a few you don't. If you open a mystery pack and don't like the pins, there are your traders.

As for the other discussion about trading known scrappers, I just don't do it because I don't like the inundation of scrappers in the parks and I don't want to support the manufacturing/taking of them. But, everyone has to decide for themselves, there are so many out there that, at this point, no one is going to stop it completely.

 

[momandmousefan]

How do you ‘store’ the line while in the parks? I’ve tried to keep them on a lanyard I wear around my neck, but it’s both cumbersome and the pins fall off. I would love to hear some fun tips - especially for my DD8 and DS5.

We bought our 5 year old one of the small pin trading purse type bags that Disney sells. The lanyard was just too hard for her since she’s so bouncy pins would fall off. The bag zips up so we didn’t have to worry about things falling. Plus she kept her stickers she’d collect from shops in there too in a zipper section. She loves carrying it herself like a crossbody bag.

Definitely check hotel boards...we found most of her favorites there.

 

[seus-mouse]

Great tips, especially for holding pins in things other than lanyards. Thanks.

 

[Sjm9911]

The mystery pins are fun for this, because most likely there are a few you like and a few you don't. If you open a mystery pack and don't like the pins, there are your traders.

As for the other discussion about trading known scrappers, I just don't do it because I don't like the inundation of scrappers in the parks and I don't want to support the manufacturing/taking of them. But, everyone has to decide for themselves, there are so many out there that, at this point, no one is going to stop it completely.

Unfortunately thats the problem, i paid for them to be trading pins, not retail but not scrapper value eaither. So i will take the ones that i think are real, and maybe let her trade them. Not sure at this point, and not sure entirely how to tell if something is real or not. Most look real, stamps , etc in the right place, the off colors ( according to the interwebs) make them fake. So still not decided yet. I dont want anyone to have fakes, but if they are just kids , like mine, and have no idea or care if there real or not does it matter? Idk. Moral dilemmas...........

 

[Ember]

If a knowledgeable cast member sees you trading only authentic pins, they can be very nice! So many people trade scrappers and CMs have to accept the trade. But I only trade real pins and when CM’s notice (I keep my traders on a little cork board), they will quite often pull out a special pin from a pocket or drawer and offer it. I’ve had this happen many times! I’ve also had CM’s hunt through their backup stock to help me finish sets after commenting that they really appreciate seeing authentic pins. So there are some perks to only dealing with real pins.

 

[mshanson3121]

Do the pin collectors feel like the large and vast amount of fake pins have ruined this hobby? Just wondering.

We're new, just trying this for the first time. But I have to say for my kids, no, they wouldn't know the difference, or care. It's just the experience and a memory for their trip, something fun. For an adult going for authenticity, yes, I can see it being an issue.

 

[mshanson3121]

We normally go in stores just to trade with cms. It’s definitely added a fun hobby to our trips

Can you only trade with CMs in pin stores, or designated areas? Or can any CM in the park trade if they have pins?

 

[garris3404]

Can you only trade with CMs in pin stores, or designated areas? Or can any CM in the park trade if they have pins?

If you see a cast member with pins, then you may ask to trade pins, no matter where they are.

 

[BadPinkTink]

Can you only trade with CMs in pin stores, or designated areas? Or can any CM in the park trade if they have pins?

You can trade with any CM who has pins. I look for "the suits" or managers walking around the parks, they usually have better quality / different pins. Managers and CMs in the hotels are another of my tricks. The pin boards in the shops are best checked in the morning time, as by lunch time the better quality pins have been traded out and been replaced with scarppers / fakes. You will see the same pins on multiple boards from the afternoon onwards.

 

[mshanson3121]

You can trade with any CM who has pins. I look for "the suits" or managers walking around the parks, they usually have better quality / different pins. Managers and CMs in the hotels are another of my tricks. The pin boards in the shops are best checked in the morning time, as by lunch time the better quality pins have been traded out and been replaced with scarppers / fakes. You will see the same pins on multiple boards from the afternoon onwards.

So the gift shops etc have bulletin boards for trading?

 

[Disneyland_emily]

i Hate ‘pins of questionable orgin’ Aka fakes/scrappers/whatever else you choose to call them but I also realize they are the undercurrent of Pin trading now and you can’t avoid them.

That said 99% of all pins on boards & lanyards are of questionable orgin so it makes the hunt for the 1% the goal..

While I refuse to trade ‘PoQO’ (but I’ve been in this hobby way to long and my ‘junk pins’ are others ‘keepers’) I realize that most don’t know or care and that if you trade crap you’ll get crap anyway so enjoy that..

 

[Haley R]

So the gift shops etc have bulletin boards for trading?

I don’t remember many of the gift shops having boards but I think every resort has a pin board. Some resorts have pin books with huge amounts of pins in them. When we stayed at yc they had one in club level and the luggage services desk had their own book of pins.

 

[Mome Rath]

Some gift shops do and some don't. Pop had theirs near or in the gift shop sometimes, as does POFQ...

 

[Haley R]

Some gift shops do and some don't. Pop had theirs near or in the gift shop sometimes, as does POFQ...

We had to ask for the pin board at POR. At bc they brought it out at certain times and yc just had a big bulletin board full that they left standing on a stand next to one of the registers

 

[mshanson3121]

I don’t remember many of the gift shops having boards but I think every resort has a pin board. Some resorts have pin books with huge amounts of pins in them. When we stayed at yc they had one in club level and the luggage services desk had their own book of pins.

Any idea if All Star Movies has them? And where?