Pin Trading Basics for Kids

[Retro Magic]

Love pin trading!!!

However I'm now more selective and have cut back a lot on my pin trading. Now I do more buying than trading. I learned my lesson last trip after I ended up with so many pins I loved....only to find out many of them were scrappers

Had someone help me identify them. Can take the fun out of it when you're trading with CMs/parks/resorts and you get a bad pin. Although technically they're still "real", they are factory errors/scrap pieces. Can be tough to tell sometimes. Can be anything from thickness of the pin to missing paint/details, incorrect colors, etc

 

[TexasKiwiPrincess]

How can you tell if a pin is fake?
Thanks!

It's all in the details. Fake pins feel different than authentic pins- the metal is often thinner and contains more aluminum so it's lighter and "softer" than real pins. The metal edges tend to be rough on fakes with little bumps and sharp bits. You can also spot fakes from the paint and enamel filling. Fakes will use incorrect colors sometimes so Snow White's dress may be orange instead of yellow, for example. Often you can see small holes too where there obviously wasn't enough enamel added. Many authentic pins also have a pattern on the back, usually it's mickey ears, and the waffle pattern will "run off" the edge of the pin without any hint of a border or frame on the back of the pin. Fakes will try to replicate this pattern but they DO have a thin border or frame around the back of the pin. Sarah Sterling has a GREAT video on youtube called "Fake Disney Pins" with pictures.

 

[Ds4angels]

With our kids we had them take of the pins they wouldn't want to trade and leave them back in the room, so there was no worry about loosing their favorites.
As far as fakes go, if your kids are happy with the pin, then just let it be. DD got a Stitch pin that I'm pretty sure is fake, but she loves Stitch, so in her eyes the pin is perfect

 

[KdKyA]

Since we are totally new to trading and this trip will be the first time we give it a go, if we honestly don't know what pins are scrappers or not, can they still trade them? We will only be trading with CMs and I don't want them to be embarrassed or hurt if they go up to the CM and they say it's a fake and don't trade with them. It wouldn't be intentional on our part, but we have sensitive children that would get embarrassed and not want to trade anymore if they were told it was a fake.
ETA: We also don't care if we happen to get a scrapper back, we aren't serious about collecting official pins or anything, if they see a pin and like it, I want them to be able to ask for it, scrapper or not.

 

[Best Aunt]

As far as fakes go, if your kids are happy with the pin, then just let it be. DD got a Stitch pin that I'm pretty sure is fake, but she loves Stitch, so in her eyes the pin is perfect

I think this advice applies to adults as well. I only have a few pins, but I don't care if they're "fake" or not. They make me happy. I'm not planning to sell them so I really don't care what other people think they are worth.

 

[scottandtisha]

Since we are totally new to trading and this trip will be the first time we give it a go, if we honestly don't know what pins are scrappers or not, can they still trade them? We will only be trading with CMs and I don't want them to be embarrassed or hurt if they go up to the CM and they say it's a fake and don't trade with them. It wouldn't be intentional on our part, but we have sensitive children that would get embarrassed and not want to trade anymore if they were told it was a fake.
ETA: We also don't care if we happen to get a scrapper back, we aren't serious about collecting official pins or anything, if they see a pin and like it, I want them to be able to ask for it, scrapper or not.

I just watched the Sarah Sterling video and, apparently, the cast members will not tell you if you are trading them a fake pin. Although they are not supposed to trade a fake pin TO you, it can happen as cast members are sometimes not well versed in how to spot a fake.

 

[bluemoon9]

Pin trading is one of our favorite activities. My kids and I love interacting with the cast members. The mystery pins are always fun. A CM may have one or more pins turned around so you just see the Mickey back. My kids ALWAYS take the risk on a mystery pin. Once it is revealed, they have to trade for it whether they like it or not. Some CMs will not reveal the mystery pin unless you correctly answer a Disney related question. Have fun!!

 

[magyargirl]

In less than 2 weeks we will be at Disney World for the first time! My DD is turning 10 while we r there. I just saw about pin trading. Is this a big thing? I looked up some options on disney store but I really dont know where to start. I was thinking of waiting until we got there to get a lanyard and pins because I am not sure if dd will even be into it. What do you think?

 

[ktlm]

My 2 tips are:

1. If they trade for a pin they love and plan to keep, then I would take it and put it away instead of putting it on their lanyard, unless you have some locking backs with you to use.Pins can and do occasionally fall off a lanyard, so you don't want to lose the prize pin. I usually keep a bag in my purse where I put the keepers. We never mess with the locking pins. I keep extra traders in my purse and fill her lanyard back up as she empties it out trading for keepers. Also, when DD was younger, she had a bad habit of taking her lanyard off and hanging it on a restroom hook because she was afraid she would lose a pin in a toilet. 3 times she has done that and forgotten it. Once the lanyard was turned in to lost and found. Twice it was never seen again, even though one of those times she went back to the Tusker House restroom from our table to get it in less than 5 minutes.

2. Many of the CM's lanyards are covered in scrappers and fakes. Try not to stress when the kids trade for fakes because the kids like those particular pins. We try to bring authentic pins to trade, so it tends to irritate me when I watch her trade them for clear scrappers, but if she likes the pin it really doesn't matter. She is happy. I bought them for her to trade. She hands me those scrappers as keepers and I just put them in the keeper bag. If it is one she wants to put on her lanyard to possibly trade back, I let her. If she got it from a CM and traded a real pin for it, then in my mind, she can trade it back for whatever from another CM- real or scrapper. If another child asks her to trade for it, if I think it is a scrapper I won't let her do so without telling the kid or their parent that I don't think it is real- I have also been known to throw in a random extra authentic from the trader bag if the kid still wants it.

 

[OB1]

I think this advice applies to adults as well. I only have a few pins, but I don't care if they're "fake" or not. They make me happy. I'm not planning to sell them so I really don't care what other people think they are worth.

Agree. I remember when & where I traded, and the pin means more than just a pin. I have collected a good number of pins over the last 10 years. I understand more about the pins, but still am not certain about scrappers, except some that are now obvious because I have a set, and some in the set do not match up colors.

 

[Jays2013]

Well, my 9-year-old has expressed interested in doing some pin-trading this trip. I've had people recommend getting lots on eBay but I don't want to feed the scrappers more than I have to! Any recommendations for avoiding them?

 

[ppjluvsdvc]

When buying on Ebay just stick to sellers that are here in the US mostly. Unfortunately when you are trying to buy "a lot" of pins there maybe no way to avoid scrappers completely but you can go through them when they arrive. We usually buy the mystery pin bags at the parks (5 or 6 pins in a bag) and will end up with tradeable pins because of duplicates. This is a more expensive but you hopefully have chosen a set you want and then you also know that you are trading authentic pins. Happy trading!

 

[Jays2013]

Hmm. Maybe it's best to just wait until we get there or buy through the Disney Parks site. Thank you!

I found a Robin Hood pin and am considering getting involved myself. You see so little RH mercy!

 

[skullsplitter]

I've had better luck avoiding scrappers at the shopgoodwill website vs ebay.

 

[ppjluvsdvc]

Be careful! It can become addicting!! I have to make sure that I set aside gift cards that are just for pins and once those cards are used up we are cut off from buying any more pins. We always keep trading but it gets hard when you only need one more of a set. Sometimes we have to control ourselves and wait till we get home to find that last pin on Ebay. Usually less expensive than buying more packets. Also if you are offered the purchase with purchase pins (usually at pin specific stores: Frontierland trading post, Cart in HOllywood Studios near RNR, or the pin store in Disney Springs - get them. they are easily tradable and are usually less expensive than even the mystery packets.