Pin trading?? Hidden Mickey's??

[mindylovesmickey]

Can someone explain the pin trading phenomena (sp) at Disney for me?? I don't understand it. I was going to buy Disney lanyards on Ebay for all of us, to hold our tickets, fastpasses, etc. and in looking on ebay at disney lanyards up pops 20 pages, most of which are pins and a lot of the descriptions state "Hidden Mickey's" why are these so special, and what is the deal with all the pins?? We might want to jump on the band wagon

 

[bradk]

'hidden mickey' pins are special pins that are only released through cast members for trading with guests. so they can't be bought, just traded.

 

[mindylovesmickey]

ah! So now I know. Thanks!

 

[flyinshirer]

My DD10 just started getting into pin trading on our last trip. We had a blast doing it together. It felt a little wierd at first to go up to a CM and ask to trade, but then we had a blast looking for cool ones that you can't just find anywhere. When our lanyard was full, it was neat to stand in line with other pin traders and look at each others pins. Ebay is a good place to start. You can get some pins for pretty cheap and then you can feel better about trading and not having to trade ones that you LOVE at first.
Have fun but be careful......it's addicting!!!!

 

[mindylovesmickey]

I think I might have to try it and see what happens, if nothing else, I think my 8 yr old dd would think it was fun.

 

[techno]

I can't remember what color they are, but some CM's wear a special lanyard that only kids can trade off and they usually have some nice pins on them too. I'm sure someone else here can elaborate on it more.

 

[boiseflyfisher]

I can't remember what color they are, but some CM's wear a special lanyard that only kids can trade off and they usually have some nice pins on them too. I'm sure someone else here can elaborate on it more.

They are teal.

I also wanted to add that you can find great information on pin trading and some warnings about buying off of eBay on dis' Collectors Board.

 

[kellymom]

We have never done the pin trading before but I have a feeling my daughter is going to want to this year. Well, not really trade but buy some. She got one pin with her Build A Bear in November and she loves that thing. She found an Ariel one from Valentine's 2000 in my jewelry box and has now claimed that one as well. She loves them.

You will see them all over the park. We have even seen some with notebooks full of pins. As well as people with 3 and 4 lanyards. That has got to be heavy, lol.

 

[mindylovesmickey]

Yea, I'm not sure about buying pins off of Ebay. I will definitely check out the board if I do decide to. I just bought lanyards for my kids and I, hubby didn't seem interested, but I bet he will feel left out, he doesn't think so now, so we'll see.

 

[bumbershoot]

Anyone can trade with a CM, not just kids. Unless they think my husband is a kid!

FWIW, some people buy them just to own them. I do. I won't trade things I picked out for myself, and DH is forbidden from trading the pins I bought him specially. They are just pretty/cute/adorable souvenirs from our trips, and I like wearing them while at DLR.

 

[Golfing Goofy]

My kids love to trade and on our last trip there were a few CM's that had one or two pins pinned on backwards (so you couldn't tell what the pin was). I think they called it a mystery pin. My kids loved that.

Just one thing, we were walking and luckily heard one of the pins fall off and onto the ground. That would have been sad to lose a special one. They sell special locking backs to help keep them secure. The kids now take their most special ones off the lanyard and keep them in a little box in the hotel room.

 

[boiseflyfisher]

Anyone can trade with a CM, not just kids. Unless they think my husband is a kid!

It is true that anyone can trade with CMs, except for the CMs wearing teal lanyards. They are only for children between the ages of 3-12. Some CMs wear a children's lanyard and a regular lanyard. Some CMs also wear a pin holder on their hips. If you see a blue, rectagular piece of felt with pins on it on a CMs hip, you can trade with them, too!

 

[3guysandagal]

I just bought lanyards for my kids and I, hubby didn't seem interested, but I bet he will feel left out, he doesn't think so now, so we'll see.

A newbie to the DIS, and as of this year, a newbie to pin trading.

My wife MAKES me wear a lanyard to carry MORE of her traders that she cant fit on hers or the kids. I also put a few on the strap of our bag with our daily needs stuff in. She then goes up to a CM, maybe trades one or two, and then comes back and tells me which other ones she may want (if so) and sends me over to trade. Some men may find it embarassing, but everyone is pretty light hearted about it.
We now use the locking pinbacks after a few got lost last year.
We set up a few of the regular backs for ease of trading first thing before going out, and when they are all gone, sit down somewhere and change a few over again. Keeper pins go in the bag so as not to get lost. Check out locking pin backs on ebay also, at the same time you may be ordering a bulk lot of say 50 or 100 pins for trading/keepers. Keeps the shipping down, and I think they are cheaper than at WDW.

 

[dragonflymom]

While my kids love to do pin trading, they don't like to wear their lanyard for long as it tends to get heavy and I always worry that they will lose some pins on a ride or in a show. Our solution: buy felt fabric from our local Michaels for about 20 cents apiece. We pin the traders on black felt and the keepers on red felt and put them in a Ziploc bag. My daughter is old enough that she likes to carry a purse or a mini back pack, so we keep her Ziploc bag in her purse of back pack and I keep my son's in my Baggalini.

Pin trading is a great way to practice social skills for my kids, especially my son who has speech delay and is normally quite shy with strangers. He has been really good with his "Please", "Thank You" and "May I's" in pin trading situations.

 

[mindylovesmickey]

All the ideas are great. Another member steered me to a place to find good authentic disney pins to use for trading, but I don't know how to pick ones that other people would like. I tend to want to pick keepers, lol. I'm not sure if I will be able to do this.

 

[mshrm]

If you really get into it with your kids than I would suggest you invest in the locking backs. We had a horrible experience a few years back at a trip to WDW where the boys lost atleast 10 pins because the plastic black mickey backs had all come off. Now I only put plastic backs on the ones they want to trade that day and use the brass locking backs for all the ones they want to keep. We havent lost any since!

 

[Leofoenget]

Can someone explain the pin trading phenomena (sp) at Disney for me?? I don't understand it. I was going to buy Disney lanyards on Ebay for all of us, to hold our tickets, fastpasses, etc. and in looking on ebay at disney lanyards up pops 20 pages, most of which are pins and a lot of the descriptions state "Hidden Mickey's" why are these so special, and what is the deal with all the pins?? We might want to jump on the band wagon

If you want to get pins on Ebay, in the search put LOT DISNEY PINS. that should pull up about 12 pages and you can get better deals than just individual pins. I just bought some pins in a grab bag for $1.78 each. You pick how many you want. I've done it abut 3 times. Sometimes there are some I keep. There is debate about Sedesma pins some say they are tradable some say not. Although I do have some Disney lanyards, other day I got a lanyard at Walmart for $2 in the key section. Its softer and doesnt rub my neck. I asked the walmart lady who was wearing one full of walmart pins and she said she has had hers for over 7 years! It was a plain black stretchy one not a flat one.