Pin Trading Question

[RUDisney]

I'm not trying to knock anyone who trades pins. I have a serious question.

Why do you do it?

My DH and I bought some pins when we were last at WDW, but we bought the pins that we knew that we wanted. They aren't exactly inexpensive. I can't say that we would have traded with anyone who came up to us and asked.

I collect nutcrackers. I know why I do that... I like them and I display them from before Thanksgiving until around Valentine's day. I didn't start collecting them to trade with anyone though.

I certainly understand wanting to collect pins, but do you really gain more by trading them?

When you are a trader, do you only look for others with lanyards, or do you actively seek anyone who has a pin that you might want?

I'm just curious. It seems to me that once you get started, it might get very addictive very quickly. Is that what happens?

 

[Bev J]

Our family started collecting disney pins on our WDW trip in January 2000. We bought disney store pins and thought our kids would enjoy doing the trading. When we got to the parks and saw the 100's of pins available to buy we started trading our DS pins and really had a blast, we mostly traded with CM's at first and soon our older kids were trading with guests when they saw an interesting pin they liked, soon the adults were hooked also. The good thing about trading is that you can get pins you otherwise would not be able to buy, such as CM pins, LE pins we were unable to get or a pin that is sold out in the parks. Sometimes you need a pin or two to complete a set, like the pin of the month series. We look for Tigger, Pooh, pin from other disney parks and disney cruise line pins. And anything else that we just plain like. We now have 4 pin bags full of pins and enjoy looking at them just like picture albums, we remember the fun we have collecting them or a special pin we traded for or someone gave us as a gift. I have 2 special pins, both from my daughter The milllenium passholder torch pin and the small world e-ticket pin. My daughter traded her heart out because she knew mom really liked these pins and she gave them to me for my birthday, I would never trade these.
We have since made 4 more trips to disney world and the first question is always do we have enough traders?? We have met so many friendly CM's and guests that in past trips we never said a word to, the pin trading brings people together with a common interest. And yes it is addictive!
Our pins are ready for our September trip and we are looking forward to meeting lots of people and trading a whole bunch of pins!

 

[Pete's Mom]

My son is very shy and collecting pins has been a wonderful in getting him to come out of his shell. He loves talking and trading pins with the CM's at WDW!

 

[wdw4us2]

RUDisney -- You might want to check out the Collector's Board here on The Dis. There are a lot of pin collectors/traders that freqently post there.

Lisa