Pin Trading - still a thing?

[msmayor]

That would depend on who was looking at your pins. Most of the 2000 pins hold very little value now, since so many people don't know what they are. The pins that were absolutely the hottest thing back then can be little more than a park trader now. But there are still people who love those old pins, so I'm sure it would make someone's day to see them! What were some of the pins you got on that trip?

I have this set to commemorate the year (pic found on internet..)


I have another boxed set of five(?) to commemorate the old Tapestry of Nations parade at Epcot - I loved that parade and the music that accompanied it. I'll have to dig it out and take a picture of it...can't find a photo online.

I'll never trade them...they hold memories of wonderful trips for me.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Never traded pins but often wonder what people do with them? Do you display them at home on some sort of board? They seem so tiny not sure how to effectively show them to others. Perhap older/limited edition pins have some sort of value to other collectors? Doesn't surprise me that some rude/pushy parents always want to argue about the pin trading rules when at Disney.

We have ours displayed in a shadow box and enjoy seeing them there are a part of our Disney touch at home.

 

[jlstwinmommy]

My son is a huge pin trader (we started that monster when he was 5 ) He was so happy to see so many CMs back to trading pins on lanyards and the pin boards. He got some really great trades this time. He will also trade with kids if they ask. He brings pins just for that purpose. This is the first trip where he had kids ask him to trade, and there were several.

There was also a pin trading event the weekend we were there (we had no idea) but he met some very nice serious pin traders and even negotiated a trade with one of them. (my son is NOT a serious pin trader, it is more of a fun hobby for him while we are in the parks)

He has a ton of pins and usually ends up buying more while there. He has some he will keep forever and some he buys specifically to trade. He tries to keep an eye out for the fakes, but sometimes it's hard to tell and sometimes we just don't care because we like the particular pin.

 

[lovethattink]

In 1999, my family bought pins at the Disney Store as we learned about this new thing at Disney called pin trading.

In 2000 we moved to Florida and began pin trading. DS who’s now 30 was in kindergarten and he was so excited to trade his first pin. He traded away a Figuro from the Disney Store with another guest. That night, he missed his pin and cried himself to sleep. But he still wanted to pin trade the next day.

We helped him sort his pins, keepers from traders. He learned a valuable lesson in pin trading.

Fast forward, and Disney had PTN. Every Friday at the Contemporary. Eventually PTN at All Star Sports, and eventually at Port Orleans. These were free.

He learned so much about trading and value of pins.

He eventually lost interest in pin trading. But our youngest son who’s 10 years younger started pin trading in recent years.

Such a difference between the 2 kids. One traded for value, the other for what he likes. And mostly what he likes turns out to be scrappers and his big brother cringes.

Never traded pins but often wonder what people do with them? Do you display them at home on some sort of board? They seem so tiny not sure how to effectively show them to others. Perhap older/limited edition pins have some sort of value to other collectors? Doesn't surprise me that some rude/pushy parents always want to argue about the pin trading rules when at Disney.

My oldest kept his in 3 ring binders. My youngest displays his on cork boards.

 

[ftbaker1313]

I trade pins on most trips, I am not looking for the so called valuable pins. I normally pick a character or theme and try to find as many variations as possible. One trip it was to find as many Grump pins as possible. Another trip was superheros. My last trip I was looking for anything with a resort name. for me and my family this makes it into a sort of scavenger hunt. We have a framed cork board where we display the trophies. I have no time for the traders who take things too seriously. Also my wife and I enjoy running into families that ask what the pins are for. We explain and sometimes give a pin to kids so that they can start trading if they want.

 

[NickC]

It's been a while since we did pin trading. But, we love that they offer things like this. We also did the passports in Epcot, pressed pennies and a few other things that take us to areas that we might not have explored otherwise.

 

[crickee]

I've been collecting pins for years but never traded. I buy pins I really like & don't want to give them up!

Emma from allears recently made a video on trading pins. She used the pins that she got from trading w/CMs to decided what she would do in MK for the day. It was cute.

 

[BingandNelsonFan]

My sister and I have collected Disney pins for years but didn't start trading 'til 2017, I think it was. Now, we're totally hooked! But we are totally into it for the fun and memories, so we tend to just trade for what we like (yes, we do even have some scrappers on our boards). Of course, we buy pins, too, when we're down there . . . particularly at Pin Traders at Disney Springs.

Since we only go about once a year, we do a lot of pin trading via mail, as well, through PinPics -- and the trading via the Pin&Pop arcades. It bridges the gap between trading with CMs! Really looking forward to going down next time with them wearing lanyards. That's always so fun and we've missed it.

Trading with kids is great, and we always try to do that. We've been collecting some really fun pins to wear on our lanyards next time that we hope appeal to kids and get them into the trading!

 

[BingandNelsonFan]

I have this set to commemorate the year (pic found on internet..)
View attachment 897383

I have another boxed set of five(?) to commemorate the old Tapestry of Nations parade at Epcot - I loved that parade and the music that accompanied it. I'll have to dig it out and take a picture of it...can't find a photo online.

I'll never trade them...they hold memories of wonderful trips for me.

Oh, wow! Those are some really fun ones! Sadly, we didn't get to WDW during the Millennium celebrations, but we have a lot of friends who did and still talk about it. The Tapestry of Nations parade must have been a really great one! In fact, that was a subject of conversation on the Thursday Night ZOOM meeting on PinPics a few weeks ago and lots of them remembered it. Must have been amazing! That's great that you have the pins for it. There was a lot of Disney Magic in the parks back then.

 

[msmayor]

Some more of my pins...we went for the Millennium Celebration in the year 2000, and stayed at Dixie Landings (now Port Orleans Riverside) - bought this pin which is potentially pretty rare at this point:


I still have four of the resort mugs as well from that stay.

I also bought a dated pin for each of the parks that year:

 

[georgina]

On my SW flight to Orlando yesterday, one of the flight attendants was wearing a bunch of pins, not sure if she did any trading of them.

 

[BingandNelsonFan]

Some more of my pins...we went for the Millennium Celebration in the year 2000, and stayed at Dixie Landings (now Port Orleans Riverside) - bought this pin which is potentially pretty rare at this point:
View attachment 898115

I still have four of the resort mugs as well from that stay.

I also bought a dated pin for each of the parks that year:

View attachment 898117

Wow! I LOVE seeing the photos! Thanks for sharing them.

Dixie Landings is a fun one. We have a friend who just loved that resort. She even has some of her house decorated like the rooms there.

Also love the "I was there . . ." pin. That's so cute. Great memories of your trip. You could make a nice shadowbox or something with all of these. What fun! Did you get to go into Millennium Village while you were there?

 

[4leobeans]

Honestly, this is one of the things I am most excited about for our trip!

We have been trading a few pins here and there through the mail, and we have a good stockpile now of pins to take with us. We’ve ordered blind bags and mystery bags from legit pin sellers, not caring what we got. And I’ve learned a lot more about pins since our first trip!
My kids loved finding the boards, and reaaly loved finding CM with hidden pins/trivia questions.

 

[Annabell]

My kids loved pin trading when visiting WDW or on a DCL cruise. One of the must do´s. They kept the pins in ring binders.

 

[4leobeans]

Never traded pins but often wonder what people do with them? Do you display them at home on some sort of board? They seem so tiny not sure how to effectively show them to others. Perhap older/limited edition pins have some sort of value to other collectors? Doesn't surprise me that some rude/pushy parents always want to argue about the pin trading rules when at Disney.

We made a framed bulletin board for our favourites!!

My husband went crazy buying Marvel and Star Wars pins for our son, and my girls had some favourite themes! We’ve been trading at the parks, but we haven’t been since 2019, so have been trading/buying via FB groups. I love our board - it hangs in the hallway!

Some of the pins on it are fake/scrappers, but the kids like them