Pin Trading still popular?

[pindecisive]

DS is still into trading but refuses to wear the lanyard instead I tote around several PinFolios in my bag. It does make it easier to trade as you don't have to put the back on the pin.

We always stop at the gift shops and community hall to trade as we have not seen cast members trade in a long time.

How do you know if they are scrappers? Ours all say Disney on the back. Some I believe state they are part of a set but I can't verify that as we leave them in our Owner's Locker.

This is a good article about scrappers: https://www.pixiedustedjourneys.com/how-to-tell-if-a-disney-pin-is-a-scrapper/

Essentially if the pin looks messy or has rough lines or paint bleeding - it's probably a scrapper.

 

[eticketplease]

This is a good article about scrappers: https://www.pixiedustedjourneys.com/how-to-tell-if-a-disney-pin-is-a-scrapper/

Essentially if the pin looks messy or has rough lines or paint bleeding - it's probably a scrapper.

Thanks to you and @leiaorgana as those were great articles.

I had no clue this was going on.

It just makes DS happy to be able to trade. I'm sure some of the one's he likes to keep are probably scrappers.
I'll just let him take the scrapper off the board as we trade an $18 pin that we just bought the day before though then to deal with a melt down

 

[AustinTink]

We've stopped wearing the landyards as I don't like the new silky styles Disney has switched to.

I didn’t know they switched to the cheapy silk ones. We still have our rugged, but soft, old style ones we can wear.

 

[eticketplease]

They are also

I didn’t know they switched to the cheapy silk ones. We still have our rugged, but soft, old style ones we can wear.

They are also much narrower in width than in previous years as well. I don't know for sure if they still are but at least the last one we bought was.

 

[Flash_Sloth]

Pardon the newbie question, but is wearing a lanyard with pins a sign to others that you're expected to do pin trading with them, if they approach? I've been buying / collecting a few pins, but I buy the ones that I want to own & keep; I'm not so interested in trading them away. Usually I'll wear a couple of pins on my shirt when I'm at WDW/DLR.

 

[Her Dotness]

Pardon the newbie question, but is wearing a lanyard with pins a sign to others that you're expected to do pin trading with them, if they approach?

Not at all. People wanting to trade will ask if you'd like to trade. A simple, "No, thanks," is all you need say unless you wish to add that you buy pins to collect, not trade.

You do as you prefer.

I trade occasionally, used to on resort boards, but those mostly look like scrappers anymore, IMO. I haven't seen any of those I'd want to trade for since before the shutdown and not many then.

 

[AustinTink]

Pardon the newbie question, but is wearing a lanyard with pins a sign to others that you're expected to do pin trading with them, if they approach? I've been buying / collecting a few pins, but I buy the ones that I want to own & keep; I'm not so interested in trading them away. Usually I'll wear a couple of pins on my shirt when I'm at WDW/DLR.

We never trade with other guests and rarely have been asked. We usually wear our rare/special pins on our lanyards and they aren’t for trading. We carry a bag of duplicates for trading and only trade with CMs.

 

[0rangeb!rd]

I plan on getting into pin trading again now that I'm a CM. Honestly excited.

 

[pindecisive]

I didn’t know they switched to the cheapy silk ones. We still have our rugged, but soft, old style ones we can wear.

I had some allergy issues with our old ones due to where I kept them I tried washing them, but no dice. They were just so much higher quality and the new ones cut into my neck because they're thinner.

They are also much narrower in width than in previous years as well. I don't know for sure if they still are but at least the last one we bought was.

Agreed, some pins don't even fit on them!

We never trade with other guests and rarely have been asked. We usually wear our rare/special pins on our lanyards and they aren’t for trading. We carry a bag of duplicates for trading and only trade with CMs.

I've only traded with another guest a couple times. The first time, she (a younger girl) was behind me and I chose the pin she wanted. When she told her mom this and I heard, I turned around and asked if she'd like to trade me for whatever she had. Her mom gave me a year of million dreams pin. It is still one of my most magical pin trading memories.

 

[AustinTink]

I've only traded with another guest a couple times. The first time, she (a younger girl) was behind me and I chose the pin she wanted. When she told her mom this and I heard, I turned around and asked if she'd like to trade me for whatever she had. Her mom gave me a year of million dreams pin. It is still one of my most magical pin trading memories.

The Year of A Million Dreams!! What a year that was. It seemed like we received a special Year of a Million Dreams treat around every corner that year. Free food treats, Dream Fastpasses, etc… it was incredible.

We were already Disney fans but that year truly solidified it for us. I remember my son was gifted one of the two-pin packs when a CM caught him “being kind to a stranger when no was was watching”. The pin pack had one for him and one to give away. It was too sweet and some of the most guest-centered marketing that Disney has ever done. There really has never been another year like it.

 

[Love Tink]

I started pin trading a long time ago when my kids were into it. They outgrew it ... but I never did. I was so sad on my trip last month to find that pin trading was a very pale shadow of its old self. We saw fewer than five CMs wearing pins - no exaggeration - on the whole trip. Also, there were far fewer pin boards than the old days. The larger problem is that the pin boards don't turn over or change because they are mostly full of chargers and old pins that nobody wants. I would check the board at our resort each day on the way to the bus and it was rare to see anything new.

I was never concerned with scrappers or fakes because to me a pin is a pin is a pin. We always just looked for pins we liked or for our favorite characters. I missed it a lot.

 

[AustinTink]

I started pin trading a long time ago when my kids were into it. They outgrew it ... but I never did. I was so sad on my trip last month to find that pin trading was a very pale shadow of its old self. We saw fewer than five CMs wearing pins - no exaggeration - on the whole trip. Also, there were far fewer pin boards than the old days. The larger problem is that the pin boards don't turn over or change because they are mostly full of chargers and old pins that nobody wants. I would check the board at our resort each day on the way to the bus and it was rare to see anything new.

I was never concerned with scrappers or fakes because to me a pin is a pin is a pin. We always just looked for pins we liked or for our favorite characters. I missed it a lot.

It makes me sad to hear this. Pin trading used to be so much fun and such a big part of the Disney experience. I don’t know why it fell so far out of style. I remember from about 2008 for at least 5 years everyone wore lanyards with pins even if they didn’t trade.

I guess magic bands and fast pass plus finally killed off pin trading. You no longer needed a lanyard to hold your fast pass tickets and no lanyard meant no pins needed to decorate it with.

No matter, I’m going to dig out our old lanyards and we will take some of our favorite rare pins from the old days as well as some traders. Time to make pin trading a thing again.

 

[Her Dotness]

I guess magic bands and fast pass plus finally killed off pin trading. You no longer needed a lanyard to hold your fast pass tickets and no lanyard meant no pins needed to decorate it with.

I doubt either MBs or FP+ had as much to do with waning interest in pin trading as we may think.

Pins have been around for almost 25 years. That's enough to explain why people aren't as into them as they once were, IMO.

 

[disneydreamer1980]

I have several pins that we’ve accumulated over the years (ride openings, AK opening, special events, early DVC events, etc.) some of which I would think collectors would like. We don’t do anything with them and never plan to so I decided I’d take them to Disney and hand them out to people I saw with pin lanyards (spreading pixie dust). Well 2 trips now, and I’ve gotten rid of ONE. We never see anyone with them. They don’t take up much room in the bag so I’ll keep bringing them, hopefully someone else can get use/enjoyment out of them.

 

[AustinTink]

I have several pins that we’ve accumulated over the years (ride openings, AK opening, special events, early DVC events, etc.) some of which I would think collectors would like. We don’t do anything with them and never plan to so I decided I’d take them to Disney and hand them out to people I saw with pin lanyards (spreading pixie dust). Well 2 trips now, and I’ve gotten rid of ONE. We never see anyone with them. They don’t take up much room in the bag so I’ll keep bringing them, hopefully someone else can get use/enjoyment out of them.

That’s sweet of you to do.

 

[Claire-Bear]

Aww we've bought some Disney pins (official) for our girls to trade with to go on their lanyards. Even if the boards are mainly "scrappers", I hope they will at least be able to find some places to trade.

 

[AustinTink]

Aww we've bought some Disney pins (official) for our girls to trade with to go on their lanyards. Even if the boards are mainly "scrappers", I hope they will at least be able to find some places to trade.

That’s great. It really does make for some special memories for the kids. They are also such small, easily packable souvenirs. You can’t lose. Our boy loved pin trading. Hope your girls enjoy it as well.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

That's strange. We usually pin trade at least once at each park, and we visit WDW a couple of times a year. We haven't picked up any bogus pins. They have all been real Disney pins with proper markings. We do see a lot of the same pins though.

There are several kinds of scrappers and many of them will in fact have the proper markings. It's only upon closer examination and research that you find out. Here are some of them.
1. Deliberate or unintentional over runs. These are supposed to be tossed but rarely are, hit the black market, are full quality, and will have the proper identification.
2. Seconds and rejects. These are supposed to be tossed but rarely are and these will have proper identification too.
3. Pure Bootlegs. These may or may not have proper identification.

Unfortunately, one can never Identify scrapper #1. And other than to be aware of which pins seem to have a lot more out there than they are supposed to, there isn't much can be done about it. Websites usually have lists of these.
#2 can usually be identified but not always readily and there will be information at some websites on how to identify them. Pins where this is excessively the case will also be listed on various websites.
3. These are the easiest to identify. Many will be obvious like an R or even X rated Jessica Rabbit. Others won't have the proper identification on them. Many will be of cheesy quality.

But I think the biggest inhibitor to the value of pins is simply the availability of so many pins. Do I feel any need for that exclusive run of 500 pin X that costs $50 when there are so many other nice pins out there anyway? And that reduces the value of that pin.

I guess my advice is don't try and trade for value. If you like a pin that you see at Disney, buy and keep it.

Pardon the newbie question, but is wearing a lanyard with pins a sign to others that you're expected to do pin trading with them, if they approach? I've been buying / collecting a few pins, but I buy the ones that I want to own & keep; I'm not so interested in trading them away. Usually I'll wear a couple of pins on my shirt when I'm at WDW/DLR.

No. In fact, it is pin trading manners to ask someone if they want to trade, and if they say no, that is aok. You don't have to accept any trade and you don't even have to entertain the notion of trading if you don't want to.

 

[AustinTink]

If you like a pin that you see at Disney, buy and keep it.

We usually hit the parks with a collection in mind. We buy the packs and then start eyeing the boards to try and complete the set before we leave.

That was the old days, of course. It has been a decade since we traded. DS wants to collect the new (new to us) waffle pin set. I think I’m going to be out a lot of money on those mystery pin packs trying to complete the set.

 

[soniam]

I guess my advice is don't try and trade for value. If you like a pin that you see at Disney, buy and keep it.

Oh, absolutely! I grew up during the Beanie Baby craze. Hardly anything anyone collects is worth much later. You have to do it because you like it. We only buy/trade for pins that we truly just like.