pin trading

[pigletforever]

At WDW pin trading is big and we are very into it. Is it as big at DL? Trying to decide if I should pack our lanyards or not.

 

[DizneyDogs]

definitely pack your trading pins - pin trading is alive and well at DLR

 

[Disney Dreams]

I am a DLR regular, LOVE pin trading, enjoying trading at DLR, and have my lanyard and traders with me every time I go to DLR. Many CMs have lanyards and hip panels, additionally there are set CM trading times every day at Frontierland.

That said, it is not as big at DLR as it is at WDW, just so your expectations are set at the right level. However, it is definitely throughout the Parks.

I was SOOO surprised how HUGE trading is at WDW when we visited last year. There were pins everywhere I turned. Literally. There are not as many CMs with lanyards at Dl, but plenty to have competition amongst collectors and for you to have fun with your addi- or hobby.

Enjoy,
Dreams

 

[jenniferrose]

Where can you trade pins in DL? We are not big traders at all, but last year when we went my mom bought my son a lanyard. We could never find where to trade, so all he has is the 2 starters that are the same, and one we bought him. We would at least like to trade out the duplicate when we go next month.

Thanks!

 

[rszdtrvl]

Any Cast Member wearing a lanyard will trade with you up to 2 pins - exception is green lanyards who only trade with kids 12 and under.

BEWARE : "Professional" pin traders. You can find them by their large books of pins and their special spots that they sit in. If they don't have a CM pin, they are a professional.

Other visitors (like you & I) will sometimes come up to you and ask if you trade pins also.

Have fun! We got caught up with the professional traders, but all was good, as my son got a pin he really wanted. But the CM's were the funnest to trade with, as they don't barter - you want a pin, you give them ANY pin of yours and pick ANY pin of theirs. The professionals are in it for the $$ pins.

 

[pixiewings71]

Any Cast Member wearing a lanyard will trade with you up to 2 pins - exception is green lanyards who only trade with kids 12 and under.

BEWARE : "Professional" pin traders. You can find them by their large books of pins and their special spots that they sit in. If they don't have a CM pin, they are a professional.

Other visitors (like you & I) will sometimes come up to you and ask if you trade pins also.

Have fun! We got caught up with the professional traders, but all was good, as my son got a pin he really wanted. But the CM's were the funnest to trade with, as they don't barter - you want a pin, you give them ANY pin of yours and pick ANY pin of theirs. The professionals are in it for the $$ pins.

Not everyone who has a "large book of pin" or a "special spot to sit in" is a "professional" trader. We almost always have a big book for trading, we can carry pin sets that we are looking to complete, carry more traders that way and when we are working on the "new" set for the month we can put them in the book so others don't ask us to trade them. We will regularly let the girls go ride rides while DBF and I sit or stand at the tables with other traders, making trades with them and others who come to see what we have. We are not "in it" for the $$$ pins, we are in it for the hobby.

That said, pin trading is fun at DLR/DCA but I've heard it bigger at WDW. I can't compare, I've never been to WDW but we always have fun trading at DLR. Bring your lanyards, especially if you've got traders from WDW, even the dreaded "professional" traders may be interested in what you've got.

 

[rszdtrvl]

Not everyone who has a "large book of pin" or a "special spot to sit in" is a "professional" trader. We almost always have a big book for trading, we can carry pin sets that we are looking to complete, carry more traders that way and when we are working on the "new" set for the month we can put them in the book so others don't ask us to trade them. We will regularly let the girls go ride rides while DBF and I sit or stand at the tables with other traders, making trades with them and others who come to see what we have. We are not "in it" for the $$$ pins, we are in it for the hobby.

That said, pin trading is fun at DLR/DCA but I've heard it bigger at WDW. I can't compare, I've never been to WDW but we always have fun trading at DLR. Bring your lanyards, especially if you've got traders from WDW, even the dreaded "professional" traders may be interested in what you've got.

We must have run into a "bad" bunch of pin traders at DL then. They had books and books full of them, and flat out told DS that they were not interested in trading ANY of their pins for ANY of his. I had to step in and pull DH over and ask if any of OUR pins were worthy of a trade. It was not the best situation, and we almost didn't trade pins for the rest of our trip. I am sure you would have been nicer in that situation, but these people were not very polite or courteous to us.

 

[jenniferrose]

Any Cast Member wearing a lanyard will trade with you up to 2 pins - exception is green lanyards who only trade with kids 12 and under.

Do the ones with green lanyards generally hang out in certain areas?

 

[queenie82]

There is a board sometimes (I can't remember at DL the situation there) but a trading CM can be anywhere any time. There is no major 'hang out'
The biggest difference between WDW and DL is that at WDW all CMs wear lanyards whereas at DL the CMs have a CHOICE.
The professional traders at DL seem a bit more intense to me.....
But trading with the CMs that wear lanyards are just as fun
I found some great ones just in DTD actually.
And a really funny guy in DCA

 

[carstinsmom]

We are WDW veterns and just got back from our first DL trip last night. With that being said in my opinion although it is done, it is no where as big as WDW. Both of my kids are big traders and I think one of them maybe traded once with a cast member. They didn't seem to have many to trade and they weren't very good ones. I would still take them but just don't expect it to be the same, maybe it was just us being there for the first time maybe we were more consumed with everything around us and didn' pay as much attention to the pins. Have a good trip!!!

 

[Tink91]

We must have run into a "bad" bunch of pin traders at DL then. They had books and books full of them, and flat out told DS that they were not interested in trading ANY of their pins for ANY of his. I had to step in and pull DH over and ask if any of OUR pins were worthy of a trade. It was not the best situation, and we almost didn't trade pins for the rest of our trip. I am sure you would have been nicer in that situation, but these people were not very polite or courteous to us.

I agree, The Professional trader I met was very mean and VERY UNDisney

 

[daneenm]

Our rule for our children is trading with CMs only. We were just in DLR and saw LOTS of CMs to trade with. Agree that is is not as prevalent as in WDW, but our children stopped about 15-20 times every day and could have one much more if we had not been hurrying them along to beat the crowds.

Have fun trading!

 

[actionvaughn]

We must have run into a "bad" bunch of pin traders at DL then. They had books and books full of them, and flat out told DS that they were not interested in trading ANY of their pins for ANY of his. I had to step in and pull DH over and ask if any of OUR pins were worthy of a trade. It was not the best situation, and we almost didn't trade pins for the rest of our trip. I am sure you would have been nicer in that situation, but these people were not very polite or courteous to us.

I'm sorry that you encountered a bad egg, but I assure you that not all pin traders are like this. These pin traders however are just like yourself though- they've bought pins and are trading to get pins they like as well. Unlike the CMs, they have no obligation to make a trade and there are only so many indulgent trades they can do before they're left with a bunch of scrappers. Obviously they could've been nicer, but I hope you understand where they were coming from.

Pin trading can be a lot of fun, and I hope this experience hasn't put you off it completely.

 

[rszdtrvl]

Definitely not!!

I ended up trading one of my pins for the one my son wanted, so that is all that matters. And we avoided the people in the covered areas with the books for the rest of the trip.

He traded with a green lanyard CM, and we also traded with a CM in the caramel apple shop (can't think of the name) on Main Street as we were headed out of the park.

My son got some cool pins from trading, and we didn't let the experience bug us too much. But it was very awkward, as he assumed that they were CM's because of all of the pins - we were not prepared for the "professional" aka "mega" pin traders. This was our first year trading pins.

I hit a jackpot of a yard sale a couple weeks ago and bought a ton of pins for less than $1 each. We are ready now!!!

 

[QueenDoOver]

My favorite pin trading story was when my oldest approached a CM to make a trade and then my youngest approached the same CM and traded for his brothers pin. I just have to shake my head and smile. The trades they make are seldom the ones that I would make. But as long as they are happy, so am I. I did learn that if there were any pins that I did not want them to trade to put the locking backs on them.
My oldest likes to collect sets, but is sort of a lazy trader, so he usually starts, and then I end up liking the hunt, and finishing the set for him. That reminds me, I need to finish one for him this next trip.

 

[pixiewings71]

We must have run into a "bad" bunch of pin traders at DL then. They had books and books full of them, and flat out told DS that they were not interested in trading ANY of their pins for ANY of his. I had to step in and pull DH over and ask if any of OUR pins were worthy of a trade. It was not the best situation, and we almost didn't trade pins for the rest of our trip. I am sure you would have been nicer in that situation, but these people were not very polite or courteous to us.

I really don't like "those" traders, they make us all look bad! I've had run ins with them too, I just shake my head and walk away....had one guy say "you don't have anything but you can go buy me this $14.95 LE pin" to trade for a Hidden Mickey, I literally laughed at him and walked away. We have only the 1 book that we take with us, sometimes the girls will have their books but rarely, it's usually DBF and I just hanging out and waiting for the kids.

Do the ones with green lanyards generally hang out in certain areas?

The consistent places we see these CM lanyards are at the DVC "booths" in DL, DCA & DTD. All other times it's random.

There is a board sometimes (I can't remember at DL the situation there) but a trading CM can be anywhere any time. There is no major 'hang out'
The biggest difference between WDW and DL is that at WDW all CMs wear lanyards whereas at DL the CMs have a CHOICE.
The professional traders at DL seem a bit more intense to me.....
But trading with the CMs that wear lanyards are just as fun
I found some great ones just in DTD actually.
And a really funny guy in DCA

No more boards, not at DLR, just books. In Frontierland around 1:30 usually, but not always. And you need to get in line for that a couple hours early or you're too far back in line to get the "good" stuff.

Definitely not!!

I ended up trading one of my pins for the one my son wanted, so that is all that matters. And we avoided the people in the covered areas with the books for the rest of the trip.

He traded with a green lanyard CM, and we also traded with a CM in the caramel apple shop (can't think of the name) on Main Street as we were headed out of the park.

My son got some cool pins from trading, and we didn't let the experience bug us too much. But it was very awkward, as he assumed that they were CM's because of all of the pins - we were not prepared for the "professional" aka "mega" pin traders. This was our first year trading pins.

I hit a jackpot of a yard sale a couple weeks ago and bought a ton of pins for less than $1 each. We are ready now!!!

Oh man, I would LOVE to hit a jackpot like that! I just never find those great pin deals! You got lucky! And I'm really glad you still got DS his pin and that the "professional jerky traders" didn't ruin it for you. They almost did for me......but I refused to let them get me down about my hobby. Nothing sucks worse then hearing 'every pin you have is garbage, I won't trade with you at all'.

My favorite pin trading story was when my oldest approached a CM to make a trade and then my youngest approached the same CM and traded for his brothers pin. I just have to shake my head and smile. The trades they make are seldom the ones that I would make. But as long as they are happy, so am I. I did learn that if there were any pins that I did not want them to trade to put the locking backs on them.
My oldest likes to collect sets, but is sort of a lazy trader, so he usually starts, and then I end up liking the hunt, and finishing the set for him. That reminds me, I need to finish one for him this next trip.

LOL My girls do that ALL the time, cracks me up!! LOL As for sets, DD13 just started the Musical Moments set, there's over 100 pins in that set....LOL

 

[bumbershoot]

Something to note, for anyone really, is that often the CMs behind the counters won't wear their trading lanyards, but will have the lanyards under the counter. So if you ask if they have pins to trade, and they have a lanyard, they'll just reach under the counter and lay it on the counter.

I've heard that some people at DLR were/are rather aggressive with lanyards, pulling them and reaching out to touch pins, so that's the solution.

So if you're buying something, don't just assume a lanyardless-CM doesn't trade...they might very well have a full lanyard out of sight.



The pin trader we saw set up in Frontierland wouldn't even *look* at me, and did something with his book that indicated I wasn't welcome (it's been awhile, I only remember the feeling I got), when I walked up without my lanyard on. My lanyard was in a pocket, not being worn (they get heavy)...I don't trade but hubby and son do sometimes, and I wanted to see if there was anything DS might like. But I felt very unwelcome. That along with hubby just NOT knowing the value of a dining pin in '07, and a trader IMO making a big score with it (note: hubby is NOT unhappy with what he got in trade! this is my feeling, not hubby's) just makes me try to keep "my guys" to trading with CMs only.

Hubby is always approached, though, as he has a Hong Kong CM pin that's a yin/yang on a mickey head. I guess it's quite valued with traders! However, I bought it for him (ebay) specially, and he knows it would be his head on the block if he traded it...he's probably not going to wear it anymore, b/c he gets tired of disappointing people. (though I saw another for sale on ebay recently)

 

[pixiewings71]

Molly, DBF has a few pins like that as well, ones I purchased for him and he knows I would be very upset if he traded them. He just tells people "sorry, not for trade". But he gets tired of disappointing people too.

 

[Hambletfamily]

We love pin trading and spend most of our spending money on pins.
We always trade with the little kids and if they only have one pin to trade we just give then the pin they want. (Unless it's one of our keepers!)

The year of a million dreams when I wasn't really looking to trade a CM approach me and asked me if i wanted to trade pin and I was like ya sure. I started looking and ended up trading a simple pin for a special LE mickey pin. I didn't realize how special it was until I got home.

When we went last year an adult asked to trade for it and I said no, then the next minute his kid came up and asked to trade. I said no again! I felt like I was under attack.

Then Last year Hubby bought me the Eric and Ariel 20th LE Annivery pin as a surprise!

Keep your eyes open, CMs do have special pins you just might be surprised.

 

[Disneylvrforever]

I had the strangest experience w/ a CM one time @ Goofy's Kitchen. He was dressed in business casual attire & had his name tag on, so you know that he was working on the clock. He was also wearing a lanyard full of pins and I saw one that I liked and asked him to trade. Then he said that his pins weren't for trade. Are you kidding me?!?
#1. If it's your personal lanyard, don't wear it.
#2. Why are you wearing your personal lanyard "on stage?"
#3. All CMs need to trade a pin from their lanyard when someone asks them to trade & it's never a personal lanyard, why is he an acception?

I just thought it was really strange & I was ticked off bc I really liked the pin.