Pin Trading

[Denman]

After reading about the great sale at the Disney Store, I bought a bag full of pins for my kids to trade during our August vacation. Since this is the first time we'll be doing this, what is the proper method? Do the kids just go up to Disney cast members and ask for one of their pins? Do the cast members take one of theirs or are they allowed to choose which one they'd like to trade. Any help appreciated here. Don't want the kids to feel stupid!

 

[JulesMom]

Pin trading is so fun!!!

All the CM's will show you their lanyard. You can choose any pin from them and then give them any pin YOU want to give them.

My kids & I have had such a ball trading.

 

[The Sybah Shelstah]

Is the "sale" at the Disney Store still going on? Just curious because I'd like to know before I make a trip there for that purpose- since the drive is long for us.
I'd love to get some pins cheaper to trade on our next trip. I haven't done much of the trading- but on my last solo trip I bought each of the 3 kids a lanyard w/pins set which all had duplicate pins so I took out the duplicates and traded them for them. So I did the trading a little- Julesmom is right on about how to trade them.

 

[TLinden16]

Just a little additional info: Cast members can not accept a duplicate of a pin they already have. For example, most cast members had the White Glove Treatment pin on their lanyards, so if you wanted to get rid of one of those, you had to try to find a cast member without one of those.

Another tip: When I was there last month, at most stores, Kodak was giving away pins when you had your film developed or bought a multipack of film. It's a good way to get some extra pins to trade for better ones.

Karen

 

[Obi-Wan Pinobi]

Uh oh, new faces to the Collectors Board.

Yet another bit of advice -- go see Scoop's seminar. Scoop Sanderson is one of the "streetmosphere" CMs at MK. He's the town reporter, dressed similar to the Dapper Dans with the addition of a straw hat with "press" on it. Scoop gives a seminar on pin trading etiquette at Expo Hall at 1:00 PM. Currently, it's held Sunday thru Thursday, but could change with his schedule. He also discusses the making of pins and trades pins with people. And, if you ask nicely, he may even tell the story of Rindercella. (no, that's not a typo)

 

[LynniethePooh]

Another fun thing we did with my son when he was younger and he would trade with a CM. He would have them sign his autograph book and we would take a pic. We wrote on the corner of the page the place/pin so we could match up the pics later!
Also, if a CM was from a non english speaking country, they would sometimes write a note in both their native tongue and in English......a little cultural lesson in there too!

 

[Charleneluvsdisney]

OK - really new pin trader here, I also bought some pins at the Disney store to get my son started for an upcoming trip. The hard part so far is getting him to want to trade! He keeps telling me, no Mom I really like that pin, can we find something else to trade? So many $$ more, I think I have enough to get started.

My silly question is: The cards that the pins are packaged on that describe what else is in the series, or gives the pin number, do those need to be saved?

Thanks, Charlene

 

[Obi-Wan Pinobi]

Charlene, that's why you need to buy two of everything -- one to keep and one to trade. Or a good thing to do is to get some pins that you know he won't want and use those for trading. For example, if he's not into Pooh characters, stock up on those for trading with CM lanyards. That way he won't miss them.

And the question about the pin cards isn't silly at all. Actually, unlike most collectibles, pins don't require the original packaging or card to maintain their collectibility. Some people like to have them, but for many it's not a big deal. That's not to say there aren't exceptions to the rule.

 

[Charleneluvsdisney]

Thanks! I was hoping to hear that you didn't have to save the packaging. I think that part makes this hobby very appealing.

It was funny that you mentioned Winnie the Pooh, that is what I ended up stocking up on. My son is not a big pooh fan.

Thanks for the help, I can't wait to get started!

 

[Denman]

Thanks so much for the starting advice. I just picked up another bag of pins from the Disney Store yesterday. Prices were .62, .75, 1.12 and a little over $2 for the pins that actually play music! My 12 y.o. daughter has just decided that she wants to join in the fun so now I'm buying triples of everything! Come to think of it, I'll have to have 4 (2 for trading & 2 for keeping). Yikes! Still can't wait. It's cold up here so the summer dreaming is keeping me warm.

 

[Charleneluvsdisney]

Hello Denman,

I see you are in Williamsville, I am actually in Cheektowaga. When we are expert traders, we can have our own mini pin meet!

 

[FFerret]

Just wanted to thank y'all for the info here!

I've been planning a first trip since Jan 2000 and figured I would NEVER get into the pin thing because of the price, but Monday I broke down and got nine. Then Wednesday I had to go back for more! Talk about addictive! Bought one of the Mickey Magical Bags for $5 from $20 too to hold everything in (what a great bag--tons of pouches!).

But--made a firm commitment to stick with the ones I've got for trading only--NO MORE BUYING PINS! (hubby still doesn't know about them)

Lynnie, still got the Snow White if you're interested--looks like I got the last one.

 

[buzz2400]

What I was told when we went last August was any CM with a lanyard has to trade with you. They will only let you trade up to 3 pins with them. You cannot give them a pin they already have on their lanyard. I was just at the Disney Store on 1/29 and the pins were 75% off. One thing I had read was that if you want to look at a CM's lanyard, ask him/her first if you can look at the lanyard. They are very happy to let you look (and trade). We found the best trades at AK. Also look for the pony at AK that trades. He was at camp minnie mickey. Another tip we learned-we bought a lot of the same pins before we went and towards the end we could not trade them because the cm's already had the same pins so this time we are going to trade our pins for whatever they have to that we have a different selection. You get hooked on this. I am getting more excited about trading than my son.