Pins at Disney Store?

[sjams]

Can you get pins at the stores in the mall? I thought I read somewhere that you can get them there, but I was in my local one and the gal working there very imfatically told me that they were only sold "at the parks". Is this true? She wasn't very nice about it either!

 

[TheDshow]

I am sorry that the Cast Member was not very nice to you. I work at The Disney Store in our mall and the only pin we have right now is an Incredibles pin. We have not stocked pins since sometime in 2003. I remember counting them for inventory then. Every once in a great while we get a pin in like the Incredibles but on a daily or usual basis we do not carry pins anymore. I don't know why because there are so many collectors...myself included.

 

[PinCollector]

sjams,

Over the course of the last year or so, the Disney Store sold a couple of different series. One was for Walt's B-day (a big year...like 100, i think) and they did one for something else too. Anyway, it was a HUGE event, people lined up at the doors on opening day for both series.

Toward the end of these series running out, the Disney Store put on HUGE sales. I think the pins were in the range of $2-4. Lately, the Disney Store occasionally puts out pins based on releases of movies or offers pins with special advanced order of DVD releases.

Also, over Christmas, The Disney store put out a collection of Winnie the Pooh pins where Pooh was dressed up as Santa Claus' from different countries.

They had a period where they sold "State" pins. The each variety of state pin was only sold in its own state (ie, you could only get the Georgia pin in Disney Stores that were in Georgia). It encouraged people to buy a bunch of their state pins and bring them to the World and trade for other states.

So, the Disney Store does sell pins. They just don't sell them all the time. But, when they do, look for periodic discounts and blowout prices. They're good to keep the kids interested during the "away-from-Disney" periods and good to trade in the World.

Unfortunately, you have to find other means to get your "pin fix". Id recommend looking for Disney outlet stores in your area (the only one I know of is near the World )

Hope this helped. Have a magical day!
PinCollector

 

[daber]

Or Disney Auctions on e-bay

 

[sjams]

PinCollector,
Thanks for all the info...I will just keep my eyes open. There is an outlet store about 4 hours south of me, so when we head that way I will check them out...

sjams

 

[ColoradoBelle1]

The online Disney Store currently has some pins on sale...the sets look like they are 50% off reg. price.
Wondering if there are any discount codes for the Disney Store right now?

 

[InstImpres]

check the budget board for codes. I just bought the Lady and the Tramp set off Disney direct with the "coupon and double code". 4 sets (28 pin) $78.67 with shipping.

 

[hopemax]

There is a brand new pin in the Disney Stores. It's a luau Stitch pin. It looks like the Disney Auctions Tourist Stitch, but smaller and Stitch's shirt is green instead of yellow. It sells for $4.50.

 

[cowtownmom]

The Disney Stores probably won't be selling as many pins as they used to. I was in a store last night and was talking to the manager. She said the retail stores were sold off to "The Children's Place" company last November! I had no idea that happened! Because of that, just about all of their merchandise will always be different from what the parks sell as well as Disney Direct. When they were a part of Disney, they used to sell a lot of pins, but I'm betting that that won't be the case now. Just a few every now and then.

 

[agnes!]

The Disney Stores (back when they really *were* the DISNEY stores) used to sell quite a few pins - some of them also had Disney Gallery merchandise...but that is another story.
Anyway, about a year ago-maybe even two years?, after Christmas they sold off all their pins.
And I do mean *all*...I picked up pins for about $2 each. They haven't really carried any meaningful pin inventory for well over a year. The last set they carried was the States/Flag set & can't quite remember when that was over...maybe about a year ago?
The Pooh/Christmas set was (at least initially) available at least a year ago Christmas-time(2003).
If you have any questions about specific pins check out www.pinpics.com . There are literally thousands of Disney pins & pictures on that site .

agnes!
(who is sad remembering when going to the Disney Store was An Event...)

 

[Poohnatic]

The Christmas Pooh sets were Dec 2002.

The state pins were also in 2002.

The '100 years of magic' was in honor of Walt's birth in 2001. Due to the sellout of that series, "Magical Musical Memories" came out later that year. An open series of pins also came out, but due to it not being a numbered series, like the Millenium or 100 years pins, there was no way to keep track of what was in the series.

Disney Stores have not carried series of pins since 2002. There have been occasional 'one off' pins, for example the Incredibles and now the Tourist Stitch.

IMHO, the 100 years set did the best. The only way for the pins to be successful in the stores is if there's a numbered/le series of pins. Until the powers that be realize this, any series isn't going to be successful.

Suzanne

 

[dizneyusa]

It is so funny how most of the cast members at the Disney Stores are
soooooooo anti pin, do they realize that only if they hyped it up more
when the pins were at the stores and made a big deal that they would
have showed more revenue (I do not know, it is not rocket science) but
for some unknown reason they were able to sell them to Childrens Place
and now our stores are either closed down or the ones that are still
open do not have the DISNEY FEELING.............

I heard about the pin and called our stores that were still open and the
cast members were NOT in ANY SHAPE OR FORM wanted to hear anything
about them possibly having a pin. I was told outright that THEY DO NOT
AND WILL NOT HAVE PINS IN THEIR STORES (this was from the Manager).
So, I proceeded to let them know that there was a pin (Little Tourist Stitch)
that was popping up in some of the stores and that they might just be
getting them, there answer to this was THEY DO NOT AND WILL NOT HAVE
PINS IN THEIR STORES and IF there was a pin, it had to be in the Disney
Stores like Las Vegas Disney Store (still owned by Disney) and the NYC Disney Store (still owned by Disney).

Well GUESS WHAT I am one determined little pin trader, I went to the
store and guess what had come in 2 days before (can you say the afternoon
of when I called - checking a packing list of items you should be receiving in a store is really a very difficult task sometimes) you got it - LITTLE TOURIST STITCH PIN). The Manager was not in the day I came in, and really does not care about pins or not. But, I still to this day do not understand how the stores do not communicate with corporate or know about upcoming promotions that might be great to promote a week even ahead of time to get
some customers in. Or a local store email list which will promote upcoming sales and promotions to the LOYAL CUSTOMER BASE in the area??? Go Figure.

It really is to bad. Our store had such a cool customer base, and it did not
matter if it was beanies or pins, we had a great time and the old Manager there knew her stuff and I bet you the stores revenue when she left and we
all left has never been the same. I just do not understand??????

Dana
dizneyusa
beanie-babies@att.net

 

[Poohnatic]

Dana,

Perhaps they seemed 'anti pin' because not one shred of info about this pin got to CMs before the phone calls started. Would you want to tell someone 'yes, we're getting that' if you haven't had any indication of it?

Some of the stores had great pin nights. However, it wasn't allocated hours/training, so the participation varied drastically from store to store.


Suzanne

 

[Robin G]

The stores do not have access to what is coming in their shipments more than a day or two in advance, and that info is not always accurate. As Poohnatic said, it is best not to say that you will be getting something in until it is actually in the store...it stinks to be told you can expect something to be there, and then it never shows up! The stores do not have the ability to communicate via email lists to their guest base, and even if they did, the promotions are subject to change (and they do) without any notice from corporate. As for the stores failure to hype up the pin thing, some may not have done so, but many did. Our local store went as far as to set up a trading night in the store, set aside a small area inside the store to give the traders a little place of their own. It ended up being the same 5-10 people each time. When you are limited on the population of people to trade with, and the fact that most of those all have the same pins, it is just not hopeful to have it catch on. The whole trading game is much bigger than what one local store can host. I hope to see pins come back to the stores, but in great moderation! The prior groupings were a little overkill!

 

[agnes!]

The Christmas Pooh sets were Dec 2002.

The state pins were also in 2002.

The '100 years of magic' was in honor of Walt's birth in 2001. Due to the sellout of that series, "Magical Musical Memories" came out later that year. An open series of pins also came out, but due to it not being a numbered series, like the Millenium or 100 years pins, there was no way to keep track of what was in the series.

Disney Stores have not carried series of pins since 2002. There have been occasional 'one off' pins, for example the Incredibles and now the Tourist Stitch.

IMHO, the 100 years set did the best. The only way for the pins to be successful in the stores is if there's a numbered/le series of pins. Until the powers that be realize this, any series isn't going to be successful.

Suzanne

Yeah, I wasn't exactly sure about the timeframes for the pins...just remembered buying a *boatload* of pins when TDS was selling off inventory. It always amuses me to see folks going after the Pooh/Christmas sets when I'm at WDW...those pins were practically being given away the last time I saw them at the Disney Store.

agnes!

 

[pezpam]

Went to our local Disney store today and found the Stitch pin. The CM at the register was really happy that someone was buying them - she's into the pins and misses the assortment they used to have. She struck up a whole conversation when she saw that I had 5 - asked if I was going to a park soon, whether I'd be trading, etc..... OK, so I was the only person in line and she had time to chat, but it was nice to feel the Disney spirit. The clearance rack had some great Tshirts, too.

 

[doombuggy]

In the nearly 8 years I worked at TDS (before trfr to WDW last summer) I learned that while the pins were a great idea, there was some overkill. I have many pins myself, let's make that clear. I worked at 3 different stores during that time frame, and each was in a differnt area (although same district). My 2nd store had a much better turn out for the pins than my 3rd store. KP is accessable to major arteries in the Phila area, and is the second largest mall in America. Lots of people go there, and there were ususally lines for pins. AT my third store, the mall was smaller, farther from Phila, so the pin demand was nil. We used to get a lot of calls to ship pins. The bottom line (coming from the person who used to keep these pins in order on stage and back stage) is that we used to get more than we needed, and in the end, they sold for a fraction of their orig. price. AND counting them for inventory was a pain. How about the $175 return all of pins, almost 2 years later. Boy do I have soem stories!

So the moral of this one is....come and visit us here in Orlando, and get your pins!

 

[ANTSS2001]

Can you get pins at the stores in the mall? I thought I read somewhere that you can get them there, but I was in my local one and the gal working there very imfatically told me that they were only sold "at the parks". Is this true? She wasn't very nice about it either!

So sorry for your experience at TDS... I worked pt and love my time there. I try to give all bargain info to the customers for I was once a customer who loves bargain. And when I ask my manager about info of pins... we don't really have an exact info if we are getting more pins by the time TCP is in full gear but we are all hoping! For now I am simply happy to see a pin at a time to come in with our shipment.