Please help me understand trading pins

[ncbyrne]

Last May after the Backstage Magic tour, everyone was given a commemorative pin of the event. The next day we signed up for the Disney Visa at a kiosk in DD and we were given another pin with Mickey Walt Disney World on it. And that's how our pin collection started. On the back of both of these pins it says, "Official pin trading 2004" w/ ©Disney China. For my upcoming trip with DGDs, I purchased 8 pins on eBay. Five have the same black Mickey head pin back and I'm sure are ok for trading. But, I question the other three. 1. Pimba and Timon, plain round black pin back w/ ©Disney Made in China. 2. Hercules, plain round black pin back w/ ©Disneyland Resort - China. 3. Sword in the Stone, backing is silvertone (all the others are goldtone), with silvertone pin back, ©Disney Fotoball, Made in China Pin #61 of 101.
Will my DGDs be able to trade these at WDW?

 

[Cheshire Figment]

Here is a link http://disney.go.com/eventservices/howtopintrade.pdf to the Disney Official Pin Trading site. (Note you need Adobe/Acrobat reader to see it.)

Basically any pin that has a Disney Copyright on the back is valid. Some pins, made in Spain and also marked "Sedesma" tend to appear to be of lower quality but are still valid; although some CMs are not aware of that.

There are some exceptions, but theyt are listed at that site. Also, for more general information go to www.odpt.com (Official Disney Pin Trading).

Welcome to the addiction!

 

[bevgray]

Most of the collectors/traders in pin trading utilize PinPics.com which is a marvelous database for disney pin collecting (also has a section for Olympic pins).

This is an excellent place to find out about the pins you have and pins you might want to look for. You may also use it to manage your collection and set up trades with other collectors.

For general questions, this board is excellent since many veteran collectors post here.

Welcome to the hobby! The only caution I will offer is to try to pick one or two themes (princesses, park attractions, classic Disney characters, animals, resorts, Donald Duck and family, etc.) as there are now thousands of known pins so it would be nearly impossible to collect everything. The main thing is to have fun.