Pre Production Pin encounter/question

[DisneyCrimsonTide]

I am a relative newbie at pin-trading (less than a year). Last week I was at the Magic Kingdom and ran into about 5 CM together with the best lanyards I have ever seen. Almost every one of their pins was an AP. And a couple of the pins they had were PP (pre-production). I am sure this is a once in a lifetime encounter. It was a magical experience and I have a feeling that pin trading will only be down hill from here since the odds of running into a group like this is very low...

I was able to trade for a couple of PP pins and wanted to know how rare PP are? I was able to trade for a vinlymation Woody and a Buzz Lightyear flag that were PP. So I guess I am trying to determine how many of these PP are made? For the record I have no intention of trading/selling these pins. They are going to be part of my collection for life.

Anyone that could clue me in on how many PP pins are usually made I would be thankful to.

And what is the significance of a stamp of "first release"?

Also, I want to comment on another trading experience I had. It was not a positive one. At EPCOT, I watched one "professional" traders accepting what I perceived to be scrappers in trades. One of these traders made a 10 or 20-1 trade with someone that pulled out countless pins in little plastic bags (the ones that the scrappers come in). Why would these people be trading for scrappers? I would hope they would be taking them off the market. And I also can't stand their practice of having people buy them LE pins for one pin that is not really worth that LE pin. They really can exploit people. Their pins are always worth more than yours even if you have a LE100 or AP.... (I know I should not generalize about everyone at EPCOT but it does seem like there is a group of these type of traders.)

 

[DisneyRunner2009]

I can't comment on artist proof pins or pre-production pins. I don't have any. I wonder if people somehow stamp AP on the pin, when in fact, it is not a genuine AP pin. My husband refers to the people you mention as sharks. When I deal with them, I will not buy them a pin. I trade one for one. I try to trade pins of similar value, I want to be fair. Hidden Mickey for Hidden Mickey, mystery box pin for mystery box pin etc. I too, will look at the pin to verify if it is legit or not. Last year, I traded a legit vinylmation pin with traders at EPCOT for a fake vinylmation pin. I went back later and traded the scrapper I got from them for a legit vinylmation pin. It is my belief, that the trading tables at DTD were removed because of the practices you mention. Not trading with others does make it difficult to complete some collections.

 

[DizneyDogs]

Disney has been releasing lots of AP and PP pins on CM's lanyards lately at WDW. They also put them them on the boards for PTN events. They are also available at disneystore.com once a year for the disneystore pins but they usually sell out within minutes. For AP pins they come in the 3 metal varieties.