Why aren't you guys banging down Micky's door? I read on another thread that the same factories that are producing authentic pins are actually producing the scrappers as well? colors are off and the logos on the back are wrong? why the hell isn't someone at the Offcial Disney pin conventions addressing this? maybe they are, I wouldn't know. I know I had a good time watching My 3 year old run around to the cast members looking for pins she wanted to trade for, but now alot of folks are telling me that the CM neither have the time or don't want to refuse a trade. Looks to be quite a problem you have here.........One solution I would suggest is Disney should reduce the cost of the regular rack pin, 6-8 dollars seem to be a stretch for me to buy my 3 year old a pin so she can trade it for a scrapper.....I wouldn't know the difference. I would suspect what is hurting your hobby is folks like me Who don't know the difference who is looling to enhance our childrens experience at Disney and maybe buying on line where the cost of pins can be as low as 1.43
Certainly most of you into collecting these pins know the difference, but if I could go to one of the retail stores at Disney and Buy a regular rack pin for say 1.00 or 2 then I wouldn't be that interested in buying just any lot from Ebay. The cast members could then display these cheaper pins and maybe have another collection of pins that they carry for more experienced collectors like yourselves?
counterfitting seems to becoming an epidimic, My vice is cigar smoking and collecting, It would seem that at one time that only Cuban Cigars were being counterfitted however now most of the more expensive cigar line produced outside of Cuba are being counterfitted, The quality control and security are probabaly not verty stringent, however It would seem to me that Disney could strong arm the makers of these pins if somehow alot of the stock they are producing are getting out. But the question to me exist is why if the pins are being made at the same factory why there are differences in color and finish?
As a casual participant in the pin trading, I will continue to buy a few pins at the 6-8 dollar range at Disney, however the whole pin lot on ebay is certainly enticing, and after losing several of the 8-12 dollar pins from our daughters laynard then I am ever incresingly being drawn to the dark side 0f less than 2.00 a pin lots on ebay. I have heard on this board folks who state that these lots are The devil to the pin collectors but then in the same breath several of you have identified several crediable sellers of lots....which is it?
I posted several months ago regarding pro pin traders behavior at DTD, and after that exchange i'm not that interested in protecting folks hobbies that behave in that manner, however I also don't want to become part of the problem. That is why I would believe that Disney should decrease the cost of each pin to make it more affordable for the folks who simply want to trade while at disney and watch their kids run from CM to CM looking for poins to trade....what do you think?
Certainly most of you into collecting these pins know the difference, but if I could go to one of the retail stores at Disney and Buy a regular rack pin for say 1.00 or 2 then I wouldn't be that interested in buying just any lot from Ebay. The cast members could then display these cheaper pins and maybe have another collection of pins that they carry for more experienced collectors like yourselves?
counterfitting seems to becoming an epidimic, My vice is cigar smoking and collecting, It would seem that at one time that only Cuban Cigars were being counterfitted however now most of the more expensive cigar line produced outside of Cuba are being counterfitted, The quality control and security are probabaly not verty stringent, however It would seem to me that Disney could strong arm the makers of these pins if somehow alot of the stock they are producing are getting out. But the question to me exist is why if the pins are being made at the same factory why there are differences in color and finish?
As a casual participant in the pin trading, I will continue to buy a few pins at the 6-8 dollar range at Disney, however the whole pin lot on ebay is certainly enticing, and after losing several of the 8-12 dollar pins from our daughters laynard then I am ever incresingly being drawn to the dark side 0f less than 2.00 a pin lots on ebay. I have heard on this board folks who state that these lots are The devil to the pin collectors but then in the same breath several of you have identified several crediable sellers of lots....which is it?
I posted several months ago regarding pro pin traders behavior at DTD, and after that exchange i'm not that interested in protecting folks hobbies that behave in that manner, however I also don't want to become part of the problem. That is why I would believe that Disney should decrease the cost of each pin to make it more affordable for the folks who simply want to trade while at disney and watch their kids run from CM to CM looking for poins to trade....what do you think?
Unfortunately all our complaints seem to fall on deaf ears. Many of the CMs feel exactly as we do, I mean really, who can afford to purchase pins in the parks to trade, those are at minimum $4 and up and when you buy those trading sets it's very hard to find a CM without them already on their lanyards. Disney really does need to step up and make traders more affordable for us all. 
I feel bad for anyone who thinks they are going to become rich collecting metal pins that are ALL made in China regardless if they are scrappers are not, granted you are correct that it's "not fair" when you are trading a $14 pin for a scrapper, but you should be trading for what you like anyway. 
Also, why not buy her the starter pin sets...alot cheaper.
