The Cuties and Dancers Nightmare

[Vemnox]

It is no secret lately that the CM lanyards are becoming flooded with nothing but:

- Cuties
- Buses
- Dancers
- United Way Participant Pins

For those of you that are not familiar with this phenomenon, hundreds (even thousands) of the above collections of pins flood CM lanyards every day since they are widely abundant due to being either very cheap or even free (in the case of the busses).
As a CM and an avid pin collector, I am disappointed to see how they have literally flooded the market. Does anyone think that this is on purpose to phase out pin trading or do you think it is a inadvertent side effect to making a pack of pins very cheap? And assuming it is just a side effect of making pins cheap and giving them out for free, what do you think the remedy should be?
Finally, what are some strategies you use to avoid getting those pins? What CM's do you seek out and where?

 

[NJBlackBerry]

When DisneyShopping puts out discounted pins, in large quantities, they certainly expect people to buy them, and they end up on lanyards.

I don't subscribe to any conspiracy theory about it - in fact during Christmas week there were tons on Hidden Mickeys and even a few LEs on CM lanyards. And yes, they were mostly filled with Cuties and the others you mentioned.

I think it is a side effect of the cheap bulk pins...

 

[flying_babyb]

I find the cuties ugly but see at least a few united way ones I would trade for.

 

[pbnjrockette]

I also find the cuties rather ugly. I was disappointed to find so many of them on lanyards. I hate reading posts that ask "Where can I get CHEAP pins to trade?" Personally I only traded very good lanyard pins that I purchased on ebay for about $3.00 each before I went to WDW. Several CM actually said "thank you for trading such a nice pin"! (I only trade FOR Mickeys so will trade for almost any Mickey!) Several CM also stated "I have only JUNK on my lanyard today!!!"

Not sure when I'll visit WDW again (hubby wants to see the rest of planet!) but I enjoyed the experience of trading with Cast Members--even if I didn't get lots of 'extra special pins' in trade.

 

[meandtheguys2]

We collected busses in January and had a ball! My guys like the transportation pins. I can't believe they've become trash!!! It is lucky that we aren't selling or trading them! They would die if they heard this!

Hate the cuties...would rather have dancer pins!

 

[Vemnox]

Several CM also stated "I have only JUNK on my lanyard today!!!".

Admittedly, I'm one of them when I have a lanyard full of 12 cuties.

 

[asianway]

These posts always befuddle me. Do people expect that lanyards should be full of Mickey for Presidents and Wet Paints? These pins will go away, they all eventually do. Kodak 2004 are gone for the most part. In 2001 or 2002 Disney Stores clearanced out pins as low as $.45 a piece. Should I have not bought them?

 

[Swamp_Fox]

Actually people do expect or hope to expect to see Mickey for President or the Wet Paint pins on CM lanyards. We the collector/trader set our goals high. Every trader/collector has a holy grail pin on their list that they hope to find on a lanyard because it's lock that you won't get sharked by an on duty CM. It's pretty much a let down when you see lanyard after lanyard full of Sedesma, Euro Disney/Disneyland Paris, Pro Pins, Dancer Pins, Kodak Pins and Disney Store millenium or 100 years of Walt pins. All we want is a little vareity something you dont see everyday on a lanyard.

Swamp Fox

 

[flying_babyb]

where other than ebay can I get DECENT tradeable pins? I dont want to spend $20 a pin but I dont wnat crap ones.

 

[NJBlackBerry]

When we were there last week we traded for dozens of Hidden Mickey pins all over the place - even at the Disney store in the Orlando Airport. The kids got a couple of LEs in the parks.

Yes, I did not find any rare Figment pins, but I didn't expect to find them either...

 

[Vemnox]

Kodak 2004 are gone for the most part.

Uh, I don't know who told you that because those too are still on every other lanyard. IMO, dated pins should only be tradable that same year.

 

[Luv2Roam]

I too cringe when I read (constant) threads where can I buy cheap pin?
People don't realize they and everyone want to buy pins for $1 for Cast lanyards. What the lanyards have now is the result.
The downside is there is always going to be traders who will buy any pin -- Disney or not -- anything they can get by with as long it costs under a buck and then strip the cast lanyards down, leaving the real cheap pins in their wake.
Quite often those people bring in their unwanted goods by the bag fulls.
I don't look for Cast lanyards that often. But there have countless times all that are on any lanyard I see is EuroDisney/Spain pins. You can almost follow these guests around the park, by looking at the Cast lanyards.
Issues like the cuties pins, Disney creates themselves. IF they make trading sets, they should not manufacture a gazillon of them. Trading sets are a good idea, but limit them to at least a LE of 2500.
They manufacture a gazillion of a less expensive set and are puzzled because the Cast lanyards are flooded with them?

Eventually all these lesser wanted pins will fade away and replaced by other not so wanted pins.

Too bad the parks (at least WDW and DL) don't switch their unwanted pins for those the other park doesn't have.
I have done this with traders myself. A few friends from Europe traded me the common DLP pins for my common WDW pins. Everyone was happy because they got something "different".

 

[asianway]

I said "for the most part". Every other lanyard is better than EVERY lanyard as they were a year ago. And no one told me, I observed this myself.