who is a "pin trader?"......

[allisonwonderland]

ok...who on here trades pins?I see a lot of it mention in the guidebooks,,etc..I was just curious if anyone actually did this.I was thinking about starting out but i am not sure,What are the rules and ettiquite,,etc?For example..what if i have a pin i REALLY like..and someone asks to trade..can I say no,please without sounding like a big meanie?also...and this sounds weird,,but sometimes i just dont wanna talk to the whole world,,can someone just come up to you out of the blue?I am sorry to come across as such a freak but,,,anyway,,I have had 4 cups of coffee andf i think I am a lil wired,,,lol....also I see a LOT of pins on ebay,,,,,,,i mean a LOT,,are they mostly sold or traded?,,,,,TIA

 

[NeverlandClub23]

I'm an amateur pin trader and I have never had anyone ask me to trade pins and I only trade mine with the CM's because they get special ones and they have to trade you. Sometimes I'll ask to trade and they'll just hand you it without trading. It's a lot of fun and I bought the tinkerbell lanyard package that comes with 4 pins (2 matching ones) and it's a lot easier to give those up. It's so funny to see my family staring at CM's lanyards everywhere we go looking for Tinkerbell pins.

 

[allisonwonderland]

that is just what i wanted(the tinkerbell one)...i can buy that at the park right?anyone know w=how much it is?I would want that to start out with OR if there is anything for ALICE IN WONDERLAND,,,,hhehehhe

 

[kakiegirl]

My dd 6 loves pin trading, we only trade with CMs and have never had anyone else come up and ask to trade. I would think if anyone else did you could certainly politely tell them no if it was a pin you did not want to part with. It is really alot of fun. We started with the set that had two of each pin and a lanyard to start you off. I really lucked out because we started in 2002 and I walked up to the store at AM resort one night after dd went to bed. I began talking with the CM there about pin trading and she opened up a drawer and gave me about ten pins she had there. Anyway, it is alot of fun our problem is picking out pins to trade because we want to keep all of them.

 

[TrickyFish]

I suppose I am an amatuer pin trader as well. More of a collector than a trader, because I tend to hoard the ones I love and keep more than I trade. I buy a lot of the limited edition, AP only, etc.. type pins. It's become a very expensive habit, as everytime I know someone is going to Disney I provide them with cash and a printed list (with photos) of which pins to by me! lol

 

[nluvwithmickey]

Here's what I did last trip to Disney.....Bought a bunch of them on Ebay...really cheap and not necessarily ones I like and I proceed to trade them with the CM's.

I buy a couple of pins also, try to limit to one a day....it can get pretty expensive,and trade the ones I got on Ebay.

I did have a little girl come up to me wanting to trade onmy very first trip and I kindly said no....she loved my chip n dale pin.

 

[allisonwonderland]

thanks guys,,does anyone know the price of the starter kits?I ask because i see a lot on ebay right now and the prices vary wildly.I was thinking i may be taking away some of the fun and magic of buying at the parks,,BUT i just really want the lanyard and maybe a pin or 2 to get started,,then do everything else at the parks,,,,,,

 

[TrickyFish]

Oh, I forgot to mention.. I started PTing on my last trip and I didn't have anyone come up to me to ask to trade. Then again, I tend to wear my lanyard as a belt since it bothers my neck, so they might've not noticed!

 

[NeverlandClub23]

thanks guys,,does anyone know the price of the starter kits?I ask because i see a lot on ebay right now and the prices vary wildly.I was thinking i may be taking away some of the fun and magic of buying at the parks,,BUT i just really want the lanyard and maybe a pin or 2 to get started,,then do everything else at the parks,,,,,,

The Tinkerbell one I got was I think $22 with the lanyard and four pins. I don't remember seeing an Alice and Wonderland one but they do have several other characters. They also sell lanyards by themselves and then you buy pins (usually starting around $5.50 and up).

 

[Maridw]

We are like Trickyfish. We don't put the pins we don't want to trade on our lanyard. My DD & I started in 2001 and loved it. In fact DD loved doing it so much she was trading off of my lanyard as well as hers. We went with a certain number to trade and we traded them all away. She even traded for one her cousin really wanted so that she could have it.

We also bought some on ebay. Usually a group of ten or so and then when we got them, would look to see if there were any we wanted to keep and the others were for trading. Right now we don't have too many and DD & I haven't been doing too much trading but if we see one we want on a CM lanyard then we ask to trade. We only trade with CM's. My DD did trade with one young boy once. She had one he wanted and he had one she wanted so they came away good. He had approached her and she had no problem trading.

 

[DEff]

We are like Trickyfish. We don't put the pins we don't want to trade on our lanyard.

My dd started trading on our previous trip. She really loved it. So for Christmas, she got a new, black lanyard w/a cool Tink medallion, and the little one (3) inherited the princess one. I also bought cheap trader pins for the little one so she could start her trading experience on our recent trip. I didn't expect much from her, but my older daughter had her lanyard set with only her traders and she traded with CMs and a few guests.

The little one *really* loved trading and wanted to trade constantly. It really didn't matter what pin she got or gave, it was just the fun of trading. She wound up with two pins my older dd liked, and when they finally got traded to a CM, she had to trade with the CM to get them.

What's nice for the kids is that their interests change over time so what is considered a keeper today, probably won't be by the next trip.

My husband bought the hat in AK that has the pins on it and did some trading in the past, but didn't do any this time around. He finds the majority of Disney pins far too large.

Donna

 

[ladygypsy]

Like the others, I'm more of a collector than a trader. Sometimes you'll see the real hardcore collector/traders gather at Epcot or DTD with books and books and suitcases full of pins.

I stay away from them. I figure I really have nothing they'd be interested in, as I don't keep track of issue dates, etc. I'm not the "And on this version, you can see ariel's fin is missing the third line on the left...this is valuable!" type.

If I don't want to give a pin away, I don't put it on my lanyard. That way I don't have to turn down the kids if they approach me. If I get a duplicate pin from a kid....I just trade it to a CM down the road.

22 days! (Too lazy to make a ticker)

 

[PinCollector]

Ok, I'm a serious collector and moderate trader. There's a lot of us. Go to the Collectors Board Forum (most there are pin traders/collectors; yes, there's a difference). I could write a lot about pins, but I'll let you look on the forums to save time.

The 'rules' are basically this....
Any pin that has a Disney logo stamped on the back is fair game for trading.
CM have to trade with guests in the park as long as the pin is legit.
Most people pick one or two characters (ie, favorite of the classic characters and their favorite princess/villian, etc...) to collect.
You can trade them by mail, trade them in the parks, Downtown disney, resorts, and so on.
Some pins are "rack" pins while others are limited edition (each edition comes in varying amounts; ie, 3500, 7500, etc...pins of that kind).
"Lanyard Series Pins" are pins that are NOT for sale by Disney and you can only get them by trading with CMs. Many managers give these coveted pins to the CMs that do well at work.
Guests do not have to trade with other guests, but, especially dealing with kids, it's encouraged. So, if you have a pin you REALLY like, bring along a ziplock baggie, and, instead of wearing it, put it in your pocket. (You still have the right to say 'no' to a trade, but doing this prevents you from having to say no to a 5 year old that really wants to trade his pin that you've seen all over the park for your diamond-studded artists' choice limited edition Tinkerbell pin that you got at last September's pin event.

There's a lot of things to learn about pin trading/collecting. Pinpics.com has a list of ALL Disney pins ever made! You can sign up and list which ones you want/have/willing to trade.

Hang out on the collectors board for a while for more info.

Have fun!
PinCollector

 

[wdw4us2]

If you want to find out more about pin trading during your trip, you might want to take part in "Scoop" Sanderson's Pin Trading talk which usually takes place at 1 p.m. in the Exposition Hall in MK, Sunday-Wednesday. You can find out a lot about pins and trading and he usually has some fun stuff for the kids to do.

You can also find out more info from Disney by checking out this link:

http://eventservices.disney.go.com/pintrading/page?id=getStarted

Have fun!

 

[tclowe]

So glad pin trading is alive and well! We went to Disneyland Paris last yesterday and hardly any CMs had lanyards and practically no DLP guest. Only traded with other European guest like from England, Denmark, and Germany.

Quick question, we last went to WDW during the 100th year celebration and bought a set of the cute and huge pins that lit up as you ride or attended different attractions. It was cool to see my pin flash constantly while viewing Fantasmic. I wonder if I break open a new pin (I bought the set of 4 representing each theme park), will the lights go off on each pin as we ride the attractions. Well, this question may become moot if the batteries on those unopened pins don't work anymore and I can't replace the batteries. Anyone tried or still use these pins? :thewave:

 

[safetymom]

http://www.disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=37

You might want to ask on this board.

 

[safetymom]

Batteries are replaceable. Don't know if they still work on the rides though.

 

[disneytraveler]

I started pin trading when i was at wdw 2 years ago at the Movies resort.My package then was the gold plan hwich gave me 2 pins and a lanard.I traded with some cms on the one i did not want but they could not or knew i would
not trade my goofy pin away.
steve

 

[ms4getful]

that is just what i wanted(the tinkerbell one)...i can buy that at the park right?anyone know w=how much it is?I would want that to start out with OR if there is anything for ALICE IN WONDERLAND,,,,hhehehhe

I think the tinkerbell lanyard costs $12.50. I don't think there's an AIW though.

 

[Mady/Sophiemom]

thanks guys,,does anyone know the price of the starter kits?I ask because i see a lot on ebay right now and the prices vary wildly.I was thinking i may be taking away some of the fun and magic of buying at the parks,,BUT i just really want the lanyard and maybe a pin or 2 to get started,,then do everything else at the parks,,,,,,

I've purchased about 60 for my girls to trade at the parks. I have about $185 in them vs/ 6.50 per pin ($390 +tax) My girls have used some of their own $$, + Nana, and the Easter Bunny, are giving them some of the ones I have gotten.

Paying that much for pins at the park, takes more fun, and magic, out of the trip, than getting them before we go. My girls just love to trade. They will just trade for what they like, rather than value. Since I don't have as much in the pins, I won't be cringing every time they trade a more valuable one, or one that I think they should keep.

JMO