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New, Confused, and Conflicted

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New, Confused, and Conflicted
Bryana

Bryana

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Hello All,

I'm new here. My family and I just got back from a trip to WDW where we discovered the sport of pin trading. It started with getting a starter lanyard set for my 10 and 12 year old. It ended with my 17 year old and myself with a lanyard and my husband scouting CM with lanyards for us to trade with. One night while in my hotel room, I thought, "There has got to be a way to get more pins for less." Low and behold, I found lots of 25, 50, 100, etc pins on eBay for a cheap price and sellers who would overnight our pins to our hotel. Of course I jumped on them and bought 100 pins to be overnighted to us. Well, the seller messed up and sent the pins to our house. SO, still determined, I found a guy on the local craigslist who had lots of pins for a cheap price. I contacted him and delivered us 100 pins to our hotel in like 15 minutes. I was stoked! We filled up our lanyards and the fun began. We had a blast!

It wasn't until I got home and started researching Disney pins to death (because that is what I do) that I learned about scrappers and fakes. I was bummed with all I read. I'm sure that all or a very high portion of the pins we received are not authentic and now I wonder about all the pins that we traded for. I think that a good portion of the pins we now have on our lanyards are probably also scrappers/fakes. Since we are new, we only traded with CM's and the bulk of our pins are HM or booster pack pins. It is so confusing to try and determine if a pin is good or not. We do have some rack pins that we actually bought so I know those are real. For those pins that we traded for, there are just so many variables to determine authenticity. Here is where my conflict begins. Personally I don't care if the pins that I have are scrappers/fake. The pin looks good and I like it but I do feel a little bad for trading off crap pins. On the other hand, if I personally don't care (and honestly can't tell what is real or fake) then I can't justify paying the extra money to end up trading for a crap pin. On the third hand, I feel that I can never trade with someone other than a CM since I don't know if a pin that I have is good or not. I would really love to go to a pin trading event (like the Swap till you drop meet in NJ next month or a Disney pin trading night) but fear that they are 1) full of hard core traders with only expensive pins and 2) can't trade anything because our pins may or may not be fake. I'm thinking about going to the meet next month anyway just to learn and oogle over other people's collections but it sure would be nice to be able to join in on the trading fun.

Thanks for reading!
~Bryana
 
Hi Bryana,

It's nice to meet you. I'm KERN!

You will get any number of responses to this question. I think it's a good one to ask.

First of all, I'm sorry you were duped. I know that feeling and you're right to feel that as long as you like the pins it doesn't matter. If you like the pins you found in the park, then I think that's perfect. Enjoy them and enjoy the memories. That being said, I don't think the idea of Pin Trading is about Quantity over Quality. Trading is fun, but it's not something to rush. I've been trading for nine years now and I have under 150 pins. Trading is a fun thing, but not something that you need to rush. I know that this is an expensive hobby at times, but it's also not one that anyone must jump in to and make happen overnight. Using a large number of scrap or cheap pins to trade in the park ultimately hurts only one type of trader, the novice. Hardcore traders know what to stay away from. However, the little boy who is just collecting pins may not know. The point is valid that if he likes a pin it doesn't matter if it is real or scrap. However, if he grows into more trading as he gets older, that boy might reach a day when he is very upset about his "scrap" pins and all of the early memories of trading are a little tainted. That is antithetical to the Disney magic that we know and love and try to keep paying forward.
Trading scrappers is ultimately an ethical dilemma. Is it right to trade with something you acquired under questionable circumstances if you know you are trading for a legitimate pin? I don't think it is and this type of trading, if done knowingly, is highly unethical. It's too bad that this is something we have to watch out for, but I think the more we flood the parks with scrapper pins, the more we should be scared of PIN TRADING coming to an end altogether. I think it's important to remember that slow and steady wins the race, and in reality makes us all appreciate the pins we acquire all the more. Maybe it's more expensive and maybe it will take more time, but is trading fewer pins less fun? I know I don't think so. I also know that having a clear conscience after a trade makes it all the more fun. In fact, try giving a pin away sometime to a child and see his or her face LIGHT UP! You'll be glad that you did. It's worth the $7.95 or whatever you may have paid, in my oPINion. (wow that was bad, see what I did there?)

Most of all, I'm glad you had fun trading with your family and I hope it is something you all can share in time to come. It really is fun.

I also hope we meet at one of the NJ trading events. I've never been to one either and I've been thinking of trying to get over there since I'm not far here in NYC.

Happy Trading and nice meeting you on the forum!

Kern
 
Welcome to the forum, Bryana!

My name is Sara, and I'm fairly new to the world of pin trading as well - I started in May with a bunch of pins I bought online. I did not realize the majority of them were scrappers until it was too late.

The bad news is, you probably have a lot of scrappers too, especially if most of your trades came with cast members at the park. (As you've probably learned in your pin research online, they are obligated to trade with EVERY ONE, whether the pins being traded are real or not.) The good news is, you found this forum and there's a lot of really nice people on here who sell real pins at a reasonable price. (Just last week, I bought a lot of 20 real Disney pins on here for $25. Thats about as good as it gets!)

When I get a pin that I know is a scrapper, I put it aside till I know what to do with it. A few times, I have given pins away to very young traders at the parks. (I act like I'm going to trade with them, and then when they go to their lanyard to give me one of their pins, I just say "Keep it!" and watch their face light up.) Do I tell them its a scrapper? Honestly, no. (I know a lot of people on here are very adamant about educating strangers on scrappers.) The few kids I've given pins to have been too young to fully grasp the concept - I'm pretty sure one of them didn't even speak English - She seemed to be visiting the park from China with her mother. I figure most of the pins that are circulating at the parks nowadays ARE scrappers, so I don't really feel like I'm doing anything ethically wrong - I don't want to confuse the kids! I also volunteer as a clown on the weekends (I go to elementary schools and nursing homes) so I'm thinking of passing out a few pins there in the future, or incorporating my scrappers into crafts. (I've seen people turn pins into magnets and earrings and all sorts of things.)

Like you, I'm a little afraid of hardcore traders. I know that the first time I went to a Pin Trading Night, my pin book probably quite a few scrappers... and the pins that WERE real, were mostly hidden mickeys and other unimpressive stuff. Although I didn't find too many people who really wanted to trade with me, there were a lot of nice, friendly people who were happy to talk to me and share their advice on the world of trading... SO I think you'll be okay, if you do decide to go to an event.

I hope some of this helped! Feel free to send me a message anytime if you have any questions or just want to talk. Welcome to the forum - I hope you like it here as much as I do!
 
Hi Bryana
First off welcome to DPF!!....you have come to the best place to get your ??'s answered!!the link"DisneyDude"provided you ..is excellent
please go through it...heres a couple more for you:
http://www.dizpins.com/pinventory/scrappers.htm
http://www.dizpins.com/pinventory/wanted_not.htm
theres this:
Here is some information that may be of help with the Cast Lanyard Pins/Hidden Mickey Pins:

Cast Lanyard Pins and Hidden Mickey Pins are the same kind of pin -Cast Members receive these Company issued pins to trade with Guests.

Cast Lanyard Pins were introduced in 2002. Their name was changed to Hidden Mickey Pins in Sept. 2006.

To assist with identification, here is the history of the metal colorings and backstamps:

2002, 2003 & 2004 In Gold
Sept. 2004 & 2005 In Silver
Sept. 2005 & 2006 In Silver
Sept. 2006 to Now In Silver

hm.jpg
You can google or bing search for"Disney Scrapper Pins"and alot of pictures will appear on it,I hope you have fun trading more and if you ever wanna trade ..set up a www.pinpics.com acct,and you can even add that under your ID here on DPF!..we would love to trade,and if you wanna purchase pins..look around on the sales forum,you cannot post you need pins but you can reply if a you see something a seller has that might interest you..I have bought several lots to trade/and use as zappers,and everything was always perfect!!Judy
 
Welome to DPF! I'm glad that you had a blast with trading, but sorry to hear about all the scrappers :/ But all and all at least you had fun because pin trading is super fun :)
 
Hiya welcome to the forum. Its cool to see your whole family involved. I made the same mistake when I started trading :)
 
Thank you all or your welcomes, kind words, and advise. You have really helped me put a prospective on this. I look forward to chatting with you all and learning more!
Happy Trading!
Bryana
 
Hi Bryana and Kern (your included in this) I do hope you both consider coming to some if not all of the pin trading weekend in NJ in oct!! It is nerve racking coming to an event sometimes, but come on down, this group is super friendly and very mellow...meaning they are open to trading...un judgmental. Bring what ya got. Kids are welcome. It is funny, most of us have had the identical experience with the ebay and lots and scrappers. Let it go and move on. All in all i dont think pin collecting is an expensive hobby--no more than models or baseball cards. That is as long as you keep your head and pace yourself. I personally have a "cap" a monitary amount i will pay for a pin, even a grail! It kills me sometimes to loose an auction here or on ebay (there are many ledgit sellers). It takes time to get traders and its usually on accident :LOL, you see a pin and love it and buy or trade for it and low and behold YOU HAVE IT ALREADY!! wa la trader.
I will say knowingly trading scrappers to anyone or at the parks is bad karma, and just take your loss and move on. Giving them away to kids in the park is a nice way to get rid of them. I dont even give mine to kids with lanyards because i feel they are trading, and that sends them yet again into the pool but i do give any i get away to crying kids or just cute kids standing in endless lines. Just my dumb opinion.

so in closing come trade with us in oct!!! PM if you are heading there. A bunch of us will be there. And take Judy's advice and start your pinpics account, it is a must to keep track of pins in your collection, it gives scrapper warnings and descriptions and lists your trades and wants and matches you to other traders based on your needs. super handy.
 
Welcome and enjoy trading. I loved the idea of giving scrapers you may get trading to kids wiyhout lanyards. Am I the only one who can't tell when I get a scrapper from a cast member, until I research the pin. unless it is the obvious bad back stamped Mickey heads.
 
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