Scrappers...The Saga Continues

[Sufikation]

So as many of you have read in my intro post or on the chat room I recently learned about fake pins and scrappers. I went through my lanyard of about 14 pins and I am pretty sure a few of them I got of CM trades are junk. This is upsetting, not only because I traded REAL pins for them, but also because this is a quick way to kill my new hobby. I am super picky about things, like OCD picky, and to think I brought home fake pins really angers me. I know its about the thrill of the collecting and what not, but I mean come on...fake disney pins, bah! I am now set on learning how to identify these pins and rid myself of them as well as be prepared for the next time I go to dland in 2014 as to not end up with anymore of this garbage. I would love to hear your ways of picking these out or any guides/tips you may have for this process. Please, help me save my interest in this hobby before I bag it and move on. Thanks for listening to another rant... :rant:

 

[rubyslipperedgoddess]

I don't know that you want to hear this but I'm not sure if it's entirely possible to be rid of all scrappers, some are very well made and it's hard to tell. The best way to start avoiding them is to not collect HM or trade with CM. Unfortunately because CM have to accept any pin that says it's an official Disney pin, they have to take the scrappers, and even more unfortunately is that there are a lot of people who intentionally trade their scrappers for real pins on a CM's lanyard. But knowing what to look for is a great start to at least avoiding the worst of them. This is not to say that you should not trade with CM or to not collect HM, because scrappers do go beyond HM, they just tend to get it the worst, but being aware really prepares you, because no matter what anyone says there is no full proof way to tell if a really good scrapper is indeed a scrapper, but that doesn't mean you should quit trading, all hobbies have their down side, it's just being aware and you're already learning as much as you can.

 

[Sufikation]

Sadly this is what I assumed I would hear back...a very evil truth. I will figure out my own ways around dealing with scum like this, it just bums me out.

 

[mynameisrussell]

It stinks we have to deal with scrappers and I understand your frustration.

I mainly posted in this thread to say I love your avatar. Very cool.

Sadly this is what I assumed I would hear back...a very evil truth. I will figure out my own ways around dealing with scum like this, it just bums me out.

 

[smallpotatoes]

Over the years I have (and still do) collect coins, stamps, American art pottery, depression glass and Disney pins. Unfortunately, there are counterfeits (100% fakes), reproductions (made using the same molds/dies) and factory seconds (the original scrappers) of some sort in every one of my hobbies. I am not sure that knowing these problems are not limited to pin collecting helps make up for the anger/confusion/turmoil caused by the 'non-real' versions, but I do know that there are many good, honest collectors/traders out there and they are the ones that will help you keep going!

I have kept 'non-real' items in my collection and actually bought a few on purpose :eek2:, not so much as reminders of past mistakes, but as teaching tools for newer collectors. Try doing this, it's actually fun being one of the 'good guys'!

 

[LuvSimba]

It's all about knowing your pins. Education, education, education.

 

[figment919]

My wife is a casual collector, and like to trade with CM's in the Parks. She likes HM's and unfortuately about 8 out of 10 that she gets are scrappers. I tell her to avoid the HM's, but she enjoys the hunt and really doesn't care that they are junk. mixed feeling from me, I like that she enjoys the trading part of the hobby, but hate to see her giving up good pins for scrappers. I, personally, do not trade off of CM lanyards, and stay to on-line trades via DPF or Pinpics. I would add HM's to my collection if Villains are involved but try to Trade with reputable Traders only.

 

[smallpotatoes]

My son is a somewhat casual collector, too. He loves the HM sets and had to have them; like the rest of you, he sees a lot of scrappers. We have found that you can ask to see a CM's pin, look at it closely, politely return it if is is a scrapper and not complete the trade. The CMs have to accept the bad pins - you do not. As long as you chat with the CM and treat them with respect, they do not seem to mind - often the conversation is well worth the time spent even if no trade occurs - they wouldn't be wearing the lanyard if they didn't want to interact with the guests. Hard as it is to believe, the charm of Pin Trading is not based only on the pins but the people you meet along the way!

 

[Jrdnsmom]

I bet if I go through my 2 bags of HM pins i've collected I would find so many scrappers because im not good at eyeing them out. I know I traded with someone here on the forum for one of the tombstone HM set, I got it went and put it in my bag and it right away put all others in that set to shame, the whole set I had were all scrappers and the one I got here was the only good one. I am so disapointed. But do love the only real one I have lol.

 

[Sufikation]

Im glad I am not the only one who is pained and angered by this. I guess being so new and lacking the knowledge of scrappers I was just happy to have pins I liked and trade with CM and such...however it has been tainted for me. I will take this with a grain of salt, seeing as how my collection is very small, and do my best to avoid any and all pins that even remotely strike me as scrap. I need to just be happy with what I can do and learn how to trade on here and pinpics. When we do go back to the parks I will still trade with CM, I will just be much more picky.

It stinks we have to deal with scrappers and I understand your frustration.

I mainly posted in this thread to say I love your avatar. Very cool.

Thanks, Boba Fett is my fav!

 

[Vixy]

As long as you chat with the CM and treat them with respect, they do not seem to mind - often the conversation is well worth the time spent even if no trade occurs - they wouldn't be wearing the lanyard if they didn't want to interact with the guests. Hard as it is to believe, the charm of Pin Trading is not based only on the pins but the people you meet along the way!

This this this. We had more fun chatting with CMs sometimes than we had going on attractions. We always ask the CMs to see their pins very politely ("Excuse me, may we please look at your pins?" after waiting until they were finished helping other customers) and not only have we never had a single CM be rude or surly or even give us non-verbal attitude, we also met some really interesting and fun people. One CM even got us Honorary Citizen buttons for telling him about the Pinpics site (I was checking it on my phone to see if I already had one of his pins), which he'd never heard of before!

 

[katpogo]

I thought you may find this thread helpful: http://disneypinforum.com/showthrea...-how-to-tell)&highlight=identifying+scrappers

 

[GhostTrains]

patrick,
I know we chatted about this issue and the only thing i do is not trade for anything in the parks that i am not going to keep. There are so many scrappers out there that you will never be sure if one is real. The other issue is that they are not really scrappers for many of them. The factory in china is given the job of making 20,000 pins but what they do is make 40,000 and sell the rest without disney knowing. they sometimes use cheaper enamel or metal or dont punch out all the spaces but it is really the same template.
So a scrapper essentially is just a pin that disney is not getting a cut of the profits from. I used to trade in the parks alot but when people started getting worried, i did not want the members to say a pin looked fake so i just got rid of all the pins that i thought might be fake or used them to make jewelery pieces. Now i only trade with cast members if i see a pin i really want for my collection.
Dont let it ruin the fun but dont let it take you for a ride either by trading your legit pins for ones people may feel are fake. educating yourself is a great way to avoid any issues so you are headed in the right direction

Happy trades
Kirk

 

[Sufikation]

Thanks for all the replys everyone, I was once lost, but now am found. I am just going to have to be pickier, stay away from most HM, and narrow my collecting down to select interests.

 

[Jj.24]

Hi Patrick and fellow pin traders,

Just a quick suggestion for you. When i found out I had a bunch of scrappers that had been traded when I went to DLRP I wrote a letter to the DisneyStore head office here in the UK and commented that I was unhappy and felt ripped off. Needless to say Disney responded quickly by post and couldn't apologise enough for the experience. They included a handful (about 8) of new core pins and said that whilst it didn't rectify the poor experience it may help when trading in the future and that the new pins they enclosed they helped would persuade me not to lose faith.

Something you might want to try. If nothing at all at least you may get some 'real' pins to add to your collection / trade pile for the price of a stamp. I would imagine this would work in the US as it did here.

JJ

 

[Sufikation]

Hi Patrick and fellow pin traders,

Just a quick suggestion for you. When i found out I had a bunch of scrappers that had been traded when I went to DLRP I wrote a letter to the DisneyStore head office here in the UK and commented that I was unhappy and felt ripped off. Needless to say Disney responded quickly by post and couldn't apologise enough for the experience. They included a handful (about 8) of new core pins and said that whilst it didn't rectify the poor experience it may help when trading in the future and that the new pins they enclosed they helped would persuade me not to lose faith.

Something you might want to try. If nothing at all at least you may get some 'real' pins to add to your collection / trade pile for the price of a stamp. I would imagine this would work in the US as it did here.

JJ

Thats a real good idea and I am going to try it. Thanks for the info.

 

[Sufikation]

I am really struggling with this new hobby of mine. I am now 100% sure that all the pins I got from the CM are scrapper pins...I know I am beating a dead horse but dang, I am really bummed. I was excited thinking about our next trip to DLR in 2014 and how cool it was going to be to slowly collect trade pins to swap with the CM, but now...I could care less. I am really considering just quitting already, I am pretty much out $65ish in REAL pins we bought as boosters while at DLR to trade, I think thats enough to shy me away from the hobby. If I do decide to trade pins or buy from private sellers I will be pretty gosh dang picky and if I get burned again I will just step away from it all together. I plan on mailing Disney and telling them about this and seeing how they respond.

 

[Mickieprincess]

What I do to spot out scrappers is by looking at the face of the pin and see how smooth it is.If the gold parts stand out of the main face part then its a scrapper.The face of the pin should be very smooth.Also the back should be smooth and shouldn't have ridge lines from the design of the pin.