What is the deal with backer cards!?!?

[Ozzie1988]

So I had to sell my Ariel marquee on eBay not to long ago, since it was in my private collection I don't keep the baker cards. Well the buyer got the pin and PMed me asking for a backer card stating that the value of the pin is now decreased because it dose not have the card, I told her no it was from my book so I didn't keep the card. We agreed that if I find a card later on I would send it to her.

so this is my question since when did the card count? I started pin trading in 2005 and the card was never valued so much that with out it the total value would suffer. I mean if I was offered my grail I would not turn it down because she is not on the original card, who cares I collect pins not pieces of paper and plastic.

I have even noticed this while trading in the park, a trader rejected my pin because it did not have the card.... She that said "its a real shame I have been looking for this pin for a while now", than told me I need to keep cards or traders won't trade with me. WTF! why reject a pin if you have been looking for only because its missing the card? Why has this card craze so darn serious?

Oh and PODMs my tangled was passed by twice because it did not have its card.....

 

[livin_free_asmy_hair]

I think if its a special card..then its cool to have..likt the podms or beloved tales...but it wouldnt stop me from trading if i liked the pin...its pin trading not card trading

 

[Nathan95]

The PODM's I understand and pins that come on special backing cards but I never understood things that come on regular DSF, WDI, DA or DS backer cards. I remember I was going to trade a designer Villain and the person wanted the backing card because everything they trade must come on its original card. They rejected a trade for a designer Queen of Hearts because they wanted it on a card when it didn't even come on a card

 

[lost-sun-princess]

I've received pins from sellers here that have been pinned to OTHER pin's backers or to pieces of foam or bubble wrap, and I was thrilled to have them regardless! I keep my backer cards, but I'm pretty sure I'm a hoarder. I keep them in trading card sleeves/pages. I couldn't tell you which card goes to which pin, but I totally agree that I'm in the market of collecting pins, not bits of paper and plastic. I definitely wouldn't turn down a pin I was after if it didn't have it's card!

 

[elaw]

My take is that the backer card is more important if one intends to resell the pin .... Generally it helps (not always) with determining the pins authenticity. It's nice to have the original card but generally not a deal breaker for me ... Especially with older pins.

 

[Ozzie1988]

So it's not just me? LOL yes the Villains box set is the best example it was a box not a card what do you do now? What about frame sets and mystery boxes? Do you pass it up

 

[Ozzie1988]

My take is that the backer card is more important if one intends to resell the pin .... Generally it helps (not always) with determining the pins authenticity. It's nice to have the original card but generally not a deal breaker for me ... Especially with older pins.

But backer cards have been "scrapped" I have seen fake DSF and DS backer cards

 

[tinkerbelle1956]

The Designer Princess and Villain pins were from a box set. I've been keeping all my backer cards recently. It has become a must have when trading. I accepted my BT Beauty and the Beast pin without the card. I was ecstatic to get the pin. I didn't care about the backer card. But then it's a pin I will never trade away.

 

[moorhunhe]

I have actually turned down numberous options to get certain pins I *really* wanted, only because it didn't came on it's original card.
OCD I guess?

It's not more of a value thing for me, but in my head, the original card makes it "complete".

And whenever I see a pin listed as "new" on ebay, I expect the card to be there too, and once I got it without the card, and also e-mailed the seller asking where the card was, because it was listed as "new".
Yes, I'm that weird

 

[lost-sun-princess]

So it's not just me? LOL yes the Villains box set is the best example it was a box not a card what do you do now? What about frame sets and mystery boxes? Do you pass it up

I've also had people pin the mystery box pins to an actual box, which was a nice gesture, but definitely not expected. I was surprised when I opened the envelope, haha.

True or False: Some backer cards have numbers printed on the back? I only noticed this when I got my D23 Epcot 30th pins - there seemed to be a unique identifer (like a serial number) stamped to the back of the pin and to the card. I thought it was a nice way to take one extra step against scrapper-dom... but then realized scrappers could just stamp a number to a card and pin and call it a day. :facepalm:

I always wondered if they did that with other pins... or if it was just a weird D23 thing or something... what do I know...

 

[imp]

I don't care about them myself, but I think some people see a pin on the original card as more likely to be authentic (especially if it has the original sticker with SKU on it).
I do feel more comfortable about a pin's authenticity when I see it's in the full packaging that some pins had (e.g. some Disney Shopping pins have the bag with detailed stickers, then the foam insert, then the card with the sticker that matches the sticker on the bag). Certainly cards and stickers can be faked too, but the counterfeiters aren't going to make much money if they're duplicating that much different stuff.
When I went to my first PTN in November, I did notice that people cared far less about the cards, presumably because they could examine the pins themselves - I had stupidly left the backer cards at my hotel, but not a single trade fell through because I didn't have the card.
I keep all my cards simply because some traders/buyers very much want them (one woman sent me a trade offer, which was very lop-sided in her favour, in which she very tersely demanded that my pin must be on its original card, and my pin had only been released about a week earlier).

 

[Nathan95]

The Designer Princess and Villain pins were from a box set. I've been keeping all my backer cards recently. It has become a must have when trading. I accepted my BT Beauty and the Beast pin without the card. I was ecstatic to get the pin. I didn't care about the backer card. But then it's a pin I will never trade away.

That's how I am. If its something I REALLY want I don't care if it comes on a card or not

 

[hopemax]

Backer cards became important when scrappers/counterfeiters appeared. There is a small amount of security (small, because there are no guarantees) that if a pin arrives with a backer, and the SKUs match, and the pin doesn't come off freely from the card (like it's never been removed) and you have to tug a bit) that the pin is actually an authentic pin. Before, it was primarily cheapy stuff that got scrapped - Hidden Mickeys, booster packs, stuff that maybe you could afford to take a chance with. There are now so many DA, Disneyshopping, and WDI counterfeits now, that I've gotten to the point where I feel like I have to be suspicious on just about everything. No scrapper warnings doesn't mean that it hasn't been, but since it's not in a photo somewhere there isn't an official notification. Backers aren't much, but they're one of the only shreds of evidence of authenticity. Especially, if you aren't in a position to compare the pin to someone else's.

 

[Psycho Pixie]

now I am the opposite from what most of the replies seem to say so far... First I could care less about a backer card, but because people are wanting them more and more, I have been keeping them.

Heres what I THINK the reasoning is for backer cards.... It makes the pin more "authentic." In this hobby with the counterfeit issues, I think some traders want backer cards to "prove" their pin actually came from disney. Thius makes sense, except that generic backer cards are easily located, and older pins like DA's that now have fake cropping up often are missing the backer cards. PLUS someone out there is actually MAKING backer cards for their counterfeits. (yup its true)

To me, a PODM with or without a backer card is still a PODM. They are practically impossible to fake, so I have noooo qualms about accepting a podm with no card.

I honestly don't see how a backer card or lack there of can effect trade value or sales value. My opinion, I think folks who pass up a trade simply because it is missing the card are prolly just finding a polite way to say they dont want the pin.

 

[dawny]

huh. yeh i have had 1 person turn me down about the card thing. Also idk how on earth you can keep track of what card gos to what. I have a huge hat box of cards and they are all grouped by variety but tons of them i have no idea what backer go to what card?? This is asking alot of people. Its not like a barbie where you have her sealed in the box. You may have older pins or pins in your collection and then decided to sell or trade them. Ya know it stinks if you loose the pin you want but its their loss also. MORE PINS FOR ME!

 

[imp]

I've also had people pin the mystery box pins to an actual box, which was a nice gesture, but definitely not expected. I was surprised when I opened the envelope, haha.

True or False: Some backer cards have numbers printed on the back? I only noticed this when I got my D23 Epcot 30th pins - there seemed to be a unique identifer (like a serial number) stamped to the back of the pin and to the card. I thought it was a nice way to take one extra step against scrapper-dom... but then realized scrappers could just stamp a number to a card and pin and call it a day. :facepalm:

I always wondered if they did that with other pins... or if it was just a weird D23 thing or something... what do I know...

Some cards and some pins have a long number (15 digits I believe, with a dash separating each group of 5 digits) printed directly on the card or pin.

 

[Ozzie1988]

http://gallery.pinpics.com/cgi-bin/pin.cgi?pin=77662&sid=9842.1361224408.v2

This is the pin the woman passed up on, I had just taken it out of my collection and into my trader book. It didn't even make it past the first hour of trading

 

[Lamorak]

Pin traders, as a group, are pretty insane. While I personally prefer the pin with a backer card, I won't reject it if I know the backer card was one of the plain ones. If it came with a special backer card, I might be inclined to try my luck elsewhere. It's just a thing with some traders. Knowing this, I always have the backer cards for traders and all my keepers. You never know when a deal might go south for not having that backer card.

 

[Arielskellington1423]

I don't get this either PODMS I think are an exception to this I like my PODMS to have cards idk why but I do but regardless they are cards and if its a scene I want ill trade for it regardless of the card! Cards are even being faked along with pins and original packaging as well! you were there Ozzie when I traded for a fake Jessica dressed as a vampire when it was in "it's original packaging" you were the one that told me it wasn't real and why. so I don't see why these backer cards are so important either. I understand PODMS and beloved tales because they are different but I would never turn down a pin i want because of the card. I simply tell people do you trade for the pin or the card? Because there's tons of those cards and only so many of the pin available for trade. Just think about that. Usually makes them rethink their reasoning on why the card is so important to them but I feel your pain, cards don't verify authenticity! it's not that hard to put a fake pin on a real card! I mean seriously don't people think of that?? Lol just my 2 cents

 

[lost-sun-princess]

Some cards and some pins have a long number (15 digits I believe, with a dash separating each group of 5 digits) printed directly on the card or pin.

Thanks for the clarity - is there any rhyme or reason to which pins have these numbers? I think it's a good idea, personally... like a serial number on a computer or something...

 

[imp]

huh. yeh i have had 1 person turn me down about the card thing. Also idk how on earth you can keep track of what card gos to what. I have a huge hat box of cards and they are all grouped by variety but tons of them i have no idea what backer go to what card?? This is asking alot of people. Its not like a barbie where you have her sealed in the box. You may have older pins or pins in your collection and then decided to sell or trade them. Ya know it stinks if you loose the pin you want but its their loss also. MORE PINS FOR ME!

Since I only started collecting last May and lots of people want the cards now, the cards thing has always been a potential issue for me. So, because I'm really really anal, I keep traders on their cards and for the pins in my collection I place each card in a small ziplock envelope with a post-it noting the Pinpics #.

 

[Ozzie1988]

I understand that but like I said cards have been faked too, the DSF Jessica pins and the DS Jessica jumbos all come on fake cards too you can tell because the cards don't feel the same and all the shopping pins did not come in a cellophane bag they came in a zipper bag with wrapped foam. To depend so much on a card is not so bright I could get a real card and put it with a fake pin. You can buy real cards at myDpins too and switch em out.

 

[imp]

Thanks for the clarity - is there any rhyme or reason to which pins have these numbers? I think it's a good idea, personally... like a serial number on a computer or something...

I don't know of any rhyme or reason to which pins have them. I don't even know if that number is the same for each identical pin, or if it's a unique number. I've never seen these numbers on a Pinpics listing. Either way, I suspect it would be far cheaper to fake that stamp than to make fake backing cards.

 

[Arielskellington1423]

Thanks for the clarity - is there any rhyme or reason to which pins have these numbers? I think it's a good idea, personally... like a serial number on a computer or something...

Some pins come with them printed on the pin and others now have them on the pin itself either stamped in the metal or raised like the pin trading logo can't remember which one it was I saw but I hope they continue doing so! Cards won't be such a big deal then I don't think or at least hope! Lol

 

[Ozzie1988]

I think the cards stared when the binders came out..... Once traders stared to switch from the really good books (the new foam ones just suck) they are using baseball card sheets witch are the perfect size for backer cards and pins