• Guest, Help The DPF Community Thrive - Join Our Donation Drive Today!

    We're launching a special DPF Donation Drive to ensure our beloved forum continues to flourish. Your support is vital in helping us cover essential server costs and keep our community running smoothly — This is more than just a donation; it's an investment in the future of our community.

    Join us in this crucial drive and let's ensure our forum remains a vibrant and dynamic place for everyone.

    Please visit the DPF Donation Drive Thread for details and instructions on how you can make your donation today!

Heartbreaking

Status
Not open for further replies.
Heartbreaking
Disnerd1989

Disnerd1989

New DPF Member
Rating - 100%
3   0   0
Messages
671
Location
Ireland
As I mentioned in another post I was a grab-bag buyer and CM lanyard trader. Initially I didn't know I was buying scrappers/fakes, but by the time I found out, I was hooked on trading and didn't really.

I did to some extent believe I was getting real pins from CMs.

I have over 700 pins. There are only about 100 of my pins that I can be entirely sure of their authenticity.

Most of my pins are HMs or boosters and I have (or thought I had) a lot of completed sets. I found this site a few days ago while making a 'check-list' of HMs, boosters and various other pins I wanted. I joined on Friday and started posting yesterday.

I have since decided to become a genuine collector and only collect genuine pins and get rid of my scrappers.

I am now sorting through my pins and separating what is obviously a scrapper from what I think might be authentic. This is killing me. So many of my beloved pins are completely worthless. I have worked so hard at trying to complete the WDW round alphabet set and I only have had three more pins to go. I am looking at them now and I think only 10 (possibly 12) are authentic. My huge vinylmation pin collection looks practically worthless.. And NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...... Not my precious Duffy hats :cry:

Needless to say, I am not enjoying this...

:banghead: :banghead: :banghead:
 
Im sorry to hear this I have a few scrapper pins my self but most of them look good so I keep them just put them in the scarpper keep pile lol I wish you luck
 
I am so sorry. :(

I know I'm probably in the minority here, but I feel that if you have a pin and you love it, that's all that matters. Whether its a scrapper or not!

(As long as you're not planning on selling it, re-trading it, or passing it off as the real thing, of course.)
 
As even "genuine" Disney pins can have flaws/defects, I would not be so swift to condemn a pin unless it is clearly counterfeit. As open edition pins can have slight differences depending on the company making them and when it was made, that does not automatically make it fake.

When it comes to LE pins, I agree, you only want the genuine article. Accept no substitutes, copies, imitations or knock offs.

As for the Hidden Mickey pins most of those have been so counterfeited that unless you have peeling paint, an obvious wide border, or coloring error, even Disney doesn't know the genuine article anymore. (In Jest) I'm not sure Disney even makes those pins anymore. They just put out the design and let the counterfeiters do it for them. Go ahead and mark any questionable pins and try to get "better quality", but I would not go Drama Queen on this issue. It's not like we are dealing with Ming Vases here.

Complete worthless... sure, right ... Again, Disney pins or collectables in general are a POOR investment. Their value is totally random. Value can drop at the slightest rumor of a counterfeit pin being available or any genuine / perceived / imagined / claimed flaw. And the "market" swings depending on how much people are willing to spend for their hobby We are just now starting to come out of a period where people needed money and were flooding the market with "high value" pins for low prices. It will eventually go back up but you can never be sure if you hold the golden pin that people will want.

If you LIKE the pin, keep it. One of my favorites is a counterfeit - the Russian nesting doll Vinylmation pin. Technically it's not tradable, but that hasn't stopped people from asking for it when I show it off. For years some of my cheap Jerry Leigh pins were considered "untradeable" as not "Disney enough - even though tradable at the park and officially licenced", yet they're also now some of the most demanded due to their original designs for the character, see Aloha Tinker Bell.
 
Like I said on your other thread, I'm glad you've decided to make the switch to only collecting and trading genuine pins! Hopefully through this experience you've at least learned more about what your goals and priorities are in pin trading and that will help you make better decisions and find a lot nicer trades in the future! I guess what I am saying is just think of it as a learning experience and don't beat yourself up for the past, 'cause you didn't know any better, and you sound like you will be a great collector!
 
I would be willing to pay you for the letter A if you have it. I am sure many of mine are not real, but there are good memories that come with them.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
 
When my kids first started trading, they traded for a ton of scrappers. It frustrated me to no end to buy them *genuine* and *expensive* Disney pins only to have them flitted away on fakes! I would lecture my kids and coach them on how to spot them - but it was putting so much stress on our vacations that I finally just had to learn to keep my mouth shut and let them learn the hard way. My oldest son recently came to the realization that many of the pins he traded for as a child, are either fakes or scrappers. It was hard for him to finally admit it and heartbreaking for him to give them up. Since he wasn't ready to just toss them, we decided to start to start a srapper 'Hall of Shame'. We have a few that are so obvious and so bad, that they are actually funny! By learning to laugh at them, we have taken a net negative and turned it into a net positive. They also demonstrate how much our pin-trading knowledge has grown through the years. I suggest starting a 'Hall of Shame' and learning to enjoy them again for what they are : ). They represent the pure and innocent love of the hobby that you began with. Sometimes I wish I could return to those naïve and carefree pin-trading days!!
 
mickeymausers said:
When my kids first started trading, they traded for a ton of scrappers. It frustrated me to no end to buy them *genuine* and *expensive* Disney pins only to have them flitted away on fakes! I would lecture my kids and coach them on how to spot them - but it was putting so much stress on our vacations that I finally just had to learn to keep my mouth shut and let them learn the hard way. My oldest son recently came to the realization that many of the pins he traded for as a child, are either fakes or scrappers. It was hard for him to finally admit it and heartbreaking for him to give them up. Since he wasn't ready to just toss them, we decided to start to start a srapper 'Hall of Shame'. We have a few that are so obvious and so bad, that they are actually funny! By learning to laugh at them, we have taken a net negative and turned it into a net positive. They also demonstrate how much our pin-trading knowledge has grown through the years. I suggest starting a 'Hall of Shame' and learning to enjoy them again for what they are : ). They represent the pure and innocent love of the hobby that you began with. Sometimes I wish I could return to those naïve and carefree pin-trading days!!
Click to expand...

lol that is a great idea
 
I have a Baggie of SCRAPPERS that I will either occasionally use in a craft project...or give to a niece or nephew to put on a jacket. We are in Montana, so no risk of them making into the parks. The kids think they are amazing.

Im sorry you came to the realization about your collection, but good for you for taking the high road. :)
 
You can keep them too! When I first started all the sets I made going around the park were scrappers but I still love them just the same because it's the memories that I made trading them that matters. So I still have that lanyard and will keep those pins :)
 
I'm going to say..don't be too dismayed over it. I've got a few scrappers myself..only a handfull thankfully. I just keep them separate from my collection. I've got one that is a definite scrapper, and 3-4 I think might be. Those might be's I'll probably ship to someone who can tell the differences and let them decide..or if I get to meet some of you lovely people when I'm in the Florida this year, I'll ask your opinion on them. :) My vision is not the greatest, so finding those really small defects is pretty hard for me.

I've learned the hard way, the only people I will buy/trade HM's from are on this board. Everyone else is suspect unless recommended by someone from this board.
 
So, there seem to be a lot of people on here who are interested in scrappers.

I was thinking I MIGHT sell them on here if people are interested. If I do, I will list them cheaply, sell them as individuals or small sets and put it in my T&Cs of the sale that anyone who buys them must 1) either keep the pin or give/trade it to someone who will keep it 2) not try to pass it off as authentic 3) trade it with CMs

Do you think this would work (assuming people actually want the pins I have) or are they very likely to just end up back on CM lanyards or in the collection of someone who believes they are authentic?
 
Last edited:
I think that people would be willing to follow that. At our house we pin trade because it is fun and completing sets are a challenge.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
 
I don't have any scrappers (yet), but if I got any, I would most likely keep them as examples of what to look out for and better judge the good pins. I really do appreciate whenever someone posts side-by-side photos of legitimate pins next to their scrapper counterparts, it helps me learn, and so I figure I'd do the same if I got scrappers.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top