Do you ever just...

[Abyssinian28]

...want to go back in time and punch yourself in the face?

The Beast Transformation pin just went for over $800. I once bid on it and gave up after $60.

Tinker Bell Storybook used to sit on eBay for $99, unsold. I passed because a.) I was focusing on Jessica at the time and b.) $99 was a lot of money for a pin back then (still is, tbh, but my Wants list is so small that $99 would be a steal, since I barely buy pins anymore).

I used to choke over Ariel Nouveau and Sleeping Beauty Gomes going for $400.

Sigh.

To be fair to Past Me, though, some of you guys are fuggin' nuts for paying those prices... I think pins are currently going through a Golden Age for sellers...I don't think many of us would have predicted some of these prices.

Also, whoever scored all 4 nouveau pins for BIN $499, I hate you a little, you lucky sob.

 

[tkdgirl368]

Yeah, every time I see the hot topic kingdom hearts pins on ebay for like $500 I want to go back in time to when I wasn't a collector and saw them at hot topic for a few bucks x.x they were cool but I didn't collect pins *sigh*...

 

[starry_solo]

Most definitely, especially back when BTs weren't hot.

 

[bcol]

Now now, Don't let it get to you. It's so frustrating to see some of those pins go for such insane prices. I recently lost one I had been looking to get for years and lost it at $300. I have come to realize I will never have it in my collection. Tough words for a completest hopeful. We're just little fish in a big pond. I just can't grasp the "discretionary funds" available. All we can do is hope. Someone did win those nouveau pins. :x:

 

[bcol]

Most definitely, especially back when BTs weren't hot.

I'll just wait for those to come down again. $32.00 for a pin? No thanks.... :lol: :facepalm:

 

[Jabberwocky]

I feel your pain. But I think anyone who sticks with the pinsanity at some point or another has a pin (or several) that they regret not acquiring when they first had the chance. I'm still missing a grail because the one and only time I ever saw it on ebay almost a decade ago, it went for a few dollars more than I was willing to spend at the time and I still kick myself regularly over that one since it has never reappeared anytime since.

 

[CCofRR13]

I also want to punch myself in the face for some of the trades I made early on.....not really knowing the value of the pins and letting them go for some very uneven trades.....oh well, live and learn....

 

[Purplemandms]

Let me tell you a story.

When I was little, I was really really big on pin trading in the parks. It's what got me started. So for traders, we would always go to our local Disney store. See, our local Disney store was special because it was a "character warehouse", meaning it's where all the unsold Disney Merch went as a last resort.

so usually, they would have pins about $2 each, or $1 if we were really lucky.

Now, with their real value unknown to both my parents and myself, many of the pins we picked up were Disney Store pins.

See this pin?

It's pinpics no 26365. It currently has 18 trading and... 269 wanting.
It's going for 100 dollars on ebay.

One day, they had them on clearance at our store. And do you want to know how many we got?

10

And do you know how many little me traded in the parks because I was going through my whole "ew kissing is gross" phase?

all 10.

and there were a lot of other nice DS pins I had done the same with, but this one is the one I always kick myself in the butt over.

It's part of the hobby, I guess. You live and you learn. And if you're in it to make a quick buck, then you probably have better off in your chances with the stock market.

(Also I completely agree with tkdgirl about those KH pins. I try not to think about them often.)

 

[froggerway]

Look at the bright side. In five, ten, fifteen years from now, or whenever the hobby takes its final dive, you'll be kicking yourself for:
A) having spent X amount of money to buy a pin that now can't even be given away, and
B) not having the foresight to have sold the pins that at the time could have earned you 200, 300, 400 plus dollars. :lol:


Forgot to answer the question, though. Do I ever want to go back in time and punch myself in the face? Absolutely! But never over a pin-mistake. I have enough other could've/should've/would've's to grieve over rather than that of a hobby.

 

[momin.ator]

I have more regrets about paying too much than missing out by bidding too little.

 

[Abyssinian28]

I have more regrets about paying too much than missing out by bidding too little.

Really? I'm sort of the opposite. I only have a few off the top of my head that I feel I over-paid for. But I have a LOT of pins I wish I had pulled the trigger on earlier.

I missed the Disney Auctions age completely (by, like, literally a week...I came online for pin trading when ds.com was the new home), so watching these older pins see-saw has been interesting to watch- but prices have NEVER been like this before. $300 was the "whoa!" price until recently, with only a few exceptions reaching into the $500+ range.

My husband's leaning on me hard to sell some stuff out of my collection since we're moving this year. :lol: I just know I'll never see them again if I do, and even if I did, never at retail (even if the prices do go back down some, it'll never be the same as getting it for retail...)

 

[Abyssinian28]

Let me tell you a story.

When I was little, I was really really big on pin trading in the parks. It's what got me started. So for traders, we would always go to our local Disney store. See, our local Disney store was special because it was a "character warehouse", meaning it's where all the unsold Disney Merch went as a last resort.

so usually, they would have pins about $2 each, or $1 if we were really lucky.

Now, with their real value unknown to both my parents and myself, many of the pins we picked up were Disney Store pins.

See this pin?

It's pinpics no 26365. It currently has 18 trading and... 269 wanting.
It's going for 100 dollars on ebay.

One day, they had them on clearance at our store. And do you want to know how many we got?

10

And do you know how many little me traded in the parks because I was going through my whole "ew kissing is gross" phase?

all 10.

and there were a lot of other nice DS pins I had done the same with, but this one is the one I always kick myself in the butt over.

It's part of the hobby, I guess. You live and you learn. And if you're in it to make a quick buck, then you probably have better off in your chances with the stock market.

(Also I completely agree with tkdgirl about those KH pins. I try not to think about them often.)

Ouch!

It reminds me when our Character Warehouse (back when it was a Character Warehouse and not the outlet) got all those Storybook jumbos in. I got one for myself, and a couple each to trade. They were...I think either $5.99 or $9.99. I traded those things way too easily...

Of course, I'm sure people traded me things that THEY had no idea were going to go up in value, so it all works out in the end.

 

[Purplemandms]

Ouch!

It reminds me when our Character Warehouse (back when it was a Character Warehouse and not the outlet) got all those Storybook jumbos in. I got one for myself, and a couple each to trade. They were...I think either $5.99 or $9.99. I traded those things way too easily...

Of course, I'm sure people traded me things that THEY had no idea were going to go up in value, so it all works out in the end.

Aye, the pitfalls of Character Warehouse stores. At least we all learn from our experiences. (See, I ended up trading mine for hidden mickeys. And not even the good hidden mickeys/cast lanyard pins that are valued now.)

But froggerway makes a good point. There are enough other could've/should've/would've's to grieve over rather than that of a hobby.

Plus, maybe this pin-karma will even out for us some day. That's part of the fun!

 

[Jabberwocky]

^ The West Coast equivalent of that was those of us who bought plenty of DSF sales pins and then traded them to cast members for hidden mickeys and the like. Like when marquee pins were in the $3 sales bin... They were only $3 pins and who was going to want those anyway?

 

[Purplemandms]

^ The West Coast equivalent of that was those of us who bought plenty of DSF sales pins and then traded them to cast members for hidden mickeys and the like. Like when marquee pins were in the $3 sales bin... They were only $3 pins and who was going to want those anyway?

D: Oh man. I could never imagine LE's that low ever going on clearance. Like ever.

 

[Jabberwocky]

D: Oh man. I could never imagine LE's that low ever going on clearance. Like ever.

Back in the day, DSF pins rarely sold out their initial runs and plenty wound up in $3 and eventually $4 sales bins. Others stayed on the racks for months at a time. Seems like a long time ago...

 

[a4matte]

Luckily I think this has only happened to me once or twice so far. Doesn't really bother me though, it's just part of any hobby. Sometimes you luck out, sometimes you don't.

On the other hand, I've been on the other side a few times now. Picked up a few pins and sets for decent prices only to have them skyrocket compared to what I originally paid. Unfortunately for me, this has happened with only pins I plan to hold on to so far so I won't be making any money off of them in the near future!

 

[SoraPandora]

Yes!!! When I first joined the forum, two pins that are now on my short grails list were on sale here for $25 each, but I couldn't justify spending more than $20 on a pin. :FACEPALM: I was BRAND new, most of my pins were scrappers, and I got them all for $5 or less. I recently bought one of the pins on eBay for $75. The other one I'm still waiting to find for a price I can afford.

Also, on my first trip ever to My-D-Pins, they had the Nana PTD for $25. It had just came out, and this was before the PTD craze really hit. I decided not to buy it, since I didn't have any other Peter Pan PTDs. Now, of course, I have almost all of them except Nana, which goes for $75-100.

 

[SoraPandora]

Luckily I think this has only happened to me once or twice so far. Doesn't really bother me though, it's just part of any hobby. Sometimes you luck out, sometimes you don't.

On the other hand, I've been on the other side a few times now. Picked up a few pins and sets for decent prices only to have them skyrocket compared to what I originally paid. Unfortunately for me, this has happened with only pins I plan to hold on to so far so I won't be making any money off of them in the near future!

That's true, too. Need to focus on the good stuff. I've gotten lucky more than I've missed out!

 

[LadyArmonua]

Yep. Few years ago there was an LE350 (?) Treasure Planet pin, the one given to animators that worked on the film, up on ebay. 40$. Back then I thought forty bucks was too much for one pin so I passed it up. I've been kicking myself ever since.

 

[momin.ator]

Really? I'm sort of the opposite. I only have a few off the top of my head that I feel I over-paid for. But I have a LOT of pins I wish I had pulled the trigger on earlier.

I missed the Disney Auctions age completely (by, like, literally a week...I came online for pin trading when ds.com was the new home), so watching these older pins see-saw has been interesting to watch- but prices have NEVER been like this before. $300 was the "whoa!" price until recently, with only a few exceptions reaching into the $500+ range.

My husband's leaning on me hard to sell some stuff out of my collection since we're moving this year. :lol: I just know I'll never see them again if I do, and even if I did, never at retail (even if the prices do go back down some, it'll never be the same as getting it for retail...)

I tend to have buyer's regret. I know someday I may wish I had bit the bullet.

 

[weRsiamese]

^ The West Coast equivalent of that was those of us who bought plenty of DSF sales pins and then traded them to cast members for hidden mickeys and the like. Like when marquee pins were in the $3 sales bin... They were only $3 pins and who was going to want those anyway?

YES!! Remember all the Beloved Tales Pins on the clearance rack? When my husband and I started dating 5 years ago, we'd go out to dinner and stop and get some pins for me. No lines and they took a few weeks to sell out, it was wonderful! Kind of funny was when the Toulouse PTD came out, I whined to him I wanted it, but was stuck at work, so he decided he was going to go get it for me as a surprise and got a huge surprise when he saw the line!

 

[Jabberwocky]

YES!! Remember all the Beloved Tales Pins on the clearance rack?

I remember when no one wanted the "boring" BTs and they'd sit for months on the rack. I remember looking at the lineups of like 6 different BTs and thinking "will someone just BUY these already so we can get some good new pins released?" lol

Of course I also remember the UP and Tangled pins sitting on the racks forever too.

Could-a, should-a, would-a, didn't get them. :/

 

[weRsiamese]

Yes!! I'm pretty sure the Beauty And The Beast one was one that was there forever! That one, AIW, Pinocchio, Peter Pan, Cinderella, and Jungle Book were there for months! I remember two of the Tangled ones being on the sale rack-the Pascual one and the silhouette one. I didn't buy them because I didn't like them and figured they weren't good traders because nobody wanted them, same with the BTs, I could kick myself now for not getting them when they were $3 and $4!!!

 

[starry_solo]

Yes!! I'm pretty sure the Beauty And The Beast one was one that was there forever! That one, AIW, Pinocchio, Peter Pan, Cinderella, and Jungle Book were there for months! I remember two of the Tangled ones being on the sale rack-the Pascual one and the silhouette one. I didn't buy them because I didn't like them and figured they weren't good traders because nobody wanted them, same with the BTs, I could kick myself now for not getting them when they were $3 and $4!!!

Jungle Book & Hercules were still on the racks when I went to go watch Tangled at El Capitan. I kick myself repeatedly for not buying the chair pin (I could have gotten 7 since I went with 3 other people, only one bought that pin), 7 of the BatB "surprise" pin (library), and the Tangled Marquee - at retail!!!