Park Pack pins - fakes out of China on auction site

[katelouise]

I was checking my saved searches and noticed that the Tangled Park Pack pins have shown up being sold out of China by a scrapper/counterfeit seller.

It's depressing looking through their auction list:

For comparison
REAL:

FAKE:

 

[TammyH]

Awwww! I HATE that!

 

[Chusaurus]

They probably have a full 500 if not 2000 of those, since that looks like it could have been an alternate design. I feel like Disney pin prices are so high because they make a whole batch, then decide that they don't like one thing about it. Like the Frozen marquee. I would much rather they make better designs in the first place, and invest in higher quality manufacturers.

 

[xdattax]

Her eyes are wonky.

I saw this on Facebook. It just makes me sad and angry.

 

[a4matte]

They probably have a full 500 if not 2000 of those, since that looks like it could have been an alternate design. I feel like Disney pin prices are so high because they make a whole batch, then decide that they don't like one thing about it. Like the Frozen marquee. I would much rather they make better designs in the first place, and invest in higher quality manufacturers.

If they're anything like the companies I deal with at my job you'll design something, it gets approved by whoever is handling the project and a quick sign off from the people higher up and goes into production. Tthheennnnn the higher up person looks at it again, says they never saw it before now and they didn't sign off on it (which they did. Their signature is RIGHT THERE) so everything already produced/printed gets scrapped and a new one is made with their new changes. It happens A LOT. Also happens when teams in charge of thing rotate, new people take over, legal gets a bug up their butts with some little tiny detail they never cared about but it means life or death now, etc...

It's incredibly frustrating when you're the designer working on this.

And the pins are definitely a good chunk of pure profit. There's no way anyone can tell me they don't have an absurd markup.

 

[speedwaystar1]

And the pins are definitely a good chunk of pure profit. There's no way anyone can tell me they don't have an absurd markup.

Sorry to hijack this thread but this quote got me wondering , how much would it cost to get a run of say 1000 made ? Not including the design process just the actual physical manufacturing of them

 

[a4matte]

Sorry to hijack this thread but this quote got me wondering , how much would it cost to get a run of say 1000 made ? Not including the design process just the actual physical manufacturing of them

I can't say definitely. Disney would have long running contracts with select manufacturers which would probably give them extra discounts for the guaranteed steady orders. The contract is probably bid on by the manufacturers too. The negotiations would bring the cost down further than what it'd cost a small company or individual to have a few designs manufactured. That, along with artwork being recycled to bring design costs even lower, would make pins fairly cheap for Disney. Especially with Open Editions and larger numbered LE pins (2000+). Smaller runs would probably cost a bit more, but not by a ton. The really big/intricate pins that you sometimes see at the Soda Fountain and the pin trading events like the past Pixar one would also cost a little more.


Back on topic though - I'm guessing the seller of the fakes is the usually "chilly" one?

 

[speedwaystar1]

Oh that one's not around as much under that name , the theory is they've switched to a different ID because all the pins they previously had are now available from a "different" seller , I'll look it up and PM you

 

[hopemax]

The old username was chilly and had a double "a." The new account is hot and still has a double "a." So everyone assumes it's the same seller. Plus, the cold account has gone cold (still selling pins, but not Disney pins).

 

[Chusaurus]

If they're anything like the companies I deal with at my job you'll design something, it gets approved by whoever is handling the project and a quick sign off from the people higher up and goes into production. Tthheennnnn the higher up person looks at it again, says they never saw it before now and they didn't sign off on it (which they did. Their signature is RIGHT THERE) so everything already produced/printed gets scrapped and a new one is made with their new changes. It happens A LOT. Also happens when teams in charge of thing rotate, new people take over, legal gets a bug up their butts with some little tiny detail they never cared about but it means life or death now, etc...

It's incredibly frustrating when you're the designer working on this.

And the pins are definitely a good chunk of pure profit. There's no way anyone can tell me they don't have an absurd markup.

Oh, I believe that's what happens 100%. Bureaucracy is not an artist's friend. I really think they should let artists do their thing, which is not the feeling I'm getting very much anymore. Most OE pins have the same poses of popular characters. I like the charm of the scrapped pin, just because the artist took a more personalized look of her eyes, but that's just my opinion. Just Rapunzel on the other one reminds me of PTDs and how they're never allowed to make anything more than the ice cream on the pin.

 

[tiggeriffic]

Just Rapunzel on the other one reminds me of PTDs and how they're never allowed to make anything more than the ice cream on the pin.

They do that often but sometimes they are really nice original art pins. Examples:

I could be wrong, but none of the artwork here seems like standard poses I've seen a million times, especially when the characters are interacting with their ice cream.

 

[xdattax]

Interacting with their ice cream. This is why that Hades PTD is so sought after. It's in character for him and who wouldn't be sad over melted ice cream?

 

[bookhugger]

Wow!