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Do they retire HMs ?

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Do they retire HMs ?

curiousdinah

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Hey guys,
Once they release a HM set, do they ever "retire" it and stop putting a set on the boards/lanyards ? And how long do they stay ? On a trip a few years ago I saw a ton of the older t-shirt Hidden Mickeys which I thought had to be fake...until I was searching for a specific pin for a different set, and very nice cast member whipped out a stock bag of hidden mickey's she had behind the desk and I noticed the t-shirts were in there with some current pins.

So, what are the chances of finding older real pins ? Or if I find a HM pin past X number of years old should I assume it's fake because Disney no longer puts them out ?
 
In general, assume older ones are fake, but it's true they occasionally find bags of the old ones and put them out on the lanyards.

In the case of DL, the last wave from a couple of years ago is still out (restrooms, Jungle Book, etc.), but that's mostly because they hadn't gotten anything new to refresh with!

Basically consider HM's limited release pins - they're usually out for a certain period of time (say, a year), and then they don't re-order them necessarily if there are newer ones to refresh the lanyards with.
 
I'd agree with Jabberwocky. Most old ones are usually fake but they do find old stock and occasionally refresh lanyards with them. Last year at WDW, they found some old 2004 Cast Lanyard pins in old stock that were available for trade for a short time.
 
Thanks ! I am surprised they had 2004 pins - those I def would have thoughts as faked if I saw them.
I'd agree with Jabberwocky. Most old ones are usually fake but they do find old stock and occasionally refresh lanyards with them. Last year at WDW, they found some old 2004 Cast Lanyard pins in old stock that were available for trade for a short time.
 
There is always a chance someone opened a mystery pouch and traded with a lanyard. For only a couple of pins (for your
kid to trade) the price of those isn't too outrageous.
 
I usually ask to see them first before making a trade as I hate to get counterfeits. Most Cast Members are very accommodating.
Yes I do as well, but some of the older ones I don't even pick up because I assume they are fake. Now I might think differently though..
 
Yes I do as well, but some of the older ones I don't even pick up because I assume they are fake. Now I might think differently though..
I found some good ones and my son even found the old Cast Lanyard monorails without the hidden Mickey on them. At one point, those were impossible to track down.
 
If it’s one here or there it’s probably a ‘found’ stash or people like me who their ‘junk traders’ are old lanyard pins and booster pins of ‘long ago’

If it’s the same repeated everywhere it’s ‘pins of questionable origin’
 
While Jabberwocky is correct, not only will older ones show up because of the HM Mystery packs being sold but, at some point, those traders who have full pages of HM's to trade (you've all seen them) will use them to trade for new ones. I use my older ones to "swap out" for newer ones too.

Just be careful, look at them & use common sense but, have FUN :)
 
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While Jabberwocky is correct, not only will older ones show up because of the HM Mystery packs being sold but, at some point, those traders that have full pages of HM's to trade (you've all seen them) will use them to trade for new ones. I use my older ones to "swap out" for newer ones too.

Just be careful, look at them & use common sense but, have FUN :)

Never thought about this, which is funny because I did something similar - Not with hidden mickey's but I picked up some old rack pins of now value at an antique store to use as lanyard traders cause they were cheap and one of the cast members was really excited about this old tower of terror pin I had. Not something you'd usually see, but it's there because I traded it.
 
Never thought about this, which is funny because I did something similar - Not with hidden mickey's but I picked up some old rack pins of now value at an antique store to use as lanyard traders cause they were cheap and one of the cast members was really excited about this old tower of terror pin I had. Not something you'd usually see, but it's there because I traded it.
I always try to take in old uncommon stuff to trade in the parks and the Cast Members usually get really excited. They say that all they mostly see is the garbage from eBay. You know, the baggie traders as I call them.
 
I always try to take in old uncommon stuff to trade in the parks and the Cast Members usually get really excited. They say that all they mostly see is the garbage from eBay. You know, the baggie traders as I call them.

Yep. I have heard that too. Even some of the standard booster stuff they like. I had one animal kingdom cast member get excited over "the monkey" pin I traded him from the cute animals booster set and show it to another cast member.
 
I know this has been answered but can I talk from experience?

When I was a cast member in DCA, we would get new pins by going into the hub in the back. The manager has a metal cabinet with a drawer full of bags of pins like you described. These are BRAND new hidden Mickey's. When the new ones come in, they just dump the new ones on top, they don't mix them up or really worry about it. Were only allowed 1 bag if 6 a day (they really mean week, but wont stop you). So if they dig to the bottom if the cabinet I'm sure there's still reeeeeeaaaalllllyyyyy old ones in there. Also sometimes they'll find s ok ne in storage, like say they didn't fit or got two boxes in one shipment, and they'll just sit in storage until whenever.
 
I like this post. It kind of reminds us that the magic can not be forced or tracked. It will happen but when it wants to. Not because we want it. Some of our best pins have come from a CM trade. That is after we learned about fakes of courses. We learned the hard way after spending 4-5 hundred on pins and than trading most of them for fakes. After that we had nothing but good luck. One of our best pins is from the Mickey statue set. Diffent people did the art work for each Mickey. We got the one with a shirt that has Walts face on it. It's was designed by the couple that voiced Mickey and Minnie. The pin has been checked and is true and real. Fakes are known to be out there and DLR pulled pins off the shelfs because of the fakes. No telling how long they held them. But surly they kept sum out over time. We just got lucky and ended up with the one that I feel was the real star of the set.
 
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