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Cast member pin trading pins- what I learned

Cast member pin trading pins- what I learned

Captain Fartbeard

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Hey everyone! Inspired by my last post and eager to learn more (as well as explore the recently brought back cast member pin trading) I got myself as many starter pins as I could and hit the hidden mickeys at 3 parks in 2 days. I wanted to practice looking for fakes as well as acquire some more (legitimate) traders for the next trade arcade. You can see here the fruits of my effort, as I managed to trade every single one of my traders (and some more than once.) I also want to post my observations and what I learned, and see if my suspicions are correct. Some I think are real, some are probably fake, and some I have no idea about.


Here are the pins I got!







An interesting case study are these two Minnie pins I found. Pin and Pop lists them as "Epic" and indeed on the back it says 1 out of 500. However I saw 3 of them while trading so I knew something was fishy. I got two of them just to study (and maybe 1 of them is real though I doubt it.) You can see just from these two alone that the coloring is different. (the difference in shine is more likely from the camera angle) On the back, the one on the right has a distinct border, which means it's a fake if my understanding's correct. The one on the left has a little bit of a border but it's more subtle and could be bad QC. My hypothesis though is that both of them are fake.


Another interesting example are the Mickey expression pins. This series seemed to be the easiest to tell which was real and which was fake (and there were so many fakes out there, despite being available at most Mickeys I found 1 or 2 legit ones) (also sorry for the upside down image)




The red scared expression on the right is the one I'm most certain is real. It has a heavier weight than the fake pins, a serial number on the back, and a flawless waffle pattern. The pink one I'm 100% sure is fake. It feels thin as paper, the nubs are different, and there's no border. As for the 2 in the middle, I'm not sure. The angry one has the weight of the red one and a serial number, but the waffle pattern on the back is smudged. (it's 2nd from left in the below photo, red is far left, then purple then pink on the far right) Purple is skinnier than the red and blue ones (but thicker than pink) but otherwise looks legit.


I'm curious to see y'alls thoughts on this, am I tripping or are my rationalizations justified? I'd also appreciate any insights on the other pins I acquired, since I'm not sure about the rest of them. I'd love to know which ones are real! I can upload more pics if needed as well.

(also should I post any pins I'm concerned about on this thread or make a new thread for them?)
 
momin.ator said:
My suggestion. Go for the newest Hidden Mickey (Disney) pins if you want to make trades on Pin and Pop and
assure that you are probably getting authentic pins.
.
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That's a good idea lol. I tend to shoot for vintage pins cause I like older ones, but newer ones would have a higher chance of authenticity. Do you see any of them here?
 
momin.ator said:
Where have you been getting your traders? I imagine you have been spending a lot for them.
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Most of them were a birthday gift lol. I'm also on the Disney college program, so I can either go to Cast connections for cheap pins or buy some at a discount!
I was also super lucky awhile back to meet a really kind gentleman at EPCOT who gave me 10-15 traders after we talked about trading lol. I've certainly spent way too much already but I've had a bit of help!
 
I am not familiar with the college program but if you are basically a cast member, then you have the very fortunate position of being able to get pins from Disney Employee Center (DEC) and Mickey's of Glendale (MOG/WDI). Those are low LE and HIGHLY in demand. They definitely cost more than cast connections, but you will be able to trade them for high end pins worth well more than what you paid for them. (NOT on lanyards, but on P&P, here on the forum, at trade events, etc.) I believe trading them at any value is allowed, you just can't sell them for profit per Disney's policies. Congrats on having that option open to you! I'm extremely jealous.
 
Okay, so there is a lot to unpack here, but I know from your other threads you want to learn, so I'm going to be direct in my reply.

1. Please, until you are more familiar with pins do not use pins that you did not buy yourself, from a Disney source on Trade Arcade. With one exception, if you trade for the new Hidden Disney pins. This is to protect both your reputation and the people you will be trading with.

2. Did the pins you were given come in the little baggies with the red stripe? This is a common thing people do. They know their loved one is into pins, they find a deal on Ebay, Amazon, Mercari and they present them with a lot of pins in those little baggies. Those baggies are what the Chinese Factories ship their pins in. Pin that comes in those baggies are fakes.

3. For quite awhile, like 98% of pins on CM lanyards are fake. With the new lanyards and commitment to trading, this has improved. But once guests start trading off them, it goes right back up to 98% fake pins.

4. What *might* be real on CM lanyards. As previously mentioned, the newest Hidden Disney set. Also, once a new set is released, locations get a lot looser about pulling from their stash of the *previous* set or two of Hidden Mickey / Hidden Disney pins and they show up more frequently on boards. With the pandemic, with the new commitment to restart pin trading, they probably cleaned out the closets, so going back to the 2019 sets of pins, 2020, 2022. Those Hidden Mickey / Hidden Disney pins are likely to be real, but still need to be examined. Any hidden Mickey pin that is older than that, assume it's fake.

5. What else *might* be real. Pins that are *currently* for sale, and pins that have been recently discontinued and sold at Cast Connection and the Character Warehouse stores. In your photo, you have the Dapper Dan Donald. That is a current multi-pin set that makes sense that a guest could have bought, decided they didn't like Donald, and traded it onto a lanyard / board. Last year, Disney started putting crystals in the back of pins. I would start out, assuming pins with these are likely real, but there are rumors that fakes have already started showing up with them. So there might be a re-examining in time.

6. Loungefly (crowns on the back) / Uncas International (recycle symbols on the back) / Monogram (says MII on the back) these are also likely to be real. And makes sense that guests would have access to these at home, and bring them to the parks for trading. Especially, if they snagged them on sale.

7. Assume any pin that comes from an International Disney park is fake. Occasionally, there will be a Japanese guest who brings pins from Japan, but unless you see them put it on a lanyard, don't trust it. Same for Hidden Mickey / Disney pins that are only released at DLR, and you find them at WDW. Assume they are fake. Occasionally, DL people will bring their pins and sprinkle them on lanyards, but the odds of you finding them before the lanyard strippers do, is pretty small. Several years ago, WDW and DLR swapped pins because of a port strike in CA causing a lot of merchandise delays. Traders were able to verify pretty quickly that that is what was going on. If there is a legitimate reason why so many DLR pins are on lanyards, traders will let people know.

8. Familiarize yourself with the correct size and shape of the silver Mickey icon found on Hidden Mickey / Hidden Disney pins. Buy some pouches with authentic ones if you need something handy as a comparison. Fake ones these will be too small, too blobby, too a lot of things.

9. Wrong coloring on pins is a sign. Wrong type of enamel fill is a sign. Hard enamel pins, the ridges between the colors are hard to feel. They shouldn't look liquidy. The pink Mickey Expressions pin on the right side of your photo... that is a perfect example of what you do not want. The "O" Alphabet pin on the bottom... look at the coloring of the Pin & Pop listing 17223 - O for O'Malley - 2011 Hidden Mickey - Alphabet Letters - Disneyland Resort Disney Pin.

10. On the backside of pins there are other tells. You identified one with the borders on those New Years pins. But often the font size or type is wrong. The boxes with info have a texture different than the rest of the pin. They are supposed to be smooth, but some fakes will have the same sandblasted / pebble as the rest of the back. Pins that are supposed to have the stabilizing nubs on the sides of the post, don't. Some fakes have nubs that are barely half the height... these are always bad.

Pin trading with CMs is supposed to be fun, and it used to be. But the volume of fake pins is so, so high, traders need to be realistic about what they will find.
 
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Just looking at the pic - if I saw all of these on the board, I'd assume these are real and the rest are fake:

Grogu
Dug
Delish
Maui
Beach Club
Boardwalk
Emperor
Meeko
Chip & Dale pennant
Little Brother fanny pack
Sweet Dreams dalmatians
Dapper Donald
Chip & Dale bonfire
Pooh in nightclothes
Ratatouille munchling

Everything else I'd question.
 
Thanks for being direct! I appreciate the honesty.

I should have clarified this in my post, but not ALL of these pins were from lanyards or pin boards. A great thing about CM (cast member) pin trading opening back up is that it's drawn lots of traders to the parks, so I've been able to meet (and trade with) a lot of folks as well. (These pins are only half the story, I picked up a lot of pins that I later traded to collectors, though I'm not sure if those were fakes as well) I also traded for some fakes on purpose (see the fake expressions and minnie pins above) so I can study them, and (with the help of y'all) figure out which ones are fakes and why so I can avoid making that mistake in the future. (I'll also heed your advice about the arcade, next time I'm just uploading new pins, pins verified professionally on here or ones I bought myself) I definitely don't want to cut anyone a bad deal.

I have seen a lot of recent mystery collection pins on lanyards (collars, TLK, etc.) so I assumed someone maybe got duplicates and swapped them out. I think it's possible to find legit pins on lanyards but as you said it's a 98% fake issue. I had to do a lot of hunting to find these, and as I'm finding out not very many of these were real anyways.

The red scared Mickey expressions pin looks real, right? I've been kinda obsessed with finding legit Mickey expression pins since I stumbled upon it, almost every lanyard has a pin in that series (and I checked maybe 100 of them) but none of them have matched the quality of that one. It really is a 98% fake ratio then if 1 out of every 100 expression pins is real. That's crazy to think about, while I was aware a large amount of them were likely fake I assumed the ratio was higher than that. NGL it makes hunting for the real ones more fun though.

If my memory serves me right, these were the pins I got from other traders (and therefore are the least sure about.)

Now that doesn't guarantee they're real (in fact the O'Malley one is one I got from a trader) but at least they're fun!

Here's the backs of those loungefly pins, I didn't see a crown icon on the back ;w;



However, I did see crowns on the back of the pooh in nightclothes one, so maybe that one's legit?






The red stripe thing is... disappointing. I did get the pins in those little bags, I guess they are fakes but they were pretty decent fakes at that. My pre-emptive examinations only found issues with a couple of them. I really wish I'd found y'all like a month earlier, it would have saved me so much time and money! You've pointed out some authentic pin sources that my money would have been much better spent on. You live and you learn I guess.

Some of these pins I like even if they ARE fakes, (the O'malley one is an example, I love cute Disney animals regardless of value and I'd be happy to trade a real pin I don't like for a fake I really do) Parks trading is a lot more casual and emotions based so I'm fine if it's fake-for-fake trading (at least for lanyards or casual swaps) I do want to love this hobby, and constantly assessing the retail value of pins and gauging their authenticity is a quick way to take the joy out of it. I've already noticed that I'm starting to feel paranoid whenever I go hunting, and I don't want to do that. Obviously I'm not listing them on Pin and Pop or looking to trade them at events, but it's not a total loss!
 
You're learning a lot very quickly. More quickly than I did when I started trading. I'm certainly no expert, though, there is always more to learn. Please do enjoy your trading and collecting, I hope you don't spend too much time worrying about the potential financial pitfalls. They're just something to be aware of, and all we can do is try our best with the information we have.
 
YO I had no idea that was a thing! I bought a pin off of there (my last for awhile as I’ve finally exhausted my pin buying budget, I’ll be sure to show yall when it arrives) I’ll definitely keep an eye on there as the pins were super cool.


Thanks for pointing this place out! I wish I’d known about it sooner.
 
Thanks! There’s always more to learn. I’m super lucky my job allows me to hit the pin boards almost daily if I want to. The process of searching and trading is half the fun lol. If I ever get traders remorse I can always hit the hidden Mickeys again. Just so long as I’m not trading them here or at events.

I’ll be sure to post more pics of interesting ones I find! Both the real ones and the fake ones. We can all study them together as I feel like the fakes are getting harder and harder to detect
 
Reactions: Ajk
momin.ator said:
I still trade for scrappers occasionally. I traded for a loungefly pin with the Mickey back without checking first. Sometimes I trade for them, like you did, because I want to look at it more closely.
Click to expand...
Yeah, it’s not always about “winning” a trade. Scrappers are fun for impulse trades and picking up pins to study later. Those kind of low effort trades are the most fun imo
 
Awesome! Which one did you get?
 
Wow! Those ice cream Loungefly pins... I used to think Loungefly pins were a safe bet when trading. So sad...

The fannie pack (little brother? I think?), the munchling and the Loungefly Pooh look to be okay.
The chip and dale at the fire and the Dug, Up pin - I am not familiar with these and my gut says these are okay too. (Its probably good I am not familiar as it means I haven't seen any of these coating the trading boards.)
The dog collar pins... maybe? I would need to take a closer look.
The rest are likely fake. This is primarily base on what is on the trade boards and lanyards all the time around all the parks.

Love seeing all the trades you are making. So much fun!
 
Yes Anne. I was surprised when I realized that they were faking loungfly pins too
 
The Dug one is from 2024, so I'm pretty sure it's real. Fanny pack and munchling too. A couple others in the first photo (Emperor, R2, Donald, and some others) are from 2024.

I'm pretty sure Simba, Gingerbread, O'malley, and 30 years are fake, due to the color difference and the others having the border on the backs. I'm not 100% sure about the rest, I'll have to upload more detailed pics once I have the time. (uploading these is pretty extensive lol)
 
Speaking of the collars series though, I got pixie dusted today! (Or as y'all say in the forums, zapped) I was working when a guest came up to me with a lanyard that had several pins from that series. On it was the collar I had been searching for ever since I got into the series, Our fuzzy friend Figaro! To my surprise, when I mentioned my quest for the Figaro pin they just gave it me and didn't accept anything in return! So it is with great pride and pleasure I present this beauty!





I'd be curious to see y'all's thoughts on it, no glaringly obvious errors that I can detect. Of course it's going into my forever keepsies collection even if it is fake as a reminder of the magic that can happen at Disney World!


Also, I'm going to try and attend that pin event in Orlando tomorrow. I might only be there for around an hour, but maybe they can offer more insight as to my collection's authenticity as well as some neat trades. I'll post an update with how that goes!
 
Congrats! That’s the great spirit of pin trading.
 
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