CM Dissapointment

My family arrived last night in Tampa, FL at a family members house. We had just finished off a 3 day Disney trip which was packed to the brim everyday.

We went to Magic Kingdom at 9am on Sunday and did not leave until 12am. Then on Monday we went to Hollywood studios from 9am-11am.


Now onto the Title. CM Dissapointment.

When we first got down to the hotel ( Music) I jumped into the pin trading game! I went right to the gift shop area and found that there were 6 cast members all with pins. I happened to see they had just busted open a new bag of pins. They were nothing special ( the starter set you get ( for 18.95) when you buy $40 worth of pins. I liked them so I waited until they handed them out to a few of the CMs. Then I made my move. I scooped up all of them at once. Now to be fair nobody else was in there trading so I did not feel bad about doing it and I gave some nice traders in return.

So that was a positive experience.

Then we went to DTD on Saturday night. Once again positive experience as I picked up a handful of pins. Nothing out of this world though. Still positive.

This is where it all went south.

We went to magic kingdom and I was excited to start trading! We hit up the main street shops. I was about 2 trades in when I started to notice the pattern.

I know we have all talked about it on here before and those of you that are lucky enough to get to the parks everyday ( or 1 time a week) may get a break in this pattern.

All of the CMs had nearly identical pins. And they were all potential scrappers. I even traded for an extra Minnie pin ( from the set earlier described) and the back post was loose.

I only traded for about half the day before getting discouraged. Then to top it off these 2 kids ran up to me and asked to trade. I said sure thing and the 1 girl traded just fine. I let her pick any pin on my lanyard in return for any pin. Then the boy ( 10 years old roughly) picked a pin and handed me one and ran off before I could look at it.

It was a pin from a local chinese restaurant. I was not angry. Mainly because I did not mind losing the scrapper and he was 10 so I am giving him the benefit of the doubt and saying he had no idea what he had.

So I kept looking at the CMs ( which is awkard when you are staring at there chests! I do announce I am looking to trade but when I walk by a CM I do tend to stare. HAHA)

So the rest of the day was spent picking out some pins to buy.

Monday was even worse for me. I only had my lanyard out for maybe 2 hours. Same deal. Same pins on every CM and all potential scrappers. Now when I say potential scrappers I am talking about the ones that I have read about on here and that I got in the mail from ebay ( back when I first started and had no idea about scrappers)

It was sooo disappointing. I put my lanyard in my bag and just enjoyed the park even more than I already was.


Overall my time there was AWESOME but the pin trading was not. I only noticed maybe 1 or 2 people trading there own collections and I had left the bulk of mine at home so I did not even bother with them.

I did buy some really nice pins though that I am very excited to add to my collection and traders. Not too many LE pins out there or maybe I just missed them completely.

I will have another thread at some point here with pictures but I picked up a nice stitch rack pin and a really neat bambi 70th anniversary LE pin ( like 2k though).

I bought a box of those confection pins and got some neat ones. Bought plenty! I will have to update my traders too!


TL;DR- I noticed all the CMs had the same pins. Dissapointed both days at the parks. I will get over it! Thanks for listening!!

I noticed a lot of CM had a lot of the same pins when I went, but it didn't stop me from going to every castmate, lol
All it did the first 2 days was rain, so there wasn't much else to do anyways

I did walk into Disney with about 25 non stitch traders, and left with 20 stitch pins and a full HM set, which I later found out 2 of them were scrappers, of well

Oh, and like, another 20 pins I bought, lol

Yeah I still looked at every CM haha. I just had horrible luck finding any good pins on them. And I LITERALLY STOPPED every single CM. Just ask my wife! She hates that I stop every 5 minutes! lol

I got my mom on the pin trading as well, lol
She started at first just getting some princess ones for a neighbor who watched out house while we were gone
And than she started to collect some, lol

I never did get to see the pin trading stroller at Magic Kingdom

As a WDW local I can tell you that what you experienced is unfortunately the "norm" for cast member trading now.

We hardly even look at lanyards anymore, unless a new batch of Hidden Mickeys has recently been released (which make decent traders before scrappers of these pins start appearing).

Lanyards have been completely overrun by scrappers, but Cast Members are trained to accept any pin that has "Copyright Disney" on the back, not to mention they are busy trying to do their jobs and many could care less about trying to decipher whether a pin is real or not.

When we go to the parks we usually only throw 4-6 pins in our bags on the off-chance that we will see something different that is worth trading for, but we are usually lucky if we trade one or two pins.

My husband and I honeymooned at Disney and we were there for 9 days and I noticed the same thing... that a lot of the CM's had the same pins and they weren't ones I wanted at all... we finally just started piecing together sets of stuff that we didn't want per se... but if we went home with them, at least we had the full set... we wound up with the set of orange birds and an almost complete set of the chimeree's (i think they are called)... but we will probably take those back to re-trade in the future...

I agree that CM's in the same store should try to have different pins (for all stores except World of Disney as that store is huge and it would be impossible to have them all have different pins!)...

Disney really needs to take it upon themselves to do a small part to stop the scrapper issue. They need posters in all pin shopping locations that explain what a scrapper is, how to look for them and where they come from. Educate people and maybe you can stop some of it. Also, drop the prices of some trader sets to something that is more affordable and people will buy the real ones over the fake ones. The problem will never stop though, there will always be people that just don't care. I think we're all tired of seeing the stupid window vinyl series with the black background and a pet or family member silhouette. Or the LE25 ghost that I see 40 times everyday I go there. Also, I think I see a million of the cutie pins, the little characters. Even if they are real I don't want any of them, but the kids parents love to buy them for them and then the kids trade them away.

The other disappointment for me is how hard it is just to find new hidden mickey's. I've spent 3 full days, one a weekday, at DLR/DCA and I managed to find about 7 of the new hidden mickey's and I was looking at every lanyard and every board and every hotel desk I could find. Every single time I found one the CM said they had JUST put it on. I mean, they last a minute at the most on a lanyard. You just have to be lucky anymore. Then you go to the tables and the people there have 40 already with complete sets and multiples of multiples. Oh well, such is the life of a hidden mickey collector. I'm still short a few from wave A.

It's nearly impossible to regulate counterfeits from circulating the parks. I've been going to DLR and trading pins since the beginning of this year and there have always been scrappers/counterfeits on at least 90% of the lanyards that i've seen. Honestly, what should we expect? besides hidden mickeys of the current season, hardly is there anything worth trading for unless you want some of the booster pack pins. much like anything in life you need to prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

I haven't been trading nearly as long as other members on dpf, so i would like to hear from others what pin trading with cm's has been like over the years. I once talked to a guy who said they got a pin that lit up from a cm lanyard once, but the coolest pin i've really ever gotten from a cm was an open rack slider.

Jabberwocky said:

I wouldn't call the OP's experience "Cast Member disappointment" - how about disappointment with the people who put scrappers all over the lanyards? It's not fair to blame CMs who must accept whatever pins they're given. I don't think they like it either.

Click to expand...

This is very true. Even if a CM is knowledgeable about pins and knows that someone is trading them a scrapper, they aren't allowed to turn them away. Disney isn't exactly in the business of calling out their guests heh

markheardjr said:

The other disappointment for me is how hard it is just to find new hidden mickey's. I've spent 3 full days, one a weekday, at DLR/DCA and I managed to find about 7 of the new hidden mickey's and I was looking at every lanyard and every board and every hotel desk I could find. Every single time I found one the CM said they had JUST put it on. I mean, they last a minute at the most on a lanyard. You just have to be lucky anymore. Then you go to the tables and the people there have 40 already with complete sets and multiples of multiples. Oh well, such is the life of a hidden mickey collector. I'm still short a few from wave A.

Click to expand...

Definitely true, one of the cm's i found at dlr in the emporium had all the new HM wave b pins (the coffins, duffy heads, and the construction fences SHE HAD OSWALD!!!) but she was wearing the teal lanyard. I got excited so I politely and jokingly asked but she strictly refused. That's a case where the cm definitely knew what she was doing.

markheardjr said:

Disney really needs to take it upon themselves to do a small part to stop the scrapper issue. They need posters in all pin shopping locations that explain what a scrapper is, how to look for them and where they come from. Educate people and maybe you can stop some of it. Also, drop the prices of some trader sets to something that is more affordable and people will buy the real ones over the fake ones. The problem will never stop though, there will always be people that just don't care. I think we're all tired of seeing the stupid window vinyl series with the black background and a pet or family member silhouette. Or the LE25 ghost that I see 40 times everyday I go there. Also, I think I see a million of the cutie pins, the little characters. Even if they are real I don't want any of them, but the kids parents love to buy them for them and then the kids trade them away.

The other disappointment for me is how hard it is just to find new hidden mickey's. I've spent 3 full days, one a weekday, at DLR/DCA and I managed to find about 7 of the new hidden mickey's and I was looking at every lanyard and every board and every hotel desk I could find. Every single time I found one the CM said they had JUST put it on. I mean, they last a minute at the most on a lanyard. You just have to be lucky anymore. Then you go to the tables and the people there have 40 already with complete sets and multiples of multiples. Oh well, such is the life of a hidden mickey collector. I'm still short a few from wave A.

Click to expand...

Mark - -which ones from Wave A are you short? I forgot what Wave A had. LOL But I'm sure I probably have a few extra somewhere.

Jabberwocky said:

how about disappointment with the people who put scrappers all over the lanyards? It's not fair to blame CMs who must accept whatever pins they're given. I don't think they like it either.

Click to expand...

You hit the nail right on the head. It's the guests (and I'll lump every one in that group...guests, locals, non locals, and the rest..all who know better--igmorance is no excuse). They have bags FULL of fakes and run from CM to CM dumping their crud for anything they think might be good. I recognize a LOT of these people, so they know better. They are just looking to get something for nothing. It's fraud. That's why you are seeing crud on every lanyard. The CMs are cleaned out constantly by these people.

What really angers me is said people mentioned above I see at PTNs and events, trading. So, I know where they got a lot of their stuff and how they obtained it. They are the ones ruining it for everyone.

starry_solo said:

Mark - -which ones from Wave A are you short? I forgot what Wave A had. LOL But I'm sure I probably have a few extra somewhere.

Click to expand...

I need to rummage through my recent bag of traders but I think I need the Jiminy crest and the Fantasyland shield pins and either Scorpio Cheshire or Cancer Sebastian or both.

For the crowning touch of the scrapper issue was when at the event last year there was a CM there who had a bag full of scrappers and was so proud of it. She bragged to everyone that she got them cheap and was going to use them on the boards for good pins. So the problem isn't just the public, it's all the way to the core of Disney. The only way to end it is to end pins and I hope that doesn't happen. As long as there are scrapers, there will be issues.

Trust me, cast members get annoyed when given scrappers. Especially those that get sucked into pin trading outside of work. I had a few more thoughts typed out but on second thought I think a certain mouse has rules against that.

Mark- I have the dumbo shield pin if you still need that one.

Jabberwocky said:

I wouldn't call the OP's experience "Cast Member disappointment" - how about disappointment with the people who put scrappers all over the lanyards? It's not fair to blame CMs who must accept whatever pins they're given. I don't think they like it either.

Click to expand...

Oh yes! I did not mean I was mad at the cast members. I just meant that the CM trading was a total bust.

I have the Cheshire scorpio pin. PM to set up trade

I just went to Disney for my senior trip and got about 30 CMs which i thought was okay. I was only in the park for 2 days and at nights the cast members didnt wear lanyards because it was a private event but i thought it was overall successful considering the time i was there

Jabberwocky said:

And I think a lot of people feel that way too! Just didn't want people to think CMs disappointed you!

Click to expand...

Oh yes! The CMs themselves were awesome. I actually talked to the one for about 10 minutes at Hollywood Studios while she was standing next to a pin board in one of the front stores. They have always been nice. The pins on their lanyards were the issue.

It certainly is not like it was back in 2004.

I've told you this already, but I'll tell it again . I was coming out of the restroom, when I spotted a manager . I politely went over and as always asked, May I please see your pins ? I looked at her lanyard and said, you do realize you have a scrapper on your lanyard ? pointing out the royal blue t shirt Genie . She was also wearing an authenic HM Genie . She said, very good eyes, indeed fake . I asked, are you going to put it in the waste bin ? She answered nope, I will trade it if someone asks and if not it will stay on my lanyard . I thought as walking away, what has become of the fun in trading, if the managers don't even care .
Later on I was getting ready for the PTN, as leaving the park, I noticed a different manager, had a larger size Belle pin on her lanyard . It was Belle in her red cloak feeding the birds . I was very excited to get it, until, I asked another companion pin trader if they had the set . Guess, mine was a fake . The colors were different . I was going to bring it home, but my dear hubby, gave it a little girl while I was making a trade . Arrrr
I've found Animal Kingdom and sometimes the boards at the resort gift shop . I usually make friends with the manager at the resort gift shop . And if I'm looking for anything good, they'll find one for me . Now thats magic .
Also, shift change is at 3:00 and I usually if at Epcot, trade around the world .

I was so discouraged also when I noticed that most cast members had the same pins and just recycle through them. Then all of the sudden I spotted 3 managers walking together and asked to look at their pins and low and behold I obtained ALL the Duffy Bears just from those 3 managers! Just when I thought I would never get the Duffy Bears, my luck changed.
So I really think it is just being in the right place at the right time to be honest.
Now maybe I'll have the same luck tomorrow for the Costume Icons.

Just wanting to chip in here and join in the dissapointment about scrappers generally. My Mum has just gotten back in to pin trading and not living anywhere near a park, she gets all her pins off of ebay and we have a daily struggle as I call her out on all the scrappers she's just bought. Try as I might, I can't get her to stop buying them! Every day it seems that we're sending stuff back...

I remember 10 years ago when you could buy loads of pins off of ebay and scrappers were not heard of. Sad times now though isn't it?