Disney Land Paris - Pin Trading

Hi there,

I am going to Disney Land Paris on 27th December to the 30th December. Although I have been to DLRP 4 times before it is my first visit as a pin trader and my first visit in 5 years! I will also be taking my girlfriend.

I am eagerly awaiting the release of the upcoming pins on the DLRP site so I can see what is going to be released when I am there and budget for my pin spending. Currently thinking about £200.

I have about 50 pins to take to trade, mostly Disney Store UK pins, but some other pins aswell.

I have some questions and I hope somebody will be able to shed a little light for me...

Where is the best place to go for pin trading?

Where can I find the pin board?

Is it easy to find pins that are on sale/newly released on CM lanyards?

Is the choice of pins for sale good?

I believe that some CMs only trade with children, how do I distinguish between them and the ordinary trading CMs?

Are the CMs generally friendly?

Are there any secrets/hints and tips that I should know?

What is the likelihood that I will find a member of the public who is trading pins?

and finally..

How much do you usually spend on pins in Disney theme parks?

I hope that's not too many questions.. :anxious:

If you can help answering any of those questions then I would be very greatful. Please don't feel obliged to answer if you don't want to...

Thanks in advance,

Martin

weekday that is not the right time for exchange with other collectors.
you install you can go to Victoria's face, on the central plaza after Main Street

I cant really help on most of the questions cos i am also new to pin trading i only started on my last trip to disney land paris in October i spent around £150 on 18 pins so it depends how many you want he he the end store in the disney village had a good collection behind the counter if you ask the cast members they will let you have a good look also the first main shop on the left down main street i didnt really trade with any one in the park as i just bought the pins a really really wanted!!. r u staying in the park? if so whitch hotel??

Where is the best place to go for pin trading? - there is the big disney shop near the new york hotel and the big mcdonalds - this is were i traded alot.

Where can I find the pin board? - i saw one just ouside the main disney gates

Is it easy to find pins that are on sale/newly released on CM lanyards? - yeah and no i found a few not all i was looking for but did complete 2 whole sets

Is the choice of pins for sale good? - there ok , not as good as WDW or CA but there ok

I believe that some CMs only trade with children, how do I distinguish between them and the ordinary trading CMs? - the CM'S with the green lanyards are for kids under 10

Are the CMs generally friendly?- yeah i guess , if they understand you bearing in mind it is france. but they were nice when i visited

Are there any secrets/hints and tips that I should know? - check out all the hotels i got a couple of pins you wouldnt normally find on lanyards of CM'S hiding in there

What is the likelihood that I will find a member of the public who is trading pins? - ermm im not sure you will proberly get about 5 people?

and finally..

How much do you usually spend on pins in Disney theme parks? - around about £200 like you that is a nice amount

i hope i helped and have a mickeytastic time!!

Hi Martin, I've been loads of times - strangely though never to a PTN!!! I'm out there on 17th December & i'll give you a Pin Trading Trip Report.

What I can remember from previous trips is that do not expect too much on lanyards, there are actually quite a lot of WDW/DLR pins (yes scrappers do appear!) - if you go with this frame of mind then you will not be too disappointed. We were actually quite over-expectant last trip only to return home with a handful of trades! This time i'll only be taking 100 trade pins & I do not expect to trade them all - I'd originally planned to take all my 500+ traders!

The pin board is run by a CM called Patrick at the top of Main Street - the board is out at certain times & you will need to check. There is a separate section on the board for trading LE pins - you must make sure that your pin states LE on the back. In my opinion the UK pins are too good to be used as just trade pins, I'd definitely hold them back as I have never seen a newly released pin on a CM lanyard (as mentioned the choice is pretty poor!) & the LE section is also pretty poor, but it depends on what you're after.

The choice of pins for sale is limited - all the pins are behind glass cabinets (stops them from being stolen!!) & if you want a pin I'd suggest that you check it first, one pin I wished to purchase had a loose pin-back, it was the last one (surprise) & in the end I turned it down - not paying many euros for a suspect pin, LE900 or not! Please check everything before parting with your money!

You may come across fellow guests who trade - BUT beware of the French pin sharks, they tend to get to the Parks for early opening (if you're staying on property I strongly suggest you use this!!) & literally sweep every good pin up before general opening - I had a laugh once when a French trader wanted 9 of my pins for one of hers, I cannot remember what pin it was! They usually set up in the eating area near the pin board.

I find the CM's as probably being the most unhappy of all Disney CM's - sorry to say this but it is the impression I get, don't be too surprised if the CM checks your pin during the trade & then wants to select a pin from your lanyard (suggestion here - hide your keeps!!). CM's tend to treat the pins as their own, will not trade if they suspect a dodgy pin (no Disney copyright or EuroDisney please!!!) & do tend to hide behind the language barrier - suggest learn a bit of French pin trading speak before you go!

Anything else ask away!!

I see that you say that the UK pins are worth more so hold them back. However I have traded most of my pins with the UK stores for UK pins in order to stimulate some activity on the lanyards of certain stores that I visit regularly here in the UK. I don't mind trading them, but I am going with the clear view that I will be looking for Nightmare Before Christmas, Lion King, Stitch, Toy Story and Bugs Life pins. I don't want to get side tracked or deviate from those themes... too much!!

I am staying at Hotel Cheyenne so will definately be making the most of the EMH on both the Tuesday and Wednesday.

The term pin sharks sounds so scary. I have noticed on other forums that people have referred to these sharks and have felt bullied, humiliated and intimidated by them.. Not something I would want to associate with my Disney holiday! I've studied French in the past so know some basic terminology but will learn some basic pinphraseology!

I didn't think that all the pins would be behind glass. I thought they would be on racks. But I suppose they would be easy to steal as you could just put them in your pockets. Not that I would, but you know what I mean!

I look forward to your pin trading report earthbound!

Are there any secrets/hints and tips that I should know? - check out all the hotels i got a couple of pins you wouldnt normally find on lanyards of CM'S hiding in there

Thanks for the tip Nicole, I will definately do that, am I right in remembering that the Hotels have their own shops aswell? Do hotel front of house staff etc also trade pins?

How many pins do people trade on average whilst staying at DLRP?

I am sure I will post more questions in due course.

Thankyou to everybody for their help and advice!!

Regards,

Martin

Ive been collecting over a year and am visting DLRP for the 1st time in January and am not taking many pins to trade from what Ive heard off other people I talk to about the french traders being rude to them or if a french trader sees 2 of the same pin on your lanyard or in your pin bag they wont offer half as good due to you having 2 for trade..

Im going to be reluctant when I go in January and not hold my breath for any pins as when it comes to pins Im quite picky and dont like every stitch pin I see (as I will be focusing on stitch as I doubt no UP pins will be out lol) BUT im going at the end of January so Im assuming there will be a PTN on the friday and Ive been told off many of my friends who saw my traders last week that my pins may be to good for the french traders...and Im holding out for some of my Grails with some of the pins I have so not going to be traded on impulse XD

Anyway thats just my thoughts on when I go which I thought I would share lol good luck when you go in December Martin and will look forward to what you get should be seeing the December releases soon so hope they have a good selection for when you go XD

Thanks, I am eagerly awaiting the release of the upcoming pins.

Bring on Wednesday/Thursday!

Martin

I struggle to think that we put the french in the same bag.
of course there are sharks but they're everywhere and there always will be :cry:

(I may have misunderstood the message, I do not speak and do not understand much English)

DISNEY COLLECTOR PINS said:

I struggle to think that we put the french in the same bag.
of course there are sharks but they're everywhere and there always will be :cry:

(I may have misunderstood the message, I do not speak and do not understand much English)

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the french traders ive been told about are the ones that hound the PTN's so Im going off what I have been told, Im hoping I am wrong when I go in January though. Not all french traders are going to be rude or pin sharks so I guess it comes down to experience.

Je suis desole mais je pense que la francais sont tres bien personnes. Le probleme est plu de 'sharks' sont francais et par consequent nous supposons tout la francais sont 'sharks'.

Excusez moin francais, c'est ete a longue temp!

Martin

Stitch2814 said:

the french traders ive been told about are the ones that hound the PTN's so Im going off what I have been told, Im hoping I am wrong when I go in January though. Not all french traders are going to be rude or pin sharks so I guess it comes down to experience.

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I agee, it does seem that the french get a bad press from some of the stories. I am sure there are some french people are a pleasure to trade with. Nobody doubts that.

Regards,

Martin

Martin B said:

I agee, it does seem that the french get a bad press from some of the stories. I am sure there are some french people are a pleasure to trade with. Nobody doubts that.

Regards,

Martin

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I hoped not to offend SOMEBODY, and away from me the idea to do this is just a chat

regards, F.G

There really isn't much more I can add to that above - the "Sharks" are there & as mentioned they are in abundance at the PTN - the main reason why I have never been to one, probably will never attend one. I know a good few traders who have been & have said that they are there in hordes. Traders with their bags & books out do have a nice collection for you to look through, but if you want to make a trade PLEASE make sure you understand what they require in exchange - don't walk away feeling hard done by - as I mentioned a 9 for 1 trade was laughable (it was for a LE900 Stitch pin), but the trader thought it was a good trade!

My opinion the the UK pins are maybe too good for lanyards is my own opinion, you mentioned that you're after NBC pins etc, please don't get your hopes up, the selection from lanyards is pretty poor & from what I recall not all CM's wear lanyards. Also remember that if it is cold then they will be wearing coats & you'll have to ask every CM regardless if they are wearing a lanyard as you will not be able to see it!!! Bear in mind that a large majority of the DLP releases are in fact LE's, the likelihood of seeing these on lanyards is remote to say the least, even rack pins are rare to pick up, but you never know!

As I mentioned, I originally planned to take all my trade pins but have decided to take just a 100 or so for the Friday - Sunday, I believe this will be enough, however I'm not after anything specific & will only trade if something catches my eye, to be honest I actually expect to return home with some of the trade pins!

My hopes are not high, don't worry.

I am more interested in purchasing the pins than trading. But as I am only taking about 50 pins I imagine that I will be looking to trade most of them even if only to freshen up my trades in the end.

I will definately ask CMs, I rememember when I went five years ago that some CMs asked me wether I wanted to trade pins but then I had no idea what they were on about as I wasn't into collecting them then.

I also vaguely remember someone mentioning that there is a pin shop/wardrobe in the studios park. Is this correct and if so, where can I find it?

Thanks again for your replies!

Martin

earthbound said:

as I mentioned a 9 for 1 trade was laughable (it was for a LE900 Stitch pin), but the trader thought it was a good trade!

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This, this and ten times this. I had someone asking for my Stitch vs. Villains LE 100 set in return for a LE900 Stitch a couple of months ago. The other trader totally did not get why on earth I could tell him "no way". He thought he was being generous.
Of course there's bad apples everywhere and I met lots of nice people too.


Oh, and I also ditto the "learn some French". It is amazing how quickly people can go and hide behind the language barrier, especially the CMs. That is one thing that seems to be unique to Paris. I'm native German and learned both English and French in school. Never once in my visit to the US parks a US CM tried to blame a language problem.

Id say the UK LE pins are too good for lanyards but not too good for the traders there as Ive been told that traders in DLRP dont want UK pins as trades I dont know why..thats why Im going with purely DS.com and a few other US pins and UK core pins for the lanyards if I see something I fancy but not for trading sake. Im mainly saving my LE pins for the PTN if there is one while Im staying.

Yes I definately wouldn't trade LE pins on the lanyards but maybe on the board. I have 50ish core pins ready for the lanyards.

Martin

Vala said:

This, this and ten times this. I had someone asking for my Stitch vs. Villains LE 100 set in return for a LE900 Stitch a couple of months ago. The other trader totally did not get why on earth I could tell him "no way". He thought he was being generous.
Of course there's bad apples everywhere and I met lots of nice people too.


Oh, and I also ditto the "learn some French". It is amazing how quickly people can go and hide behind the language barrier, especially the CMs. That is one thing that seems to be unique to Paris. I'm native German and learned both English and French in school. Never once in my visit to the US parks a US CM tried to blame a language problem.

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You & me both then Vala have experienced the French Trader! LoL

Don't get me wrong, most of them are very pleasant & approachable & try to communicate (even by writing things down!!), but there are a few who just do not have a clue

Yeah, definitely sounds like we got the same guy! LOL

Does anybody know wether there will be a good selection of pin sets?

Also, do they have more pins for sale/a better choice than they release on the pin trading page on the website at the beggining of each month?

Regards,

Martin

You usually can find rather old stuff that you'd consider long sold out if you look in the right places.

If you mean surprise releases I honestly can't remember anything in quite a while.
Pin sets... those booster sets for Christmas and Halloween. Some lanyard starter sets. I remember a Minnie set and a Tink set. But nothing that was not seen online yet.

Basically what is shown on-line is available to purchase - no surprises. As you're probably aware if you search Pinpics against just DLP then the newer releases are on the last page(s) - maybe take a print-out with you

I found quite a few older pins and had more than enough choices last month when i went i didnt see any bugs life pins or lion king ones but loads of stitches and jack ones

Vala said:

right places.

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Come on Vala! Tell me where!
I am a little dissapointed that there were not any surprise releases.

Earthbound - thanks for the tip about searching on pinpics. May definately be worth taking a print out.

Thanks again,

Martin