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DPF 10th Anniversary Giveaway #9 - Closed!

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DPF 10th Anniversary Giveaway #9 - Closed!
Omg I loved reading through everyone’s stories! Our members on DPF are so generous and kind hearted, it makes DPF the best place to be.

Gosh I have so many stories and members (old and new) that I can list that have helped me on my journey. I hope they know how much I appreciate them. It’s hard for me to pick a favorite or a standout member experience so I will refrain from choosing.

I think my standout trading experience was with this amazing cast member I traded with last year. She was stationed at one of the Disney Vacation Club booths with a lanyard. Of course I approached her knowing I would get the spiel, but I actually enjoy talking to cast members and hearing what they have to say. I hate to take advantage of the fast pass perk so I usually only go on the tour 1-2 times a year, and I’ll remind them of that when they start. It makes me sad when people are dismissive of cast members. I’ve seen too many times guests wanting to trade with the CM being super rude or abrupt. They are people, not pin trading boards. At least acknowledge their existence and show gratitude.

Well this particular CM was amazing. We sat and talked for about 10 minutes, even after I let her know I had taken the tour a few months before. She still took the time to ask me about my pins and my Disney interests. I also got to hear about her history with the company and all the fun memories she made. After our interaction, she had me wait off to the side and brought back a cast exclusive pin and handed it to me. I was confused and thought she wanted me to admire her pin, so I handed it back to her and mentioned how awesome it was. She obviously handed it back and let me know it was for me to keep. I got a bit teary eyed at her gesture. It was less about the pin and more about how special she made me feel that entire time. Talk about great customer service. CMs like her are why I will continue to be loyal to the Disney company and continue to renew my pass. Every time I go to Disney my friends mention that experience, so it left a lasting memory with all of us!
 
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Pecosace said:
I have many great pin stories but one in recent memory was that @theoucharis was looking for the MMA Peter Pan pinset which I luckily was chosen for on MerchPass. They had some pins that I wanted and we worked out a trade to help us each out :) One pin was the Mickeys Christmas Carol popup book which my sister and I always love that movie and another was the Johnny Appleseed book which is another short that I enjoy in Melody Time. They also helped trade me one of the last SotMK cards I needed which was very nice! So I nominate @theoucharis , thank you!
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@Pecosace Thank you so much for the nomination and the trades.

There have been so many here who have been so giving to me and my family that there are too many to thank, but I will share two stories.

We live in Central Jersey, so we have had the chance to attend the Central Jersey Disney Pin Traders trading weekends. We've gone on two different Saturdays over the past several years, and I've loved how generous traders have been with my daughter, especially when we had gone on our first Saturday, as I didn't know much about trading and didn't know much about how to identify scrappers, and didn't really have many pins to trade with. Yes, we did meet a few traders who took advantage of my daughter, where they would trade her a rack pin for one of the LEs that I allowed her to trade, as she didn't know better. But we mostly came across generous traders who zapped her with pins, and there was one nice lady who traded her one of the chaser pins from the mystery set from the Pixar event for an "average" LE pin. And we were even lucky to win the Pin Bingo game that weekend and came away with a fairly large bag of pins. A few years later, we went back, and on that Saturday, we got to meet @maiarebecca in-person. She generously traded with us, but I really appreciated her generosity to my daughter. So, I nominate @maiarebecca for helping to make that weekend a memorable one for us.

I also would like to nominate @summerskin, as she has zapped me pins, including a PODM, as I do not have traders that come close to being "equal" to what she has available to trade. Her generosity in trading has always been appreciated. My daughter was born when the PODMs were released, so I am working towards collecting a full set for her. We are just one movie shy (of course, it is Tangled), but to be zapped a PODM - wow. DPFers are great.
 
While we were at Disney Springs, I went into a few shops to hunt for pins with my niece while my husband pushed the double stroller around near the food trucks. As he waited for me, he must have walked in front of a little toddler girl who was sitting on a stone wall with her dad. She saw my husband’s lanyard as he passed by. Excitedly, she jumped off the wall and ran to him to trade. She was shy and made her dad ask to trade. My husband said she could trade for whatever pin she wanted since they were all traders. She picked one and gave him a muppets Hidden Mickey pin. It was such a great experience.


For online interactions, I have had several great experiences. These two interactions aren’t exactly pin trades but they were wonderful. The first was thank to @CanaDaLE. Because of the great game she hosted, I was able to meet a lot of great DPF members and grow in the community. The amazing windows pin was the cherry on top of a great game.
The second experience came from @CanaDaLE’s games. @LadyBarclay sent an amazing zap with a Max Hidden Mickey pin. This was the only pin I wanted to find on my last trip to Disney. I was so disappointed when I left without it. Needless to say, I was squealing when I opened the mail and saw the Max doghouse pin.
 
When I worked at the park, I got to pin trade as part of my job! Here are some of my favorite stories.

1. Whenever people who frequented the Asia parks would come in. Their pins were always interesting and unique, and they made for great traders because they usually wanted the American Hidden Mickeys. Once some people traded me and my co-workers a bunch of pins from the film Planes.... I didn't even know they made pins for that movie.
2. A young boy who was very excited to see a Horace Horse pin on my lanyard. I told him I was happy the pin was going to such a huge fan!
3. This two year old in a stroller who had just gotten her starter lanyard and made her first trade with me. Mom and Dad were so excited, and I gave her an I'm Celebrating button for her first pin trade!
 
sockgnome said:
Lol, I forgot to use the word "nominate." I would like to nominate @Sortlora, @pincrazy, @Shelterkat, and @starry_solo (if there isn't a limit on how many we can nominate).
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I hadn't posted a limit, or decided that there should be one. I was hoping the nominations would specifically come from stories, and mostly that's happened. I'm also just feeling really warm and fuzzy from all this and I feel the dire need to be giving. So yes! Let's do it!
 
bingandnelsonfan said:
Okay, I'm back with another story . . . just to share, as I entered yesterday already. However, the above story was my most memorable online trade. This following is definitely my favorite in-person trading memory.
December 11, 2018: Mom and the two of us were down visiting our grandmother in Viera. That's about an hour (bit less in good traffic) from Disney Springs, so we try to get in a lot of trading when we're there. This particular time was combined with Mom's birthday, but we were a bit sad, because it was the first trip down since our youngest cousin was in college. That meant it would be the first time of visiting without seeing her. And she was in the middle of finals, so it seemed like there was no way anything would work out to get her down there. We were almost at the end of our trip, and our aunt was coming up to go trading with us -- and she kept calling our Gramma -- and Gramma was being very secretive. As it turned out, Kelly (that's our cousin) had arranged to cram her finals tests with her teachers and got a late flight to arrive for the last couple of days of our trip!

So, we were all able to go to Disney Springs together for a whole day. It was very decorated for Christmas, and the Christmas Tree walk was out -- a first for us and something we totally hadn't expected. There were a lot of people there who were ready to trade, and we three girls were decked out with full lanyards and backpack with pins. We'd walk a few steps and someone would want to trade. Cute little kids who were just precious and thrilled to trade . . . parents who were excited that other visitors were willing to trade with their kids (okay, so Lizzy - @stratasfan - and I were 31 at the time and Kelly was 19 -- but we are all pretty like kids still when at Disney!). There were also a lot of people there on holiday from other countries, which was really cool, as we got to talk to people from Australia, New Zealand, England, Japan, China and other places. We were in "The World of Disney" for hours, because there were literally TONS of people there, all wanting to trade. There were groups from high schools and colleges, and it was fun to see what everybody was collecting and looking for. I had a Tomorrowland logo pin on my lanyard, and two College-age guys came up, one of them so wanting to trade that he practically skidded to a stop next to me -- and he was obviously pretty shy, so this was something special. He traded me a Chip & Dale Passholder statue pin, and I still have that as one of my favorite traded-for pins.

By the time we got to the Christmas trees, it was getting to evening. They had the bubbles floating in the air (Florida's simulation for snowflakes) and music playing. The decorations were amazing, and we were going from tree to tree having like the best time ever (definitely one of the best days I've ever had!) taking photos and laughing. There weren't a lot of people in the tree walk, and we had a pretty clear path. Plus, I don't know how many of you are identical twins, but when you are one and dressed alike (or even almost alike), it's pretty normal for everyone around to just stop where they are and stare at you 'til you've walked on. We're so used to it that the two of us don't even notice people looking at us, but it gets to Mom sometimes and always to friends or family with us. Well, since it was the two of us with Kelly -- and the three of us practically joined at the hips as we were going from tree to tree, even we noticed everybody watching. Well, all the way along, there was this cute little girl (probably about eight years old) who was sort of trailing behind us at a distance watching. We'd smile at her, but she'd duck behind a tree or something and then peak around. Almost at the end of the trees, she got closer, and there were her parents with her. We said "hi", and she looked up at us and asked what our lanyards were. Turns out, they were from New Zealand and had never been to Disney before. They hadn't heard of pin trading, either. By then, Mom and our Aunt were over here, too, so the five of us started taking pins off our lanyards, and we gave her a lanyard loaded with pins and told her how to trade.

That was totally the best pin-trading day ever for me! It was just a totally perfect day, and when you think of Disney Magic on vacation, well this was it! Here's a picture of us from that evening (Kelly on left, me in the center, Lizzy on right):
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Thank you for IDing yourself. I have often wondered which of you is which. :)
 
All righty, time to post another entry.

And as I said in a prior post above, this is a tough one.

As is the case with most of us here, I've been Zapped and I've in turn, Zapped.

And both have been in/at various times during my 10+ years with this Awesome Hobby.

One memory I have from Trading over outside of the little green man store in Tomorrowland, is a childh coming up and inquiring about a pin that I had. If I'm remembering correctly, he didn't know anything about the hobby.

I explained to him what the pins were all about. And he thanked me and went inside the store to find his grandmother.

It was shortly after that, I decided to go in and find him and Zap him the pin that he was interested in.

So I gave it to him and he ran up to his grandmother and told her what had just happened. I distinctly remember her turning around in the store, looking at me from a good 8 feet away, her chin was dropped open. And she profusely Thanked me. It was something I'll never forget.

The reason it stands out for me is, I so enjoy trading with children. And I really truly miss that. I always find such Joy sharing a pin with the child and seeing their face light up.

As for me, I've been so blessed with Zaps over the years. Each and Everytime, I am blown away and humbled by another's kindness and generosity.

Two that come to mind right now are:

I had been wanting to add the Belle Seasons Pin to my Princess-of-Choice Collection (and yes, that's what I call her, my "princess of choice" ).

Well as it turns out a pin collector from the Netherlands that I had met via a Facebook Pin group, worked it out and had a friend locate one for me. I was can still remember how shocked and overjoyed I was.

Another zap was from a member whose not active here like she used to be. I was in the process of acquiring one of each Alice in Wonderland PTD characters. She happened to have an extra one of Alice herself, that I wanted. And she Zapped me with it. I can remember that day and where it happened, vividly.

And lastly, it's from a friend who is not a member here. But you all know about this because I did post it here. He and his partner Zapped me the MMMA March Pin set, the plush, Ears and the Mug. To say I was blown out of the water with the zap, is putting it lightly.

And again, there are many here: (I'll add the word "NOMINATE" here for any below that haven't been already): @Shelterkat, @Addicted to Alice Pins, @krand1276, @SoraPandora, @Ksnuggles> (ty for continuing to run the R.A.K.S and Secret Santa's of which I have been blessed), plus other Active and Non- Active members over the years, that have turned this from a Hobby into a Labor of Love for me.

And it's because of people and Experiences like the above that my mantra is:
Keep on Spreading-the-Magic

Sent from my Moto E (4) Plus using Tapatalk
 
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I think my favorite memories of pin trading come at the beginning. When my kids were young. It has been a great experience
for each of them and has taught them patience and manners. Both of them still enjoy the hobby and both had the unique
experience of trading with Scoop Sanderson before he retired. My little one received his special pin for being patient while
waiting for him to trade with another family. I wish he was still around.

I love pin trading too. I love trading with CMs and with all the lovely people here and online.

I have been blessed by a lot of people here on the forum. I have had a lot of fun
trading with and exchanging candy with @Snoffsan in Sweden. She is really sweet. There are so many people who are
awesome here. I remember when docfish2u was doing the 12 days of Christmas and I got zapped by him. @MerlinEmrys is
so helpful with pickups. @timeerkat is awesome for offering pickups at DSSH. @Shelterkat and her pickups and @ItzaPinfan
and her pickups. Also @slbrabham for the wonderful zap of the Hanukkah Aristocats pin. And @Connies_Hobby for spending
so much time crocheting beautiful Mickey coasters. There are so many, and I want to say thank you to everyone here who has
helped a person who lives away from the parks to acquire some really wonderful pins.
 
Even though I’ve been collecting pins forever, my 1st ever pin trading event was only in Feb 2019 at the Contemporary Resort. I was so happy to meet and trade with a number of people from DPF there, even if we interacted for a couple minutes or a lot more. This includes chubs191, mixedwolf, pins4twin, and MerlinEmrys. I’m sure I missed some names. @Abyssinian28 , who I nominate, traded to me 3 villain sinister sideshow ticket LE 100 chasers! Finishing that set was a dream come true. I loved our conversation, and thank goodness you got your pin bags back.

A couple months later was the docfish2u party. That was amazing and fun. I met so many California peeps plus themickeymouserules and canadale and traded with many of you. As I entered the room, @timeerkat (who I nominate) was the 1st to say hello. Your warm welcome melted my anxiety, and it was a wonderful start to a marvelous day.
 
My favorite memory of pin trading(it's not really trading but pin related) was opening my Secret Santa package last Christmas from @Spr175psu, there was a lot of screaming involved and that whole exchange is one of my fondest memories of pin trading.

My other favorite memory was a Chesh grail zap from @Addicted to Alice Pins, the pin has its own little board on my wall now. I still read the note that was in that zap now and again cause it gives me the warm and fuzzies and reminds me what DPF and everyone here are to me.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
 
So, my first foray into online pin trading came with PinPics (of course). I don't recall when I joined PinPics but it was likely in 2009 or 2010. One trade went badly, but I was eventually able to recover my pins :)

I traded with @docfish2u via PinPics back in 2011. I don't recall if I mentioned DPF to him via a trade, but suddenly he was here :)
I also traded with @bcol via PinPics back in 2013. But he was already a DPF member. :)

It's been a while since I've traded online, but I am in the middle of a huge trade with @bcol right now.

One of my greatest times at a pin trading event happened at Disneyland, when they were celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Enchanted Tiki Room. I was sponsored by a DPF member and it was a great time! :D I pulled this pin from the trade boards

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It's my lowest LE to date (LE50)...I'm not counting the progression sets I have since the final pin in the progression set is LE250+....

I met @snazzybowtie @DISNEYPINS99 and a few other DPF'ers at the event as well!
 
Since I just started collecting Disney pins this year, I don't have much trading experience. But I recently had my 1st dpf/online trade with @stratasfan , who I nominate, and I really enjoyed trading with her. She even gave extras like candy and stickers, along with tips on packaging and saving on shipping!

By the way, it's really wonderful to read all your in-person pin trading stories, as if living vicariously for now during these times :)
 
Please keep in mind that I'm not entering. I'm really enjoying reading all of your pin trading stories and I would like to contribute to the warm fuzzies and good memories.

The first one involves none other that the one and only, inimitable and irreplaceable, very much missed, Scoop. I had seriously started collecting pins during a trip to WDW in 2003. I found out about his pin talks afterwards through my participation on Dizpins, but my first opportunity to attend one was my next trip in December 2004. I made a point of attending both that week and trying to get to know him because ... Scoop. Who wouldn't want to get to know him and learn as much as possible from him? At that time, this pin Walt Disney Pins, Trading Disney Pins, Value Of Disney Pins | PinPics was extremely sought after; I had seen people talk about it on Dizpins and wanted it, but I had no idea where it came from or how exactly to get it. I found out when I saw Scoop give one to a lady at the first pin talk that week. After the talk, I asked her if I could see it because I'd never seen one in person before. On the way out, Scoop asked me if I was going to his second pin talk that week (and last one before Christmas). I told him I wouldn't miss it for the world. To my surprise, he brought Christmas gifts for everyone at the talk - and had that same pin for me. The reason that meant so much to me - and still does - is because it was the first time anyone went out of his way to give me a pin for no reason other than to make me happy.



 
cyke23 said:
Even though I’ve been collecting pins forever, my 1st ever pin trading event was only in Feb 2019 at the Contemporary Resort. I was so happy to meet and trade with a number of people from DPF there, even if we interacted for a couple minutes or a lot more. This includes chubs191, mixedwolf, pins4twin, and MerlinEmrys. I’m sure I missed some names. @Abyssinian28 , who I nominate, traded to me 3 villain sinister sideshow ticket LE 100 chasers! Finishing that set was a dream come true. I loved our conversation, and thank goodness you got your pin bags back.

A couple months later was the docfish2u party. That was amazing and fun. I met so many California peeps plus themickeymouserules and canadale and traded with many of you. As I entered the room, @timeerkat (who I nominate) was the 1st to say hello. Your warm welcome melted my anxiety, and it was a wonderful start to a marvelous day.
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Awww, thanks so much! I barely leave the main part of the forum, so I've missed a lot of these super neat games, but I caught that you nominated me! I loved that night, too (except for the heart attack that my lost bag gave me!).

Missing the pin event big time this weekend- it will be nice when everyone can get together again!
 
Everyone the game is closed! However, if you still want to share stories, I think we'd all be happy to hear them.

I'm fairly certain that I got everyone on the lists, but if you see that I've missed someone, please let me know. @starry_solo or another mod, could you run the randomizer tonight so people have a chance to check? (Or am I supposed to run it? hahaha)

Additionally, anyone here who wants a little magic in their lives, and who wants to help support the USPS, I would love to send postcards to anyone involved in the game (or anyone else really), so if you'd like a little surprise in your mailbox, please message me your address!

Thank you all for the amazing stories you've told and all the happiness and magic you've brought to me and others this week.

<3 DPF makes this hobby AMAZING!
 
akarih said:
My favorite memory of pin trading(it's not really trading but pin related) was opening my Secret Santa package last Christmas from @Spr175psu, there was a lot of screaming involved and that whole exchange is one of my fondest memories of pin trading.

My other favorite memory was a Chesh grail zap from @Addicted to Alice Pins, the pin has its own little board on my wall now. I still read the note that was in that zap now and again cause it gives me the warm and fuzzies and reminds me what DPF and everyone here are to me.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
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Congrats to the winners and a shout out to @Tokaji for putting on an awesome game :)

Since I’m not entering, I’ve used this example too many times but it’s one of my fondest. I was a college program CM and this comes from one of my favorite trading stories. It was a last trade of the night as I was walking to the bus stop at TTC. My group of fellow CP's and I was still in costume with my lanyard on the monorail and a family stopped us I as we got out. The two oldest quickly traded for something, but the youngest was sad that I didn't have anything he wanted to trade for. After promising him a mystery trade but no trade-backs I had him close his eyes, which then had him listening to the gasps of astonishment from family as I reached into my bag to pull out a Jumbo castle pin I got from company D that day. His jaw dropped expression alone was priceless and makes it by far my favorite trading memory.
Pin 25755 WDW Cast Member - Castle Series (Tokyo) 3D
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Most of the ones I’ve would’ve nominated have already been but it’s great mentioning them: Secret Santa teams of years past, @Ksnuggles, @starry_solo, @tiggermickey; Chatroom constants @Meritre, @pretty Omi, and yourself @Tokaji; and finally our wonderfully creative game(and Murder Mystery) hosts @CanaDaLE, @tokyodisneydad, and @dancecats...
 
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Randomizers have been run and the full results are in the 4th post. Congrats to all the winners!!

Here's the condensed list:
1. @Pibbman
2. @brattyjedi
3. @Pecosace
4. @Addicted to Alice Pins

Grand Prize:
@pincrazy

So @Pibbman, it's your turn to pick from the first picture, and @pincrazy you get to pick from the two grand prize options!

If anyone wants to pass their pick to the next non-winner on the list, that is fine, just let me know!

Thank you all for participating and making this game a success!
 
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