Fake pins from WDW?

[AwesomeRossome]

I recently just returned from a trip to WDW and learned that many of the pins in the parks for trade are fake and wanted to double check if any of the ones I got are fake. To me it seems maybe the mickey mouse, jack skellington and puffle pins might be fake but I'm not really sure on any of them.

 

[Pinfun]

I believe middle 2 and possibly bottom right are fake based on back patterns. Bottom left looks like it might have serious paint fill problems which is usually a strong indicator (but I can't see for sure in the image). Not sure on others.

and welcome to DPF.

 

[momin.ator]

Based on usual counterfeits...probably the only real one is the C-3PO.

 

[AwesomeRossome]

I believe middle 2 and possibly bottom right are fake based on back patterns. Bottom left looks like it might have serious paint fill problems which is usually a strong indicator (but I can't see for sure in the image). Not sure on others.

and welcome to DPF.

I think that's just glare on the Hulk one but not sure, and the tower of terror hidden mickey one looked much better than another version I saw in the park but I guess they could still both be fake

 

[firechief18]

Unfortunately a lot of the pins that get traded to Disney are scrappers/fakes. The cast members don't know, so the pins are sanitized and put on the pin board.

 

[OpieDoodle]

Most of these are heavily faked pins and have some signs of being fake. The only one I'm pretty sure may not be fake is the C3PO pin. Maybe the tower of terror mickey head but I'm leaning towards fake on that one as well.

Unfortunately most of the time when trading in the parks the entire board or CM lanyard will be fake. You may get lucky and see 1-2 real pins on their boards but not often. We still trade, I buy my kids some cheaper real pins before each trip and let them go wild and have fun. We are going to make a craft with the scrappers so its not the end of the world for us and its the memory. I personally look for trades there too but I'm much better about spotting fakes so I don't trade very often with cast members except for maybe current Hidden Disney pins.

 

[Jabberwocky]

Agreed that probably only the current hidden mickey (C-3PO) is legit and the rest are probably fake. Quick tip: hold the C-3PO in one hand and the others each individually in the other hand - if you notice a significant weight difference, assume the lighter ones are fake. A current hidden mickey is a good test of what a real pin weight should be.