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Help with Pin collecting

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Help with Pin collecting
Pensfanatic

Pensfanatic

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Hello all!

I am new to this forum and very green in the world of pin collecting. We are taking our first trip to disney world this February and was wondering if anyone had any good pointers or tips for when we are there as far as pins go. I want to get the most out of this trip for my girls and thought pinning would be a nice addition to the magic. Does anyone know if there will be any good pins to keep an eye out for during the month of february and march? Also how does pin buying work in disney world? there are a ton more pins to buy in disney then they offer online correct?


Thanks for any and all help you could offer...
 
I just checked out that link and it gives you the option to buy pins online but then takes you to the disney store and they are not there any reason for that?
 
I would recommend starting with a starter lanyard or booster set. You get between 6 and 10 pins for a reasonable price and then you trade from there. It you can find some on sale or on a discount with purchase at your hotel then that is a big bonus.

just avoid the online auction sites (e... You know who I mean) because the vast majority of those pin lots are fakes and/or scrappers which ruin the fun for everyone else.
 
Thanks for the tips. I noticed these gigantic lots online which equate to about 20 cents per pin and a vast amount of complaints about scrappers and such. I think we are going to gear the collection towards anything and everything toy story related...Been looking at the beautiful PODMS...Another questions...Are any of the rarer pins like the el capitan available to buy online the day of release or are they only in person?
 
There are very few for sale at the disney store online. At the park there will be a ton of different ones called "open edition" (OE) along with some limited edition depending on what comes out while you're there. Disneypins.com has the limited edition pins that will be available during the times you're there. I've bought the majority of our pins in the for sale forum here and have been very happy with all of them. Have fun!
 
@bamabulldawg thanks for the tip been trying to buy on the forum and have had some luck with a few very nice people. I just hate waiting for things to ship lol cant wait to see them in person while im down there. The LE for sale at the park are they hard to find or pretty available in the shops and hotels?
 
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I was in the same position you were in last year and definitely echo everyone's advice about lanyards and the booster sets to ensure you get real pins at a reasonable price.

Are you staying on the grounds ? Each resort has a pin board (or more than 1). Make sure you check and your kids check them frequently. Although they have a ton of scrappers I was surprised to see that some of the pins were changing out. We would check in the morning and in the evening and see some circulation. You won't find any LEs or anything spectacular on there, but if your kids have a favorite character, then a pin or two is likely to pop up they'll want.

As for the sales, I had a hard time anything LE at the resorts. Others can tell you better, but I think they are mostly at the parks and Downtown Disney.
 
Yes we are staying on the grounds...the scrappers are what i am afraid of i hear a lot of talk about them. Anyone have a link to teach someone to spot them? Sorry i know I am asking a ton of questions but i plan on this being a big thing for me and the fam :)
 
Yes, it did look like the fakes were rampant. However, if you look you will start to notice a theme - in that you will see the same few pins every where. I must have seen about 100 of the King of Heart Pocket Watch Hidden Mickey pin and an ice skate pin while I was there. Given I am an Alice fan, after looking at few of them I learned not to even bother to look those pins because all of them were probably fake. My guess is that those pins were included in many of the fake lots bought off ebay.
 
Some of the reviews of the large lots on amazon were completely disheartening. People were saying "probably fake but we are using them to trade at the parks so it's ok". Ruins it for the rest
 
Pensfanatic said:
Some of the reviews of the large lots on amazon were completely disheartening. People were saying "probably fake but we are using them to trade at the parks so it's ok". Ruins it for the rest
Click to expand...

You will find that a lot, and it is heart breaking. But be careful to not slip into any drama in the parks. Most people don't understand our passion for trading and why we get upset. Sometimes we can educate them, sometimes you need to be aware of when to stay quiet to avoid trouble. You will get the tricks to avoid scrappers and "pin fodder traders" after a visit or two.
 
It's good to keep your collection narrow. We've been collecting for 11 years now, almost 12. I collect Donald. My son collects baseball and occasionally other sports if Goofy is involved. He's now "too old" to collect pins anymore. ;) My wife likes pirates. And we all collect Haunted Mansion. I also collect camera/film pins. Oh, and the wife collects the evil queen. So....the end result is that we have too many pins and too many wants.

One thing we used to do when my son was younger was to try and complete each current set of hidden mickey pins on a single visit. We treated it as a family scavenger hunt and it made it a lot better filling time between rides, shows, meals, etc. My son could always spot a hidden mickey we needed from something like 100 yards away. Or he'd spot a manager emerging from a building (with a fresh lanyard) and bolt over to them (consuming much of that pre-teen energy). Then on subsequent visits we focused on helping other families complete their hidden mickey hunts. Note that you can get color PDFs of the current hidden mickey and print them out to take with you and use as a checklist if you want to complete a set.

I also suggest that you avoid the aforementioned auction site looking for traders. The exception would be booster sets or starter lanyards that are in their original packaging. Also, check the sales forum here. There are good folks selling legitimate pins for trading at very reasonable prices.
 
I'll echo the sentiment to at least start small.

I have two collections: a souvenir collection of pins that I just picked up as mementos of parks and tours and things (i.e.: Disneyland 50th anniversary pin, Walt Disney Family Museum pin, etc.) and my proper collection of things I'm deliberately trying to get. That proper collection originally started as part of my souvenir collection and evolved out of that. Originally it was very narrow: only pins in that subject matter but with Mickey and Friends characters on them. If it could be helped, I loved finite sets that only had five or six or however many pins in them. Those gave me definite goals to aspire to, that helps keep costs down. Having that base has then allowed me to branch out a bit while still keeping focused (i.e.: pins in my subject without Mickey characters on them, or only one or two pins from other subjects). I don't do a lot of trading (I may have 6-12 traders or so), and at this point have pretty much completed my collection to my satisfaction. I've thought about starting another, but I haven't really been able to settle on anything that I could handle realistically in the same way.

I have bought on the auction site with some regularity, but there are ways to do that well if you keep on your toes. One thing that helps is picking an obscure theme that isn't likely to be counterfeited. I stay right away from Hidden Mickeys, Vinylmations and basically anything new and hot, as well as staying away from those big lots. If it comes in original packaging and backings, that's helpful, and only buy if there are photos of the actual pin (front and back) instead of stock photos. When in doubt, don't buy. It's a minefield, but so far as I can tell I've been pretty lucky. If you're wary, stay away from the site altogether (unfortunately for me it was a necessary evil, exactly because my subject is so obscure).

However, if you're into the adventure of trading, then certainly pick up those cheap starter packs at the parks and get trading with them. It can also be a minefield, but just be aware of what to look for and you should be fine.
 
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