How can you tell?

Ok, I can't tell if certain pins that I have are authentic or not.

For example, I have Pin 61233: DLR - 2008 Hidden Mickey Cast Lanyard Series -
Princess Gems (Cinderella). I have two of them. One is obviously not right. The other, I looks close enough to the pinpic. But there is no picture of the back on pinpics!

I also have the princess tea cups, of which Pin 70643: Hidden Mickey Mystery Pouch - Princess Tea Cups (Ariel Only) is one. I can tell the differences between two of the same kind and I can say one looks more correct than the other. But honestly, I can't tell if it is illegitimate! These kind do not have the mickey waffle pattern!

Any advice?

The cast lanyard pins won't have a waffle pattern. They pretty much have a silver fine sandpaper like pattern on the back and the backstamp. Other than that, if they look like the pinpics pic and have a nice shine to them, you can probably consider that as close to real as it can be.

Unfortunately, both the pins you've mentioned have tons of scrappers out there. Fortunately, though, the scrappers are generally easy to spot for those. The Cinderella Gem, for example, should be comprised of nothing but shades of blue. Scrapper versions of this pin have very obvious paint issues; there's usually some odd green coloration to the skin, hair or "shine" parts of the gem. A good rule of thumb for a lot of scrapper comparisons is to check (out)line thickness (scrappers tend to run thick on the lines), detailing (pupils are sometimes in the wrong spots or a line meant to show a dip in hair or fabric is missing), color, shine and fills. Most official pins have a shine to them, scrappers tend to look dull in comparison.

The Teacup Princess pins will run a bit darker in color if they're scrappers and I believe the scrapper versions tend to have thin or disproportionate looking handles on the cup. Hidden Mickey pins get scrappered a lot, just so you know, but checking the Hidden Mickey head itself should also help you determine if you have an authentic pin or not. Scrappers will have malformed heads where the ears are either way too big or way too small or even look a bit stretched out.

Taking pictures of your pins can help those on the board help you see if what you have is authentic or not and back pictures are always a good way to tell. If you're able to, try posting images of what you are unsure of, though I can understand that can be difficult without a good enough camera.

Yeah, I've looked at a number of pins. Some of them I can tell don't match pinpics quite as they should. Others match as closely as I can discern after very careful inspection. I may try to take some pics of some, although the problem isn't necessarily the camera but the lighting and background. This can make the colors seem dramatically different.

How do you tell if it is counterfeit though? Some of the counterfeit pins I've seen with the waffle pattern look authentic from the front. The border on the back gives it away. But those pins without patterns on the back? That's got to be tough to tell.

I may try to post pics tonight.

Here is daughter #1's pinboard.

Oh yeah, back of the gem pin.