How did you obtain your HG pin(s)?

[UFGators1234]

I asked myself this question a lot about other traders, so I want to know, what is your Gral story? This is mine:

I purchased a HM pack in the store for a pin I saw in a traders book, and he only wanted one of the HM pins. I traded that for:

http://pinpics.com/cgi-bin/pin.cgi?pin=10848&sid=3011.1296267698.v2

I then traded that for:

http://pinpics.com/cgi-bin/pin.cgi?pin=10848&sid=3011.1296267698.v2

The trader next to me liked that pin and gave me this for it:

http://pinpics.com/img/p1199/pin59988

This was even before I knew about LE, etc. I just liked the look!

I then found PinPics with a small trader bunch, including this. I stumbled upon a pin I knew I HAD to have, which was this:

http://pinpics.com/img/p1240/pin62006

In my first PP trade, I traded for my HG pin. Go figure. I have yet to find the rest of the set, which are now my HGs.

Sooooo, how did you obtain your HG pins, whether it be by trade, sale, etc.

 

[lunarbasket]

I wish I had an interesting story to share, but i'm just getting started! My grail is the Rapunzel Chaser and when the reveal/conceal set was released I was nowhere near the parks (I had just left actually!). A full reveal/conceal set sold on ebay - way out of my price range. Shortly after Rapunzel sold alone on ebay - again out of my range. Finally a third was listed, and my boyfriend got sick of me whining that it was the only Tangled pin I didn't have yet. So he bought it for me :lol:

I'm excited to start trading more and hopefully getting more grails/pins from my want list!

 

[gbdb4ever]

We have traded for a few grails, but have purchased most of them. Trying to trade for some of our grails is impossible, especially when there are only a few people trading and they are either anonymous, want another impossible pin, or are really not interested in trading the pin to begin with.

 

[carolynhill]

Like Greg and Debby, I bought almost all of my Holy Grail pins. Trading for HGs seldom worked for me, mainly because my grails were expensive high-end pins. A few times I managed to trade a Gomes for another Gomes, or some equivalent high-end-for-high-end trade, but those were always in person at a PTN in DLR with traders I've known for a while.

 

[scottydem]

I trade. My holy grails are expensive, so I'd rather just trade and trade and eventually I'll have something somebody wants. Today I just traded a pin over pinpics for my grail (Facilier le 125). Just takes time and some patience.

 

[TinyTink]

:wavey:

1st - Patience is not only a virtue with a 'high end' HG, it's a necessity! I've had three grails over the past six years - and they all took several years to find their way 'home' - two out of the three by simply 'plugging into' the pin community in different ways.

The first opportunity came up when I bought another pin on ebay. I recognized the return address as literally a few miles down the street. As pin lovers, we met up and she had fabulous pins...long story short, I bought the pin in my signature several years ago.

The second was an LE 50 framed set.
This is a case when 'networking' was essential! I was at a NJDPT pin trading event and had a copy of my wants list, including the pictures. A pin trading buddy thought another trader might have one, he introduced me to the couple. Low and behold, they did have the framed set and it was with them. Jackpot! I traded a slew of great pins for the set and was so happy just to have seen one, let alone have the pins to be able to successfully trade for it. :bigthumb:

The third grail was a exceptionally hard to find LE100 pin. I hadn't even seen one in person, but had seen a pic posted on Dizpins. It was gorgeous. Then, one day - YEARS later, while surfing the ebay to relax after an intense 18 hour workday under deadline, there it was. At first, I thought I might be hallucinating due to overwork, but it was real. :drool: It was exceptionally expensive, and had an offer pending...so I took a deep breath and hit Buy It Now.

And, as of now, I really don't have a Holy Grail - just some nice pins that would be great additions to the collection.

Happy Trading!

 

[pauly88]

Usually i bought mine only twice traded for HG's..

 

[PrincessBecky]

Great thread idea! It's fun to learn how others obtain hard-to-find pins.

A few trades that stick out for me...

I traded all of these:

For my first Holy Grail...the Tinker Bell Masterpiece:

I traded these two:

For these two (which I was super happy about because the Tink as Princess set was the first set I REALLY wanted to complete):

Ironically...I am now trying to complete the Tink Decades set and the 60's and 2000's are the only two I can't find or work out a trade for.

I recently traded this:

For:

And all of these:

For these:

Most of my other "big time" pins I bought on eBay or through fellow board members.

Every trader has different priorities and values for their pins...but I would love to see some others on here divulge their big trades!

 

[Abyssinian28]

That last one looks familiar

How did you manage the Witch for Mexico? Lucky duck!

 

[erudolf]

Wow, this was more cumbersome than I thought it would be and the results are not at all what I expected!!!

Bought from Disney/eBay:
I bought my original set straight from Disney Auctions. Then, after Disney Auctions closed I bought one off eBay for cost at BIN and it turned out if was from the guy that actually used to write the descriptions for the website so the whole set was AP and then I ended up trading out my original set.

Bought from eBay: Wow....I really thought this list would be longer. Three or four of these were pretty painful, but still super happy to have them all!


Bought from the boards: These carousels were my first real grails obtained!


Traded for: Wow! I can't believe this list is that big!!! I would have said for sure that I bought most of my grails! The ones here that stick out to me are the carousels which I hunted and hunted for and finally found the right person that wanted the right pin from me (plus others of course) to make it happen.

Then the Stitch photo booth really sticks out to me because I had to re-obtain him! I originally bought it for $50 off ebay and then for some unknown reason decided I could trade him out for something else I really wanted. Well, I regretted it ever since. So, several years later I traded Mackenzie for it and then come to find out that she got it from the person I traded it to so it was the same exact pin!!! I was just meant to have it I guess.

The Stitch bumble bee pin I got from a new trader that bought one box and got SUPER lucky. She originally only wanted two average DS.com Stitches for it but I told her that wouldn't be fair. So, I just told her to go shopping in my trades list until I said 'when'. After about four times of telling her to go back and pick more I ended up trading 16 nice pins for it. It was a great deal for both of us because she basicly doubled her collection with some really nice stuff and I got a pin I really wanted!

 

[ohsnap19]

I unfortunately had to buy mine. But I don't have alot of traders. But I do know alot of friends that buy good traders and work their way up to their HG

 

[PrincessBecky]

That last one looks familiar

How did you manage the Witch for Mexico? Lucky duck!

Someone sent me a trade request and I graciously accepted. I love the Witch pin but it is newer so I figured I would have a better chance of finding it in the future than the Mexico pin...not to mention that I am currently obsessed with trying to complete the older Tink LE 100 sets.

And yeah that last trade was pretty awesome! Thanks again! :rock:

 

[tyleet87]

I was actually able to trade a bunch of little pins for these:

This one I bought:

 

[Bellecat22]

I bought this one


I traded to get this one


Now I've been working on this one for years

 

[mybabykelly]

Tammy (Tabbikat) traded me two of my holy grails a while back. I am forever grateful for her kindness. She knew I really wanted one of the pins, and made sure I got it by compromising a bit. Thanks you again Tammy

Pin 76177: DisneyStore.com - Guest Star Stitch Set (Ariel Only)

Pin 31491: Disney Auctions (P.I.N.S.) - Stitch & Tramp Spaghetti Scene
They are both better than I ever imagined

 

[jcasper89]

I don't really have an awesome story, but this has to be the coolest thread of all time. Thanks UFGATORS1234 for starting it.

 

[Constance]

My husband buys all mine for me! I don't have the patience to wait years for a pin and he doesn't want to hear me talk about a pin incessantly! Most of the pins I really want (I think 'grail' is an overused word) are high end, LE so trading is virtually impossible, and I long ago stopped trying to foresee what other people wanted in favor of just saving myself the hassle and the heartbreak and getting the pin I wanted in the first place.

 

[Mr. Nightmare]

Like the others, buying is sometimes easier than having to haggle for really hard-to-get pins. As TinyTink said, patience is everything, and it's true. Sometimes, the market for a certain pin dips enough to become attainable, and those HG's wind up coming home. The trick is waiting for that time to arrive. Hang in there.http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/1771.Sun_Tzu