Pin Karma Stories from PinCon Event

I have been a Pin collector for over 14 years and I have a pretty good Villains collection – which is my specialty. I do not trade in-person a lot since what I need is not usually available on the “pin floor”.

BUT I do have one pin book that I bring around with me just in case there are some folks who are interested in the one topic in my book – Official Disneyana Convention pins from 1992-2002.
STORY #1
A young lady came to my table and was looking at the Disneyana Convention pins. She said that as a young child her parents brought her to two or three of the Conventions in WDW and she had great memories from the Events. Some of my Logo pins from the Events she attended were in my book and she REALLY wanted to Trade for them. I told her I was a Villains collector and she said had no Villains pins so she moved on through the show. She came back to my table about 3 hours later with 3 Villains pins to trade (all OE’s that I had already in my collection) BUT I told her to take whatever Disneyana pins she wanted and we would call it even. She was so happy she almost came to tears – to me “pay the Pin Karma forward”.
STORY #2
An older gentleman stopped by my table and was totally fascinated by the Disneyana pins lol!! Especially the one from about 2001 when Disney and EBay were initial partners in the auction space and Disney issued the “blue cow” logo pin and information backer card from that era. He couldn’t stop taking about it and how unusual it was!! Ergo, we traded about 8 pins (I already had all of the pins he was offering) but was he HAPPY after the trading – he got his Blue Cow Auction pin and some others that he was delighted to obtain. Me – I picked up more duplicate Traders!!
STORY#3
If you were at the PinCon event you would remember the soldier and his 6-year-old daughter, Kylie, who were introduced at the show. Her Dad, I believe, had done numerous tours of duty and was scheduled to go back into harm’s way shortly after the Event. She said that her favorite characters were a princess and Maleficent lol!! I had a Malie pin from some of my Trades so went over to them and spoke to both Kylie and her Dad. I thanked Dad for his service and then gave the Maleficent pin to Kylie and told her that I heard that she liked Maleficent. The smile and look on her face made the whole effort worthwhile!! I told her that if she ever has a party to make sure you invite Maleficent since she does not like being left out – just ask Sleeping Beauty!! Pin Karma+++
Bottom line this hobby really is about the people we meet and how we can interact with them to make someone’s day better. Our little pieces of shiny metal are secondary!

Pin Karma – Pay if Forward!!
Mike S.
Figment919

Great story it's really nice to hear about a positive pin story for once, there's just too much grief sometimes.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-J320A using Tapatalk

Great stories!

Beautiful.....just beautiful

Mike, it was a pleasure to finally meet you! I wish I had more time at the event to do more trading with everybody. You have learned what some traders never realize, the little pieces of metal are nice, but it is the people you meet along the way that are the true treasure!

Thank you for being wonderful and for sharing!!!

Each of these stories is wonderful! This is the part of pin trading I yearn for yet miss out on being here in the UK.

How wonderful.

Helping others and making them happy is what it is all about. I've made some great friends thru pins. :hsd:

Great stories! It's very addictive to get the big smile or hug, when you achieve the moment of joy and appreciation. It's a side I didn't get to enjoy till years into struggling trying to figure out pin trading. It was by accident but I understood then what pin karma can be and learned the lesson, just gotta take the chance and sometimes you meet some wonderful people!

Can i share mine here as well... This is a great post.
Two very sweet young ladies came to look at our pins. As they looked they said they were just there to only look at the gorgeous pins that they hope they could own one day.
As we chatted, her friend was looking at my book and pointed out my DLPR Periwinkle seated on a snowflake. The two of them were just too cute. She said I only have these to offer. She opened her hand to reveal some common pins, Mickey Mouse and such along with a Hong Kong mini Oaf pin. As I glanced she said I know I having nothing you will want. As she giggled in an anxious giggle, I said no you are wrong. I have Anna to this set pointing to Olaf. I said I will trade for him if that's okay.
Well, you would have thought she hit the lottery. LOL
Thats what the event was about introducing pins to new collectors & traders and not making them feel like they have nothing to trade. Give them the extra nudge they need to take the next step in to becoming a pin trader/collector.
Like figment it left me feeling GooD!

The shift in attitude isn’t new. It’s been trending that direction since the 1990s. Husband and I called it “going to the Dark Side,” where fair trades gave way to business dealings.

I’m a bit guilty, I suppose. I bought some BT pins back in 2009 at DSF and recently sold a couple for quite a bit more than the original cost. At the same time, was I required to sell a pin valued at $275 for $12.95+tax? I don’t think so.

It’s a balance. Right now, I’ve pretty much given up on trading since I collect so few, and they’re all either hard to get or expensive or both, with few exceptions. So, I’ll be selling. Le have a lot of pins from the 1990s; people like them, but there’s no trade to be made and a lot aren’t worth that much.

Amazing!

I lost count of how many times I smiled during this.

~Merlin

I love all these pin trading tales. So great! Happy trading to everyone.

what a great post figment919, and a great thread! i love when these opportunities present themselves. when they do they are wonderful. thanks for sharing and reminding us all what this can and should be about : )

Awesome stories!! I love doing stuff like this also at pin events, just makes you feel good inside that you can add a little magic to somebodys day!

Another story .....
Yesterday I was trading with CMs at DLR resort, I finally got to finish my 60th HM diamonds! While checking a lanyard I saw a pin but didn't trade, couple steps later I wanted to go back and get it. There was a little girl picking the princess shoes I just traded , guessing 3-4 yrs old.. I was waiting after her, so I told her I have a Snow White shoe, but she had it so I offered Rapunzel's instead, since those were the only 2 left from the set, she lit up with excitement. So I traded the CM for the pin I went back for and then her mom got to trade for the Rapunzel pin. All in all We had a great memory together! Good times!

Another story .....
Yesterday I was trading with CMs at DLR resort, I finally got to finish my 60th HM diamonds! While checking a lanyard I saw a pin but didn't trade, couple steps later I wanted to go back and get it. There was a little girl picking the princess shoes I just traded , guessing 3-4 yrs old.. I was waiting after her, so I told her I have a Snow White shoe, but she had it so I offered Rapunzel's instead, since those were the only 2 left from the set, she lit up with excitement. So I traded the CM for the pin I went back for and then her mom got to trade for the Rapunzel pin. All in all We had a great memory together! Good times!