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Scrapper Problems!

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Scrapper Problems!
PudgeTheFish

PudgeTheFish

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I am really being annoyed by scrappers and counterfeits lately.

What does it mean when a pin has little indents on it?

What about rough edges?

What about "brush stroke like streaking" on the enamel? I have seen this just barely visible on pins straight from disney, under a lot of gloss. I also have seen a halfway kinda visibility and half gloss look. And also of course the no gloss, terrible look.

Thanks
 
I totally agree with you. I have pins straight from Disney and they have that, so to me it's even harder to tell if a pin is fake or not.
 
It definitely takes away from the fun of trading. I already got taken once on a very big trade, so now I examine pins very carefully. Probably sours the deal a little, but that is what my experiences have led me to do...
 
I've been collecting for over 10 years now, and my experience is that there is more fear and hysteria about fakes than there are actual fakes in the market. Of course there are fakes out there, but not as many as everyone thinks. With the Hidden Mickeys and some rack pins there are more scrappers out there. The out and out fakes and counterfeits are usually easy to tell. Generally most collectors need to just relax and not worry so much and just be smart about it. If a pin is too good to be true (i.e. an LE 100 on a lanyard) then it probably is a fake. Use common sense and just have fun.
 
So confusing! I have a stitch in heart boxer shorts and he has a bunch of indents on his nose, arm, etc. They are not the really deep kind, but for the kinda skimmed of look. Like a dremel just barley touched it. I have had this pin for a few years, and now I am not sure if it is fake. Or just a little defect or something?
 
I agree with you, this issue is very confusing. As with most traders, I rely on the question of quality to help determine of a pin is a scrapper or not. I just got back into trading after dropping out for a few years, and I see the issue of scrappers is so much worse than I ever thought it would be.

And one of the main ways we all seem to ID scrappers is by quality. Specifically the presence of divets (those little dips in the enamel)& a dull finish. So with a new, more suspicious eye I have pulled out my pins and have been somewhat disappointed at the presence of a lot of divets in pins that I have personally bought directly from Disney. Here are my results on a small, random sampling:

1) I bought several of these unopened boxes to trade and keep, and I have 12 pins left.
pin32388

Of the remaining 12, 11 of them had at least one significant divet (easily noticed upon looking; 8 of those were divets in more than one space in the pin). That's 92%.

2) 2) I bought an assortment of these pins, for a total of 33. I bought multiples to trade.
pin41253

pin39310

pin27725

pin11034

pin50242

Of these 33, 8 had divets. They were only in one or two sections, and they were relatively shallow, not very noticeable until looking closely. That is 24%.

3) I just bought this pack of pins, all to keep.
pin82947

There are no divets on any of the pins. 0%.

So there you go- depending on the pins, we have anywhere from 0-92% contain at least one divet. I must guess that there would be a wide difference in quality depending on the manufacturer. I do not have a problem with a pin having a divet or two, but now that divets have been firmly aligned with scrappers, I am concerned that my legitimate pins will be mistaken for scrappers.
 
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right on the rack We have gone thru pin after pin to find a clean one.

depending on the factory they came from some pins just suck.
all leading to the belief that they might be scrappers/ counterfeits as we are so worried and aware that exist.

know your trader know your pin. ask questions hope for a good trade.
 
one thing to keep in mind also... or what i now do.. is not try to look for just one thing wrong. A easy ex: Jack candy corn. The back stamp is wrong... the color is wrong...the thickness is wrong...hm mickey head is wrong... so at least 4 things are bad on this fake... Many of the real pins will have sumthing that may look off a bit. But never have a I seen a real pin with lots of things wrong. or mayb just never a fake with only one thing wrong.. So with that said if i am going to trade with a cm or anyone for that matter... I ask to please hold the pin... Than i look for any and all things that are off on the pin. If it seems to pass all or almost all the test. Than i will trade for it. on the flip side if it has more than a few things wrong i will just say thank u but im going to wait or sumthing like that. If they ask me why or how i can tell. i will than give them the info i know and also send them to DPF to learn more. It may take a extra min to trade this way.. But i have not gone home with a lanyard full of fakes since i started to do this. I hope this helps a little.. sorry to talk so much... im a big fan of traders knowing what to look for.. if i can help in any other way please ask...if i cant help..i will find sumone that can...
thank u
KT

"Its All About The Pins"
 
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PudgeTheFish said:
I am really being annoyed by scrappers and counterfeits lately.

What does it mean when a pin has little indents on it?

What about rough edges?

What about "brush stroke like streaking" on the enamel? I have seen this just barely visible on pins straight from disney, under a lot of gloss. I also have seen a halfway kinda visibility and half gloss look. And also of course the no gloss, terrible look.

Thanks
Click to expand...

Hello again PudgeTheFish!

I realized we did not address your full question. I will try to make this brief! You were asking about three separate things.

1) The little indented areas are referred to as divets. As everyone has mentioned, these are quite common in legit Disney pins. I am sure Disney uses a lot of different manufacturers, and some have better quality control than others.

2) The "brush stroke like streaking"- when grinding or polishing, you are going to use different size sand particles to do this. You start with a larger size particle that grinds a lot away (and leaves the "brush strokes"), and you move down to tiny size particles that take the brush strokes out and leave a glossy finish. Next time you are at Wal-Mart or a hardware store, go look at sandpaper, and you will see how the different kinds have different size particles.

So, when they are polishing the pins, the brush strokes are a part of the process. But if they do not do a good job of "stepping down" the particle sizes, they do not completely eliminate the large "brush strokes" when they use the tiniest particle size sanding to give the gloss finish. So you end up with really glossy brush strokes. I have seen this on a lot of legitimate Disney pins, but as you mentioned, it is not really obvious.

3) The rough edges. Okay- the first step to making a pin is stamping out the shape from metal. Depending on how good this initial process is, it may also need some sanding of the metal edges. If these metal edges are not sanded down before they move on with the process (the gold or silver color is put on the pin metal, and before the rest of the enamel colors are added), then the pin ends up with rough edges. I have not noticed rough edges on many legit Disney pins. Maybe not any at all.

4) Gloss/some gloss/ no gloss: to me, this is the biggest indicator of scrappers. I have some legit Disney pins with not-so-much gloss, but I do not ever recall seeing a legit Disney pin with no gloss at all. However, just how much "gloss" a pin has can be somewhat subjective depending on the person.


Overall, I agree with KT07, look for multiple things being wrong.

Hope this helps!
 
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