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Scrapper Solution Brainstorming

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Scrapper Solution Brainstorming
Someone also mentioned "stop counterfeiting" lanyards, which I think is sorta a great idea. While I think lanyards are an impractical idea, they're expensive (especially to have custom ones made) and once you've loaded them up with pins you can't really see much of it anyway. I would like to suggest buttons. They're pretty inexpensive and we know that they get noticed (how many strangers wish you a happy birthday when you have a birthday badge). The point is to start a dialogue and what better way than advertising it. If we get people talking and make people aware of the issue, then eventually Disney will take notice.
 
Honestly, I'm not sure how far education and awareness really go in this case. It's not as if a family of four with a bag of 100 pins they got off eBay, in town once every year or two, is really going to cast aside their pin trading aspirations for the weekend when a non-CM tells them their pins are fake. They're probably just going to go right on trading, since they'll leave in a few days and it's not their problem. I'd imagine logic like, "Well, the cast members still take them," and, "We might as well trade them, since we already have them," would override any pangs of conscience they might experience.

At this point, I think alot of people who do the weekly park rounds and trade with tourists have outrightly given up on avoiding scrappers and counterfeits, at least as far as HM's and other relatively low-end stuff goes. They're so ubiquitous at this point, and many are actually pretty tough to identify. The reality is that the same tourists who go out and fund the counterfeit / scrapper industry don't actually care if they're getting scrappers in return anyways. And to try and avoid scrappers and counterfeits, basically means abandoning the entire notion of trading with tourists and people who don't know / don't care about scrappers. Because really, who is a tourist going to want to trade with? The trader with a page or two of legitimate pins asking top "dollar" in trade value, or the dude with the stack of binders who's practically giving pins away by comparison?

I feel like the reality is that the pin trading community needs to stop thinking that it's our job to self-police this problem. It isn't. This is Disney's mess, and we should be pressuring the heck out of them to clean it up. That's all we can do. We cannot solve this problem. Only Disney can.

-JD
 
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I put more thought into this. Disney could do it if they really wanted to. Scrapâ„¢ would be a new Disney Cars character, dismembered in a car junkyard. If traders found 10 of his "parts" (scrappers), they can exchange 10 "parts" at a Disney pin kiosk to receive an exclusive Scrapâ„¢ Disney pin (not a scrapper). It's a feel good task that raises awareness and turns junk into real pins.

Could you imagine people getting their picture taken with the new Scrapâ„¢ character at the parks? It's a win-win
 
This would be a good thing to mention to SCOOP..since he did the Pin Talks
He could do a "SCRAP"pin hunt..and then bring the pins to him for a NICE pin off his suspenders
Use it as a game of sorts..it would be informational for NEW traders and kids
I might have to get on FaceBook and sugesst it to him..HUMMMM


Judy
 
I looked at the fake pins photo you had up. but that is for the cut out mickey back... other than a light pin or just feels strange.. I cant find any other info... sometimes i see front photos of pins they have made fakes. but that is real pins of same things.. so im still hopeing to find a more better BACK OF THE PIN veiw to understand what to look for
 
Has anyone ever directly asked Steven Miller about this at that talk/presentation thing they have at events? If so, did he actual respond or just skirt around the issue?
 
How about embedding a RFID chip behind each pin? Casinos use them in their casino chips. The cost of them has gone down dramatically so it wouldn't increase costs. Then they could announce that they're re-introducing CM trading and only new pins with the chips can be traded. Have the leads go around every hour or so and scan the lanyards with a RFID reader and get rid of any fakes that slipped by. Hardcore collectors could even buy their own RFID reader.
 
How about if Disney issued a specific, random number to each pin and they track each pin they make on their official site. That way, each pin would have a random set of ten numbers/letters and it would be way too much work for bootleggers to figure out each "code". Lol I'm sure it has some major holes, but just an idea
 
bombardon3 said:
How about embedding a RFID chip behind each pin? Casinos use them in their casino chips. The cost of them has gone down dramatically so it wouldn't increase costs.
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Im sorry, but anything above what they are currently doing about the problem (nothing), is going to increase the costs. Unless the RFID are free and the factories will put them in at no extra labor, there will additional costs.
 
Steven Miller mentioned to Stef and I that he probably will no longer be attending any events because it is not in his job description.
 
Bellecat22 said:
Steven Miller mentioned to Stef and I that he probably will no longer be attending any events because it is not in his job description.
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You have got to be kidding!?!?!? Not his job?!?! Exactly who's job is it to make sure that pin event run smoothly??? If he doesn't want to go above and beyond in his job I'm sure there are a lot of other people who would be willing to take it. I'd sure like to do his performance review if that is really how he feels.
 
US Customs will intercept couterfeit goods, when/if they can. However drug interdiction, invasive species, and weapons - terrorist attacks, mean that small counterfeit pins are a very low priority.

Now if you said the pins contained LEAD, Cadimum, plutonium.. that would get LOTS of attention.
 
magicalpins said:
Im sorry, but anything above what they are currently doing about the problem (nothing), is going to increase the costs. Unless the RFID are free and the factories will put them in at no extra labor, there will additional costs.
Click to expand...

Anything they do beyond nothing is going to cost something. I don't know about you, but I'd pay a little more to guarantee that my pin is authentic. Even some sort of awareness program would cost money since they would have to have people create the campaign materials, distribute the materials, train cast members, etc. A 3 cent chip on each item would be a much better investment.
 
Just read through everyone's input and ideas and I really like the Scrapper idea. I've always been on the 'move production back to the US' bandwagon and even mentioned it a while back in this thread: http://disneypinforum.com/showthread.php?1109-MORE-Scary-new-scrapper-images-from-China. In the end, I have to agree that there is only so much we can do. It really is up to Disney to get serious about trying to put a stop to this to have any realistic chance of putting the kabosh on the illicit pin industry.

But even if our own efforts seem relatively small, does that mean we should do nothing? Absolutely not. I think if we can educate even one potential future trader about how to spot and avoid counterfeit pins, it's something. I also think that if we get stuck with counterfeit pins (I've received a few via the 'bay'), that we have to take the hit and make sure they do NOT get recirculated. It doesn't help to recirculate these pieces of garbage. I want to use the ones I have to educate others. I also need to take pics and post them here so you all can see what I experienced.

As I said before, I really do hope this doesn't ruin the hobby altogether.
 
Check out my Avatar! This is the image I'll be using to make medals and buttons. Do you think it's too offensive? I can make it just say "SCRAPPERS" instead. But I think if we launch our own sort of "awarness campaign", letting people know that they're liable for the counterfeit items being confescated. If we distribute them to traders, we might be able to get the attention of the disney bigwigs that can actually do something.


I found this funny as well (doin some legal research!
"consumers’ expectation that it is up to their governments to protect them against dangers from counterfeit medicines, car parts, airplane components and other potentially fatal products. Paradoxically, these same consumers defend their right to choose between expensive, genuine brand-name products and much cheaper but inferior counterfeits."
 
We have some counterfeits we obtained from cast lanyards on our last WDW visit. Our plan is to bring them back to one of the park's Guest Services en masse and ask to exchange them for "real" pins. I imagine we'll get the "most you can trade is two speech," but I'll let you know how that goes. Perhaps if the "right" person got a handful of pins at a time, it might start sending a message.
 
I actually had a cast member tell me a certain pin I was trading with her was a scrapper. Let me clarify, the pin she was giving to me, was a scrapper, not the one I was giving to her. She traded it to me, knowing it was a scrapper.

Sad!
 

OOOOhhh OOOOOhhhh I want one, please pretty please, with a cherry on top?????

Seriously, I would love this....
 
well, what i am doing about this situation might not be much, but here is what i am doing. i am actually new to pin trading, however thanks to BreaGirl and a few more people i have had the pleasure of meet in person, they explain me how i can tell, after that i every once in a while go online and read the real description of some pins, an i am a person that retains a lot information and normally can tell whether a pin is real or not. anyways, what i am doing is, every once in a while i trade with a cast member for a pin i like, however if i get a really bad scrapper, that i can tell is fake, i keep it in a different packet and at the end of the day i count how manny i found,(around 4-8 a day) and then actually look at them again and the ones that look really bad i through them away(most of the time is half of the ones i find). the reason why i don't through all of them away is because i actually pay a lot of money for my pins and i don't want to through it away every 5 minutes, but also because the ones that look okay, but are scrappers i trade them back because i know there are little kids out there that like pins and are not in to pins as much as us, so to them they don't care whether they are scrappers they just care that they have a nice princess collection or so. so well yeah, that is what i do, i try to take the pins out that have weird faces or something like that, i might not be much, but at least it makes me feel so about it.
It is true, there is no much we can do, but what is not acceptable is to trade with a fellow pin trader and u knowing that is a fake and u still trade it for something good back. at the end of the day i think is about honesty and just having fun. an not do a wrong that you wouldn't want somebody to do to you.
you all have a beautiful day.
 
I'll definitely get some out to you when they're ready! (they said it'd be like 48 days or something ridiculous like that). NO SCRAPPING ZONE was another one I was thinking of. but I liked the other one better! lol

Andrew
 
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