Vinylmations - Too Much of a Good Thing?

I think for anyone that collects part of the satisfaction in collecting is completing a set...be it baseball cards, beer cans, or Disney Pins. My daughter started out collecting WDW CL and HM pins, it seemed as if it were an obtainable goal and she has all but 1 pin left. A new series came out every year or two with about 40 or 50 pins and for the most part the pins were pins you could find...you might have to look and do a little trading but you could get it done. She then decided to collect MNSSHP pins since we try to attend every other year...again some are harder to find than others but still she can find them. Then comes the Vinylmations....lots of fun pins but they seem to be kicking them out as fast as the boats can come from China, in a matter of a year or so there are hundreds. We started collecting these but for us it almost takes the fun out of collecting them when they have so many pins coming out. I understand you don't have to find all of them but again part of the fun of collecting is completing. I wonder if others feel the same way.....is there such thing as overkill?

I think the same thing could be said for pins in general.

I think that's how it is with everything. Other than collecting pins, I also collect coins, action figures, anything Haunted Mansion, well, a bunch of stuff. With all of these things, they keep making more, and because they keep making more, you want to buy more. Its the trap that is collecting anything. No matter what you collect, you'll always need one more, or one more set. The real challenge is to have control over yourself and prevent yourself from getting to carried away.


Or if you're like me, your wallet keeps you in control!

I think it is important to set limits for yourself. I have learned (through vinylmation) that it just isn't going to be possible for me to be a completist. So, I try for the ones I really like (have a meaning to me) and get those first. Then, if I happen upon another part of the set and have the opportunity to get it, I will. My main collection is Mickey/Minnie so you can imagine the possibilities of collections!

Good luck and don't let the chase end your fun!

I've been collecting pins since before pin trading started. I used to get so frustrated watching the releases and desperately wanting certain pins, and not having the means to get them. DH and I were in our early 20s so we didn't have the money, etc. But now, after 12 years I have finally learned to be happy with the pins I have, and that patience does really pay off. Those older pins that I never thought I would own, are slowly making their way into my collection, because a lot of people focus on the newer stuff. Vinylmation is big right now, but they will not keep up this pace. I would advise that you don't need to be the Hare, you can be the Tortoise. You don't need to get all the pins in a year, if it takes 3, 5, or in my case 12 years, that's still okay.

Remember that Vinylmation in general (both the figures, and the pins) are largely targeted at collectors of designer toys, who'll often spend $400+ on a single large piece. While that seems absurd to me, and probably the majority of the rest of the population, Disney isn't going to say no to those peoples' money. They're going to keep kicking out product lines and sucking back the cash. It's the demographic's purchasing habits that allows such a vast number of Vinylmation and Vinylmation pin releases to be viable.

Dare I say it, the Vinylmation pins aren't really "for us" in the strictest sense.

I agree that setting a limit, I myself only collect stitch and UP pin nothing more, plus I only want 1 of each type of pin for example stitch as vampire as Ive got one and dont need anymore, it makes my collection small for the fact I want only 1 pin of a costume, stitchs cousin etc etc but it helps so I can keep control and so my wants list has never been crazy.

As you may know, There was a time Max had the complete sets of all vinylmations and currently we were pretty close. This is something we want to have all of and it is becoming more and more difficult. Even as hard core collectors of this line, we are getting a bit discouraged. We can all talk about why and what Disney is thinking but the reality is they are coming out way too fast.

It is disappointing. And then there is the inconsistance of the numbers in sets. 6 were 10 to a set including the chaser, then they started to do 11 and now they have minis with even more. Also, the JUMBOS are way to over released but obviously there is a market for them. For those of us who are completist, we need to remember that there are hundreds of people who only care about one set so they dont se this as a problem.

It seems everytime I go to pinpics to update or collection I see yest another set released. But being in marketing myself, I have to remember who and what we are dealing with. Its the reality of the hobby but as discouraged hard core collectors, we will still try to keep up and complete sets.

hopemax said:

I've been collecting pins since before pin trading started. I used to get so frustrated watching the releases and desperately wanting certain pins, and not having the means to get them. DH and I were in our early 20s so we didn't have the money, etc. But now, after 12 years I have finally learned to be happy with the pins I have, and that patience does really pay off. Those older pins that I never thought I would own, are slowly making their way into my collection, because a lot of people focus on the newer stuff. Vinylmation is big right now, but they will not keep up this pace. I would advise that you don't need to be the Hare, you can be the Tortoise. You don't need to get all the pins in a year, if it takes 3, 5, or in my case 12 years, that's still okay.

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Where's the Like button? I am so happy to read this!

I don't have a huge pin budget, I don't live near the Parks, I don't have enough traders... but I've only been doing this for a year. I'm saving up a pin fund so I can buy a boatload of keepers and traders when I go back to WDW in a couple of years. Hence I'm not a completist... yet. (There are a few sets I would like to own, but there are only ~10 pins per set).

I'm not into Vinylmation pins in general, but I would buy any that feature characters I collect. In fact, the Yeti pin releases today at the Parks. I would like to see a HM Caretaker pin, and a Carmen Miranda (fruit basket hat) Vinylmation pin. I'm not into the rest of them just for the sake of having them... would have to be a character I already like.

I have been collecting pins almost since the millennium and I can agree that once Disney sees that they have a good thing, they want to jump on that craze and make as much money on it as possible, for as long as possible. Obviously they don't want the phase to pass over before milking it for all it's worth. That's just the way business and the all-mighty dollar works. Pins were only supposed to a short time deal, pretty much just for the millennium celebration. But it took everyone and even Disney by surprise. Here we are over 10 years later. I think it is the same with Vinyl now. Sometimes I get a little worried that Vinyl will take over pins.