What the ???

I traded with a cast member for this because it was unusual, but I can't find it on pinpics or on Disney's website:



It looks just like 2006 Cast Lanyard pin #44498 but without colour. It isn't the usual silver 'chaser' colour, unless something happened to change the colour -it's closer to a gun-metal gray- and Disney's 2006 release doesn't list a chaser of this pin anyway. It doesn't make much sense to have fakes or scrappers of a pin that doesn't exist, so I'm stumped...

Any thoughts?

Isabel

We had gotten a couple pins like that, which we thought were scrappers and ended up throwing them away like we do with all scrappers... Come to find out later that they were prototype pins... LOL... So just an FYI... Find out before you toss it for being a scrapper... LOL

Whatever it is, I'll trade you for it! Let me know

It's a rather interesting pin. I would keep it. If it is a prototype pin, I wonder how it ended up on a cast lanyard.

Thanks for the trade offers, but I think I'll hold on to it!
Are prototypes always marked as such on the back? (there is nothing on the back of this one other than the same stamps as the regular colour version.

DLRPintrader92 has written a "book" about prototypes. But PPs aren't typically color-less.

^ Actually I've seen some of these "blanks" selling on ebay recently. The seller(s) claim they are prototypes. Whether that is true or not...

I've seen these 'blanks' on lanyards at WDW. The CMs tell me the same story that the 'trader' told them, that they were prototypes (heard the same story, in the same store, on the same day...coincidence, I think not). Funny, there was the same said 'prototype' all over the CM lanyards in the WOD at DTD.

Not to be the bearer of bad news, but I'm afraid the fake/scrapper pins have hit a all time new low. They are just knocking the pin out of the metal, attaching a pin post and sending them over here by the boatloads. I am starting to see them more and more.

Pinpics has any response to this?

There's nothing on pinpics about it (at least not re. the Mowgli pin). My best guess is it's a scrapper -in this case a blank that didn't get filled with enamel/paint for some reason- but I'll hold on to it for now.

I recently threw away about 10 or 15 pins because I thought they were counterfeit or scrappers. Then I found out they were real pins. All prototypes of Toy Story pins from many years ago, but they all had a marking to identify them as prototypes or special runs. I just spoke with a cast friend and he said that the pin should have two tiny posts near the pin back. If not, it is a scrapper or counterfeit. He said he just took several of those off the boards today. Also, some of them have the word disney spelled as dinsey on the back.

Not trying to be a Scrooge, but unfortunately 99% of castmembers have no clue what they are talking about when it comes to telling real pins from fake ones. They are not truly educated in any way by Disney in how to tell, and all of their knowledge comes second hand from other cast members who think they know what they are talking about. I ran in to a cast member that said a pin was real if it had a mickey head shaped back on it but that all fakes came with metal or round backs. Are you kidding me????

The extra tiny posts or nubs have nothing to do with the legitimacy of the pin. Those are only there to help hold a pin on. I have seen plenty of fakes that have had them. As far as pins being prototypes; anything made in the last 3-4 years should have a tiny "AP" for Artist Proof or "PP" for pre-production stamped on the back. Otherwise, it is not. Pins 5 or more years old or older do not always have these marks, making it really hard to tell. You would have to receive the pin from the person that originally purchased it from Disney to guarantee that it is what they say it is.

And yes, mis-spellings occur and are a sure sign of a fake pin. Otherwise take great advantage of the information in the Pin Comparison section of the forum, especially the stickied threads at the top. One is a quick pamphlet DPF "How to Tell" guide and the other is more in depth on how to spot fakes.

If that mowgli pin is a PP or an AP, it should have an AP or PP stamp on it. I have to say, that is probably the laziest, worst looking fake pin I have ever seen. The guy that traded it to that cast member probably was laughing the rest of the day.