Pin Trading/collecting questions please

[BeachMouse1]

Serious questions here. I have been looking at some pins I like in the parks and stuff and am confused by this whole pin trading thing.
so I’m guessing collecting and trading are 2 different things. If you plan on trading the pin wouldn’t it lose value if you take it off the original backing it came with? And how does trading work exactly? You can trade with any cast member/trading station and they have to take what you give them? Doesn’t this end up eventually with the trading stations having all pins no one wants? I have also heard that people go in and trade fake Disney pins.
How do you decide what to collect by characte, theme, etc? Then how do know if you have all the pins in a particular set?
I want to start because I see some I like but a few I ended up buying are sitting in a drawer so I don’t ruin them?
Any advice on how to start is welcomed

 

[Her Dotness]

I don't know that most Disney pins have any great collectible value because they're mass-produced. I suppose to someone interested in getting older pins, those might have more monetary value than the new ones. Of course, then, you'd have to find someone willing to buy whatever pin you want to sell.

I think most people just trade with other guests for pins they like or to help kids get a start in trading. That's what I do, and I also do trades from the resort pin boards if there's a pin I like.

I probably have a few fakes even though I've never bought batch lots on the sites like eBay. I don't care as long as I like the pin. I don't trade as much as buy pins when at WDW, only occasionally from ShopDisney. I've gotten a few from our Disney Visa card special edition offer. Chase does that at least once a year.

I buy mostly character groups I like--Mary Poppins, Pooh and Friends, Walt and Mickey, etc. I also buy one for each resort where we've stayed and the attractions we've been on.

The fun of pins is deciding what you want to do with them, I think, and then just do that.

 

[xipotec]

Pin trading is ONLY for fun….not monetary value.

That being said, we did it for years and had a great time hunting sets:

The monorail sets
Haunted Mansion
Hidden Mickey sets.

Its best to just buy a bunch off ebay to start. Just be sure they come with backs and the mickey imprint on the back, as those are the only trade able ones.

It was alot more fun to trade before Covid. Now most of the pins I saw were real junk, nothing anyone would really want. There are not many pin stations anymore either. Used to be almost all cast members had some, not any more….

Actually your best best is to trade with other guests.

 

[BeachMouse1]

I don't know that most Disney pins have any great collectible value because they're mass-produced. I suppose to someone interested in getting older pins, those might have more monetary value than the new ones. Of course, then, you'd have to find someone willing to buy whatever pin you want to sell.

I think most people just trade with other guests for pins they like or to help kids get a start in trading. That's what I do, and I also do trades from the resort pin boards if there's a pin I like.

I probably have a few fakes even though I've never bought batch lots on the sites like eBay. I don't care as long as I like the pin. I don't trade as much as buy pins when at WDW, only occasionally from ShopDisney. I've gotten a few from our Disney Visa card special edition offer. Chase does that at least once a year.

I buy mostly character groups I like--Mary Poppins, Pooh and Friends, Walt and Mickey, etc. I also buy one for each resort where we've stayed and the attractions we've been on.

The fun of pins is deciding what you want to do with them, I think, and then just do that.

Thank you. What is the proper procedure for trading with guests. If someone asks me to try am I supposed to just do it or can I politely decline if I don’t like what they are offering?

 

[BeachMouse1]

Pin trading is ONLY for fun….not monetary value.

That being said, we did it for years and had a great time hunting sets:

The monorail sets
Haunted Mansion
Hidden Mickey sets.

Its best to just buy a bunch off ebay to start. Just be sure they come with backs and the mickey imprint on the back, as those are the only trade able ones.

It was alot more fun to trade before Covid. Now most of the pins I saw were real junk, nothing anyone would really want. There are not many pin stations anymore either. Used to be almost all cast members had some, not any more….

Actually your best best is to trade with other guests.

Thank you. If you start collecting a set is there somewhere you can find a list of all the pins in the set?

 

[starry_solo]

Thank you. What is the proper procedure for trading with guests. If someone asks me to try am I supposed to just do it or can I politely decline if I don’t like what they are offering?

You can politely decline.

Disney Pin Forum is a good resource for trading. I was actually referred there from someone here on the DIS.
Pin Trading Database is a good resource for newer pins (to find them).

 

[starry_solo]

Thank you. If you start collecting a set is there somewhere you can find a list of all the pins in the set?

Depends on the set. The newer ones, you can find on new databases like Pin Trading Database.
The older ones, you can find on an older database which is currently having issues.

 

[Ltfightr]

My DS collects/trades pins. The first year, I only let him trade with CM. I had heard stories of the people who were big time collectors and would have binders out and get little kids to go buy them a $30 pin and trade it for a $5 because the kid though the $5 was “cooler”. Last year, he had 2 sets of pins…..one that he traded… and one that he used to give to little kids that didn’t have any pins to trade so they could start Trading themselves.

 

[Goldilocks07]

Pin trading is ONLY for fun….not monetary value.

That being said, we did it for years and had a great time hunting sets:

The monorail sets
Haunted Mansion
Hidden Mickey sets.

Its best to just buy a bunch off ebay to start. Just be sure they come with backs and the mickey imprint on the back, as those are the only trade able ones.

It was alot more fun to trade before Covid. Now most of the pins I saw were real junk, nothing anyone would really want. There are not many pin stations anymore either. Used to be almost all cast members had some, not any more….

Actually your best best is to trade with other guests.

Yes! and to add to that, we love trading with other guests in two spots: the Frontier Trading Post in Frontierland, right near the Country Bear show and at Hollywood Studios when you walk in on the left, I can't remember the name of it but you can't miss it, looks like a Route 66 roadside stand with junk. LOL
We love sitting in there for an hour, at the end of the day, and all sorts of pin traders come In and we get the best ones by just asking people if they'd like to trade with us. My daughter loves the interaction.

 

[NHMickey]

Serious questions here. I have been looking at some pins I like in the parks and stuff and am confused by this whole pin trading thing.
so I’m guessing collecting and trading are 2 different things. If you plan on trading the pin wouldn’t it lose value if you take it off the original backing it came with? And how does trading work exactly? You can trade with any cast member/trading station and they have to take what you give them? Doesn’t this end up eventually with the trading stations having all pins no one wants? I have also heard that people go in and trade fake Disney pins.
How do you decide what to collect by characte, theme, etc? Then how do know if you have all the pins in a particular set?
I want to start because I see some I like but a few I ended up buying are sitting in a drawer so I don’t ruin them?
Any advice on how to start is welcomed

Hello, been collecting since 99. The best advice is buy a few of the lesser cost pins and if you can get to the character warehouse they are even cheaper. Then walk around and look on the pin board around the parks and hotels…. Trade one pin for one you see that you like. It is a fun experience and the cast interaction and even those guests with lanyards is always fun. Collect what you like or just trade for your favorite character/ride/experience. Have fun

 

[WEDcryoHEAD]

Pin trading adds to the magic. I always bring a couple of pins to trade at resort boards or with CM's. Occasionally a kiddo will ask me to trade and I always oblige. I've traded some pretty good pins for a mickey bar or Chick Hicks, but to the see the smiles on their faces is priceless.

 

[Boopuff]

I used to love pin trading (eons ago) but that was before the Ebay scrapper pins started showing up. Some are really bad. When my DD was a CM part of her job was to sort out the trade pins making sure no scrappers were on their pin trade board. Again this was a few years ago. Now I'll look at a few trade boards, but now I just buy the ones I like.

 

[Oldie13]

Hi! Can the pins you buy at BoxLunch (like Loungefly pins) be traded at the parks too?

 

[garris3404]

Hi! Can the pins you buy at BoxLunch (like Loungefly pins) be traded at the parks too?

YES

 

[pindecisive]

I used to love pin trading (eons ago) but that was before the Ebay scrapper pins started showing up. Some are really bad. When my DD was a CM part of her job was to sort out the trade pins making sure no scrappers were on their pin trade board. Again this was a few years ago. Now I'll look at a few trade boards, but now I just buy the ones I like.

There was someone who posted how they knowingly buy scrap pins to have their kids trade because who cares and that sort of attitude is such a bummer. I like to keep in mind the person trading for my pins and leave the board as magical as I found it.

 

[lockets]

Reporting in from our trip last week - I noticed a lot more pin boards than last time I was there. At Saratoga Springs Resort they had a board in the lobby with a lot of hidden mickey pins. Not sure if they were real or fake or harder to find because I didn't trade - I just noticed a lot of them had a hidden mickey.

 

[kbelle8995]

I have collected and pin traded.

Pin trading is just for fun. I put pins my lanyards that I already have so they are duplicates. I'm not going to be super picky. Unless I'm taking them off boards

I Purchase the pins I really want. The ones that are worth anything are the limited editions. But for me it's pins that are nostalgic for me favorite rides or character. I'm not doing collecting for money.