Pin trading question

[mikat]

We had the best time and the boys had certain pins they wanted (the elusive club penguin puffle pins) which they found eventually. Great fun!

Those puffles! I bought a 25-pin lot on Ebay for fun - the boys are 4 and 7 and have no idea if pins are worth anything, I just wanted them to have inexpensive pins to trade and to enjoy the process. My son fell in love with the puffles! They were definitely my least favorite when we received the lot, but when we went to pick pins, each turn he grabbed a puffle. I guess it's a little boy thing.

 

[Eeyore'sthebest]

DS and I have a guy's trip planned for Marathon Weekend 2011. In the past he has done some pin trading. I thought this time around I'd buy a lot off of eBay as we have done in the past and split them. Might I get some fakes ? Maybe. Might I trade for some fakes ? Possibly. But as one who is hard core, I guess I'm more interested in the adventure and landing some pins that are cool to me.

For the record, I have purchased one pin that I have hanging in my cube(a Jessica Rabbit in a Star Trek sort of costume). That might well be a fake, too. But I think its awesome.

THere is a pin trading thread on the Collectors Board. They list sellers that appear to sell only legitimate pins. They also list the sellers that definitely appear to be selling scrappers. I usually try to look at this list prior to purchasing anything. It does help!

 

[solfan68]

THere is a pin trading thread on the Collectors Board. They list sellers that appear to sell only legitimate pins. They also list the sellers that definitely appear to be selling scrappers. I usually try to look at this list prior to purchasing anything. It does help!

Thanks for the heads up Eeyore. I'll have a look !

 

[roselark]

I have stopped trading because of the flood of fake pins. And yes, you will get fake pins from CMs as well. Remember, that if a guest trades with a CM, the pin they traded is now on the CM lanyard. Also, most CMs do not refresh their pins every day. It is possible for every pin on a CM lanyard to have come from guest trading.

For me, it is important to know that I am getting an authentic pin. This is for ethical reasons. I cannot support, even indirectly, theft of a copyright and the profiteering by people buying these fake pins and selling them by the thousands on Ebay. This was a huge internal dilemma for me and took me a while to come to this decision.

I tried trading in May and most of the pins on the CM lanyards were either obvious counterfits or were ones that are on the list of known counterfited.

Also, heads up! Those cheap "lots" on Ebay are almost always counterfit pins. Why do you think they are so cheap? Sometimes you will get a couple of pins that were traded for at the parks and are authentic, but that is pretty rare. Those lots are the reason for the huge influx of fake pins. People don't realize that they are buying counterfits...most people don't even realize there are counterfits out there.

 

[roselark]

Check out www.dizpins.com. There is extensive information as well as pictures regarding counterfit pins on the message boards.

 

[FigNewton]

The easiest way to tell fakes and scrappers on pins from the last few years is to look at the back and check the Mickey head pattern that covers it. If it goes evenly to the edge then chances are VERY HIGH that it is a legitimate pin. If there is a gap of blank space between the Mickey head pattern and the edge of the pin, then it's definitely illegitimate.

I have traded for many pins with CMs that I suspect are scrappers, but I try not to let it bother me because they are so close to the real thing that I can accept it in my collection. I have no intention of selling anything from my collection so what's it matter?

On the other hand I have been burned. I pulled a HM pin out of the pin trading book at CSR in 09 and later saw the same pin pulled out of a manager CMs pocket to put on a lanyard. The pin I had was a good 25% smaller and therfore an obvious fake. It looked ok, but it was obviously all wrong.

I've also seen lots of pins that were OBVIOUS fakes on CM lanyards. Poorly formed features, color outright MISSING from wells in the pins. You definitely have to be careful or otherwise you'll trade for a pin out of excitement for finding it, and after the buzz wears off you get a closer look and your heart drops through your stomach.

 

[nyz2004]

How do ppl get fake pins? it must be from the chinese factory where they are made. They saved some for selling on ebay. Otherwise how could they be so cheap. If there's no way to differentiate, and same cute, why bother. It's not Gucci bag or LV we're talking about. Just something for kids to play with.

I buy sets at Disney store, they are definitely authentic. and when you trade, think about if you have seen the designs in the stores. If they look suspicious, don't trade.

 

[FigNewton]

How do ppl get fake pins? it must be from the chinese factory where they are made. They saved some for selling on ebay. Otherwise how could they be so cheap. If there's no way to differentiate, and same cute, why bother. It's not Gucci bag or LV we're talking about. Just something for kids to play with.

I buy sets at Disney store, they are definitely authentic. and when you trade, think about if you have seen the designs in the stores. If they look suspicious, don't trade.

It is some from the factory where they are made ... But they are pins which had defects and were supposed to be destroyed, or they are made on the infamous third shift - when items the factory were contracted to make are made beyond what the contract ordered and often to specifications lower than what Disney generally requires for their products. This happens to a lot of products.

However they are not, simply, "something for kids to play with".

 

[winnie040]

Hi there - - we are new to the pin trading community, so I'm not familiar and hoping someone might have a little more insight into this. For Christmas my daughter received a Mickey head trader pin that had colorful jewels on it. Does anyone know if this is part of a set or just a single pin? She has really got into collecting. Any help anyone could offer would be much appreciated!!

Thanks a bunch!!

Kristy

 

[Reddog1134]

Hi there - - we are new to the pin trading community, so I'm not familiar and hoping someone might have a little more insight into this. For Christmas my daughter received a Mickey head trader pin that had colorful jewels on it. Does anyone know if this is part of a set or just a single pin? She has really got into collecting. Any help anyone could offer would be much appreciated!!

Thanks a bunch!!

Kristy

Try this LINK. There's a lot of pins to look through but if you find it, it should tell you all you need to know.

 

[Raenstoirm]

If you are only trading with CM's you shouldn't have a problem, as they are only allowed to trade REAL pins.
We have yet to have a problem, and we trade 20 -30 every year

CMs are the worst culprits because the accept counterfeit pins all day!


This topic always confuses me. Why does it matter what type of pin you have in the end? They are essentially worthless anyway. As another poster said, you are not going to be able to sell them to send little Johnny to college. Go and have fun trading.

For those wondering what a fake looks like, here is my favorite example. I traded for each and every one of these from a CM and wound up with two blue and two purple of slightly different shades. I am honestly not sure which ones are real and which are fake, so I kept them all!

 

[surfergirl602]

THere is a pin trading thread on the Collectors Board. They list sellers that appear to sell only legitimate pins. They also list the sellers that definitely appear to be selling scrappers. I usually try to look at this list prior to purchasing anything. It does help!

YES. I second and third this. Anyone who thinks that just because a pin is on a cm lanyard a pin is real, needs an eye opener. Most of them are fakes. Here is a good link. http://reviews.ebay.com/FAKE-DISNEY-PINS-101?ugid=10000000001748045

 

[winnie040]

I found it. It's pin #59884. How do I know if it is part of a set?

 

[mom2rtk]

I just started my daughter pin trading on our last trip. It added much enjoyment to our trip. I can't even imagine spending time worrying about it. It is what it is. We're not in it as an investment. We just want to add another enjoyable activity to our park days.

To be honest, if someone is in it for the value of the pins, then it all just sounds like an exercise in frustration, and not a good thing to add to a day at Disney.

 

[mom2rtk]

Sorry, duplicate post. These server issues are driving me NUTS!

 

[Girldreamer02]

When I was in disney two weeks ago I ran into two fakes. I only knew because a) a cast member said this is a fake, but if you want it you may have it and I didn't care because it was mickey & minnie and I collect mickey and minnie pins. She didn't have to tell me, but it was nice of her to do so. I've had a cm do that before and not even make me give her a trader even though I offered to do so anyways. Pixie dust is always nice. b) my husband was looking up a set for me and told me one of my other pins was a fake because it didn't have something that it was suppose to have behind the mickey and I am a little ocd so we threw the fake away once we found the real one. That way we weren't putting fakes back into the trading pool.

 

[Reddog1134]

I found it. It's pin #59884. How do I know if it is part of a set?

It would say it in the description. This one is NOT part of a set but it does have a companion piece.

MINNIE