This just in...

[Pirate Girl]

...Pin Sharks need to get a life. They were practically violent over the 50th anniversary pins.

[Pookie]

I was hoping to get one but not if I have to stand in a long line or fight for one. They are probably trying to buy them for ebay!

[Kerchak]

I love when we go over to DTD and they all hang out outside of the pin shop with suitcases and portfolios full of pins, cracks me up everytime I see them. Like you said they need a life. :rolleyes:

I keep expecting some seedy looking character to walk up in a trench coat and open it and have pins on the inside of it, "hey buddy wanna buy/trade some pins?".

I'm talking about the ones that are there practically sun up - sun down, and not the people who are casual pin collectors. I put them in the same category as the people who go stake out retail stores that sell toys, then buy up all the hard to get toys to sell at the flea market/newspaper/internet. Most of those are the same way very rude and obnoxious.

[TempoNZ]

That's really sad :crying:. I was trying to think a way that we could stop this kind of behaviour but really haven't thought of anything that would work (And is legal, breaking fingers etc might help but has "issues").

I'm certainly not into pin trading but I have seen how much some kids love it and think it is a great idea but the last thing we need is turn it into a free for all where the adults are acting like nasty bullies. Maybe pin trading should be limited to kids under 18 or something? I know Disney would lose out on money but it might stop this kind of thing and put some fun back into it.

Sorry you had to have abad day due to this one Pirate Girl.

[Pirate Girl]

That's really sad :crying:. I was trying to think a way that we could stop this kind of behaviour but really haven't thought of anything that would work (And is legal, breaking fingers etc might help but has "issues").

I'm certainly not into pin trading but I have seen how much some kids love it and think it is a great idea but the last thing we need is turn it into a free for all where the adults are acting like nasty bullies. Maybe pin trading should be limited to kids under 18 or something? I know Disney would lose out on money but it might stop this kind of thing and put some fun back into it.

Sorry you had to have abad day due to this one Pirate Girl.

I'm a big advocate for making pin trading a green lanyard only thing... meaning that only kids 12 and under could do it. It's really fun to trade with the kids because they don't care about things like Lanyard pins or Limited Editions.

[SummerinFL]

Hey Pirate Girl where you working yesterday? C and I were there and I asked around for you but only one person said, "Yeah, I've seen her." but didn't give me anything more than that. LOL

Wanted to stop in and say hi but no one knew who you were minus one. :P

It was kind of bad though because all I had was your name and the picture I've seen here so I just kept asking people, "Is *name* working today? She's tall, skinny, blonde hair...has an affection for POTC." LOL I must have looked like a freak LOL

[Klutch]

While I'm not anti-pin trading, I think it's a bummer when a pin lanyard ruins a CM's costume. I have a picture of a young lady CM at WDW Haunted Mansion. Her costume was great and her stoic expression was perfect, but she's got this loud, obnoxious pin lanyard around her neck; spoiled her costume as well as my picture.

Taking things to extremes is a human characteristic. If you limited pin trading to kids under 12, parents would turn their little ones into pin trading commandos.

[Pirate Girl]

Hey Pirate Girl where you working yesterday? C and I were there and I asked around for you but only one person said, "Yeah, I've seen her." but didn't give me anything more than that. LOL

Wanted to stop in and say hi but no one knew who you were minus one. :P

It was kind of bad though because all I had was your name and the picture I've seen here so I just kept asking people, "Is *name* working today? She's tall, skinny, blonde hair...has an affection for POTC." LOL I must have looked like a freak LOL

Depends on what time of day you were there. I work all nights, so most of the day people don't know me. Also, I work mostly backstage with cash control now. I'm onstage about once a week.

[SummerinFL]

Depends on what time of day you were there. I work all nights, so most of the day people don't know me. Also, I work mostly backstage with cash control now. I'm onstage about once a week.

ahhh We popped over after 4pm but if you were backstage then I can understand why we didn't catch you. :) Oh well, maybe next time.

[tappenfeat]

We tried Pin Trading just once...it didn't work for our daughter. She didn't like strangers coming up to her asking to trade a pin and picking her favorite ones of course!

We tried to explain the concept, but it didn't go over very well. :(

The other thing about pin trading is when a CM is interrupted while they are trying to keep a line in order for autographs with a Character.

That turned into a big mess. The CM was so preoccupied with people talking to her about her pins the line got totally out of control. And my husband and I were telling people they had to stand in line and wait their turn...we got lots of lovely looks from that one...

We were saying it politely, but oh well...we tried.

[TempoNZ]

The more I think of it the more I think making it "green lanyard only thing" as Pirate Girl suggested (Maybe upping the age to 13?). It might also make sense not to have Pin Trading in some areas like Character Meets etc unless there is a free CM on duty etc that can spend time Pin Trading while the other CM(s) are working the crowd.

Pin Trading should be something fun, especially for kids and not a war. I think it is a great way of getting kids to meet CMs etc but I also think in it's current form it isn't totally working.

[mickeysaver]

As a pin trading adult, I can say that I am no shark. I also can say that I would NEVER interupt a CM that was working with a group or an individual ahead of me to trade a pin. I also am not all about the LE pins. While they are cool, I like the thrill of the hunt for many pins that are just regular rack too. If you see me in December, stop by for a trade....I'll have my MickeySaver logo on my lanyard. Maggie