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LuvTDL
06-28-2001, 09:40 PM
Hi there!

Even though I'm not a total pin collector, I'm really curious about these mystery pins!
I still love that first one that they had.. I'm so crushed that I can't get it!

ANYHOWS..

does anyone have all the mystery pins?

and if you do...
how in the world do you manage to be there right when the pins start selling??? =)


Has anyone else wondered about this? I keep hearing that the pins sell out in like 2 hours.. but who discovers them and do these people wander the parks 24/7? (well.. more like 15/7 huh?)

Napsto
06-28-2001, 10:27 PM
i need some background info.

Karin
06-29-2001, 08:59 AM
LuvTDL - Good luck with getting Mystery Pin #1. It is a nice one!

I am a pin collector and have been for over 18 months now. I have not yet been onsite when one of the Mystery Pins has been released. I only have one out of the 5 that have been released. I traded BIG to get it, too. It was #2, Pooh with a chalkboard with the number 2 on it. I am a Pooh fan, so I had to have that one. I haven't been impressed with the others to the point of wanting them.

That said, here is what I've heard about the Mystery Pin releases:

Many pin collectors live near DL. They have close-knit groups of fellow pin collectors who all have each others home phone numbers, cell phone numbers and pager numbers. They even sometimes go as far as to take shifts at the DL Resort watching for the pin at the various locations, trying to guess where and when it will be released.

Some folks are fortunate enough to have spouses who support them financially and allow them to spend great amount of times at DL doing pin things. Some folks buy pins and sell them on the secondary markets, such as eBay and Yahoo!. They make their living doing this and therefore spend almost all day every day at DL in hopes that something special will be released while the masses are at work, or that something spectacular will show up on a CM's lanyard and that they will have the scoop.

There are also rumors that once a Mystery pin is released (and also on the first Sunday of the month when the majority of Limited Edition pins are released which are sunject to the 5 pins per person limit) some folks bring other people along so they can end up with more than their allotment of 5 per person, and seel them on eBay, thereby makinga TON more money. With the Mystery Pins I have heard rumors that some people are even recruiting and paying others in the park, who they don't know, to stand in line and buy pins for them, too. But this is a rumor, I have not seen this for myself, although I trust several people I have heard this from.

So, there in a nutshell is how folks are hearing about the pins, and how they are selling out so fast when a lot of people may not be in the park at the time of the release.

Please forgive me if any of this sounds preachy or soap-box-ish. There is still alot wrong with the way DL is handling pin releases. It's getting better, but still has a long way to go to satisfy some folks who are more than casual collectors.

3894
06-29-2001, 09:56 AM
Some folks are fortunate enough to have spouses who support them financially and allow them to spend great amount of times at DL doing pin things. [/QUOTE]

:rolleyes:

AVP
06-29-2001, 10:40 AM
For background on Disneylands Mystery Pin Program, read This Column (http://www.mouseplanet.com/merchandise/mer060101.htm). One thing has changed since this was written, though - they added 4 more pins, so the program is now 18 weeks long.

Most avid collectors learn about the pin via cell phone. When the pin is released, whoever found it starts calling their friends, who call their friends, and so on and so on and so on....

Karin, you'll be happy to know that the Disney higher-ups are aware of the "kid renting" problem, and have taken steps to prevent that. They have also given the most flagrant offenders private warnings, and CMs found to be abusing the system have been written up.

If anyone wants to know when and where the mystery pins are released, I set up a totally free mailing list on MouseShoppe just for that purpose. Go to MouseShoppe (http://www.mouseshoppe.com), and click on"Mailing Lists" (http://www.mouseshoppe.com/mailinglist.cfm?categoryid=0) to register for the "Mystery Pin Update" list. If I am at all able to send out an e-mail when a new pin is released, I'll make sure eveyone on that list is contacted. If your cell phone accepts text messages, consider using your phones e-mail addy as your contact address for this one list.

Adrienne VP

Lani
06-29-2001, 02:18 PM
Whooo! All I can say is, I'm sure glad I'm not into collecting pins! Boy, talk about being manipulated by an artificial market.

LuvTDL
06-29-2001, 04:46 PM
Karin - just out of curiosity, what did you have to trade for the WInnie the Pooh one??

KarenW2
06-29-2001, 11:19 PM
Mystery Pins?? No, thank you. I have a life!!

Karin
07-02-2001, 11:24 AM
LuvTDL - I traded a Disneyana 4th Anniversary LE 2000 and a complete set of the Neverland GWP pins and map for the Pooh Mystery pin #2. It may seem a little steep, but I honestly didn't mind.

Adrienne - thanks for the update on the "kid renting" and CMs being warned. It's nice to know that they're trying to make it fair. But I heard yesterday about a way to avoid having the big "swipe" of ultraviolet paint they are putting on hands to make sure folks don't come back for more than their share of pins not apply to certain them. As long as there are rules of any kind in this world, someone will find a way to make sure it doesn't apply to them. Cheaters tick me off! :-) But they'll get their's in the end, is my theory.

Napsto
07-02-2001, 02:51 PM
i meant background info on the mystery pin series, i know about the pins. i hvae over 60 of them. thanks anyways!