encodedracing
09-24-2001, 12:28 PM
Hello all,
After reading David Koenig's latest mailbag, I was fairly shocked to read about the "mob of pin traders who attacked (...)" I have been to the park a few times, and while I've never personally experienced the behaviour that's documented in that mail (and in posts on this forum), I have seen the crowds around the various pin trading stations at times acting rather boisterous.
I asked a friend of mine who researches human behaviour about this, and in summary, here's what she has to say (note that this is my summary of her words, and not direct quotes. Also note that I am not a doctor):
- There are two types of collectors: "passive" collectors, and "active" collectors. The passive collector purchases/trades for/obtains an object because of its personal connection-- the collector identifies with what the item symbolizes, not the item itself. For example, "oh, I have this Michael Jordan rookie basketball card because I'm a huge Michael Jordan fan". The person connects with Michael Jordan. In addition, the passive collector only purchases an item when he/she identifies with what the item represents (in this case, purchasing a Mickey Mouse pin because he/she likes Mickey Mouse). Lastly, the passive collector will not go out of their normal daily routine in order to obtain an object for their collection (for example, if in looking through their change they find a valuable coin, they'll keep it, but they won't go out to a coin collecting convention).
- On the other hand, the "active" collector epitomizes nearly the exact opposite of this behaviour. They will go out of their way to obtain a given item for their collection, they will purchase multiple objects at a time for their collection, and, most importantly, they do not identify with what individual items signify-- they identify with the items themselves. That is to say, irregardless of what is on the pin, or baseball card, or stamp, the active collector feels like they must have it. The more items in their collection, the less that any individual item means to them.
I was curious about this point, and asked her what that meant, as obviously people have prize items in their collection. She said that while that may be true, so is the following:
- An item doesn't become valuable to the person because of their personal feelings for it-- it becomes valuable because of a percieved monetary or status value that it represents. Therefore, when asked about the Michael Jordan rookie card, the active collector will not tell you "Oh, I'm a huge Michael Jordan fan, that's why I own it", but they will tell you "oh, it's worth hundreds of dollars, and it's in mint condition, and there is a very limited edition of them".
- A passive collector does not care that an item may be limited in its availability-- an active collector does, sometimes to the extent of researching exactly how many of each item exist.
- As a result of the disconnection between the active collector and the individual items of their collection, the needs/desires of the active collector become the act of adding to their collection. In this case, they want to get new pins that they don't have, not caring about what the pins represent. It is the act of making their pin collection grow that makes them feel good.
I thought that this sounded very much like an obsession, and she corrected me, in that:
- This act is an addiction. An obsession is an object/action that, while greatly desireable to a person, the person is conscious of the fact that the object/action is mostly unobtainable, and as such does not alter their life to fit the obsession. An addiction is an object/action that a person has obtained previously, and changes their life in order to obtain said object/action again. In this case, standing in line for quite a long time solely to purchase a pin that will increase their collection (without necessarily knowing what the pin looks like, or caring about what the pin represents).
I was pretty shocked that she would call pin trading something as harsh as an addiction, but it makes sense once you think about it. She doesn't go to the park very often, so she asked me about people displaying their collections. I told her about people wearing vests and lanyards, to which she commented on:
- The act of displaying ones collection in such a way fits the profile of someone who is addicted to their collection. They are trying to "one-up" other people by displaying their collections, quite literally on their sleeves, to others. This act, in their minds (whether they admit to it or not), makes them feel superior to those who do not have as many pins as they do. In reality, the larger a person's collection (and as such, the more they display on their lanyards/vests), the more addicted they are.
I told her about the behaviour documented by the mail and by posts here, and she didn't bat an eye:
- That is a very classic symptom of the problem. It is not an unfair generalization to say that the larger a person's collection becomes, the worse you can expect them to behave around others when it comes to dealing with their collections. A person can be the sweetest, most caring person around, but if you get between her and the latest baseball card/beanie baby/pin, you will get run over. The addiction to growing her collection overwhelms her sense of right and wrong. It really is almost a case of temporary insanity.
I asked what could be done to help these people, and she made a couple of good points.
- The passive collector is fine, but should be watched to make sure that they don't turn into an active collector. In all other cases, the addiction needs to be removed, forcibly if required. The addiction could stem from any number of things; a feeling of a lack of control over one's life, helplessness, boredom, etc.. The root of the problem must be dealt with as well, or else the person will just swing from addiction to addiction. In this case, going from beanie babies to pins to whatever comes next.
Based upon that, here are my suggestions as to what needs to be done by Disney:
- Ideally, Disney should immediately stop creating pins. This is not in Disney's best interests, and as such is probably not going to happen.
- Instead, Disney should first completely destroy the secondary market for pins: announce that pins will, from now on, be re-pressed when supplies run out, thereby creating virtually an infinite supply of pins. This will cause the market on ebay to take a 180-- who would want to pay $20 for a pin when one can order any pin from Disney for $5? This removes the monetary incentive that some pin traders have for staying in their "hobby" and will more than likely cause them to stop crowding lines, demanding times for new pins, etc. In a supply and demand market (like the limited-edition world of pins), when the supply becomes perceived as infinite, the demand drops. While medium-term this may hurt the bottom line (as it takes a bit of money to re-press a pin, I'm sure), Disney makes no money off the secondary market, and so is totally unaffected by it being wiped out. The supply for glowing lightsabers seems to be infinite, and Disney still sells them (and makes money), so the same could apply here.
- Remove the limits of how many pins an individual can purchase. While this might immediately seem counterproductive, it really isn't-- if one person comes along and purchases 1000 pins for $5 apiece, and the store then announces "we'll have more pins for everyone tomorrow, when they get re-pressed", the one person is going to feel extremely foolish, and in all likelihood, they're going to be out about $4500, when they can't sell 900 pins on ebay or other secondary markets. Because we're dealing with, in my opinion, a demographic that is very cautious about money, you are making it impossible for any given person to monopolize the market, regardless of how many pins they purchase. Sooner or later, an individual in this demographic is going to run out of money, and when they do, and the stores keep selling pins for $5, that person will learn a valuable (no pun intended) lesson. Disney itself has nothing to lose or gain by doing this-- they make the same amount of money on the primary market regardless of who purchases the pins.
- Lastly, in an effort to discourage people from becoming addicted to pin collections, Disney should severely limit the number of different pin variations. Again, ideally, they should not create any new variations of pins-- someone who can only collect 50 pins isn't going to be addicted to them. While this also will hurt Disney's bottom line, they could potentially make up for the sales by selling these 50 pins to new demographics. Again, even though they are losing potential sales, they are "buying" a peace of mind, knowing that no kids are going to be pushed/harrassed inside the park.
For pin-traders, my friend recommends:
- Take a time-out. Stop your hobby for a period of 3 to 6 months. If, during that time, you find that you cannot live without your hobby, seek out professional help, please. If, after the time-out period, you find that you "have to make up for lost time" or return to the same levels of collecting that you were at prior, you should also seek out help. Talk to friends, family, and loved ones first, and ask them what they think.
- If on the other hand, you find that you didn't really miss the items that came out during the time-out, and that you can live without them, congratulations-- you're going down the road to recovery. Talk to your loved ones, enjoy more time around them, and see if you can perhaps put away your collection for a longer period of time.
I can predict the reactions of pin-traders to this post-- my friend and I probably come across as being some group of heretics, and there will be denials all around, but I am genuinely concerned for what appears to be a growing problem. The pin traders, especially the ones wearing the vests, lanyards, etc (let's be frank, you do not need to wear your collection of pins to advertise that you're willing to trade pins), need our pity, not our scorn. I would suggest that next time we're in the park and we see these people, we talk to them and try to help them.
Thanks everyone.
After reading David Koenig's latest mailbag, I was fairly shocked to read about the "mob of pin traders who attacked (...)" I have been to the park a few times, and while I've never personally experienced the behaviour that's documented in that mail (and in posts on this forum), I have seen the crowds around the various pin trading stations at times acting rather boisterous.
I asked a friend of mine who researches human behaviour about this, and in summary, here's what she has to say (note that this is my summary of her words, and not direct quotes. Also note that I am not a doctor):
- There are two types of collectors: "passive" collectors, and "active" collectors. The passive collector purchases/trades for/obtains an object because of its personal connection-- the collector identifies with what the item symbolizes, not the item itself. For example, "oh, I have this Michael Jordan rookie basketball card because I'm a huge Michael Jordan fan". The person connects with Michael Jordan. In addition, the passive collector only purchases an item when he/she identifies with what the item represents (in this case, purchasing a Mickey Mouse pin because he/she likes Mickey Mouse). Lastly, the passive collector will not go out of their normal daily routine in order to obtain an object for their collection (for example, if in looking through their change they find a valuable coin, they'll keep it, but they won't go out to a coin collecting convention).
- On the other hand, the "active" collector epitomizes nearly the exact opposite of this behaviour. They will go out of their way to obtain a given item for their collection, they will purchase multiple objects at a time for their collection, and, most importantly, they do not identify with what individual items signify-- they identify with the items themselves. That is to say, irregardless of what is on the pin, or baseball card, or stamp, the active collector feels like they must have it. The more items in their collection, the less that any individual item means to them.
I was curious about this point, and asked her what that meant, as obviously people have prize items in their collection. She said that while that may be true, so is the following:
- An item doesn't become valuable to the person because of their personal feelings for it-- it becomes valuable because of a percieved monetary or status value that it represents. Therefore, when asked about the Michael Jordan rookie card, the active collector will not tell you "Oh, I'm a huge Michael Jordan fan, that's why I own it", but they will tell you "oh, it's worth hundreds of dollars, and it's in mint condition, and there is a very limited edition of them".
- A passive collector does not care that an item may be limited in its availability-- an active collector does, sometimes to the extent of researching exactly how many of each item exist.
- As a result of the disconnection between the active collector and the individual items of their collection, the needs/desires of the active collector become the act of adding to their collection. In this case, they want to get new pins that they don't have, not caring about what the pins represent. It is the act of making their pin collection grow that makes them feel good.
I thought that this sounded very much like an obsession, and she corrected me, in that:
- This act is an addiction. An obsession is an object/action that, while greatly desireable to a person, the person is conscious of the fact that the object/action is mostly unobtainable, and as such does not alter their life to fit the obsession. An addiction is an object/action that a person has obtained previously, and changes their life in order to obtain said object/action again. In this case, standing in line for quite a long time solely to purchase a pin that will increase their collection (without necessarily knowing what the pin looks like, or caring about what the pin represents).
I was pretty shocked that she would call pin trading something as harsh as an addiction, but it makes sense once you think about it. She doesn't go to the park very often, so she asked me about people displaying their collections. I told her about people wearing vests and lanyards, to which she commented on:
- The act of displaying ones collection in such a way fits the profile of someone who is addicted to their collection. They are trying to "one-up" other people by displaying their collections, quite literally on their sleeves, to others. This act, in their minds (whether they admit to it or not), makes them feel superior to those who do not have as many pins as they do. In reality, the larger a person's collection (and as such, the more they display on their lanyards/vests), the more addicted they are.
I told her about the behaviour documented by the mail and by posts here, and she didn't bat an eye:
- That is a very classic symptom of the problem. It is not an unfair generalization to say that the larger a person's collection becomes, the worse you can expect them to behave around others when it comes to dealing with their collections. A person can be the sweetest, most caring person around, but if you get between her and the latest baseball card/beanie baby/pin, you will get run over. The addiction to growing her collection overwhelms her sense of right and wrong. It really is almost a case of temporary insanity.
I asked what could be done to help these people, and she made a couple of good points.
- The passive collector is fine, but should be watched to make sure that they don't turn into an active collector. In all other cases, the addiction needs to be removed, forcibly if required. The addiction could stem from any number of things; a feeling of a lack of control over one's life, helplessness, boredom, etc.. The root of the problem must be dealt with as well, or else the person will just swing from addiction to addiction. In this case, going from beanie babies to pins to whatever comes next.
Based upon that, here are my suggestions as to what needs to be done by Disney:
- Ideally, Disney should immediately stop creating pins. This is not in Disney's best interests, and as such is probably not going to happen.
- Instead, Disney should first completely destroy the secondary market for pins: announce that pins will, from now on, be re-pressed when supplies run out, thereby creating virtually an infinite supply of pins. This will cause the market on ebay to take a 180-- who would want to pay $20 for a pin when one can order any pin from Disney for $5? This removes the monetary incentive that some pin traders have for staying in their "hobby" and will more than likely cause them to stop crowding lines, demanding times for new pins, etc. In a supply and demand market (like the limited-edition world of pins), when the supply becomes perceived as infinite, the demand drops. While medium-term this may hurt the bottom line (as it takes a bit of money to re-press a pin, I'm sure), Disney makes no money off the secondary market, and so is totally unaffected by it being wiped out. The supply for glowing lightsabers seems to be infinite, and Disney still sells them (and makes money), so the same could apply here.
- Remove the limits of how many pins an individual can purchase. While this might immediately seem counterproductive, it really isn't-- if one person comes along and purchases 1000 pins for $5 apiece, and the store then announces "we'll have more pins for everyone tomorrow, when they get re-pressed", the one person is going to feel extremely foolish, and in all likelihood, they're going to be out about $4500, when they can't sell 900 pins on ebay or other secondary markets. Because we're dealing with, in my opinion, a demographic that is very cautious about money, you are making it impossible for any given person to monopolize the market, regardless of how many pins they purchase. Sooner or later, an individual in this demographic is going to run out of money, and when they do, and the stores keep selling pins for $5, that person will learn a valuable (no pun intended) lesson. Disney itself has nothing to lose or gain by doing this-- they make the same amount of money on the primary market regardless of who purchases the pins.
- Lastly, in an effort to discourage people from becoming addicted to pin collections, Disney should severely limit the number of different pin variations. Again, ideally, they should not create any new variations of pins-- someone who can only collect 50 pins isn't going to be addicted to them. While this also will hurt Disney's bottom line, they could potentially make up for the sales by selling these 50 pins to new demographics. Again, even though they are losing potential sales, they are "buying" a peace of mind, knowing that no kids are going to be pushed/harrassed inside the park.
For pin-traders, my friend recommends:
- Take a time-out. Stop your hobby for a period of 3 to 6 months. If, during that time, you find that you cannot live without your hobby, seek out professional help, please. If, after the time-out period, you find that you "have to make up for lost time" or return to the same levels of collecting that you were at prior, you should also seek out help. Talk to friends, family, and loved ones first, and ask them what they think.
- If on the other hand, you find that you didn't really miss the items that came out during the time-out, and that you can live without them, congratulations-- you're going down the road to recovery. Talk to your loved ones, enjoy more time around them, and see if you can perhaps put away your collection for a longer period of time.
I can predict the reactions of pin-traders to this post-- my friend and I probably come across as being some group of heretics, and there will be denials all around, but I am genuinely concerned for what appears to be a growing problem. The pin traders, especially the ones wearing the vests, lanyards, etc (let's be frank, you do not need to wear your collection of pins to advertise that you're willing to trade pins), need our pity, not our scorn. I would suggest that next time we're in the park and we see these people, we talk to them and try to help them.
Thanks everyone.