PDA

View Full Version : Popularity of pin trading?



Pages : [1] 2

ramson
04-02-2006, 01:18 PM
Hi all,

Because I go to WDW several times a year and only make it to DL once every couple of years I mainly lurk on these boards. However, I am going back to DL this month for the first time since 2002. Back then if I saw a pin I liked I bought it, stuck it on my Mouse Ears and was done with it. Since then I have met my boyfriend who is a pin trading nut and who has subseqently sucked me into it as well. I am wondering if I need to lug all my pins across the country or not. This trip is girls only so BF is not accompanying me trip so we don't have to worry about hauling all of his out there as well. - As it is we've had to pay extra $ for our overweight luggage on the last two WDW trips.

Can someone give me some insight on just how popular pin trading is at present at DL? At WDW Downtown Disney is where all the "pin sharks" hang out. Is there something similar at DL? Does DL have Master Pin traders like WDW does? At WDW there is an employee named Scoop who gives a pin talk several times a week. Anything similar?

Thanks!

TP2000
04-02-2006, 01:39 PM
Pin trading has been dying at Disneyland in the last year, if it isn't already dead. The 50th kind of took the wind out of it's sails, as there are now more important things for Disneyland management to worry about.

Compared to two or three years ago: There are few CM's who wear their lanyards, and it can be difficult to actually see a CM lanyard on most days. There are also a LOT fewer guests who wear lanyards. There are still a couple of pin carts in Disneyland and DCA, but they just sort of sit there now without much activity around them. The big exception is the pin carts at the Plaza Pavilion; that area still attracts a hald dozen or so pin trading "sharks" on weekends, and another dozen or so more casual traders. But it's a faint shadow of it's former self from 2002 or '03.

You might bring a lanyard and a dozen fun pins to trade with, but don't expect it to be anything like WDW. It's a dying fad at Disneyland, and I wouldn't be surprised if it ceases to exist entirely a year from now.

GrumpyUTboi
04-02-2006, 01:40 PM
I never understood the craze of pins. The backs always fell off and then the pin got lost.

TowerofTerror
04-02-2006, 03:20 PM
IT`S FUN TO COLLECT Pins . I did it for awhile but now I stopped I have over 400 pins. It was fun to meet a variety of people. I had to stop it was getting to expensive.

ferliemom
04-02-2006, 03:48 PM
I agree with TP2000.
There are very few CMs with lanyards, and fewer guests.
Not much going on with pins at DL. :crying:

TTFN92
04-02-2006, 08:51 PM
We weren't at DL a few years ago so I don't have anything to compare it to, but it seems to me that there are lots of CMs w/ lanyards. We always ran into them and usually stopped and looked at their pins. I also see lots of guests wearing them too. But like I said, I don't have anything to compare it to. But I agree with what was mentioned, I only see the people with the pin books on the weekend. Maybe only one or two during the week.

cstephens
04-02-2006, 10:49 PM
Compared to two or three years ago: There are few CM's who wear their lanyards, and it can be difficult to actually see a CM lanyard on most days.

Hmmm, on each of my visits, I've seen a number of CMs wearing lanyards. They're usually the ones in the stores, though, or custodial or sometimes suits. I think some attraction CMs used to wear them, but that was a huge mess that they should have been able to figure out ahead of time wouldn't work.

Tinker Bell
04-03-2006, 10:21 AM
I don't see pin tradeing dieing at DL. Of course I can not compare it to WDW seeing how I have never been there. You may want to ask this question over on DizPins.com boards where the pin traders talk all day. There are some new Lanyard pins out that are very cute. There are super traders. No Scoops here. Most of ther traders hang out on Main street with all there pin bags. Depending on when you come there is a come out and pin trade thing in 3 places at the resort. 11am-? DTD by the monarail, 1:30-3:30 Main street in DLR and Not sure what time the one in DCA is. I have only caught it by chance but I do think it overlaps DL trades. There are tables at all these places PT flea Little Green men and the DTD place.I have seen people at all these places.But most stay at the tables at the end of Main street. Sundays are good day to hang with them. There is GWP days. Spend $20 in pins and get a pin first sun on the month. There are also pin trade night twice a month at the hotels. mmmmmmm I think thats about it that I can think of right now.Hope it helps.

Shinku
04-03-2006, 03:50 PM
I'd say go ahead and bring a lanyard. That way if you feel the need to trade, it's all good, if you don't find anyone or it's not what you expected, you didn't lug out the big heavy pin books and whatnot.

ima_mickeyfan
04-03-2006, 03:57 PM
when we were at DCA last Sept. my dd age 5 wanted to trade pins with a castmember, so as the CM walked my dd asked her if she would trade with her. the CM stoped and said you have to hurry if you want to trade with me. and gave us a snotty look...I was mad, she could have said "oh sweetie, I can't right now"...and been nice about it and not acted like it was a total inconvience for her! :~D

pretty Omi
04-03-2006, 09:59 PM
as mentioned earlyer, pin traders come mostly on sundays, and we hang out at the tables at the plaza pavillion, by the pin cart, and sometimes at little table over in tomorrowland at Store Command... while it's true less CM's wear lanyards here, don't let that discourage you, as i still find plently to trade for every time i visit! i'm a passholder and a pintrader as well, join us over is dizpins (www.dizpins.com) for tons of info on what will be coming out, as well as our message board where tons of pin traders meet and talk all day... and as for Pin Trading Nights (PTN's for short) here is the schedule, and they are definately worth coming to and bringing plenty to trade! http://www.dizpins.com/events/dl_ptn.htm

Stitch Lover
04-03-2006, 10:30 PM
i agree with pretty Omi, i went to DL in Dec. 2005 and that is when i got into pin trading. i didn't really have to much of a problem finiding cast members with lanyards. and ima_mickeyfan, that is really too bad. that was really rude of her! all the cast members for me where really nice. i even had one of the cast memebers in the nightmare before christmas store GIVE me a pin. it was a 101 dalmation one. it is my favorite:) anyway, i think you should bring at least some of your pins. i am going in august for a day or so and i am bringing mine. (although i only have a handful right now) just my suggestion though.....:)

Stitch Lover
04-03-2006, 10:34 PM
i agree with pretty Omi, you should take your pins and trade. i went to DL in Dec. 2005 and i didn't have to much trouble finding cast memebers with lanyards. all the cast members where very nice and willing to let me look at their pins. i even had a cast member in the Nightmare Before Christmas store GIVE me a pin. it was a 101 dalmation pin. it is my favorite pin:) i think you should take at least a few pins you are willing to trade. that way you have them and can trade if it comes up. which i am sure it will. just my suggestion:)

EDIT; sorry i posted twice. my computer messed up and told me the first one didn't work. so i posted again thinking the first one didn't show up.....sorry:(

Phantom2006
04-04-2006, 12:28 AM
I am sorry but it is a waste of money. It cost them like 6cents to make and you guys are buying them for $10?? Maybe I just dont understand it.

pretty Omi
04-04-2006, 02:18 AM
it's a hobby not any different from collecting sports memorabillia, teddy bears, other disney items, beanie babies, other types of pins, or anything that anyone collects... most items don't cost as much to make as the consumer pays for them, but that's not the point, the point is that we choose to collect them, and they make us happy...

EchoThree76
04-04-2006, 02:31 AM
I think it just depends when you go. Like with characters, if your not in the right place at right time you could miss all the CM's with pins. I went to DL for the first time in 13 years this past Dec and we trade with a LOT of CM's. I don't see it dying out anytime soon.

As for the price of them...again, you just need to know where to look. With the advent of ebay and e-commerace there is no limit to where to find pins. When we went we found a site online that gave you 15 pins for like $30. Thenwe took them and traded them ALL for ones we wanted. We had a blast doing that!

hlbtimes2
04-04-2006, 07:52 AM
I would take one lanyard with pins you are interested trading. I wouldnt take a lot of them. We were just there in March and found plenty of cast members and one guest to trade with. I think we started with 6 disney travel pins and managed to trade them all for things the kids wanted while we were there. We didnt search people out, just traded with cm's (mostly in stores) when we thought about it.

soarin'
04-04-2006, 09:56 AM
I never understood the craze of pins. The backs always fell off and then the pin got lost.


I am not a good trader I buy what I like and keep it

I recently was at the shop near Buzz ride -- they had a package of backs for pins. They are small "locks" which appear to be affixed with a small allen wrench.

I haven't tried them yet, but it sounds like a nice way to keep pins on the lanyards. I don't wear mine often because I would be sad to lose them.

PurelyPolitical
04-04-2006, 10:00 AM
it's a hobby not any different from collecting sports memorabillia, teddy bears, other disney items, beanie babies, other types of pins, or anything that anyone collects... most items don't cost as much to make as the consumer pays for them, but that's not the point, the point is that we choose to collect them, and they make us happy...

Yes, it is a hobby for some, but the fact remains that it is a genius money making move from Disney's point of view. They artificially created a hobby and they maintain a crazy profit margin on each pin. I cannot say that I fault them in the least, it was certainly a solid means of bringing in some extra profit for them, and a few of the pins are even pretty cool.

On the flipside though I can also absolutely understand those that see it as a waste of money; the prices are indeed ridiculously high, but there is clearly a market for it which is why they haven't gone down.

I myself could never warrant spending the kind of money necessary to fill up books and books of these things, but it seems that a good number of people can.

When I was in DL last year I noticed the Little Green Men shop was filled with the things (as was already mentioned) but the fad definitely seems to have more steam in Florida.

TTFN92
04-04-2006, 11:30 AM
Have you noticed that there are a couple of magnets that are the same as a pin and the magnet cost about a dollar less than the pin? Oh, well, I still buy the pins :D . We don't have too many to trade anymore because I like all the ones I have, but it sure was fun when we did. This last trip I was trading for the pin w/ purchase for my sister (we both live out of state and can't get there the 1st Sun.) and the CM had 2 different ones. I didn't have one that I could trade for the other one so she just gave it to me. She was one of the nicest CMs. She talked to my DS who is 6, for quite awhile and didn't seem to be in any hurry. She also talked to us about the Pirates premiere. I love those kind of CMs. They make the Disney magic :) .

MouseFaninQueue
04-04-2006, 12:17 PM
My wife started collecting pins (not just Disney) when she was younger. Since we met it has grown into a family things where we collect pins from all the places we have been.

Much like Soarin' we aren't very good traders either because we tend to only buy those pins that have meaning to us and as such we won't trade them. So the "trading" aspect of the pins isn't something we like, but the collecting of the pins is what we do like - so long as the pins have a meaning to us.

As for the lock pieces that Soarin' was talking about...

We bought a pack of those our last trip to DL in Oct 2005 because when carrying our youngest around (9 months old at the time), many times she would accidentally knock one of the pins off the lanyard. The locking backs worked like a charm to keep the pins safe from falling off. Just they were a pain to take off the lanyard when you wanted to add/change pins around ...

hlbtimes2
04-04-2006, 12:23 PM
Well, lets be honest, there is NOTHING they sell in the parks that is not designed to make money (except maybe the tampons for 25 cents in the womans room, those are probably more of a service and not really a money maker- LOL). I'm sure most people would be shocked if they knew just how much Disney paid for that coke they are drinking, or the tshirt they bought. The mark up on most of it is pretty high. Big deal! They make money off me. I happily give it to them. Just because you dont understand pins and pin trading doesn't mean others shouldnt enjoy it.

Stitch Lover
04-04-2006, 12:44 PM
i agree with MouseFaninQueue about the pin backs. my mom almost lost one of her pins on her lanyard. so she went and bought a pack of those backs. and those suckers LOCK the pins on the lanyard. they are not going anywhere!:) i also agree they are a big pain to get off to switch out pins. but, i do recommend them.

lobotomomma
04-04-2006, 01:45 PM
I had no idea what pin trading was until I was at DL last week and the nicest CM named Cheryl explained the whole deal and offered to trade pins with my family. She knew her stuff and got us, inc.my DH, who never gets excited about those kind of things,wanting to trade pins! My DH started seriously looking at pins and buying some. He even tracked down a CM with a pin he wanted! I agree with many and need the locking pins so we don't lose them. We would be sad to lose the ones we just traded for and are happy with--they truly do mean something to us! I think it's a great idea and just like anything you buy at DL-the souvenirs are all about happy memories!

cstephens
04-04-2006, 02:02 PM
I am sorry but it is a waste of money. It cost them like 6cents to make and you guys are buying them for $10?? Maybe I just dont understand it.

Well, it would be a waste of *your* money since you're not interested in them. It isn't a waste of someone's money if it's something they want, regardless of how much it cost to make the item.

And you know how much it costs to make soda, right?