[dab]

I never thought I'd be into collecting pins but I was easily hooked! Last week during our trip, my daughter was given a pin by an Epcot CM and that was our first interest. Later in the week while shopping at World of Disney, a very nice CM took a liking to my dd and spent a great deal of time helping us in the store. Before we left, she asked her if she had a lanyard - she didn't. She then said, If you can get your mom to buy you a lanyard, I'll give you a special pin. I took the bait. She have her a lanyard pin and said it couldn't be purchased, only given from a CM. Well, now we were into collecting. My dd wanted more so we bought a couple. A couple of days later we went to the Once Upon a Toy store and again a very sweet CM took a liking to my dd. Before we left, she complimented my dd on her pin collection. My husband casually mentioned that we were in search of a Jasmine and Aladdin pin and couldn't find one. She told us to wait while she checked in the back. When she returned she said she couldn't find Jasmine but had 3 other special pins for her... one of Agrabah, Aristocats and Pocahontas & John Smith. All three she said are lanyard pins and she just gave them to her! She is so proud of her collection. I don't think she'll ever want to trade them so I guess we'll have to buy more so that she can trade those. I was so impressed with the CM's this trip and all of the special attention they gave my dd.

[MickeyMac]

LOLOL Dab!!! That's how we got rooked!! Disney really has got the marketing done right on that one!! We've got over a hundred of them now, and turned away so many, many more!! :D :D

Just an idea (my kids LOVE to trade and figured this one out) Buy pins from your local Disney Store (using your Disney Club card) and use those to trade for ones in the parks. Pins in the store can be as low as $4 - $5. Pins in the parks are $6.50 and up, so you save at least a couple bucks each time you trade.

I didn't realize this at the time, but making the kids do their own trading has taught my little one not only how to approach a CM should she get lost, but also how to tell the difference between a CM and someone wearing a GOH badge or other nametag.

[dab]

MickeyMac good tip on buying the pins at local DS. My dd has already picked out some from the latest sale flyer... oh no!!! I guess Santa will have lots of ideas for stocking stuffers this year! Also, good tip on the name badges. Never thought of dd mistaking someone with a GOH badge! Enjoy your trading!

[PiratesFan]

We became interested in the pin craze on our trip last year. We decided to start with the pins that depicted our most favorite places, characters, and attractions (that names most of the pins). We currently have about 50. We will definately buy more on our next trip. We have been pretty successful on ebay purchasing some rarer pins at a good price, even including shipping

[dab]

I have a question for you pin pros. The pins my daughter was given (4 of them)... the CM's said that they are lanyard pins and cannot be purchased. Are they hard to come by or do most people have them?

[MickeyMac]

If they are referring to the Castmember lanyard pins, then yes, they are fairly hard to come by. Only CM's get them, and you have to trade for them normally. You can find more about them on www.dizpins.com, and look for the Castmember pin series to see if her pins are part of them.

[tiggerlover1971]

i spent so much money this last time on pins i thought my husband would kill me :) I bought the I conquered the world series and was at the epcot pin event and bought figment pins and i also bought build a pins at downtown disney way too much money this time

[Goofette]

I only bought one pin for myself, and it is AK with my name on it. I guess if I do get lucky enough for the Disney job I'll be getting some more. I was so tempted to buy more, and did buy a few for Maegan but I could tell I was going to be hooked if I didn't stop.

You all will think I'm crazy, but I like collecting the Big Button Pins. There was the AKL earth day type pins and then the Earth day booth set up at MK. I also have seen a few at the Disney stores and bought them for about a dollar (or less). And I believe they gave me some too. I love those Big things lol. I know they aren't exactly collectibles though, but I enjoy having them.

[dab]

Originally posted by MickeyMac
If they are referring to the Castmember lanyard pins, then yes, they are fairly hard to come by. Only CM's get them, and you have to trade for them normally. You can find more about them on www.dizpins.com, and look for the Castmember pin series to see if her pins are part of them.

Thanks MickeyMac. They are the CM lanyard pins. I tried to look open dizpins.com but couldn't. Oh well, I guess we won't trade them anyway... dd is too attached!

[MickeyMac]

I'm sorry - I forget how tough Dizpins can be to open up on dialup (I'm guessing that's what you have?) I have another site I used to use, but for the life of me, can't find the bookmark for it...

[Amethyst]

I didn't get into pintrading until a week after I returned from WDW. An innocent stroll through the mall on a rather depressing, cold Tuesday night proved disastrous to my wallet. There it was--a sign for the new 100 years of dreams pins with a big picture of Walt & Mickey. I resisted the urge in Disney World but that sign did it. I was 2 weeks behind and had a lot of catching up to do. A castmember in the store warned me that the line on Saturday morning started around 8am. So every Saturday from Oct-Dec was spent in the halls of a closed mall (large coffee in hand) waiting for the 10am opening. My mother and I had a good time.
300 pins and 86 online pintrades and still going strong.

There is an online retailer of all lapel pins including a huge assortment of Disney pins. They are authentic and discounted. Go to Dizpins and check the links page. I believe it's under Miscellaneous. Some are limited editions and hard to get. As for lanyard pins, in all my trades, they've been the hardest to come by online. I've only received one. Hope I can be of some help :)

[dab]

Originally posted by MickeyMac
I'm sorry - I forget how tough Dizpins can be to open up on dialup (I'm guessing that's what you have?) I have another site I used to use, but for the life of me, can't find the bookmark for it...

I have a cable modem... I don't know why I couldn't open it from your link. I did go to Microsoft Eplorer and got it from there though. Thanks.

[Goofette]

Well, I'm excited tonight! I don't know anything about pin collecting, and I'm hoping I'll learn more, but for now I HAD to buy some pins we had at the store. I don't know if these are hard to come buy or very very easy, but I couldn't resist. I bought three of the 100 years of dreams pin. I bought "Peter Pan #70", "Cinderella #43" and "Broken Toys #91" I was able to buy all three for about 7.00 altogether. I don't know if I did good or bad but I'm excited to get some pins for my lanyard.

If anyone knows any good tips I'd love to hear them. Oh, and I missed the sale of the pins at the Disney Store! I worked the day they had it and none of us at the outlet knew I hated that I could have got some pins for that price.

[Amethyst]

Goofette: At just over $2. a pin, you did great!! I was at the Disney Store on Saturday and the 12 months of magic pins were still on sale. Not sure if this sale is still going on; I'll find out tonight. Check the Disney Store often as the 12 mom & 100 yrs. of dreams pins have been on sale twice already at half price. Also, some Disney Stores have pin trading on Tuesdays. Also, if there is a pin that you have that other pintraders aren't interested in, trade it with a CM at WDW. I'm about to make up a lanyard with some of my older pins and go trading at the Disney Store to refresh my own tradables. :) :) :)

[poohs_hotstuff]

Pin trading can be a blast! I have been doing it for years now since getting online and before that in person. Lots of little tricks for different types and areas, but the best advice I can give is to look around wherever you live and see just where you can find cheap pins, almost any pins. Somewhere out there, someone is interested in them, lol. The hard part is to find the person who wants what you find, but if you have the time and energy, this can sometimes be accomplished. Did more of this when I had more energy myself, and had some great fun searching out people to trade with. I collect mainly cartoon pins (not just Disney) and pick up lots of other types and things to trade for them. Have been successful doing so, but it helps if you can find someone to talk to who has what you like and is willing to trade them for something you might be able to find. For example, there are lots of Coke collectors who don't really collect Disney, but have some as there are lots of Disney/Coke pins, and they might be willing to trade for Coke they don't have. Also, best to trade just a couple or a few when you first trade with someone you do not already know, to keep down the chances of a bad deal going down. As you get comfortable with the person, you can increase the size of the deals, if you like. If it is a nice looking pin, and you think so, it is probably worth picking up if the price is right. By this, I am usually talking about less than $1 or so, unless it is really nice or unique. This allows you to get some decent traders for some people, and keep the cost down. Dizpins is good for trading, but it's sister site, Pinpics is better if you have the time to search out and enter your traders and wants. Takes a long time now, wasn't so bad when I first joined, lol. A ton of traders on there, and a system that will do a lot of the searching for you once you have your trades/wants listed.

One extra little thing for Goofette. If you like the buttons, drop me a line sometime and if you find anything like I said above (traders in other lines, not just Disney) maybe we can work something out. Still have buttons somewhere around here, but I frame most of my collection and they do not frame well, so they are of little interest to me. I'm always happy to talk about pins, so bug me if you feel like it, and I will yak on and on and on...as you might have already noticed, lmbo. This hobby is a blast and I hope you all have as much fun as I have had in it.

TTFN