Pin trading/collections questions. About This Page:

[Nyreak]

This trip, my little girl really got into pin trading. She was constantly on the lookout for CMs with pins so she could trade. We could tell early on that she was all about getting Mickey pins, and had collected half of this set before we knew it!


Unfortunately, we wound up being one pin short of the set, so I guess we have more work to do. More unfortunate, though, was the fact that the first light green one she got (by trading with a CM) is clearly a fake. I didn't double check them all when she was trading, so I didn't realize it until we got home. Good thing she'd gotten another of it from a Mystery bag we bought later. I'm planning to let Disney know that we were handed a scapper pin by one of their CMs, not that I expect them to do anything about it. It might do for the CMs to be reminded, though. I wouldn't have made Joc put it back because her heart was set on that one, but at the same time it sucks that we lost a trading pin for one that we won't turn around an illegally trade back into the system. Would you bother alerting them?

I am a little confused with this set. These are the ones you can get for $2.95 in a mystery bag for every $30 you spend. (Yeah, we spent... way too much on pins, hush. All three of us collect them, though, and a few did come from trades with CMs) I'm almost positive that the picture on the pin counter was of 9 pins, and I know we're missing Dale. When I was trying to figure out the name of this set I kept seeing a Donald one, though. Is that part of another set, or are there actually more than 9 in this set? I saw a list of the one with Donald and it doesn't include Figment, so I'm assuming it's another set.


Thanks for any help you have.

[PamelaK]

The second set (the portraits) is a separate set from the one with Donald. We have several of those pins also (I wish we had found Figment though!) and we also have some from the set with Donald.
This website: Pin Pics: Home has pictures of individual pins and entire sets. So if you aren't sure which pin you need to complete a set, you can do a search on there to look it up.

[Nyreak]

Originally Posted by PamelaK

The second set (the portraits) is a separate set from the one with Donald. We have several of those pins also (I wish we had found Figment though!) and we also have some from the set with Donald.
This website: Pin Pics: Home has pictures of individual pins and entire sets. So if you aren't sure which pin you need to complete a set, you can do a search on there to look it up.

Thanks! I was pretty sure it had to be a different set, because I know there are both Chip and Dale in this set, and we so far only have Chip. Good to know that my thought on that was correct.

I was trying to find the set on there last night but I clearly wasn't searching properly because I couldn't find it. I'll look more later, but I think I don't really need to now. Thanks again!

[PamelaK]

I found it when I did a search for Black and White snapshots. Also click on the icon view instead of the list view.

[Nyreak]

Originally Posted by PamelaK

I found it when I did a search for Black and White snapshots. Also click on the icon view instead of the list view.

I was searching for those, but I just kept finding the Donald set. Clearly I was doing something wrong.

I didn't realize there was an icon view instead of list. Aha. That should help. Thanks again!

[CinderAbby]

Stupid question - how do you know the pin you got was a fake? I'm still learning about the pins (even though we don't have another trip planned) and don't even know what to look for.

[davishomeschool]

I think that the real pins say "Official Disney Pin" on the back and have a the trademark.

[Nyreak]

Originally Posted by CinderAbby

Stupid question - how do you know the pin you got was a fake? I'm still learning about the pins (even though we don't have another trip planned) and don't even know what to look for.

Originally Posted by davishomeschool

I think that the real pins say "Official Disney Pin" on the back and have a the trademark.

To be honest, I'm not sure I would have noticed that it was a fake if we hadn't gotten one from a mystery bag. I had them sitting side by side when I was sorting the pins in that group and realized that they looked quite different, which lead me to investigating. Here's a picture of the front of both:



Note how the colors are slightly different? Both the green and the purple/blue are off. The big thing, though, is that Mickey's eye isn't colored in on the left-side pin. That's the part that made me scratch my head. I knew that was the one we'd gotten from trading with the CM, as I had just pulled the other out of the mystery bag. I came online and started poking around, and I found this note on an eBay guide about finding fake pins:

One clue - especially on Vinylmation, Hidden Mickey and Mystery pins are that on the back, there's a Mickey pattern. On the real pins, the Mickey heads extend off the edge of pin back without any border; with scrappers, borders are usually seen at edges, even in the middle of the Mickey head.

I flipped the pins over and this is what I saw (but ignore the color difference there, it's just the lighting in the house, they aren't that obviously different in tone on the back):

See the pin on the left has exactly what they mention above. The Mickey heads are chopped off with a border around it, where the one on the right does not. Also, if you look closely to the trademarking (in person anyway) you can see subtle (and not so subtle) differences, like the font used and such.

Those differences on what is supposed to be the same pin let me know that I had a real and a fake. (Either that or a really screwed up mistake got through, but I doubt that's the case.)

I'm definitely not an expert. I've always just bought the pins that I liked, but Joc started trading with CMs last trip and really got into it this time. I need to pay attention to things like this a little more from now on. Hopefully, that will help you out a bit, too!

Edited to add: If anyone has more information, or sees that I made a mistake, feel free to correct me!

[mom2twingirlies]

Very interesting information on telling the difference between them.

[Papa Mouse]

I believe you have good intentions but I believe it would be much easier to explain to your daughter what has happened.

To save time, money, etc. if your daughter does not wish to keep the pin at this time, give or donate the pin to another who will appreiate it for only being a pin. Maybe have her give it to her best friend. Or donate to a friend who might not be able to visit Disneyland.

My reasoning is that CMs generally carry the minimum of 12 pins on their lanyard. If you divide this by one or two per trade and multiply by the number of trades per day it amounts to many pins. With all the trades per day what time does a CM have time to check the backs? If your daughter was in line possibly she picked the pin just traded to the CM before her. Did the CM have time to check it?

I don't believe a CM would intentionly pass a bad pin. If a CM wanted a pin she has the chsnce to trade and replace designs before her shift where it is not obvious. Any pin that is not exchangeable can be replaced for a pin that moves before her shift.

Such a case is when you see slightly larger, heavier and "better" pins. These pins are onerstock and originally sold in the shops in Disney for high prices after certain amount of time. When they still have a surplus the the pins are moved to a Company "D" Store where they are generally sold for $3.00 and further down the line sold to Disney Stores and then to CMs for their lanyards in the park.

Have you ever noticed when several CMs have the same designs?

[Nyreak]

Originally Posted by Papa Mouse

I believe you have good intentions but I believe it would be much easier to explain to your daughter what has happened.

She doesn't care, she has the other pin that is a real one to go in the set. Like I said, it sucks that we lost a trader pin, and even if I'd realized when she was trading, because her heart was set on it, I wouldn't have made her put it back. (For Joc it's just about the look of the pin, but if she's collecting an entire set, I'd prefer she have official pins in case she ever wants to do something with them in the future.)

Originally Posted by Papa Mouse

To save time, money, etc. if your daughter does not wish to keep the pin at this time, give or donate the pin to another who will appreiate it for only being a pin. Maybe have her give it to her best friend. Or donate to a friend who might not be able to visit Disneyland.

I wasn't planning to do anything other than possibly contacting Disney to let them know that there are fake pins for this set floating around so they are aware of the situation. I was asking to see if anyone else would bother contacting them or just ignoring it. I collect pins as well, so I put the real one in her collection and the fake is on my own pin board.

Originally Posted by Papa Mouse

I don't believe a CM would intentionly pass a bad pin.

I wasn't indicating that the CM intentionally passed the bad pin. I wasn't going to try to get her in trouble (or even to indicate who it was that we traded with). I was only asking if others would contact Disney to let them know that there are bad pins in this set floating around, basically. I'm not looking for them to return our pin or make a fuss. I did say: I'm planning to let Disney know that we were handed a scapper pin by one of their CMs, not that I expect them to do anything about it. It might do for the CMs to be reminded, though. I didn't clarify that I meant about this particular set, so I apologize for the confusion, but that really is all I wanted to do.

Mostly, I was just trying to voice my frustration about it having happened, and I thought others on the board would like to know that there was one of these pins floating around so there are probably more. Maybe this will help other Passporters remember to check the backs of the pins before they accept them as a trade, or know some of the signs to look for one being a fake.

[Nyreak]

Originally Posted by mom2twingirlies

Very interesting information on telling the difference between them.

I'm sure that's just one of the many ways, but every bit of info helps. In some cases, it doesn't matter, because kids are just out for how the pin looks. The thing to me is that I'd prefer Joc have official ones in case she wants to trade them again later. I won't allow a fake to be traded back into the system, after all. This fake is now nestled in with the other pins on my personal pin board. I don't trade, I just collect, so I'm not concerned that I'll accidentally trade it back out.

[davishomeschool]

This is really random, but my mind started wondering this morning and I thought I'd share it.

I didn't know that CMs had to buy the pins on their lanyards? I thought Disney gave them to them as a promotion to get custombers trading, or encourage guest interaction. You know like; they show up for thier shift and part of thier uniform is a lanyard full of pins.

I wonder if the CM's who wear the different colored pin holders and will only trade with children under 10 get their pins free or if they are allowed to decide that they don't want to trade with adults?

And when a CM is trading to increase their personal collection, why it's not considered doing personal business on company time? I know some people who collect things that can get obcessed and would send all their time trading?

[CinderAbby]

Wow - thanks for all the info Jaime. Looking at the front of them, I noticed the lack of Mickey's eyes right away but I never realized what subtle differences there are between official and fake pins on the back. Anyone just looking quickly would never pick up on them. I read your description of the differences, looked at the pictues, then had to go back and re-read it and look at the pins a second time. I hear what you're saying though when it comes to looks - that's how Abby traded this summer - on what she liked the looks of. As for what to do - I'd chaulk it up to a learning experience and not contact Disney but that's me. You have to do what you feel is best.

[PamelaK]

We trade pins for specific characters. Occasionally, we will trade for a certain set. We do have a few duplicates (especially after this last trip) and we will compare the duplicates to each other to see what the differences are. I'm pretty sure we got a couple of scrappers this time based on the colorations, but I will need to look at them a little closer to see if any of the other differences and telltale signs are there.