Is pin trading with CMs and guests still a thing?

[Lothlórien]

What is a "scrapper"? I'm guessing it's a knock off non-Disney pin?

Scrappers are flawed pins and then there are fakes. I personally think that fakes are super easy to spot because of the obvious flaws. Scrappers should be junked out (scrapped) and melted down and remade, but instead they are sold to people like MousePins and sellers on ebay for 50 cents or so a pin and then they sell them for cheap listing them as "100% tradeable". They can be traded, but shouldn't. Technically, they are stolen as the plant's contract with Disney states they should be scrapped.


I would upload pictures from my PC to show you some examples, but I cannot figure out how to attach them to this post.

 

[Lothlórien]

I agree and disagree (I think).

Pin trading is very common, my kids did it pretty much every day we went down there. CMs are quite happy to do it, and several even walked up to our kids to show them the pins they had.

I disagree with it being disappointing or the same pins over and over. The reason I said "I think" in parenthesis is that I'm not a pin expert. I really enjoy them, but until this thread I've never heard of MousepinsOnline, so I'm definitely not as into it as others may be. But I saw quite a variety of pins that the CMs had. Sure, I saw a number of them repeatedly, but from an untrained eye I still thought there were plenty to trade.

Yep, I would say there is a lot you could learn about Disney pins.


However, if your kids are happy with what they received, that is the most important thing.

 

[Lothlórien]

Guess I'll fall happily into the don't know and don't care camp on the issue of scrappers. Pins are a huge part of our kids experience, they love them. But it's not something we take seriously at all and do it just for fun. So if it's a pin we really like, doesn't matter if it's real, one that should have been scrapped, or whatever. We just enjoy it. I've got roughly 25 pins of my own and couldn't tell you what's real or not. However, for a serious collector, I can unquestionably see the issues.

If your kids like them, that is the most important part.

I have well over 3000 pins...some are scrappers, but most are legit. For me personally, scrappers are a big deal and it irks me that Disney will not control it as they can do that legally.

 

[JadeDarkstar]

I for one am not out to collect and make money. I am trading for a fun time with my family. We have always traded. It's fun. We get them from mousepinsonline. Even if we find scrapers or fakes. We only chose pins we want not because they are real for some money later. It is not about that for us. I do hope if you want it for money then you don't find scrapers but the big real ones from the stores are the ones you do want to make sure do not get traded. Also the hint of trading early is good idea too. I think the parks do toss the scrapers out I do not know.

 

[ravenclawtrekkie]

There are backstage locations where CMs can swap out what's on their pin trading lanyards if they end up with a poor selection of traders. If the "pin people" backstage are given any really obvious fakes or pins that are broken, those get tossed out.

But most CMs don't actually know or care that much about pins, so nobody's picking through the pin tables with a magnet and a magnifying glass looking for signs of scrappers. If it can pass as an authentic pin to an untrained eye, it'll end up cycled through CM lanyards until the end of time.

 

[Airship Ariadne]

I'm not in the "don't care" camp, but more in the "not taking the time to certify all pins" camp. We've done it for fun, and not for serious collecting. I would never knowingly trade a pin I had doubts about, but if it looks legit, I will trade with it. I have purchased sets for trade in the parks, on clearance in the Disney Store, and a couple lots off ebay with claims of being 100% genuine...while the last might be a case of them committing fraud saying they aren't scrappers when they are...I am not spending the time or energy to vet each pin.

 

[RLGNC]

My whole family (me, DH, DS16, DD13) loves pin trading. We have done it on our last few trips. It's fun because we all have different pins that we are looking for (e.g., my son likes Chip and Dale, my daughter likes the 7 dwarves). Yes, we tend to see some of the same ones on the CM lanyards throughout the trip, but it is super awesome when you find a cool, unique one, or one you've been looking for all day.

 

[Lothlórien]

I posted a very helpful and educational checklist on how to determine scrappers in this thread, but it looks like it was removed. Can't understand why since there were not any derogatory comments about guests or Disney??? If you want the checklist, please PM me and I will give it to you.

 

[Lothlórien]

I for one am not out to collect and make money. I am trading for a fun time with my family. We have always traded. It's fun. We get them from mousepinsonline. Even if we find scrapers or fakes. We only chose pins we want not because they are real for some money later. It is not about that for us. I do hope if you want it for money then you don't find scrapers but the big real ones from the stores are the ones you do want to make sure do not get traded. Also the hint of trading early is good idea too. I think the parks do toss the scrapers out I do not know.

I think you are assuming too much about people who don't like scrappers.

Most of us don't want scrappers because technically they are considered stolen or even illegal because they should not have been sold in the first place.

Additionally, those of us who like to trade are not out to make money. That's a poor assumption about why people don't like scrappers.

Many of us pay for legitimate pins, such as booster packs, and don't want to trade them for a crappy knock off. You would not trade someone your legit Coach purse for a knock off Dooney... why buy a $30 booster pack and trade it for a bunch of junk?

 

[mla973]

I posted a very helpful and educational checklist on how to determine scrappers in this thread, but it looks like it was removed. Can't understand why since there were not any derogatory comments about guests or Disney??? If you want the checklist, please PM me and I will give it to you.

I can't figure out how to PM you. I'm sorry it was deleted. I'd be interested in the info. Thanks!

 

[familyfirsttimer]

oh boy, so how does the casual pin trader know what they are looking at? I bought on mousepinsonline a few years ago (thought I found their name here). We got lots that are cute but some "strange" IMHO ones too that my DD14 brought and traded last week. She just did it here and there is she saw a CM with a cool pin. Now I worry, I would never want to trade stolen or illegal pins!

 

[heartse]

We like to trade, but it seemed like the cast members all had the same pins on the boards/lanyards. That is the part that gets annoying....

 

[Travis B]

I think you are assuming too much about people who don't like scrappers.

Most of us don't want scrappers because technically they are considered stolen or even illegal because they should not have been sold in the first place.

Additionally, those of us who like to trade are not out to make money. That's a poor assumption about why people don't like scrappers.

Many of us pay for legitimate pins, such as booster packs, and don't want to trade them for a crappy knock off. You would not trade someone your legit Coach purse for a knock off Dooney... why buy a $30 booster pack and trade it for a bunch of junk?

I purposefully spend more to bring authentic pins to trade into the parks and it's annoying that most of the traders are fake. It takes the fun out of pin trading. I understand that some people do it out of ignorance, but knowing better and still doing it shows a real lack of integrity IMO.

 

[Travis B]

oh boy, so how does the casual pin trader know what they are looking at? I bought on mousepinsonline a few years ago (thought I found their name here). We got lots that are cute but some "strange" IMHO ones too that my DD14 brought and traded last week. She just did it here and there is she saw a CM with a cool pin. Now I worry, I would never want to trade stolen or illegal pins!

Don't stress over it - there's so many fakes floating around it's hard to tell what's what. There are different characteristics to tell them apart, but one of the best ways I've found is if you happen to get a real pin and the fake version of the same thing. You can feel and see the difference in quality, thickness, etc.

 

[kittyab]

Yes, My DD was able to trade pins everywhere, even at some QS

 

[dreiwhit]

On our last trip (Nov 27-Dec 3), I noticed fewer CMs wearing pin lanyards or having pins on their "waist bag" for trading. Maybe fewer of them are doing it, or we didn't encounter the ones that do?

 

[crazedprincess]

My girls traded on our trip and it seemed like all the cast members were still doing it. My girls do it for fun and for the interaction/conversation with the the cast members. My girls brought it up and a few of the cast members did talk to us about the scrapper problem but they didn't seem to care too much about the issue.

 

[Travis B]

On our last trip (Nov 27-Dec 3), I noticed fewer CMs wearing pin lanyards or having pins on their "waist bag" for trading. Maybe fewer of them are doing it, or we didn't encounter the ones that do?

We just got back and I saw plenty of lanyards. Not many good pins, mind you, but plenty of lanyards. Compared to DLR they are everywhere at WDW. I found dramatically less lanyards at DLR but was able to get better pins.

 

[CinderDuffy]

One trip, I had two pins on my bag. No lanyard, nothing to indicate I was interested in trading. A guy encouraged his three kids to come up to me individually and ask to trade for the same pin. I'd tell them "I don't trade," they'd report back, and he'd send the next one. It was the strangest encounter I've ever had at Disney.

 

[TexasKiwiPrincess]

DD9 and DD11 both look forward to trading pins in the parks. We have traded with CMs most of the time, but enjoy talking about pins with other that have lanyards. When we started collecting and trading I spent a lot of time worrying about scrappers and counterfeit pins. I watched so many videos on how to spot them and I feel like I am pretty good at catching the fakes, but it took so much of the fun out of trading that I stopped inspecting every pin. Now we sort through our traders before each trip, take what we want to trade and then look for pins they enjoy. We only trade Green level pins or pins from the booster packs and I buy many on clearance from the Disney Store. We have a few of our favorites on our lanyards with locking backs, and leave the rest of our LE pins at home. More fun and less stress with lower expectations! lol