How Many Trading Pins do you take?

[bytheblood]

We usually take about 100 for my daughter to trade over a week.

 

[disneyin2008]

dburg, exactly! This is how I am, too. I just love the chance to interact with other pin folks, and to exchange some smiles.

The only ones I pay attention to "rarity" is the Hidden Mickey pins on the cast lanyards. I rabidly search for them on the cast lanyards and try to complete my favorite sets during my trip. But I don't usually put those on my lanyard, so there is no confusion about trading them. The exception is if I have spares, which I will display for trade and will try to trade for other Hidden Mickey pins with fellow guests when given an opportunity, so we can help each other complete those sets. I will trade a repeat/spare for another spare if it will help someone finish their set!

On my last trip, I was there during a pin trading weekend--kind of a convention-like thing at Epcot. There were tons of people walking around just displaying huge lanyards (sometimes multiple huge, heavily laden lanyards), and they wouldn't trade. They were just showing off their collections. That was confusing to me, I guess.

There was one gal I ran into on the Jungle Cruise on our last day, hours before we were to leave for the airport. She had the ONE PIN, I kid you not, that I had been searching for my entire trip, to finish off my little triad of Hidden Mickeys. I asked her if she would be willing to trade, and she held out her lanyard.

"That's the one I have been searching for this whole trip!" I said excitedly and pointed to the one I needed. "I leave in a few hours and I never thought I would find it!"

She looked over my pins and said, "You don't have anything I want."

"Oh, I understand if that's your only one and want to keep the set together," I said dejectedly.

"Oh no," she said blandly. "I have a few, but you don't have anything I want."

I was dumbfounded. She had multiples of the one I clearly was thrilled to finally find, and I was leaving that very day...and she wouldn't trade because I didn't have anything she wanted to build up her collection? This to me is the antithesis of what pin trading is supposed to be about! And it jaded me toward trading with guests in a big way.

I'd have asked her to come to the nearest store and find one that she DID want and then buy it and put in on my lanyard, lol.

So sorry she wouldn't trade with you.....curious though....what pin was it and did you ever find it?

 

[Clotho]

The 2007 Hiden Mickey collection had a trio of black circles with different colored Mickey heads on them. I had blue and red, but not the yellow. She apparently had several. *harumph*

I told my tale of woe online shortly after it occurred, and someone offered to find it for me in the parks and send it to me--online Disney fans are so great! but I ended up picking one up on Ebay!

 

[webprinter]

I bring whatever number I have on hand that I want to trade! Sometimes it is a lot and sometimes just a few. I usually only bring 20 or 40 to the park. I purchased a fanny pack off of ebay, (from some people who make them and trade at DL), that has a pin bag attached to the front of the fanny pack. I put my extras in there that won't fit on my lanyard or that I don't want to lose off my lanyard. The fanny pack is larger than normal but is a great way to keep my pins together and not lost. This Dec, I am planning to be "brave" and will take my pin book(s), (however many I can get on the plane), to DTD to trade with the experts, , provided I can escape from DH and DD who think pin trading is crazy. Debby

 

[anne930]

We usually take 100 pins and trade with Cast Members only, usually for the hidden mickey pins. Normally, that's plenty, but when we were there in October, we were finding them everywhere, including DL hidden mickey pins. We panicked close to the end of the trip that we were going to run out, but finally had a REALITY CHECK and said "WE ARE NOT BUYING MORE PINS", so we went through the pins we had collected and segregated out our favorites, then put the others back into the trader pile and kept trading. Part of the fun of trading is looking at your new pins and deciding which are your favorites.

Hint! Some of the cast members wear a hip lanyard that clips to their belt - it's a square piece of blue canvas, but some of them are green (for kids) too.

 

[disneyin2008]

The 2007 Hiden Mickey collection had a trio of black circles with different colored Mickey heads on them. I had blue and red, but not the yellow. She apparently had several. *harumph*

I told my tale of woe online shortly after it occurred, and someone offered to find it for me in the parks and send it to me--online Disney fans are so great! but I ended up picking one up on Ebay!

Ok, I'm glad you found it on ebay.....I was going to look through our every growing collection and see what we had, lol. We love to collect all in a series, there is just something challenging about finding them, so I had a good idea how you felt! I've been looking for a replacement for my daughter's Ariel pin that was stolen...they took her entire fanny pack and the only thing she cried about was the pin, but alas, over a year and I haven't seen it anywhere online and have had several friends watching for it on trips there. Someday I hope to find it though!

In case any other kind soul wants to keep an eye out for us, it's #16105 at pinpics.com

 

[Clotho]

You are so thoughtful! *high five*

Wish I could help YOU in your pin quest, but alas, the thought will have to count for me, too! Though if I remember to look when I go in December...!

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

I usually bring two pin bags of trader pins, however I also trade at Mickey's Pin Trading Night which happens each month on a specific Friday at the Contemporary. So because there are alot of regular pin traders I need more pins, then I would if I was just trading with the Cast Members.

 

[BethanyF]

Between the 3 of us, we'll probably have over 200 pins for the 10 days; although DH isnt as active a trader as DS and I are.
DS will probably trade with CM's and other kids, but I'll trade with anyone who asks (assuming they have something I want). If not, and they want something badly enough from my lanyard, I will ask if they are willing to buy one from a store that I like.
When we do trade for a keeper, we put it away to go home. I will trade with kids for pins they like and in turn take something that I'll turn around and trade later. When I trade with a CM, I look for something I want to keep.

We always buy pins that mean something to the trip....resorts, rides, meals, events, etc. But I wont buy them until late in the trip just in case I can get some in trades.

My trip is a just a bit over 2 weeks away. Our trading lanyards and bag is ready to go.

 

[Melmac]

I usually bring about 50 traders with me for a week. I have a few themes that I collect and they are hard to find on CM's lanyards but I will only trade with CM's. This last trip, I was interested in the Muppets Series 2 and the Toy Story Midway Mania prize pins. I usually buy my pins for my collections but I like to talk to the CM's as I've heard some pretty amazing stories from them!

I like to talk to other park guests about their pins; this is how I got started into pin collecting although the woman was pretty rude - she had a pin on her lanyard (Stitch dressed as Maleficent) that I loved. I asked her where she had purchased the pin and was told that pin was not for trade. At the time, I didn't even know what trading was - I just wanted to buy the pin! Anyway, I found out it was an older pin, put out by the now-defunct Disney Auctions and was not for sale. However, after that encounter, I became hooked on pins! It also taught me to never assume that pins on guests lanyards may be for trading! I like to display some of my pins on my lanyard because I think they are neat but I would never trade them. However, I do have trader pins on there too - if someone sees something they like from my traders, they can trade me whatever pin they want (if they ask me, I never approach other guests for trading).

My advice is, if you are new at pin trading, stick with CM's. I have never had a poor trading experience and it is a great way to learn.