Couple of ?s from a newbie to the pin world

[Gandalf75]

Hello:

My last trip to DLR in 2007, I took my niece with me. I decided to get her a lanyard and some pins so she could do the pin trading thing. Of course, my friends and I were unable to resist, so we ended up doing the pin thing as well. I remember enjoying trading and buying. I also remember the big credit card bill after the trip...but it was worth it.

I am about to take my husband to DLR in 12 days for his first trip. A couple of weeks ago, I brought out my lanyard and showed him my 22 pins. He loved the whole idea and loved the pins. So I told him that our first stop would to be to get him a lanyard and some starter pins, when we first get there.

I had a couple of questions, since we will be getting into pins a little more:

1) I purchased some sets off eBay. I made sure that they were sellers that had many sales and a 100% rating. But when I get them in the mail, how do I know if they are legit? Is eBay not they way to go? Because I don't get to the parks very often and because disneystore.com has so few options, I don't know a better way.

2) I would like a pin book since the lanyard is full and it is full of ones that I don't want to take on my trip since I don't want to trade them. When I go to DLR, where is the best place to get a pin book? and how much do they usually run?

3) I heard that out of town people can e-mail Disney and buy pins on their release date after the people in line get them. Is this true and does it work?

I would also appreciate any tips you guys have about trading with CMs and just pin life in general.

Thanks!

[yoyoflamingo]

Re: Couple of ?s from a newbie to the pin world

1-I usually don't use ebay, but many people on here have and have sellers they trust. dizpins.com and pinpics are also great resources for anything pin related. Also, the disney character outlet is a place to buy traders cheaper than the parks, or the box sets in the park themselves (the booster packs) keep the price per pin less.

2-Biggest selection I would say would be the pin traders in DownTown Disney, Little Green Men Store Command by the exit to Buzz Lightyear in Disneyland, and P.T. Flea's by the entrance to a Bug's Land in DCA. These 3 are the main pin locations at the park and will have the best selection, but most shops that sell pins also carry at least 1 bag. I'm not sure about price though.

3-If it's an LE, you must wait 30 days after the release to call, and that does not guarantee there will still be any in stock. Also, they do not always offer pins for mail order.

[penguinsoda]

Re: Couple of ?s from a newbie to the pin world

You do have to be extremely careful buying on eBay. Its very easy to end up getting scrappers, even if the sellers appear to have good ratings. I've never bought any of the ones where you get 10 or 20 at a time, but I too have a handful of sellers that I've bought individual pins from that I trust.

Info on scrappers from Dizpins:

Known Scrapper/Counterfeit Pins

Diz pins has a message board where you can find a lot of great info on pins and trading and collecting.

From an eBay seller:

eBay Guides - Disney Pin Scam Avoiding Scrapper Bootleg Rip-Offs

Other info:

Recognizing an Official Disney Pin | The Disney Pins Blog

Doing a Google search for "Disney scrapper pins" will get you lots of good info.

Pin books/bags on the other hand are usually safe to buy on eBay. Pin books online will run you anywhere from $15.00 to $30.00 on average, and pin bags are $20.00-$60.00, depending on the size and other factors. I think in the park the prices are about the same, but you don't have to pay shipping like you do if you get them online.

And as YoYo as already mentioned... Deliverears does the open edition after the pin is released, but LE pins are hard to get from them.

[brand42]

Re: Couple of ?s from a newbie to the pin world

Gandalf75, welcome to the MiceChat pin collecting community!

A lot of collectors, myself included, just use regular 3 ring binders for pin books (personally I use at least 1 1/2" binders if not larger). The pins themselves go into plastic sleeved pages that are used for baseball cards. I know, it's not the most glamorous way to store them but it's one of the cheapest.

[penguinsoda]

Re: Couple of ?s from a newbie to the pin world

Gandalf75, welcome to the MiceChat pin collecting community!

A lot of collectors, myself included, just use regular 3 ring binders for pin books (personally I use at least 1 1/2" binders if not larger). The pins themselves go into plastic sleeved pages that are used for baseball cards. I know, it's not the most glamorous way to store them but it's one of the cheapest.

I had forgot about that! Yes, this is a great way to keep pins, esp. if you're just getting started! That way you have more money for more pins!

[SpaceDad]

Re: Couple of ?s from a newbie to the pin world

Gandalf75, welcome to the MiceChat pin collecting community!

A lot of collectors, myself included, just use regular 3 ring binders for pin books (personally I use at least 1 1/2" binders if not larger). The pins themselves go into plastic sleeved pages that are used for baseball cards. I know, it's not the most glamorous way to store them but it's one of the cheapest.

Even though I have pin bags from the park (which contain traders/hidden mickeys and such), I keep all my good limited edition pins in the plastic pages in binders. The best thing about this is you can keep them on the original card (Which is great for those ones with special backer cards).

[Gandalf75]

Re: Couple of ?s from a newbie to the pin world

WOW!

Great information. Thank you all.

I feel much better about this new pin endeavor knowing that I have such reliable and informative Mice Chatters on my side.

[brand42]

Re: Couple of ?s from a newbie to the pin world

You're very welcome!

Now because there are so many different pins produced, it's impossible to get even half of everything so just collect what you like! Most people stick to certain themes or characters. Some of the more popular themes/characters seem to be Stitch, Haunted Mansion, Tinkerbell, Jessica Rabbit. Even if you don't collect any of those, it can be helpful to get traders of those characters/themes as the collector base of those tends to be quite large.

[penguinsoda]

Re: Couple of ?s from a newbie to the pin world

And Pinpics is a great place to help keep track of what you have if you start doing more collecting that trading! You can set up a free acct. there and list what you have. I'm pretty new to collecting so I don't have a large amount yet... but here's mine. (If this works)

Pin Pics: Pin Search Results