Was I duped?

[Gandalf75]

Hey experts!

I just got four pins in the mail that I got off eBay. (I know, I know, you guys warned me to be careful-but the seller had a really good rating!)

The pins are nice. I think I will keep most of them but I want to make sure that they are all legitimate, in case I want to trade one. I would never trade one if it was not on the up and up.

So we got four pins. Two of them have backs just like my pins I got at the parks: smooth with the pin trading emblem and the Disney copyright.

But it is the other two that I am worried about:

The back is not smooth, but rather has a mickey head pattern. It still has the pin trading emblem and the Disney copyright but it has the mickey head pattern and it says first release.

What does this mean? Are the pins legit? Or was I duped?

[Sosai X]

Re: Was I duped?

The pin they gave me when I attended the screenin of "Walt & El Grupo" has exactly that same kind of back.

[SpaceDad]

Re: Was I duped?

This new back with the mickey heads is the new design that Disney is using this year in an attempt to make it harder for people to counterfeit the pins. I have yet to see a fake pin with this new back style. You should be fine. The "first release" engraving just means the pin is an open edition, but comes from the first run of pins. This is also a new thing Disney started doing recently.

[I Heart Disneyland]

Re: Was I duped?

I've bought several pins recently that had the Mickey head on the back. I think they are probably fine. I've had GREAT luck on Ebay with sellers. Maybe I am just lucky, I don't know, but, I've bought brand new sets with the lanyards, still in the package for $17.00 and they were $44.99 at the park! I used them as traders and kept the lanyards. You DO have to be careful, but, I've really had good luck.

[SnorkletsMom]

Re: Was I duped?

The last few pins I bought at Disneyland all had the Mickey head back. I think the UP! all night D23 pin had the same back (I'd have to look to make sure)

I've bought pins from dealers on eBay and they seem fine. It's possible they might be fakes, but the dealers had great rep. and I wasn't planning on trading them anyway :-)

[I Heart Disneyland]

Re: Was I duped?

I just received a D23 Expo HM pin from an ebay seller (with over 11K positive reps) and it's new in the packaging. Never taken from the plastic! Still sealed. Got it with shipping for less than I could have from the D23 website, so, I got it on Ebay instead of D23. I'm not stupid!