Disney Pin Trading Tips
Disney Pin Trading is a popular hobby for Walt Disney World guests looking for unique souvenirs. Here are our Disney Pin Trading tips for getting pins of your favorite Disney rides, Disney characters, and special events…without breaking the bank!
Disney Pin Trading began during the Millennium Celebration in October 1999. Since then, Disney Pins have become easily the most popular merchandise and collectibles in all of Walt Disney World and Disneyland, with the possible exception of Vinylmations, which are now rising in popularity. While some fervent Disney fans scorn Pin Trading (presumably because they oppose good, clean fun), there is no doubt that Pin Trading has been embraced wholeheartedly by the general public and by legions of Disney collectors.
Disney Pin Trading Tips
Pin Trading is relatively simple in practice: guests interested in the hobby and most Cast Members wear lanyards with pins attached to them. While Disney itself allows Pin Trading between guests, this is actually quite uncommon in practice. About the only time it will actually occur is if you happen upon one of the professional Pin Traders outside of the Downtown Disney or Epcot Pin Trading shops. Be warned, as some of these individuals are selling their pins without calling the transaction as much (since Disney prohibits the exchange of money in Pin Trading). Instead, they circumvent the “no cash” rule by sending eager traders inside the Pin Trading Central store to purchase specific items that they will then accept in trade. From a value perspective, these individuals are almost always “charging” more than you could find the same pins for on eBay. If there is a specific pin you really want that no longer is in Disney stores, I highly recommend waiting until you get home and doing that.
It’s unfortunate that a few bad apples give the hobby a bad name, and by no means is every guest who may ask you about trading in Walt Disney World doing it with negative intentions. Although you might want to think twice about trades with guests with binders full of pins, most guests who might ask you about trading have no such ill motives. While we recommend trading primarily with Cast Members, trades with other guests can be fun and a great way to interact with your fellow guests–most of whom share a common interest in Disney!
That said, the more common Pin Trading route is definitely guests trading with Cast Members. Cast Members who trade can be identified by their pin-filled lanyards. If a Cast Member has a green lanyard, they will only trade with kids. All other lanyards are fair game for all guests. Since only kids can trade with green lanyard-wearing Cast Members, these Cast Members usually have much better pins (since fewer people are picking them over).
Another way to get the best pins is to trade early. Look for Cast Members with Lanyards early in the morning as they have “fresh” pins. These pins get picked over during the course of the day (they are often replenished at shift changes), so your best bet is to trade early or hope to get lucky later in the day.
Cast Members are trading pins provided to them by Disney and they will accept whatever trades are offered to them regardless of whether it’s “fair” from the perspective of value. The only requirement is that the pin being traded to them is an Official Pin Trading Pin (denoted by a © Disney on the back of the pin). Don’t fret too much about a “fair” offer if you see a pin that you recognize as exceedingly rare; Cast Members will trade any other official pin for it.
Common Types of Disney Pins
One of the fun aspects of Pin Trading is that there are so many pins (if you’re a completionist, this can be a drawback). This means that you can go for certain categories of pins (my favorite are pins with the Epcot character “Figment” on them), and there will be plenty of different pins within that category for you to collect. Some fun options include:
- Hidden Mickeys (These are semi-common pins with small mickey heads hidden on them that are available in a series that are unique because they’re not available for sale in stores, and can only be found on Cast Member lanyards)
- Characters (Choose your favorite character and trade for as many pins containing that character as you can)
- Series (These are groups of ~4-8 pins that have a similar theme but are substantively different)
- Retro Disney (Pins featuring Disney attractions, characters, and films from years past)
These are just the basic common categories. There are tons of specific series, including ones that are only available to Annual Passholders, Disney Visa Cardholders, and LE Pins for special events. There are even pins made specifically for special pin trading events! The number of Disney pins available is quite mindboggling!
Where to Buy Disney Pins
One downside to Pin Trading is that it can be very expensive, as individual pin prices range from $8.99 to an upwards of $34.99! When we first started Disney Pin Trading, it was relatively inexpensive. Now, in 2013, it can be super expensive if you are serious about collecting. However, it doesn’t need to be nearly this expensive. Luckily, it doesn’t have to be.
If you do your homework, you can buy your pins for trading before you ever leave home and save a ton of money! As of 2013, there are sellers on both eBay and Amazon that offer pins in bulk for about $1 per pin. When comparing this to the starter sets at Walt Disney World, you’re saving about $8 per pin, which quickly adds up when you buy 30 pins at home versus buying at the Main Street Emporium or World of Disney.
The only caveat here is that some pin sellers on eBay sell bootleg pins, so you have to do your homework. Make sure you buy from a seller on Amazon with positive reviews or one on eBay with lots of positive feedback (however, even these might be sellers of “scrapper” pins). One prominent seller on Amazon has a solid reputation and sells a great lot of 30 pins that we recommend. These probably aren’t pins you’ll want to keep for your collection, but they’re a perfect starter set for trading.
If you buy from other sellers, here are some things to keep in mind to make sure the pins you buy are legit: pins having copyright or pin trading stamps on the back doesn’t necessarily mean they’re legitimate. Make sure to check the seller’s feedback (long-standing members with near-100% feedback are generally safe), and ask the seller questions if you are uncertain.
We highly recommend going the eBay or Amazon route, which is almost always safe if you buy from a reputable source. Just think, for $30 or less, you can get 30 pins to give to your kids over the course of your trip as their “souvenirs,” which they can enjoy as they interact with Cast Members in a fun game throughout the trip. Sure beats spending $30 on a single t-shirt that they’ll wear a couple of times and outgrow!
Using Disney Pins?
If you’re collecting Disney Pins, you probably know what you want to do with them. You have cases or some method of displaying them. Of course, if you already collect pins, you probably don’t need an article like this introducing the hobby of pin trading to you. However, if you’re a novice or a parent who is contemplating buying some pins for a souvenir, you might wonder just what you can do with Disney pins. Unlike shirts, hats, or other souvenirs you can wear, although you can wear pins around on a lanyard or hat, most people don’t actually wear lanyards full of pins in the real world. So pins might seem to have less practical purpose than other souvenirs you can buy at Walt Disney World.
However, we’ve found a great use for Disney pins, and that’s pin boards. Move over, Pinterest, because these are real life pin boards that you can hang up around the house. The boards can serve a practical purpose (such as posting notes or messages) or can be purely for novelty or fun. Pins are great for dressing up these boards, and are a great way to display them. All you need are pins and a cheap tack board. We use our pin board for fun, pinning Disney countdown calendars, old park tickets, and other paper goods we’ve collected from the parks. It’s a great reminder of your Disney trip and great way to look forward to the next one!
There are lots of potential unorthodox uses for pins besides just storing them in boxes or cases, so get creative and find an actual use for the pins!
Disney Pin Trading Review
Sarah and I were once avid pin traders. Pin trading caused us to interact with more Cast Members than we ever did prior to trading, we’ve had more fun hunting “rare” pins than Hidden Mickeys on attractions, and it even got us selected as the “family” of the day in the Jammin’ Jungle Parade in August 2008! Moreover, I have found that pin designs are by far the most unique merchandise in all of WDW (extinct attractions, attraction anniversaries, rare characters, you name it!) If you do it right, it’s an incredibly cheap hobby, and it provides you with cheap souvenirs, especially in comparison to those costly and large Big Figs I had been collecting. That said, while we enjoyed it, we haven’t been active with Pin Trading in a while because we already carry a lot of photography gear when in the parks, and lanyards with pins would just be too much.
The size of the pins is a big deal for us. We love to collect things, but if we continued to accumulate large items at our pre-Pin Trading pace, we would have needed to invest in a large warehouse to store everything. Sarah can attest to this, I have boxes upon boxes (we have storage rooms reminiscent of Citizen Kane or Raiders of the Lost Ark) bursting with Disney items that are just waiting to be unleashed, upon our future home. In this regard, especially, pin trading has been a good hobby, as our entire collection can be condensed into just a shoe box!
That said, we haven’t become nearly as addicted to Disney Pin Trading as many others have; it can become just as expensive and space-consuming as collecting other Disney pieces, as Disney churns out tons of pins on a monthly basis all with varying price points, designs and edition sizes to satiate all of those interested in Pin Trading. We pretty much stopped buying new pins once we had enough to fill our pin board, as we didn’t want to pins in boxes and not look at them for years. Disney Pin Trading has become so popular that Disney holds special conventions dedicated to Pin Trading each year, and even a few websites devoted to following the Disney Pins exist. While you certainly don’t have to become so invested in the hobby that you have thousands of pins, sometimes it’s difficult to resist. I’ve heard of many unassuming Disney fans getting hooked and spending substantial amounts of money on the hobby. So, be warned. But if it’s something you end up enjoying a lot and it isn’t really “dangerous,” do you really need a “warning”?
If you commit to only buying a limited number of pins via Amazon or eBay prior to the trip, and stick to that plan, you can have fun without getting hooked. With this plan, you might even find yourself spending less on souvenirs!
Your Thoughts…
What do you think of Disney Pin Trading? Are you a fan of it or not? If so, which pins are your favorites? What are your Pin Trading tips? Let us know in the comments!
32 Responses to “Disney Pin Trading Tips”
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A great article! I’ve been collecting pins for a few years, but only recently ventured into trading. I like that you touch upon pin trading as a great way to interact more with cast members. I’ve had some magical moments trading and make sure to recognize the outstanding cast members around the parks.
Yes, it’s definitely a great way to interact with Cast Members with whom you normally wouldn’t. I truly believe it’s a great way for guests (if they’re polite, ask how the CM’s day is going, etc.) to ‘make their day.’
I have to say that while you provide a lot of good information on Disney pins and pin trading, you also make a good many mistakes in your instructions on how to avoid buying fake or scrapper pins.
As an avid collector and seller on ebay, online and at the parks, I know that sellers with 100% positive feedback can be sellers of counterfeit or other illegal Disney pins. Also, the stamps on the back of the pin are meaningless as far as determining whether or not they are official Disney pins. As for trading, cast members often have these bad pins on their lanyards as they do not check, neither would they know how to see if the pins they receive in trades are genuine. Also, when you buy any pins in lots or “in bulk” for $ 1.00 a pin, you are buying bad pins, then reselling them in Disney, thus contributing to the fake pin industry. On ebay, some pin sellers say on their listing that their pins are “From China”. These are from Chinese factories that make counterfeit pins and sell them on ebay. These factories also sell huge lots to smaller pin retailers who sell on ebay to you at below their market value or original price – these are fakes. Thirty pins for $30.00: if it seems to good to be true… Limited edition pins sold by the tens on ebay. Really? We aren’t that naive!
These are just a few warnings – check out pinpics. mousepintrading, DISboards, and dizpins for pictures of known scrappers, real pins, lists of bad and good ebay sellers and lots of good information on how to avoid contributing to the buying and selling of illegal “Disney” pins. -jolie713
Love the site. Love your photography. I have followed you for several years on wdwmagic and flickr. Keep us updated!!
Have y’all tried the pin nights? They are usually the 3rd Friday of the month at one of the Magic Kingdom hotels, and the “professional” traders are there, but you don’t have to worry about them asking you to buy a certain pin as there are only 5 or so for sale there.
No! Never even heard of them, actually! We have been around resort hotels a couple of nights when Cast Members have brought out large pin boards, but never the Pin Nights. I’m not sure if going to one of them would be “safe” for us, as we’re trying to avoid the hobby becoming an obsession.
Great article on the basics of pin trading! I collect the Adventures by Disney pins – those are my favorites!
Nice =) I love pin-trading, I just hit my 100-pin mark on my last trip to Disneyland. How many pins have you guys got?
Have you ever met Scoop at MK (on Main Street)? He is basically the “Pin Trading Ambassador” for MK if not Walt Disney World in general. He’s the Main Street Reporter and is also at many of the “Pin trading Conventions/Events” you mention as the emcee. He’s a lot of fun and will play sometimes “pin games” with the pins on his lanyard and is very generous and knowledgeable about pin trading etiquette etc. He used to have a “1 O’Clock Pin talk” and would talk about how pins are made, what new things are coming out etc. Worth finding him on Main Street whether you’re new to the hobby or a more serious collector. He’s usually there Sunday, Monday and Tuesday morning thru early afternoon I think. You can ask about his schedule at City Hall.
In planning my first trip back to Disney since 2001, your blog site has become quite the God-send. Any questions that I have, you seem to have answers for me. Thanks a bunch! This post about pins helped a lot too. I think I’ll be trying it out casually just to check it out. Rock on Disney Fans, rock on.
PS: Your photography is stellar.
Thanks for the kind words!
I am going to disney for the first time and would like to buy some pins before we go for my 8 and 6 year old. I thought i would leave one on there pillows each night so we don’t have to waste time shopping in the disney stores buying pens. Do you know of any ebay sellers that sells official pins. I am very nervous about ordering them and my kids not being able to trade them.
Thank you.
I’d like to know this away. Buying things on Ebay has been hit or miss for me most of the time so you’re warning has left me a bit wary. However, I am excited to trade if my trip next year is solo.
I am curious as to what the protocol is for not wanting to trade a specific pin. I have a pin that was given to me on our last trip (you can read the story here: http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2980964) and I would like to wear it but I defintley don’t want to trade it!
Samantha,
Hope that helps.
The typical “protocol” for that would be to simply wear the pin on your clothes or maybe a hat. I’ve worn mine on my purse or backpack strap etc. *Usually* pins worn on a lanyard are meant for trading, though some people wear what is called a “Peacock” lanyard. In other words, they’re “showing off” certain rare, special or high value pins for whatever reason. (I’ve done it at times when people have asked to see certain pins from my collection that are quite old or rare, and they otherwise would never be able to “see” them “in person”.) Most people though if you say “I’m sorry, but that’s a special pin to me and it’s not for trade, but thank you for asking” are more than accommodating and will not ask further. Biggest thing… have fun and ENJOY your collection! I even wear some of mine as “jewelry” in my “everyday” life to bring some Disney magic with me wherever I go
I bet I’m the only one who scrutinized your pin-board photo to see how many of your pins I have in my own collection! I also have the magic carpet pin with Aladdin and Jasmine (bottom in the middle), which I believe I got for free at the Emporium after spending $30 or so, and I also got the Space Mountain Stitch pin (top right) from a mystery pin box. Pins are great because they are almost always attached to a memory and I love flicking through my folders. When I start my Disney College Program in June I’m worried that that’s what all my earnings will be going towards!
I actually just took the photo of the board this morning! I had to take a lot of pins off of it so I could add the text in Photoshop, but I think the board is fun. Unfortunately, it doesn’t “fit the decor” in our house, so it’s relegated to the garage, but I still look at it regularly!
We have a pin board exactly like the one that you photographed! When we moved into our current rental home my wife got to decorate one bathroom (boring Parisian stuff) and I got to decorate one (awesome Disney/Mickey stuff). My D23 Epcot logo patch collection is framed on the wall and some cool park poster frames as well (they didn’t fit the decor of the rest of the house so I got to have fun with this room). Our antenna toppers function as a “potpourri bowl” on the top of the toilet tank and our pin board is on the wall. All complemented by the MM bathroom fixtures (like soap dish, etc) and the MM shower curtain. So all our Disney stuff gets to be displayed
Though on our recent trip we completely filled our board and so now we may need to figure out what the next step is!
Wow, you got an entire bathroom?! You’re lucky. I only have the garage…
Excellent article
! I started pin trading the first year I went to Disneyworld (2007). I try to enjoy it and not get too crazy about it. Then again I only collect Donald Duck pins lol.
Collecting one thing (character/attraction/etc.) is definitely the way to go. Even then, you can end up with a lot of pins. There are HUNDREDS (if not thousands) of Figment pins!
My husband is like a big kid when it comes to pin trading. I like it too, but he’ll trade one pin and then trade new pin he just traded for with the next cast member he finds. He does it all day so by the end of the day that one pin gave him the opportunity to trade multiple times till he finally finds one to keep. I have a habit of wanting to just keep more
. He already bought 1 lot from ebay and is planning to buy more for our trip in November. I think he’ s excited lol!
Since we don’t want any new pins, I’ve thought about doing this, but it’s tough to get rid of the ones we like, even for better ones!
Sigh…I always sound like such an old man.
I remember when pins used to be free spiffs. I have a whole box of ones I got gratis in the Magic Kingdom and early EPCOT days. I also remember that pin trading was supposed to be a milennium-only thing. Heh indeedy!
On the not-so-grumpy side, I use an Agent P pin as a tie tack for dressed-up occasions in WDW. It always takes people a beat or two to get it, but the reaction is always positive. I do wish the pins were a little thinner though, as the holes it leaves means I have to limit using it with textured-weave ties.
Disney has definitely done pin trading to excess, and it seems Vinylmations are heading down the same path. I suspect any subsequent merchandising “craze” Disney can concoct in the future will be treated the same.
That said, unless you’re going way back, I think pins have been a popular piece of merchandise since well before the Millennium Celebration–that’s just when Disney forced it to become big. Disney might have given away pins back in the day, but pins were sold sold, too.
For the Colorado Rockies’ inaugural season (1993), I distinctly remember my grandpa getting me a hat. I went to Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando with that hat that year, and filled the thing with pins that I bought from both places. It was hideous (in retrospect) and uncomfortable, but I’m pretty sure even then I remember seeing other people in line with similar button-covered hats and clothes. Pins definitely weren’t as big then, but people still purchased and collected them.
I think pin trading can still be a great (and comparatively speaking, cheap) souvenir and way for kids to interact with Cast Members on a trip, but in just about every other regard, pin trading has lost its luster for me.
I collect the pins but rarely trade them as I have a little system in place! Each trip I get one with the current year, one for the resort we stayed in, one for each of the four parks, and two pins for rides or attractions we particularly enjoyed that year (usually new stuff we haven’t done before). As we only get to visit every two-three years it’s a nice memento of each trip, and it’s interesting to see how the pins have changed over time!
I found your site through Pintrest- thanks for all the ideas! My husband and I are taking our 3 girls to Magic Kingdom this year for the first time. I found out about pin trading and the girls are soooo excited! I got 2 lots on ebay and they picked out lanyards. There were so many pins they liked I just hope they actually trade some!!
Awesome! Have a great trip!
People should be aware that pins sold in lots for $1-$2 per pin are almost certainly “scrappers” and/or counterfeits. The sellers are generally selling many lots of pins over long periods…it simply isn’t possible to get that many legitimate pins at a price low enough to sell at $1-$2 per pin and make a profit.
Some of these sellers have negative feedback, but most of them don’t. Most of the people buying these lots are buying them for their children to trade, and they are unaware of the scrapper/counterfeit problem. They pay for their pins, the seller is courteous and ships in a timely manner, so the buyer of course gives positive feedback.
Yes, you will be able to trade these scrappers/fakes with cast members – they are instructed to accept any pin that appears to be a Disney pin and has the appropriate rubber backer. Because of these pin lots, cast lanyards are covered in scrapper/fake pins. You will save a great deal of money…at the expense of other pin collectors.
For example, go to this webpage and you will see a pin which was a limited edition of 25 pins: http://gallery.pinpics.com/cgi-bin/pin.cgi?pin=52310 . Disney sold only 25 of them, but copies of this pin have been showing up on cast lanyards all over the parks…placed there by unsuspecting traders who bought ebay lots.
Thanks for the tip about ordering the mixed bag of pins from Amazon. We used your link to the seller mentioned above to get our daughters some pins to trade on our next trip. It was a great assortment of pins. Many of the pins they actually really liked & decided are keepers
I just wanted to tell you how much I’ve enjoyed reading your blog. I am a Disney fan and I’m about to take my daughter for our 2nd trip to WDW. On our first night at dinner, I’m going to surprise her with a lanyard and about 20 pins (bought through Amazon and Ebay) to trade in the parks. I’m so excited! I had to get myself a lanyard and pins to trade too… the little girl inside couldn’t resist! Anyway, your blog is the best one I’ve read (and I’ve read tons). I appreciate your down-to-earth, accepting and helpful approach. I loved your piece on “The Kiss Goodnight” – your appreciation for the Mouse is heart-warming. Thanks for giving me a little WDW magic today to hold me over! Only 39 days!!!
This Sounds Super fun for my Nine year old son to also do. Is Disney Pin Trading a Common thing at Disneyland Also?
Pin trading is also common at Disneyland.