mickeyfan0805
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Nov 12, 2007
How active is pine trading with cast members at DLR? Our kids love to trade at WDW, but we're not sure if it is equally active at Disneyland. Just wondering. Thanks!
There are still a lot of fakes, but you have a better chance of getting real ones at DLR in our opinion.
I don't understand this. Don't you trade with the CM's that are walking around wearing the collector lanyards?
I must admit i did not know that fake pins were a thing? Why is the reason for this?
Wow! I did not know about this. I do not collect pins, but my daughter does. She only has about 10 or 15. She made her first pin trade with another girl last year, but now tha i know I will help her a bit so she is not so quick to trade.Cheap knock offs-- usually they come from China. They are usually called scrappers. Scrapper technically refers to pins that were "scrapped" because they did not pass quality control- and someone unauthorized sold them, instead of them being destroyed. The term has become common for the fake pins as well. Many of them have the same designs as the real pins- but are generally lower quality--- thinner, rough edges, paint a different color; paint or pin dents or inconsistencies; the faces may look off; or it may be otherwise different etc. Disney contracts with companies to make pins and a mold is made---a lot of these molds are not destroyed, but instead used again by Chinese companies to make unauthorized lower quality copies. When you see big lots of pins on Ebay that say they are "tradable" - that is what a lot of them are. You can find them for about 50 cents a pin. Parents buy those lots for their kids thinking they are a good deal, as they just don't know better, or don't care. Some exist that were never even from Disney mold and were not official designs too.
Pretty much the same concept as knock off Gucci, Channel, Dooney, or Prada purses etc.
There are articles and videos all over the internet discussing how to tell the difference between a real Disney pin and a fake. Some of the fakes are really bad, and some are pretty good. The more you collect and handle pins, the easier it becomes to tell the difference. It can be hard at first. DD has several fakes or scrappers on her board at home that she has traded for at DL or WDW, just because she likes them. I have a corkboard myself, and I also have a couple of scrappers on mine just because it is something I liked and traded for and have not found a real one to replace it. I actually have one Minnie displayed that I am pretty positive is a fake design never made, but I like her anyway.
Occasionally we'll see non-CM pin traders set up -- the corner of Frontierland by the leather bracelet shop is a standard spot. Lately we've seen someone there on Saturday afternoons. Sometimes we'll see someone set up in DTD.