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Tuesday, March 6, 2007

March WDW & Pin Traders


Pin Trading

2 comments:

Gerry S said...

Disney pin trading
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Disney Pin Trading is the buying and trading of collectible pins and related items featuring Disney characters, attractions, icons, and other elements. Many thousands of unique pins have been created over the years. Pins are available for a limited time; the base price for a pin is US$6.95. Limited edition pins, and special pins (e.g. pins that have a dangle, pin-on-pin, flocking, lenticular, light-up, moving element, 3-D element, etc.) are more expensive, and for limited edition pins, a guest may only purchase 2 pins per day. Additionally, some pins are only released at special events, at movie premiers, the opening day of a new attraction, to the media, are cast member exclusive, etc. These pins are harder for collectors to acquire and are often valued higher on the secondary market. After being "retired", some can fetch up to and over US$500 on the secondary market and at venues such as eBay. Most Disney pins are enamel or enamel cloisonné with a metal base.

Contents [hide]
1 Pin trading history
2 Pin etiquette
3 Official Disney pin release locations
4 Pin terms
5 Tools of the trade
6 Pin events
7 See also
8 External links



[edit] Pin trading history
Pin trading has always been present at Disney parks but it wasn't until 1999 as part of the Millennium Celebration [1] that Paul Pressler introduced Disney Pin Trading at the Disneyland Resort as a marketing strategy that the craze kicked off. The next year saw it spread to the Walt Disney World Resort where it really got into its stride, and where it is still most popular today. Since then it has been added to Disneyland Resort Paris, Tokyo Disney Resort and Hong Kong Disneyland Resort. However, pin trading has been suspended in Tokyo Disney Resort. Only a small range of pins can be found in the resort. In other Disney resorts, a large variety of pins are available for purchase and trade. Some Disney's cast members wear pins on a lanyard around their neck, or on a pin display card (a 4” by 5” piece of coloured nylon fabric) clipped to their belt. These pins may include special pins with a Hidden Mickey that only cast members have and are not available for purchase. To make collecting and trading these pins more fun, the official Disney pin trading site has downloadable lists of these pins organized so that the collector can check off the pins they have to complete the series.[2] A cast member is required to trade up to two pins he/she wears to a person wishing to trade with them. Some cast members wear a teal colored lanyard at Disneyland and a green lanyard at Walt Disney World with pins only tradable to children (12 years or younger).


[edit] Pin etiquette
Disney has published a pamphlet on how to trade pins, and tips on Pin Etiquette [3]. Among these tips include:

To trade a pin with a Disney cast member, the pin must be made of metal and have a representation of a Disney character, park, attraction, icon, or other official affilition.
Trade one pin at a time, with the pin back in place (pins have functional sharp posts)
Guests can make up to 2 pin trades per cast member per day
Refrain from touching another person’s pins or lanyard, ask to see the pins so they can bring the lanyard into closer view
The pin that is traded to the cast member can not be a duplicate of any pin they already have on their lanyard.
No money or gifts can change hands on Disney property in exchange for a pin.

Gerry S said...

Sent: Friday, March 09, 2007 10:03 AM


figuring with some $400 cash spent last weekend--plus hotel/ car/ airfare/ plus on credit card--I just checked disney card

We spent some $2681.87 in a weekend

I guess it is those expenses we would be cutting down if we moved there