Disney Pins...how long did you collect?

[WDWScottieBoy]

Howdy all!

Just wanting to know how many people have collected the Disney pins before, and if you still collect them or if you eventually just stopped.

I've been collecting since before they were popular, but only really collected those that were Limited Edition, Retired, very rare series, signed, etc.

It wasn't until recently, that I realized that I keep buying new pins really for no reason and I bring them home and just keep them in a bag or put them in a shoebox or something. I wasn't displaying them. I guess it's the same as Beanie Babies, you collect them and expect them to be worth hundreds someday.

Now, I've decided to start selling a lot of mine on eBay, including the complete first series of the A Piece of Disney History collection. I've noticed the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea pin selling for over $150 a lot recently, and decided now would probably be peak time to sell (or so I hope). (If anyone is interested in anything in particular, send me a PM and I'll send you a link to the auctions.)

So...are you still collecting?

 

[Chape19714]

I collected from 1999-2004ish. I have a really limited set of the 7 Dwarfs and Snow White, which I heard goes for a bunch on Ebay. I traded pretty regularly, until the pin collection just got too heavy, and that led to me dropping it completely. I still have all of them!

 

[Hakunamatata]

My beautiful wife and I collected big time before our wedding and on our honeymoone. Since, we have only purchased a few pins here and there when at WDW.

 

[maelstrom]

I started collecting pins in February 2003. My first pin was a Tinker Bell pin where she has sparkly wings. Then I got the Blue Fairy and Merryweather. Then my dad bought me Flora & Fauna. I went home with 5 fairy pins and was satisfied.

Subsequent trips resulted in a pin obsession for my mom & I and we now have several hundred pins between us.

I would sell a few on Ebay but I have a hard time parting with anything Disney. I keep mine on corkboards. But I do have a pin bag from Disneyland that has Sorcerer Mickey on it and 2001. I have only ever seen one other like this on Ebay. I don't use the bag anymore though because my collection is too big and I no longer transport it due to the hassle at the airport.

I bought a lot of my pins on Ebay. I really like to collect pins from DL, TDL, and DLP. I have a CM only Tokyo DisneySea opening day pin. I also have a pin from DLP's opening day, back when it was still Euro Disney.

 

[TowerOfTerror]

The only pins I collect are the Piece of History series and grand opening pins when a new ride opens up. I usually only get the opening day because buying all the countdown pins can become expensive !

Off Topic:
I've heard that some people have lost their house over Disney pins !
Can anyone verify this rumor ?

 

[Aurora_25]

My beautiful wife and I collected big time before our wedding and on our honeymoone. Since, we have only purchased a few pins here and there when at WDW.

It's because your wife learned that saving money was better than spending it- even if it was spent on Disney pins.....:lookaroun Or something like that

I do have some that are specifically for trading with CM's at Disney- those are the ones I bought at Disney stores for 50 cents before they stopped selling them. My main collection is Sleeping Beauty- I have some pins from Tokyo Disney, Disneyland Paris, Disneyland and others. I also have alot of Mickey ones for my husband and he loves the ride pins. My daughter likes any pins at all- her favorite thing really is just to trade- she doesn't care what she gets, she just loves to trade and since she is that way, the CM's tend to tell her which ones are the ones she might "want" from their lanyards (like the CM only pins and stuff)

 

[WDWFREAK53]

I actually heard someone at the parks yell at their kids for trading pins. She told her that she can only trade the cheap ones that they bought at WalMart.

Is it really about the money...or the fun?

I don't collect a lot...although I have all of the "Walt Disney Originals" (aside from November and December because they are not out yet)

 

[ZapperZ]

I started buying pins not in any serious way in 2003, but really started buying (and trading) them to collect in 2004. We attended our first pin event in 2005 and that kinda kicked everything into a higher gear. We became semi-serious collectors, but not quite those people with suitcases and suitcases of pins.

So yes, we are still collecting. Unfortunately (or fortunately for my wallet), I do not buy pins online. 99% of the pins that I have are either something I bought at the parks, I traded, or I got as gifts. While I collect pins, I much prefer the "memories" that came with obtaining the pins. I look at my pins almost like a photo album that reminds me of my trips to WDW (or Disneyland). Buying them online just doesn't come with that kind of pleasent memories.

Zz.

 

[it398]

i started collecting properly in 2000 but had a few pins since about 95ish.

i dont trade pins rather i just buy a pin for each of the parks i visit and each of the hotels i stay in, and then just a few "special ones" i don't have any character pins though - only park specific ones.

 

[Aurora_25]

I actually heard someone at the parks yell at their kids for trading pins. She told her that she can only trade the cheap ones that they bought at WalMart.

Is it really about the money...or the fun?

I don't collect a lot...although I have all of the "Walt Disney Originals" (aside from November and December because they are not out yet)

I have heard parents do that too. Personally for me- I give my daughter pins in her book that I don't mind being traded- they may be the cheaper ones or the more expensive ones that I just really decided weren't as big a deal to have. Now, when she trades- I don't tell her what to trade for, unless she can't decide and asks me. Some of the CMs have actually helped her by telling her which ones were ones that were CM only pins. She's 7 and is just really getting into the trading part, but really loved it and by the end- all the pins on her lanyard were different than the ones she started out with.
So, for us it's the fun of it rather than the money- that and the memories she will have of interacting with the CMs

 

[tigsmom]

I got my first pin in 1992 as a part of our vacation package and I've been hooked since. I have a few lanyards filled with pins and enough to fill another. I don't trade them but Princess #2 does (Minnie is her favorite subject) and she has no problem striking up a conversation with anyone wearing a lanyard. :lol:
Princess #1 collect Little Mermaid pins and does not trade.

 

[ZambeziZelda]

I've had several situations where a child really wants to trade a certain pin with me, and their parents try not to let them. I know it's probably not the best thing to do, but in those situations, I look the parent in the eye and calmly tell them that I'm trading with (insert name here), and I'll take whichever pin THEY want to trade, not what the parent wants to trade. If you're going to give your kid a lanyard, you're giving your kid the ability to decide for themselves what to trade, IMHO

As for MY pin collection...I don't really have much of a collection, unless you count the 20-odd pins on my bulletin board. I get pins that have special meaning to me (I have several Jungle Cruise pins ) and I generally don't trade. I'll keep one or two lame pins in my pocket incase I happen to see an awesome pin on a CM lanyard, but overall, the pin trading craze hasn't hit me.