Pin Trading

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Tropical Wilds

New Member
When we did Universal Studios in Nov, they had the pin program. It was not well advertised, and if it wasn't for the free (lame) pin I got when I bought more than $20 in merchandise, I'd have never known they had a program at all. Almost nobody had pins on, and everytime you asked to see a cast member's pins, they acted super annoyed. Plus, all the pins they had were kind of... Lame. I found very few related to the park, and a TON of Nick-toon themed, or Shrek themed, pins.

Really, Universal baffles me anyway. They're still selling Back To the Future and King Kong merchandise, even though both rides are long gone.
 
M

Michael72688

New Member
Sorry Universal cant be just so super amazing like Disney, as for the merchandise King Kong and Back to the Future are still well known movie franchises and Universal is first and foremost a movie studio so selling movie related merchandise kind of makes sense even if the ride is gone.
 
JROK

JROK

Member
Tropical Wilds said:
When we did Universal Studios in Nov, they had the pin program. It was not well advertised, and if it wasn't for the free (lame) pin I got when I bought more than $20 in merchandise, I'd have never known they had a program at all. Almost nobody had pins on, and everytime you asked to see a cast member's pins, they acted super annoyed. Plus, all the pins they had were kind of... Lame. I found very few related to the park, and a TON of Nick-toon themed, or Shrek themed, pins.

Really, Universal baffles me anyway. They're still selling Back To the Future and King Kong merchandise, even though both rides are long gone.
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Just got back from Magic Kingdom where I picked up my Mr. Toad's Wild Ride pin...

And if you're an avid pin trader, you know that several Disney CMs will act annoyed as well. Every park has its problems. Disney isn't as perfect as they brainwash you to believe.
 
cmatt

cmatt

Active Member
Michael72688 said:
Sorry Universal cant be just so super amazing like Disney, as for the merchandise King Kong and Back to the Future are still well known movie franchises and Universal is first and foremost a movie studio so selling movie related merchandise kind of makes sense even if the ride is gone.
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and they were both amazing rides :) was totally GUTTED that they removed king kong :(

but still, they replaced it with the mummy - so cant really complain :king:
 
cmatt

cmatt

Active Member
Michael72688 said:
That is true, however the Simpsons is going to be a lot better then what people are saying
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oh it will be a supoirb ride. It is more relevant now then back to the future, the park needs it in order to evolve.... One of the main reasons why i LOVE universal....
 
T

Tropical Wilds

New Member
Michael72688 said:
Sorry Universal cant be just so super amazing like Disney,
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No reason to be rude... I'm allowed to not be impressed with aspects of the Universal experience. There are parts of Universal I like very much, and there are parts that are lacking that Disney may or may not do better. Pin trading is one of them. There are parts of Disney I like very much, but areas that are lacking that Universal may or may not do better. Adult-themed thrill rides is one. Just because I'm dissapointed by one part of Universal's program doesn't mean I think they're awful and Disney is "super amazing." Both parks by both companies have very definate space for improvement.

as for the merchandise King Kong and Back to the Future are still well known movie franchises and Universal is first and foremost a movie studio so selling movie related merchandise kind of makes sense even if the ride is gone.
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What they were selling was not franchise-specific... It was former-ride specific. If they want to sell it or not sell it, it's really not a problem for me. I just find it kind of weird to sell stuff related to a ride that's not there anymore. It just seems like another outward sign of things Universal could do to update itself, as when I'm in that park I can't help but feel it's been kind of ignored.
 
T

Tropical Wilds

New Member
JROK said:
Just got back from Magic Kingdom where I picked up my Mr. Toad's Wild Ride pin...
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I saw some pins for trade from Mr. Toad too. And some from old Disney events. That's a little different than selling old, outdated merchandise in large numbers. An occasional pin here and there, some old gear or whatever in a store is one thing... But at the Universal store in November, there were entire racks of merchandise and large numbers of postcards featuring the old rides.

And if you're an avid pin trader, you know that several Disney CMs will act annoyed as well. Every park has its problems. Disney isn't as perfect as they brainwash you to believe.
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Again, I'm not saying Disney is perfect, only that this is an aspect of Universal I was disappointed with. One can be disappointed by an aspect of a park, not actually hate the park, and not think that competition is the be-all and end-all of the business. Like I said, Disney has some things to learn from Universal, and Universal has some things to learn from Disney. And yes, I did see CM's who acted like they were being bugged by people getting pins. But considering the large number of CMs that had pins, a majority of them were just fine, compared to the small number of employees at Universal who were taking part in the pin trading, most of whom were generally bothered by your approaching them.

I get that the employees at Universal have a different attitude than the Disney folks, and that's totally fine, and one of the aspects about Universal I like. But when the folks taking a survey on how you like the park just outside of the Twister ride will chase you down the street to get your opinion, and the folks with pins who're supposed to be a point of engagement between staff and guests for a meet-and-greet program run by the park won't give you the time of day... Let's just say you're not as eager to spend money on expensive pins to take part in the program when the few participating staff are at best luke-warm about their particpation.

Especially when it's not like they're being heavily slammed by a large number of guests asking for pins. When we were there the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, there were almost no guests in the park. The place was dead. If they were busy and had lines of people pushing and shoving to see pins, like I saw happening at Disney, I'd get their frustration. But it wasn't like I was one of the hundreds upon hundreds who'd asked that day. One lady even told me that I was the only person who'd asked to see her pins that day.
 
cmatt

cmatt

Active Member
woa - there keyboard warrior! no need to get your back up... this isnt a thread for example on the carousel of progress or stich's great escape and how 'walt would of wanted it'

Frankie says relax :o:cool: we get your point ;)

anyway, old ride merchandise is the new retro :cool:
 

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