Pin trading

[Beccone]

We are going down in August and I'm already thinking of what kinds of souveniers to get my younger children. I hate tons of little things they'll never play with so I like to do fun stuff to remind them of the and won't just take up space. In the past we have done the pressed coins (we have 4 books full), did the passports in Epcot, I make albums for each child with pics of them with the characters and of course their autograph books. So I'm thinking this year of getting them the laynards and starting a pin collection and for trading. A friend told me you can get lots of pins on ebay for cheap and I did see alot there so I thought I'd get them some laynards at the World of Disney Store in NYC next week and get them some pins off of ebay to start. My oldest is 14 so I don't think he'll be into it but my other kids are 6, 5 and 2. So here's my question Are my 6 and 5 yr old too young to do this? Any thoughts or advice would be helpful. I actually know nothing about the trading part so if someone could fill me in on that, that would be wonderful too. Thanks in advance!

 

[hrmom26]

We are going down in August and I'm already thinking of what kinds of souvenirs to get my younger children. I hate tons of little things they'll never play with so I like to do fun stuff to remind them of the and won't just take up space. In the past we have done the pressed coins (we have 4 books full), did the passports in Epcot, I make albums for each child with pics of them with the characters and of course their autograph books. So I'm thinking this year of getting them the lanyards and starting a pin collection and for trading. A friend told me you can get lots of pins on ebay for cheap and I did see alot there so I thought I'd get them some lanyards at the World of Disney Store in NYC next week and get them some pins off of ebay to start. My oldest is 14 so I don't think he'll be into it but my other kids are 6, 5 and 2. So here's my question Are my 6 and 5 yr old too young to do this? Any thoughts or advice would be helpful. I actually know nothing about the trading part so if someone could fill me in on that, that would be wonderful too. Thanks in advance!

my kids loved it at the young age and also my daughter is still going to do it this coming trip {she's 14} they have great pins at every ride and you can bring the lanyard back on your next trip as i am i hang them in the wall when we got home between framed disney pictures i had blown up or collages i made it is pretty fun

Heather

 

[bgraham34]

I have personally never got into it. I collect enough stuff. My niece was doing it last year and loved it and she was just about 5 at the time. She still likes to show it off.

 

[Disneyfalcon]

My kids 14 and 11, both love it. My dd11 has her books out right now. She's combing through them to see if there's any she wants to trade on our cruise next month.

They've done it for several years. They each have a page in their pin books for Non Disney pins too. Whenever we travel somewhere new, they look for a souvenier pin.

I definitely don't think yours are too young. My nephews 5 and 7, loved it on our last trip.

Once you start looking for cast members with pin lanyards, you'll see them everywhere. If they're wearing a green lanyard, they can only trade with children.

Two words of caution about buying pins on ebay. First - stay away from Sedesma pins. Many sellers will specify their pins are not Sedesma, so it's easy to find some. Also, I would avoid buying several of the same pin. They may be cheaper, but it can be a little harder to trade. Cast members will only trade your pin if they don't already have the same one on their lanyard. If your kids go up one after the other trading the same pin, it won't work.

You can eventually find someone who doesn't have that one, of course, it just might take a little longer.

 

[MissM]

Trading with Cast Members is easy and fun. There's never a worry about the trade being "good enough" because they automatically trade. Unlike trading with other guests who might be very strict on their pins.

You can trade up to two pins at a time with a CM but not ones they already have on their lanyards. You also can not trade pins with names on them with CM's. (I've seen some lots on ebay that are nothing but name pins. These are pretty much useless for trading.)

I have a big corkboard with the pins I've bought/traded/collected over the years and I really enjoy it. I take traders with me everytime I go and I just look for pins that catch my eye. It's a lot of fun but it can be addictive. I never in a million years thought I'd have 150-odd pins ever but now I do and it keeps growing. (And my collection is tiny compared to some traders!)

 

[WDWNooby]

This is our first trip and after talking with other people that I know and these forums, we're all doing the pin trading DD-31, DS-15, DGD-8 Me-Too Old :lol:

My son, at 15 thought it sounded like great fun (yes, I was suprised). I've purchased enough pins off of eBay to get us started and will be purchasing some lanyards off of eBay as well just so we have them even tho I'm sure we'll buy different ones at the park(s). I wasn't aware that you could buy lanyards at the Disney Store (our closest store is 150 miles away) and didn't see any there nor are they available on the Disney Store online as far as I can tell.

Even tho this will be our first time trying this, I'm sure it will be fun. I bet you have fun too!

I think it will add an element of fun to your trip.

 

[Dwarful]

My girls love to trade pins. The one thing we told the girls when they started was this: they had to make the trades themselves, point to the pins they would like to trade, and most important, never touch or poke the pins on anyone elses lanyard.

We ended up only keeping a few on the lanyard at a time because some pins have loose backs and tend to fall off easily. We bought one of those pin bags that you can wear like a lanyard or sling over your shoulder. You could also keep extras to trade in a ziploc bag. You can also buy extra backs and locking backs for the pins you know you won't trade.

 

[ClemsonTigger]

It is relatively easy for the kids. A majority of cast members have lanyards and it can be great fun.

Also know that some cast members have green lanyards (sometimes both) The green lanyards are for trading with children only (12 and under, I think)

Sometimes the younger kids keep trading pins over and over for the action rather than for the pins, for the older kids (and much older kids ) suggest that they look for certain themes, say for example stitch or princesses, and go mostly for those types of pins. Also be careful if you buy some full price pins that they don't go trading them.

If you get pins for your resort or favorite rides, special events, they can last far longer than any shirt, and looking through a book or lanyard can almost be like looking through a photo album.

One other thing...especially for the younger kids. Explain to them that cast members will trade with them, but other people don't have to. I regularly get approached by small children asking to trade one of my "display" pins. I try to carry some give away ones to give them something. Just don't want them to be confused when some people say no.

Enjoy

 

[H20Babie]

My son was 7, and his friends 6 and 5, when we went last, and pin trading was huge for them (first time they did it). However, on the downside, it became a bit of an obsession with all them. Everytime we walked past our resort's store, or they saw a CM with pins, they begged to go in and trade, or, wanted us to buy them more ... lol.

Now, my son always gets a pin for special occasions (birthdays, easter, christmas, etc.). I also bought him a bulletin board for his bedroom that he can display his pins on. It's a great reminder and keepsake of trips past.

 

[Pioneer Hall]

I started collecting and trading when I was 13. At first I thought it would just be a little fun hobby and I would only get a few pins. Thousands of pins (and thousands of dollars) later, I am still collecting and trading.

If you do this with your kids, I would set some limits first. Pins are far from a cheap gift in WDW. The cheapest single pins cost 6.95, and most are more expensive than that. There are also hundreds of pins available on a given day with more released almost daily. So I would let you kids know what they can get ahead of time. Also, if they catch on to trading with cast members, most small children become addictive with it. They will want to stop at every CM and see what they have to trade. For some parents they find it cute and fun, I know others find it annoying after the 20th CM. So just try and set some limits with the kids, and be prepared for what you might be starting haha.

 

[Tiggerfanatic]

I did the same thing with my niece6 and nephew9. I was really surprised at how much they got into it, and really enjoyed it. I bought them a lanyard and 10 pins each from E-bay to get them started, and wished I would have bought more. They kept finding pins they wanted to keep, so we had to buy more to trade. We were able to get some grab bags at Downtown (I think there are 2 pins in a bag for $10.00) which helped on the cost a little. At the end of our trip, I bought them the pin album to put all their special pins in to keep them nice. Like others have said, though, be prepared to stop with every CM.

On a side note, I had told the kids up front not to just go up to the CM's and shove their pins in their faces, or just hold out their autogaph books to the charaters. They were to be polite, and ask nicely, saying "Please" and "Thank You." When my niece went up to Alice in Wonderland asking if she could please have her autograph, Alice replied, "What a polite little girl! Did you learn your lovely manners from Mary Poppins?" It just made her day, she was so proud!

 

[kerrie]

pin trading is fun

so my 3yr old was two when we started him and he loves it we by pin lots on ebay and what ever pins are not our faves we place on the lanyard and trade the ones we like we place in our pin book we are going to get my daughter one.

 

[erstwo]

I'm sorry I am so late to this discussion. I haven't had time to check out the boards in awhile but I wanted to say that my 5 year old and 2 year old did pin trading for the first time last December and they both LOVED it!

I did buy my pins off ebay (since I wasn't sure whether they would even like them, I didn't want to invest a lot of money.) I also bought my lanyards on ebay. I can't remember the ebay sellers name, but he had like 40,000 feedbacks and they were ALL positive. So I felt pretty safe ordering from him! He even sent the perfect pins - it was a "grab bag" but I told him it was for a boy and girl and their ages and he sent the best pins!

Here is a photo of my kids first trading experience. I will say it took about 2 days before my son wanted to part with any of his pins. Once he got the hang of it, there was no stopping him!

 

[NiarrNDisney]

I just got started a couple weeks ago on my last trip, I was never interested at first but now I have found myself getting addicted.
It all started when I went to MK and it happened to be a free pin w/parking day, then my friend bought me a Maleficent pin knowing she is one of my fav's. Anyway I got myself a lanyard and a couple pins from the pin store in DTD, came home and went crazy.
I now look for specific pins on ebay but I am very careful to not pay to much (I compare them to prices at Disney Pin stores) and check and recheck the quality.
My only advice would be pick a theme or character etc. etc. that you would like to collect, it makes it easier to focus with so many pins out there. I like the Villans so now I only collect them, their side kicks and NB4xmas pins.
Have Fun I'm sure you and your children will enjoy it.

 

[jjbuster2]

My DD had just turned 7 before our last trip and it was our first time pin trading...she loved it! I bought a bunch from E-Bay before hand and there are a couple of things you gotta watch out for:

S & H...sometimes you bid on a pin for a couple of bucks but do looks at what the seller is charging for shipping and handling; it can really add up. I liked getting several from the same seller and most of the time (since they could mail them all together) the would discount the per pin S & H charge.

E-Bay is addictive...Watch Out!

We would only put 8 at a time on the lanyard and after every outing remove the pins that she wanted to keep and replace them with other ones she intended to trade.

Oh and we got an unexpected freebie from one of the cast members: DD loves the Disney "babies" pins. We were at WL for dinner and were making a purchase in the gift shop. DD didn't bring her lanyard that night but i pointed out to her, 'awe...look at the cute baby Pluto he's (CM) got. Too bad you didn't bring your pins this time'. And he finished out transaction then took the pin off and handed it to her. I was shocked...those thing never happen to my (or my party). It made DD's day!

 

[pepples22]

A topic I really can comment on! I am so addictive!

I have been going to Disney since 1989. I saw people trading but I never saw what was so special about it all.

It started on our :xmas: Christmas trip last year, my sister brought me a starter kit for my birthday, we spent the whole evening going around Hollywood Studios looking for CMs with blue lanyards.

Soon by the end of the Holiday, me (28), my husband (28), my sister (25) and her boyfriend (38) were all hooked on it - it is not just a child thing. We started to stalk CMs to see what was on their lanyards from a distance. My husband got so excited seeing a particular pin on CM lanyard he ran across frontierland just after parade time to get to the pin.

CMs are so friendly, you can start conversations and find out more about the parks and resorts.

After the holiday we have brought so many pins ebay, ones to keep and ones to trade for next time. We have also brought more lanyards, lanyards medals and albums for the collections.

I need to stop my obessesion!