Scoop Sanderson Leaving Magic Kingdom

[Goofyernmost]

I honestly do not think his contract not being renewed had anything to do with what the Walt Disney Company thought of the pin trading aspects of this character. I believe he was first and foremost primarily viewed as an actor who played a Main Street U.S.A. Reporter. Only one cast member only ever played the role, which differs from other characters that appear on Main Street, like the Dapper Dans, the mayor, and the fire chief.

The pins were secondary to what his primary responsibility was, which was to be the Main Street Reporter. I do not believe he performed his acting role as the Main Street U.S.A. Reporter bad at all, but he never should have had that much access to the pins nor should he have been allowed to distribute his pins without some kind of system or accountability to keep everything fair and appear unbiased. It absolutely does not surprise me he will still be invited back for special occasions and as a fill-in when needed, but what I do hope in the future he continues to not trade pins anymore. I hope that aspect of the character stays in permanent retirement as that leaves much too much room for abuse.

OK, it works for me, I don't really know nor am I lapsing into any grief over his departure. I was just curious as to the venom that you had displayed. Let's move on.

 

[flynnibus]

Let me preface this with, it is never a good thing to hear someone losing their job. I do wish the actor the best and hope he eventually finds some other gig more appropriate for his talents. My complaints have nothing to do with the character being a reporter, its the pin trading aspect I have issues with.

I do not care for Scoop or the idea of Scoop because a majority of people looked at the character as a means to get free stuff. Over the years he had an unprecedented amount of access to not only rarer and more desirable pins but also award-style pins of himself that he could choose to award to whomever he wanted, for what ever reason he decided, with seemingly no accountability or limitations. As a result many people went out of their way to stalk, harass, and kiss up to him, even as going as far as using their kids, in the hopes of being on the receiving end of some of his stash. To give you an idea, his pin trading pin from 2003 (which he had 750 of to award at his discretion) was worth about $200 on ebay around the time he would "award" them. As you can imagine, there was definitely some incentive for some to want to receive one.

It got to the point where people made shirts, buttons, fantasy pins, blogs, and various social groups which is way overboard for just a "normal" cast member. He seemed to not only embrace the behavior, he also seemed to encourage it. The way he would award his pins might have seemed unfair to those who consistently saw people more friendly with him receiving things from him more often than newer people or people he may not have necessarily liked. There seemed to be a bias in the way things were given, where it should have been more neutral and impartial.

His Scoop pin in particular seemed to be more consistently given to his fans rather than people who either attended his talks or made a point a try and participate. He seemed to always have some of the artist proof pins and pre-production pins he was allowed to hand out for almost any reason. I obviously do not have the complete information of how things were given out and to who, but there seemed to lack a fair system and as a result there seemed to be a larger chance for abuse. The idea of a character in Magic Kingdom with that much responsibility seems to be very inappropriate for Magic Kingdom and that type setting.

I believe a character with that much power and that was only ever played by one person, with seemingly little to no accountability was a recipe for disaster and it was for some. Though there are many people that had positive experiences with Scoop, I have no doubt those people will treasure those memories, there is a decent amount of silent people who watched the antics unfold over the years and grew a dislike for what he represented, which was greed. When a character has an opportunity to disappoint and appear to show bias, that is going to leave an impression on people, whether good or bad would depend on which side you fall under.

Because he was not necessarily controlled in the same sense of events and typical cast member trading, there was not the same level of professionalism and fairness. I understand many will probably disagree with me, and that's fine, but I stand by my statement, I do not think he adds any value to Magic Kingdom as a street performer that trades pins. If he was just a fun Main Street reporter from the start, no problem at all, but the celebrity pin trader status was grossly inappropriate and frankly went on for far too long.

My god people... get a life. Anyone wrapped up in anything nearly close to this needs to be thrown out of the bubble. Holy cow people...

 

[xdan0920]

Well that's some good information.

I wouldn't call it "good."

My god people... get a life. Anyone wrapped up in anything nearly close to this needs to be thrown out of the bubble. Holy cow people...

That diatribe regarding his "pin trading" was one of the strangest, most fascinating posts I've ever seen on Magic. So many angles, who are these people so desperate for pins? Scoop has a huge ego and acts like a diva bc he controls the pins! The poster who was so angry regarding the situation! Who's the craziest of the lot?

 

[AdventurersClub]

That diatribe regarding his "pin trading" was one of the strangest, most fascinating posts I've ever seen on Magic. So many angles, who are these people so desperate for pins? Scoop has a huge ego and acts like a diva bc he controls the pins! The poster who was so angry regarding the situation! Who's the craziest of the lot?

I wouldn't necessarily call myself "angry" someone just asked the reason why I wasn't devastated to see the character go. I just gave a bit of background as to why some might not necessarily feel bad about this cut. There were plenty of nut jobs that worshiped and idolized this character. They were very well known among the pin trading community. Just because someone has a negative opinion towards something at Disney, doesn't automatically make them crazy.

 

[NearTheEars]

I wouldn't necessarily call myself "angry" someone just asked the reason why I wasn't devastated to see the character go. I just gave a bit of background as to why some might not necessarily feel bad about this cut. There were plenty of nut jobs that worshiped and idolized this character. They were very well known among the pin trading community. Just because someone has a negative opinion towards something at Disney, doesn't automatically make them crazy.

I think people worshipping pins is the real problem. Scoop was just their dealer.

 

[unkadug]

I think people worshipping pins is the real problem. Scoop was just their dealer.

Something something something 10 step program something something something admit you have a problem.

 

[flynnibus]

If I ever make up realities, stories, or even pretend to be someone else for any of my hobbies... I give each of you authority to put me down.

I mean... I have some collections that people would go 'why' -- its not about pins or whatever you collect - but that drama, suckup, and empowerment? That's where people need to be slapped and their toys taken away.