Is pin trading still a Thing?

[bc7ate9]

We are going to WDW in mid May and wondering if they are currently doing pin trading (the boards and cast member lanyards)? Or did that stop with Covid?

 

[UrsulaTime]

I hope it's still a thing because my pins just arrived yesterday!
I'm 99% sure I read somewhere recently that pin trading continues via the pin boards but not CM lanyards.

 

[Her Dotness]

Yes, resorts have pinboards but no CMs with lanyards.

That might change with the recently relaxed mask rules, though.

On the whole, I've seen very few guests wearing lanyards in the past few years.

 

[jlstwinmommy]

My son still loves pin trading as do my nieces. We went last January and last June. Traded both trips at the pin boards. Many times there were lines waiting to trade, especially in Epcot. Plan on trading again on our upcoming May trip.

 

[ScarletFire]

I wear my lanyard! Pin trading is still a thing!! I always carry a couple of "traders" and found a cute Cheshire Cat pin at MK last week. All the shops have trading boards.

 

[OKW Lover]

Obviously some folks still are into pin trading. However, its just a shadow of what it was. I hardly ever see people walking around with pin lanyards any more.

 

[gharter]

Obviously some folks still are into pin trading. However, its just a shadow of what it was. I hardly ever see people walking around with pin lanyards any more.

Would agree that it doesn't seem to be a big of a deal as it used to be. It seems even then shops don't have the huge selection as in the past.

 

[lovethattink]

There are pin boards at various stores in the parks. No cm lanyards.

 

[bc7ate9]

Thanks for the info! My daughter will be 4 and I think she will get a kick out of the trading boards. She’d be too shy to approach a CM anyway.

 

[Prince John Robin Hood]

We've been trading at the different resorts but we're mostly seeing the same pins at each location. It's still been lots of fun though.

 

[teachmedis]

Thanks for the info! My daughter will be 4 and I think she will get a kick out of the trading boards. She’d be too shy to approach a CM anyway.

Pins are fun for the kiddos to collect even if they don't trade. My boys carefully pick their pins and want no part of trading then. Its a nice souvenir for kids who might not be as good at window shopping as adults are...mine don't love visiting ten stores and walking out with one thing. So usually I'll browse and tell them, we'll visit the pins before we leave. Then they get a small trinket that they're excited about (bonus is, they're small and easily packable).

 

[mla973]

We are planning on bringing pins in a few weeks. I usually keep the small "pin bag" in my backpack so my son doesn't have to pack away his lanyard when riding attractions (where it might fly around). I did used to be more fun when there weren't so many fake pins, but we still enjoy it.

 

[mom2grace]

We did pin trading last week. Many spots to participate, even a parking attendant at Studios has a traffic cone covered with pins!

 

[bc7ate9]

We did pin trading last week. Many spots to participate, even a parking attendant at Studios has a traffic cone covered with pins!

That’s a creative idea to make the parking experience a little more interesting!

How do you find the spots that have trading boards? From what I recall from the “before times”, some shops had them out and others you had to ask to see them? Is that still the case?

 

[lovethattink]

We found boards inside some stores and outside of others. My son seems to spot them way before dh and I do.

 

[ulcards99]

That’s a creative idea to make the parking experience a little more interesting!

How do you find the spots that have trading boards? From what I recall from the “before times”, some shops had them out and others you had to ask to see them? Is that still the case?

The pin trading locations are on the park maps. Sometimes you have to ask for the pins in the shops, but they're all designated on the map, so if they're on the map, then they should have them there even if you don't see them out.

 

[clm10308]

I’m not a pin trader, but at AK yesterday I saw 2 people set up at the picnic tables near the Bone Yard (playground) with pins out on the tables for trading. These were visitors not staff members. It sort of reminded me of Boy Scout patch traders.

 

[AprilsZoo]

I’m not a pin trader, but at AK yesterday I saw 2 people set up at the picnic tables near the Bone Yard (playground) with pins out on the tables for trading. These were visitors not staff members. It sort of reminded me of Boy Scout patch traders.

They are professional traders. Imo, most of them are there to brag more than to actually trade. I have yet to meet one that is interested in casual trading the way most of us are used to doing Pin Trading.

Every one I’ve approached, was only interested in trading something if you had the original card it came on. The worst I ever had the misfortune to meet was nearly 15 yrs ago at DL. Without a single word of lead-in, I had one of them literally jab at a pin on my lanyard and bark, “You know that’s a scrapper— a fake! You should take it off and throw it away!” I replied that I had bought it at a shop on Main Street not 1/2 hour earlier… still had the receipt in my pocket (although I threw the card away… no reason to keep it). The woman proceeded to loudly call me a liar and then beckon her buddy over to look. The other woman agreed and then said *I* was giving Pin Trading a bad name. I told her if she wanted to meet someone who was besmirching the ‘good name’ of Pin Trading, she and her friend there should look in the mirror, then I turned and walked away (& yes, I used the word “besmirching” ). As I walked away, she kept getting louder and louder (she wanted me to keep hearing her) behind me telling people they needed to look out for cheaters like me. Yeah, right I’m the cheater…sure. I hadn’t even asked to trade with those women… hadn’t said a word other than “hi” as I approached. I’ve chatted with other pro traders before… and while they were kinda stuck-up and snooty, maybe even borderline rude, NONE could Ohold a candle to those last two. I haven’t approached a picnic table of pins again.

As an aside, there’s something else I’ve noticed: I’ve yet to meet another adult (who wasn’t a CM) willing to trade with a child. Sometimes, I think I’m the only one… I hope not. I have a baggie in my backpack with mostly popular character pins that my younglings abandoned after they grew up. If a kid asks about my pins and trading with me, I explain that the ones on my lanyard (or nowadays, my backpack) are my special ones, but I have others they can look at, and they can trade for one of those if they want. I’ve even slipped them an extra if they just couldn’t decide. Sadly, I’ve seen way too many adults at Disney who seem to be related to Foghorn Leghorn: “Go away kid, you bother me!” I can’t stand that, and I never want that to be me.

I did used to be more fun when there weren't so many fake pins, but we still enjoy it.

For me, Pin Trading is all about the fun. And about never knowing what you’re gonna find next. I honestly don’t give a whole lot of scrutiny to pins I trade for, as to whether they’re scrappers or not. If it looks right— no *really* “wrong colors”, or anything that is clearly “off”— and it’s one I like or have been collecting, I will trade for it. My pin collection is not an investment for my financial future (dh would probably say it’s an investment in my future poverty) I see it as an investment in my future happiness. I enjoy seeing my pin groups displayed in their shadowbox-style frames hanging in my hobby room. I get to remember happy memories of past trips, and dream of future ones. Those memories are what is important— not whether I traded for a scrapper somewhere.

Beginning in about 2017 or ‘18 (5 yrs or so after meeting the poorly behaved pros), I started to notice more & more that many of the pins in the shops on property, and on shopDisney had “suspicious” traits that have been said to mean they are fakes. So with quality control going downhill and legitimate pins showing “scrapper” traits, how can anyone know for sure anymore?

It was actually after the encounter I described above that I started to research what a “scrapper” is… and started to look at pins with a bit more of a critical eye. What I noticed was that the pins they’re selling in the parks sometimes have pits in the enamel, rough or sharp edges, small areas where the colored enamel “spills over” into the space next to it, or copyright lettering on the back that is illegible, among other defects that supposedly are tell-tale signs that a pin is fake.

So I’ve given up worrying about “fake vs real”— there is just no way to ever be 100% sure unless you are going to buy every pin you collect directly from Disney & no one else will know for certain yours are real unless you intend to keep them on their cards with the receipts… and of course, that kinda defeats the point of pin trading. Instead you will just be pin collecting.

 

[disneyworldsk]

I'm going in mid may as well and will also bring some and check it out. i went in october, 2021 and it was as described by those here who are chiming in too. looking forward to seeing if there are changes since october. we just keep a couple in our pockets for fun.

 

[lovethattink]

We’re going tonight solely so my youngest son can trade pins.

My dh and I and our oldest son started trading pins in 2000. Bought our first pins at the Disney Store in 1999. Use to go to the Contemporary PTN every other week. Then added the All Star PTN. And the POR PTN. As my oldest got into sports and working, we stopped trading pins.

But youngest ds is now really getting into it. It’s been so long since we were into pin trading. I have no idea what’s a scrapper and what isn’t anymore. We tell him just pick whatever interests you.