Worth getting traders?

[JanetMegan]

Hi pin folks (long time no speak)-

Is it still worth getting cheap trader pins for the parks in the fall? It will be my first trip down in awhile so I'm trying to decide. I'll probably get a small batch for my niece as she loves trading (at 6 yrs old) but I'm just not sure if I need my normal 150 or so

[cer]

We were there in Jan and did not see much to trade for that we liked, so I think you would be wise not to go for the 150....

I think we brought down about 30 traders and actually traded about 10 times.

But then again, it is all about personal taste...she may love it....and she is just starting out....

Good luck!

[ibelieveindisneymagic]

When we were there last fall, DD didn't trade as much as usual. She still went through some of her traders, but we won't be buying a new set this time, she has enough left from the last set still.

So, I wouldn't plan on the full 100 or 150, but would take some for sure!

[Susan A]

I think it's worth getting the less expensive pins for trading, but I have to say I'm a beginner. The kids and I loved trading for hidden Mickey pins.

I enjoyed watching my kids trade pins. It didn't matter to me which pins they traded.

Enjoy!

[Jack Skellington]

It has been nearly 4 years since we've been to WDW. How prolific is the pin-trading? It was still pretty popular last time. Just wondering if there will be as many people to trade with?

Thanks,
JS

[whitney37354]

DH & DD started the pin trading in October. They traded with CMs & pin boards, but not with other people. We were near an older gentleman on the monorail & DD was admiring his Figment pin. He gave it to her off his lanyard with no trade & she hadn't asked him for anything. He also carried a pin bag full of pins. I wonder if a lot of trading goes on at the bigger pin sites & we just didn't notice it because we were drooling over the pin selection that we could buy?

[Jack Skellington]

But, overall, there were still lots of CMs and guests wearing pin lanyards?

[BigRedDad]

Pin trading is still big. My daughter went through probably 200 this last trip. I would venture to say that about half of those are going back in the trading group. Sometimes she just trades to trade. Other times it is for a mystery pin that she doesn;t want to keep either.

It is not as big as it once was. There are so many pins now and the factory seconds are every where as well. It is impossible to tell if you are trading for real pins or counterfeits. Other than the occasional off pin, she mostly looks for things that are sets and tries to complete them on the trip. We also use pin trading as a break time. There are places in each park that have lots of CMs with pins. Lots of opportunities and a cool way to kill an hour or so by slowing down.

[wdwaggie]

I still like to wear a lanyard and collect pins every trip. This trip in April will be my granddaughters very first trip and I already bought her a starter lanyard. I don't trade much, I lke the ones I see at the stores and buy them. Are there unique ones that maybe I should start asking CMs to trade for?

[BigRedDad]

After investigating more about pins, I almost fel guilty for my daughter getting started. I bought what was advertised as "authentic", "tradable", and "official" disney pins. We started off small and eventually got more. My biggest concern now is that many of the pins we have had were fake or counterfeit I guess the only consolation is that she has probably traded and received the same.

I did find someone that sell TRUE trader pins at a reasonable price. I compared one I received from her to one in the other pile of traders. Honestly, you cannot tell the difference. If there is/was, it was ever so slight in the coloring which is easily attributable to UV exposure. If you want a really nice pin, my research has proven to buy it. For trading with CMs, many traders have stopped. For my daughter, she will look for sets and try to complete them. The Cast Lanyarr/Hidden Mickeys are always fun to search for. You can usually get the set of current releases during a trip. Talking with CMs at the bigger pin places, they may be able to locate that last pin in a new set if you show them your collection. We had one do that for us. She did not have it, but took our information. It arrived at our resort with a little note to my daughter.