Black Lights and Magnetism - A Long History (and what I discovered)
My wife and I spent a LOT of time tonight at DLR, running around with a magnet and a black light since these "new" methods of telling fakes and scrappers are under scrutiny, and I wanted to see for myself. I'll divide the two and tell you what we found. This is long - read it only if you have a good ten minutes to totally waste.
The Magnet Test
Testing a pin with magnetism is extremely inconclusive as others have suspected. We took a magnet and dragged it across the rack in the Emporium. Guess what? We got a lot either way. Basically, in a store FULL of real pins, there were way too many that were magnetic and just as many that weren't for that to prove anything. Any pin, real or fake, is made of metal. Some people are using the term metal to mean anything magnetic. This isn't the case by any means. "Metal" can be a mixture or pure use of any number of raw elements, including aluminum, zinc, tin, magnesium, copper, lead, iron, and more. The only non-precious metal that is magnetic is iron, and therefore only a pin containing iron would react in any way to a magnet. Mixes of two or more base metals are known as alloys (what 100% of pins are made out of). For example, brass is an alloy, or combination, of copper and zinc whereas bronze is a mix of copper and tin. Specifically concerning pins, Disney could have any number of combinations in their pin base metal alloy to get that shiny color in silver pins, but that would be a totally different mix than what is in gold backed pins, and either of those could contain iron (or not) as a strengthening element. Our opinion - magnetism is IRRELEVANT.
The Black Light Test
This one was infinitely more interesting and FUN! It started while waiting in line for the monorail in Downtown DIsney, and a Cast Member let us play with her high power black light flashlight used for checking hand stamps. This led us to check all of our pins (99% of which glowed, but we already knew we don't have any fakes), and we eventually bought a black light flashlight (the one that comes with the Haunted Mansion dangle pendant thingy) and we were playing with it all night. We looked at pins on CM lanyards all night that we knew to be fake for other reasons (borders, etc.) and none of them glowed, even when we compared them to real ones we had of the same pin that did glow. We thought that this might actually have some merit, but first, a little boring history about black light and why it makes some things glow:
A "black light" is any lightbulb designed specifically to emit mostly light in the ultra-violet light spectrum. In easy terms, just about everything that moves through the air is a kind of light wave (think radio waves, cell phone signal, microwaves, the light coming out of your remote control, etc.). There is a visible spectrum we can see that consists of the colors of the rainbow and everything in between, but there are a thousand times more that we cannot, including all those other mentioned waves as well as infra-red and ultra-violet. When you shine a black light and just look at it, yes, you can see some purply-blue light, but that is only about 10% of what is coming out. The rest is in the ultra-violet spectrum that we cannot see. Think of it this way; take dark purple and make it darker and darker but keep it every bit as strong until it is so dark you can't see it. That is ultra-violet light.
Disney uses these all over the park, specifically on rides. Fantasyland is COATED in black light. Some fabrics easily react to black light; this is why your white shirt and shoelaces glow while you are on Pinnochio like nobody's business. However, most regular paints will not show up when shone upon with black light; it does reflect it, but we can't see it. There is a special trick involved here to make it visible; the addition of a chemical called phosphorous. We love phosphorous because when you shine a black light on it, phosphorous takes that ultra-violet light and reflects it back in colors that we can actually see. This makes things look all kinds of cool glowy neon colors, and it is what makes those fantasyland rides seem so cartoony and surreal.
Why in the world is this important? Because in order for enamels in pins to glow under a black light, phosphorous must be added to the dye. Phosphorous is relatively expensive; a pin dye containing phosphorous will cost 2-4 times what a pin dye without it would cost. Therefore, China companies making cheap knockoffs could not include it and maintain their pennies-profit-margin; it would just cost way too much. However, our dear addiction-feeding friends making real Disney pins for us could and do afford it, and yes, it was put there entirely on purpose. Phosphorous shows up in a LOT of real pins, but not all. For example, a pin made entirely of silver or gold such as the princess castle series would not use any dye and therefore could not contain phosphorous. Similarly, pins that contain real graphics such as Captain Eo pins, Hannah Montana, HSM, Jonas Brothers (shudder) etc. with actual pictures on them would not contain phosphorous.
Now, we discovered that there are no pins that we have or have seen that are completely coated in phosphorous, but most enamel pins have at lest a drop or two of the stuff. For instance, pin 68906, a glitter Jasmine we own, only has it in the two tiny jewels in her body, one on her head and one on her sash/belt, but those do in fact light up under a black light. Some pins, like a lot of Jessica Rabbits, light up almost entirely (her hair and dress usually).
So, how could you use this black light information? Put on your thinking caps for a second, and we'll look at it logically. First, you have to ask, could the pin contain phosphorous? Since phosphorous is an enamel dye additive, pure metal pins could not, and neither do most graphics based pins, but pins containing enamel could. So, now you can shine a black light on it, and get two possible outcomes; either nothing on the pin glows, or something on the pin glows.
1. Outcome #1: Nothing glows - this result really proves nothing either way. There are plenty of real pins that exist that do not contain phosphorous, especially older pins, so this would mean nothing. This outcome cannot prove or disprove the authenticity of a pin, at least on a stand-alone basis. However, IF, and this is a really big IF, it does not glow AND has an error in it such as stated in my "how to spot a fake" pamphlet post, it most likely is fake.
2. Outcome #2: Something glows - This can be very subtle, such as a change and brightening of skin color, can be very small such as in the Jasmine glitter pin example, or could be very obvious - some pins have so much phosphorous in them that they don't even look like the same pin under a black light. In any case, there is something on the pin that glows. What does this mean? The pin has enamel on it that contains phosphorous, which is very expensive (relatively) and put there ON PURPOSE. It is NOT a byproduct of the process and must be added Most new pins have phosphorous in them somewhere, but so do some old pins; I have several of the original 2o0o series from 11 years ago with the little dancers carrying multi-colored ribbons (pinpics pins 1 and 2), and guess what? Those ribbons light up like the 4th of July.
So what does a glowing pin mean? A pin that glows almost certainly is (or was) a genuine pin. However, remember that there are both fakes and scrappers (check Disney Dan's post on Fakes Vs. Scrappers if you don't know the difference). A fake would not glow, BUT a scrapper could because at one point before it failed inspection, it WAS a real pin, and could have phosphorous in it. However, most scrappers have visual flaws in them and that is why they failed inspection in the first place, so you should be able to see those flaws anyway. A pin that does not glow does not necessarily have to be fake; however, if an enameled pin does not glow AND contains other flaws in it as stated in my How To Tell pamphlet, it most likely is a fake pin.
So, to condense it down, here is what we discovered and what we hypothesize:
A pin containing enamel, when subjected to ultra violet (black) light will either glow or not glow. A pin that DOES glow under black light is NOT a fake, but could still be a scrapper, and should be inspected for any other flaws before reaching a final decision. Should an enameled pin NOT glow, this can be one indication that it is fake; however, this should not be used as a stand-alone test, and any pin suspected of being fake should be politely and discreetly inspected for other flaws.
Conclusion
What does all this mean? Simply put, magnet tests mean nothing. Even cast members I know and other CMs I have talked to are sick of hearing about it. There are those that swear by it, and even those that get seriously offended when challenged. However, while they may be extremely rare, there are pin trading educated CMs in the parks. They know "magnet tests" for what they are; bunk and hokum. Leave your magnets at home on the fridge where they belong guys.
The black light test is very tricky and should not ever be used alone to prove or disprove the authenticity of a pin, but it at least provides a useful tool in our arsenal in the constant search for real pins. The way Jessica and I handle a black light is something like this: we see a pin on a CM lanyard we want; if it passes the black light test, we are fairly confident that it is real and we will consider it for trade. If it does not glow it doesn't necessarily mean it is fake, but we know to be a little more careful. I know that personally, I did not have more than two out of over 500 pins, including Hidden Mickeys, that did not glow (that did have enamel on them). Of those two that did not glow, they had other flaws in them that upon inspection proved that they were indeed fake, and those happened to be the ones we hang on to to show others what fakes can look like. Black lights can be combined with other measures to provide pin traders with just a little more security when trading, but please, please don't go out there and start insulting people just because their pins don't glow!
---------
Questions and Comments are welcome!
Oh yes, and every pin we could check ourselves that was for sale in the Emporium, Little Green Men, and the store in Frontier Land that had enamel in it glowed.
The Magnet Test
Testing a pin with magnetism is extremely inconclusive as others have suspected. We took a magnet and dragged it across the rack in the Emporium. Guess what? We got a lot either way. Basically, in a store FULL of real pins, there were way too many that were magnetic and just as many that weren't for that to prove anything. Any pin, real or fake, is made of metal. Some people are using the term metal to mean anything magnetic. This isn't the case by any means. "Metal" can be a mixture or pure use of any number of raw elements, including aluminum, zinc, tin, magnesium, copper, lead, iron, and more. The only non-precious metal that is magnetic is iron, and therefore only a pin containing iron would react in any way to a magnet. Mixes of two or more base metals are known as alloys (what 100% of pins are made out of). For example, brass is an alloy, or combination, of copper and zinc whereas bronze is a mix of copper and tin. Specifically concerning pins, Disney could have any number of combinations in their pin base metal alloy to get that shiny color in silver pins, but that would be a totally different mix than what is in gold backed pins, and either of those could contain iron (or not) as a strengthening element. Our opinion - magnetism is IRRELEVANT.
The Black Light Test
This one was infinitely more interesting and FUN! It started while waiting in line for the monorail in Downtown DIsney, and a Cast Member let us play with her high power black light flashlight used for checking hand stamps. This led us to check all of our pins (99% of which glowed, but we already knew we don't have any fakes), and we eventually bought a black light flashlight (the one that comes with the Haunted Mansion dangle pendant thingy) and we were playing with it all night. We looked at pins on CM lanyards all night that we knew to be fake for other reasons (borders, etc.) and none of them glowed, even when we compared them to real ones we had of the same pin that did glow. We thought that this might actually have some merit, but first, a little boring history about black light and why it makes some things glow:
A "black light" is any lightbulb designed specifically to emit mostly light in the ultra-violet light spectrum. In easy terms, just about everything that moves through the air is a kind of light wave (think radio waves, cell phone signal, microwaves, the light coming out of your remote control, etc.). There is a visible spectrum we can see that consists of the colors of the rainbow and everything in between, but there are a thousand times more that we cannot, including all those other mentioned waves as well as infra-red and ultra-violet. When you shine a black light and just look at it, yes, you can see some purply-blue light, but that is only about 10% of what is coming out. The rest is in the ultra-violet spectrum that we cannot see. Think of it this way; take dark purple and make it darker and darker but keep it every bit as strong until it is so dark you can't see it. That is ultra-violet light.
Disney uses these all over the park, specifically on rides. Fantasyland is COATED in black light. Some fabrics easily react to black light; this is why your white shirt and shoelaces glow while you are on Pinnochio like nobody's business. However, most regular paints will not show up when shone upon with black light; it does reflect it, but we can't see it. There is a special trick involved here to make it visible; the addition of a chemical called phosphorous. We love phosphorous because when you shine a black light on it, phosphorous takes that ultra-violet light and reflects it back in colors that we can actually see. This makes things look all kinds of cool glowy neon colors, and it is what makes those fantasyland rides seem so cartoony and surreal.
Why in the world is this important? Because in order for enamels in pins to glow under a black light, phosphorous must be added to the dye. Phosphorous is relatively expensive; a pin dye containing phosphorous will cost 2-4 times what a pin dye without it would cost. Therefore, China companies making cheap knockoffs could not include it and maintain their pennies-profit-margin; it would just cost way too much. However, our dear addiction-feeding friends making real Disney pins for us could and do afford it, and yes, it was put there entirely on purpose. Phosphorous shows up in a LOT of real pins, but not all. For example, a pin made entirely of silver or gold such as the princess castle series would not use any dye and therefore could not contain phosphorous. Similarly, pins that contain real graphics such as Captain Eo pins, Hannah Montana, HSM, Jonas Brothers (shudder) etc. with actual pictures on them would not contain phosphorous.
Now, we discovered that there are no pins that we have or have seen that are completely coated in phosphorous, but most enamel pins have at lest a drop or two of the stuff. For instance, pin 68906, a glitter Jasmine we own, only has it in the two tiny jewels in her body, one on her head and one on her sash/belt, but those do in fact light up under a black light. Some pins, like a lot of Jessica Rabbits, light up almost entirely (her hair and dress usually).
So, how could you use this black light information? Put on your thinking caps for a second, and we'll look at it logically. First, you have to ask, could the pin contain phosphorous? Since phosphorous is an enamel dye additive, pure metal pins could not, and neither do most graphics based pins, but pins containing enamel could. So, now you can shine a black light on it, and get two possible outcomes; either nothing on the pin glows, or something on the pin glows.
1. Outcome #1: Nothing glows - this result really proves nothing either way. There are plenty of real pins that exist that do not contain phosphorous, especially older pins, so this would mean nothing. This outcome cannot prove or disprove the authenticity of a pin, at least on a stand-alone basis. However, IF, and this is a really big IF, it does not glow AND has an error in it such as stated in my "how to spot a fake" pamphlet post, it most likely is fake.
2. Outcome #2: Something glows - This can be very subtle, such as a change and brightening of skin color, can be very small such as in the Jasmine glitter pin example, or could be very obvious - some pins have so much phosphorous in them that they don't even look like the same pin under a black light. In any case, there is something on the pin that glows. What does this mean? The pin has enamel on it that contains phosphorous, which is very expensive (relatively) and put there ON PURPOSE. It is NOT a byproduct of the process and must be added Most new pins have phosphorous in them somewhere, but so do some old pins; I have several of the original 2o0o series from 11 years ago with the little dancers carrying multi-colored ribbons (pinpics pins 1 and 2), and guess what? Those ribbons light up like the 4th of July.
So what does a glowing pin mean? A pin that glows almost certainly is (or was) a genuine pin. However, remember that there are both fakes and scrappers (check Disney Dan's post on Fakes Vs. Scrappers if you don't know the difference). A fake would not glow, BUT a scrapper could because at one point before it failed inspection, it WAS a real pin, and could have phosphorous in it. However, most scrappers have visual flaws in them and that is why they failed inspection in the first place, so you should be able to see those flaws anyway. A pin that does not glow does not necessarily have to be fake; however, if an enameled pin does not glow AND contains other flaws in it as stated in my How To Tell pamphlet, it most likely is a fake pin.
So, to condense it down, here is what we discovered and what we hypothesize:
A pin containing enamel, when subjected to ultra violet (black) light will either glow or not glow. A pin that DOES glow under black light is NOT a fake, but could still be a scrapper, and should be inspected for any other flaws before reaching a final decision. Should an enameled pin NOT glow, this can be one indication that it is fake; however, this should not be used as a stand-alone test, and any pin suspected of being fake should be politely and discreetly inspected for other flaws.
Conclusion
What does all this mean? Simply put, magnet tests mean nothing. Even cast members I know and other CMs I have talked to are sick of hearing about it. There are those that swear by it, and even those that get seriously offended when challenged. However, while they may be extremely rare, there are pin trading educated CMs in the parks. They know "magnet tests" for what they are; bunk and hokum. Leave your magnets at home on the fridge where they belong guys.
The black light test is very tricky and should not ever be used alone to prove or disprove the authenticity of a pin, but it at least provides a useful tool in our arsenal in the constant search for real pins. The way Jessica and I handle a black light is something like this: we see a pin on a CM lanyard we want; if it passes the black light test, we are fairly confident that it is real and we will consider it for trade. If it does not glow it doesn't necessarily mean it is fake, but we know to be a little more careful. I know that personally, I did not have more than two out of over 500 pins, including Hidden Mickeys, that did not glow (that did have enamel on them). Of those two that did not glow, they had other flaws in them that upon inspection proved that they were indeed fake, and those happened to be the ones we hang on to to show others what fakes can look like. Black lights can be combined with other measures to provide pin traders with just a little more security when trading, but please, please don't go out there and start insulting people just because their pins don't glow!
---------
Questions and Comments are welcome!
Oh yes, and every pin we could check ourselves that was for sale in the Emporium, Little Green Men, and the store in Frontier Land that had enamel in it glowed.
Last edited:
