• Guest, Help The DPF Community Thrive - Join Our Donation Drive Today!

    We're launching a special DPF Donation Drive to ensure our beloved forum continues to flourish. Your support is vital in helping us cover essential server costs and keep our community running smoothly — This is more than just a donation; it's an investment in the future of our community.

    Join us in this crucial drive and let's ensure our forum remains a vibrant and dynamic place for everyone.

    Please visit the DPF Donation Drive Thread for details and instructions on how you can make your donation today!

What are these initials on the back of my LE pin?

What are these initials on the back of my LE pin?

stratasfan

No Longer Active
Rating - 100%
49   0   0
Messages
1,878
Location
Where pins make me happy
I have this C&D LE pin and finally decided that I don't care for hinged pins, unless they are a book. So, I want to trade it, and figured I'd bring it down to really see about trading it finally, now that I made up my mind. When I turned it over to look at the back (don't think I've done that before, as I never realised that this was an LE pin really), there are initials in the top corner of the Pin Trading logo box! What are those? Do they affect the tradability (I don't think that's a real word) of my pin?

Thanks for any thoughts! Elizabeth

20191119171130-3a79232e-me.jpg
 
It means Artist Proof! They're given to the original artist to approve the pin design and then given back to the company. They're redistributed at the yearly WDW pin trading events on boards and I think on PTN boards as well. I also believe that every Artist Proof is technically only LE 25-ish though most traders consider it to be of the same value as the pin without the AP symbol so it doesn't mean a whole lot value-wise.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
 
Stands for Artist Proof, before production and finalizing phase some pins are produced. that’s where I also need clarification. For example windows of evil with a AP stamp is a sure sign of a scrapper but then an AP can also make a pin VERY valuable. For example I pulled a Figaro broomstick pin from the boards at DSSH with an AP stamp and it’s pretty much the grail in my collection...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
It means Artist Proof! They're given to the original artist to approve the pin design and then given back to the company. They're redistributed at the yearly WDW pin trading events on boards and I think on PTN boards as well. I also believe that every Artist Proof is technically only LE 25-ish though most traders consider it to be of the same value as the pin without the AP symbol so it doesn't mean a whole lot value-wise.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
I do need to clarify though, that with low LE pins, AP can make it a lot more valuable but it's not usually that way with OEs or LRs

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
 
Thanks! This is this pin:

Pin 114867 Cast Member Exclusive - Every Role a Starring Role - Steam Train Engineers Chip and Dale

It is an LE 1000. Never seen an AP stamp before! Seen some PinPics listings for Artist Proof pins, but always get annoyed because I select the wrong one! -grin-

OK . . . so as a newbie to collecting and trading . . . what is DSSH?
 
Thanks! This is this pin:

Pin 114867 Cast Member Exclusive - Every Role a Starring Role - Steam Train Engineers Chip and Dale

It is an LE 1000. Never seen an AP stamp before! Seen some PinPics listings for Artist Proof pins, but always get annoyed because I select the wrong one! -grin-

OK . . . so as a newbie to collecting and trading . . . what is DSSH?
Disney Studio Store Hollywood - shop in LA that sells Pin Trader Delight pins and has monthly releases for low LE pins. Probably the best place for low LE pin releases outside of the employee centers and WDI.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
 
So does WDI mean the Walt Disney Imagineering pins? Is WDI a place? thought it was just a pin line! Often wondered . . . where do you buy the WDI pins?
WDI(I think) is the type of pin/the line. I think WDI pins are sold at an employee-exclusive store called Mickey of Glendale's in California. And yes it stands for Walt Disney Imagineering.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
 
Oh, you are a wealth of information! I wish WDI pins were not always so limited editions. Most of them (I know some will be horrified at this, but I speak as a collector for simple fun) I wish would be scrapped! The only way they'd come down from three figures or more. :( I'm not really a fan of LE pins, though. I am a fan of the designs on many of them! Just not what it does to the collecting market.
 
Oh, you are a wealth of information! I wish WDI pins were not always so limited editions. Most of them (I know some will be horrified at this, but I speak as a collector for simple fun) I wish would be scrapped! The only way they'd come down from three figures or more. :( I'm not really a fan of LE pins, though. I am a fan of the designs on many of them! Just not what it does to the collecting market.
Thank you! I'm an obsessive researcher type. I enjoy the existence of low LE pins, but I most definitely do not enjoy the price tags on the resale market for most of them.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
 
As an AP collector, I'll throw in a qualification here - while it's generally been assumed that park pins have around 25 APs produced, other lower edition pins from other locations such as WDI and DSF/DSSH seem to have much smaller runs of AP's/PP's (Pre-Production Prototypes) - basically a handful only. PP's of park pins are generally a smaller run than the AP's as well. While AP's/PP's/prototypes of older LE pins such as those from DA/DS.com may have anywhere from 1-3 at most.

Value on AP's differs from collector to collector, but generally they add anywhere from a 10-15% premium on the park pins (since there are so many of them relatively speaking) to higher on AP's/PP's from other sources like DSSH or WDI.

Then again, some people don't value them any higher at all - calling them just "Another Pin" and trading them at the same value as the regular pin goes for since often the only difference is the AP stamp on the back - which you can't even see when it's in your collection! While those of us who collect them and seek them out will often value them more than the regular pins just to be able to add them to our collections. I love collecting AP's and PP's and prototypes, but how I value them personally depends on how much I like the pin in the first place or if it's a lower edition pin.
 
Stands for Artist Proof, before production and finalizing phase some pins are produced. that’s where I also need clarification. For example windows of evil with a AP stamp is a sure sign of a scrapper but then an AP can also make a pin VERY valuable. For example I pulled a Figaro broomstick pin from the boards at DSSH with an AP stamp and it’s pretty much the grail in my collection...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Unfortunately an unscrupulous employee must have gotten ahold of the artist proofs in the Windows series and sold them to a factory. Because the AP stamp on those was molded and not lasered/screenprinted, every fake has it because of the way the metal is cast. Those particular scrappers were being sold on ebay before the series even released iirc, so that's the only possible explanation. That's why it makes them worthless. I don't think something like that has ever happened before because of how much an employee who does that is jeopardizing their job (and putting themself at risk of being sued), so that's why the Windows are peculiar. Most artist proofs of most pins don't end up in public hands until years after the original pin has released or sold out. I pulled an AP at Fairytales of a pin from 2010. Those artist proofs are slightly more valuable, mostly because by that time most older valuable pins have 'settled' into collections and people are no longer trading or selling-- they become rare, so the AP is an extra unexpected pin. At least, that's my assessment of it from my beliefs and the people I've talked to as well. I think there's also the rare case where the AP might have a difference or error to the final pin-- that will increase value as well. Hope I didn't misunderstand your request for clarification!
 
Value on AP's differs from collector to collector, but generally they add anywhere from a 10-15% premium on the park pins (since there are so many of them relatively speaking) to higher on AP's/PP's from other sources like DSSH or WDI.

Thanks for all the info! One more question . . . what is a park pin? I know what WDI is now. What exactly is a Cast MEmber Exclusive pin? For instance, how does one get one of these Starring Roles pins . . . or any of the Cast Exclusive pins, for that matter?
 
Thanks for all the info! One more question . . . what is a park pin? I know what WDI is now. What exactly is a Cast MEmber Exclusive pin? For instance, how does one get one of these Starring Roles pins . . . or any of the Cast Exclusive pins, for that matter?
Park pins are just any pin you buy in a Disney park. Cast member exclusives are sold at Company D, a store only accessible to CMs. You would have to trade someone for them or buy them from someone. The Starring Roles series is an older retired set so it's been well-distributed on the secondhand market, but be aware that CMs are not allowed/supposed to resell any pins bought with their discount. For cast exclusive and imagineering pins, the discount is built into the price and any CM reselling them is putting their job at risk by doing so. You as the buyer don't have any personal responsibility when it comes to the secondhand market, so don't worry too much about it. I do say this though because many people will ask CM friends (or even strangers) to buy pins for them without realizing the spot they're putting them in. Other than that, good luck and have fun!
 
Thanks! super interesting! Actually, I got this in a trade, so don't know exactly where it originated. :) I know the person I got it from goes to Pin Trading nights, so maybe they got it there? Don't know. I've just decided that I'd like to trade it, as the hinged front doesn't appeal to me! I'd rather try for the 2015 Food Festival C&D pin!
 
Back
Top