Collecting Hidden Mickeys - Why Bother??

I, personally, do NOT collect Hidden Mickeys unless there is a Villain involved. My wife, however, trades for them whenever she has the chance since she likes the "Hidden Mickey icon" on the pins.

She is NOT a Pin person/Trader at all and does it for the fun. When she gives me the pins to add to her stash I would have to say 8 out of 10 Hidden Mickeys she gathered are scrappers/fakes. I have told her to stay away from these going forward - but it makes me wonder why would anyone collect these HM's in the first place with all of the junk out there.

She ONLY trades with CM's so its obvious someone has/had harvested their lanyards and gave them all junk.

VERY Frustrating!!

Mike S.

I feel you on this,

I don't collect hidden mickeys and I only get them when they first come out since people are always looking for them (not sure why)

after about a month or so every one has scrappers and fakes so it makes it near impossible to get a legitimate set

I'm slowly reaching the same conclusion. I like them, and I want to collect them, but it's just too problematic. I keep up with the WDW ones because my Dad lives there and can collect them as soon as they are released. He collects a set for him, me, and a friend so with 3 of each plus some extras for trading, I can usually work out which ones are the counterfeits. Also, my Mom is a CM now working in a position where she can have her pin lanyard refreshed (her previous jobs, the area was too small to have regular refreshing). So we've started encouraging her to refresh her lanyard at the end of her shift, so she can get some of the new releases and then we can compare the ones we've collected in the park to look for problem pins. But that's a lot of hassle.

I have a friend who picks up DL pins on her visits, but I'm becoming more and more concerned that the ones she thinks are authentic really aren't. I'd love to be able to buy from people, but how do I know that the person I'm buying from has done "due diligence?" I'm not overly concerned about people intentionally passing on counterfeits, just that they may not know that the pin they have is counterfeit. Unless, you have a real and a fake right next to each other, the counterfeits are really hard to tell as they've gotten better at doing them.

The newer ones (2012) have yet to be scrapped (knock on wood).

For 2011, a few t-shirts (Cleo & Cheshire) have been scrapped. The Alice comics were scrapped. Some of the World of Color were too (even the completer pin missing eyelids).

I think I am about done with them myself. It's fun to collect them but knowing that there are so many scrappers out there I don't know that I will do it much in future releases. I do have from 2007 thru 2012 first wave though.

Unfortunately, the DL ones I would most like to buy are from older series to fill in the holes that my friend missed. Cast Lanyard series #4, HM 2007-2009, plus a few from CL series 2, 2.5 and global series 3. All of which appear to have been heavily counterfeited, some with multiple versions of the counterfeits. Many times, newer collectors will offer older pins here, and I'm always wondering, "are they real or does the newer person just not realize it's not?"

I totally understand your frustration. I can see why some collectors collect them though, such as if they have been doing it near since the beginning. I know that's the case with my mom and she's very particular with the ones she buys, and will even buy doubles (sometimes triples) to inspect them with great care. For me, since I don't have an ongoing collection of them, I'm resolved to keep the ones I really liked or have memories for me, but not to pursue any new ones unless the design really fits in with my collection. It saddens me because the quest of finding HM pins at the parks was what initially intrigued me about pin trading. But trading for a pin to later inspect it more carefully and realize it's more than likely a fake really killed the joy for that part of this hobby for me.

Honestly, I have never done hidden mickey pins. They are just not my thing. From day one many years ago when we took our first Disney trip and started pin trading I always avoided HM pins. I have cast members trying to convince me to get them and I always picked other things from their lanyards. Still to this day I have cast members on our trips tell my kids how rare and awesome they are and I do like to let them trade for what they like but I can't help but cringe a little as I know they are probably fakes.

I can not even begin to tell you the amount of times I have had people look at me like I had an extra head b/c I told them I don't like HM pins!

I personally have always thought they were boring, small and just never as cool looking to me as just the basic park pins were so I that is why I have always stayed clear of them. NOW, I stay clear b/c of that as well as b/c of scrappers.

Same here unless I like them or fit into me collections i do not bother. too much to deal with..

I agree with you. My girlfriend Kaitlyn is really good at spotting fakes though, so I leave the HM pins up to her. Collecting HM's can still be fun and rewarding, but she needs to inform herself on how to spot a bad pin. As a general rule of thumb, tell her to stay away from older HM pins. If it is not a current set, it almost always ends up being fake.

Hidden Mickeys are all about giving you a quest while you're at the parks. It's what started me on trading, and is still fun for me. We have annual passes, so we have plenty of time to weed out scrappers, which actually makes it even more satisfying when we get authentic ones. There are certain things that give them away, I don't find it hard to determine which pins are scrappers. Having said that, I've lately focused more on other pins and just trying to complete the HM sets we already started. The 2012 HMs don't really interest me, with the exception of a couple zodiacs. Going forward, I will probably just collect any HM series that particularly appeal to me, and not just in general. I will never buy HMs online because of the scrappers. Bottom line - HMs are a fun park activity, not for serious collecting.

heyyouwannatrade said:

Honestly, I have never done hidden mickey pins. They are just not my thing. From day one many years ago when we took our first Disney trip and started pin trading I always avoided HM pins. I have cast members trying to convince me to get them and I always picked other things from their lanyards. Still to this day I have cast members on our trips tell my kids how rare and awesome they are and I do like to let them trade for what they like but I can't help but cringe a little as I know they are probably fakes.

I can not even begin to tell you the amount of times I have had people look at me like I had an extra head b/c I told them I don't like HM pins!

I personally have always thought they were boring, small and just never as cool looking to me as just the basic park pins were so I that is why I have always stayed clear of them. NOW, I stay clear b/c of that as well as b/c of scrappers.

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+1

I was just there a few weeks ago and a cast member told me that the Stitch Paint Can was going for $30 on ebay. Ummm....no....I have no idea what he was smoking because all I saw were $3-4 listings. I have no idea why they just make up things like that.

I wish I could collect all the HM's but I have an annual pass and go to DLR at least 3 times a month and I have only found 4 2012 HM's ever. There are just too many people on the lookout. Too many scrappers. And too many CM's that are tired of dealing with it. I have never attempted the alphabet sets. It seems the 2012 pins are near impossible to find right now and the 2011 wave B stuff is gone. I never did find a Casey Jr. train locamotive or a Scrooge McDuck t-shirt. I'm sure I'll be able to trade for them eventually. I just think that an annual passholder going as many times as I do and with how hard I look, aught to be able to find whatever set he wants!! I think the sharks need to learn to leave a couple for the general population and not horde 4 or 5 of the same pin. (and then expect OE Rack pins or LE's in return!)

markheardjr said:

I wish I could collect all the HM's but I have an annual pass and go to DLR at least 3 times a month and I have only found 4 2012 HM's ever. There are just too many people on the lookout. Too many scrappers. And too many CM's that are tired of dealing with it. I have never attempted the alphabet sets. It seems the 2012 pins are near impossible to find right now and the 2011 wave B stuff is gone. I never did find a Casey Jr. train locamotive or a Scrooge McDuck t-shirt. I'm sure I'll be able to trade for them eventually. I just think that an annual passholder going as many times as I do and with how hard I look, aught to be able to find whatever set he wants!! I think the sharks need to learn to leave a couple for the general population and not horde 4 or 5 of the same pin. (and then expect OE Rack pins or LE's in return!)

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I've been twice in the past month and only found 5 of the 2012 HMs (well, I found 3, sis found 2). I used to try to go once a week but with gas prices at an all time high, have limited my trips to DLR (and I can only go on the weekends)

The proliferation of fakes has really turned me off to Hidden Mickey pins. I probably won't be actively collecting them anymore, as 80% seem to be fake. I'd rather buy nice rack pins.

I'm almost done with the zodiac set, just need Ariel, and I need the Jiminy crest. Other than that, I'm not collecting anything else

hopemax said:

Unfortunately, the DL ones I would most like to buy are from older series to fill in the holes that my friend missed. Cast Lanyard series #4, HM 2007-2009, plus a few from CL series 2, 2.5 and global series 3. All of which appear to have been heavily counterfeited, some with multiple versions of the counterfeits. Many times, newer collectors will offer older pins here, and I'm always wondering, "are they real or does the newer person just not realize it's not?"

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We need to get terminology right here. These are not counterfeit. They air overruns sold directly from China. Counterfeits are. Whole 'nother issue.

Pin Pal said:

I agree with you. My girlfriend Kaitlyn is really good at spotting fakes though, so I leave the HM pins up to her. Collecting HM's can still be fun and rewarding, but she needs to inform herself on how to spot a bad pin. As a general rule of thumb, tell her to stay away from older HM pins. If it is not a current set, it almost always ends up being fake.

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Honestly I got into HM because that's how my pin trading started! Ya I realized all of them were fake in the end...but still some sets are pretty interesting. Even if they aren't I've gotten some amazing trades just from a couple of HM including my Stitch as the Queen of Hearts. In the end they definitely don't hurt to grab, but yes, learning how to spot a fake is a must! Most are pretty obvious- others not so much.

I've collected EVERY HM pin from both DLR & WDW (& also the DLP & DSUK equivalents) since the first sets were released as Cast Lanyard pins in 2002 - if you look at my "owns" on Pinpics you'll see that apart from PoH & PoDM then that is all I collect. LE pins & the like really do not interest me, some pin prices are expensive & probably for a very good reason, but not for me!

We live in the UK & travel across the pond at least 3 times a year & pound the parks when we are there to complete the sets, as we have kids then we are usuallly tied to school term breaks (unless a kind family member can sit for us!) which can fall kindly for us close to the release dates (usually February & August). On our recent trip to WDW last month I managed to complete the 2012 Wave 1 set & am now looking for help to complete the DLR set. My thinking is get the sets as early after release as possible before the scrapper/counterfeits/fakes come into the mix. There are a few stragglers that I need from previous years which no doubt i'll pick up at some stage, I have tried for help on here & Pinpics but zero response.

Why do I collect the HM pins - the straight forward answer is that the sets are only available from CM's who I totally love interacting with & have made a fair few good friends East & West coast, they also look great when displayed & probably more importantly there is a "cut-off" point - once I've completed the set then I'm not tempted to collect anything else until the next waves release - this stops me panicking in trying to collect every release for certain characters or themes etc

I consider myself a HM expert, know every set, can spot fakes at a distance & am always willing to help!!

Personally for me I stopped collecting them due to the counterfeit problem. I get them when they first come out and them avoid them like the plague later.

We try to only get them when they first come out, if we're luckly enough to be there. We got the alphabet the trip before last, and this past trip I was able to score all the paint buckets. It can be really frustrating. This past trip we got lucky to meet Scoop and score some of the new stuff right from him. The timed it right, behind us were some "sharks", lol, and we could tell they weren't happy we "beat them to the punch".

The only HM sets I found appealing were the Country Bear set and the Band Concert set from 2010. I did favor the Bedknobs and Broomsticks set also, but grew out of it after a month.

But I agree with most. Knowing youre getting a bad pin for a good one isn't fun at all. But none the less it's fun. Like a treasure hunt. A quest.

I can spot scrappers, but I have bad eyes and can only do it during the day or indoors. It's fun to me and it's all about the experience and enjoyment, and interaction with cast members who may deal with bad tourists or mean locals who shouldnt be there if theyre grumpy. Once I was in line for a trade and some guy was being just RUDE to this CM (she was about my age) and when the guy left she had a tear and I felt really bad, so I started a nice conversaton and she eventually lit up again. The subject of fakes came up and she told me he was yelling at her for having nothing but fakes (She great pins, she had one fake, I checked)
and that shows that some people want real pins for something other that collecting or fun. It kind of ruins it for most of us, or me at least.

Anyway, I'll stop being a troll. I like to have fun, but like another member I try not to cellect HM pins. I try to get my favorite characters from sets in store so I'm not buying the whole set for one pin. Granted you get more traders, but I'm not one to spend willy-nilly.

You know, the main reason I started collecting pins because it is fun. Therefore, I collect what makes me happy. A lot of my pins bring back memories of watching Wonderful World of Color, a favorite movie or time in WDW. That is why I do like the HM pins, because certain sets, like the past attractions, bring back memories of other times at Disney. My first "special" trade was for the five-legged goat with a CM at the Meadow Trading Post. Poor gal, I was so excited, I nearly went over the counter! If I did at some point learn that it was a scrapper, I would still enjoy it and keep it because of what it represents to me.


While I agree that the scrapper issue has knocked some of the fun out of trading, I am still going to trade (cautiously) for HMs because it is fun and that is what it is all about for me.

DoomScarf said:

I was told all the t-shirts were scrapped.

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Possibly the WDW ones, but at DLR, I have seen Cleo and Cheshire cat scrappers. I have yet to find any of the other t-shirt pins as scrappers on cast lanyards (or with people taking them out of their tiny ziploc baggies)

DoomScarf said:

They're sharks, do you seriously think they're going to play nice and leave a couple pins for others?

Like hopemax says, I'd like to collect them (or the ones that appeal to me anyway) but the scrapper problem deters me from doing so, and since I've never been to the parks/don't live close to the parks it makes it even harder to get them. I have some HMs on my wants but I'm very iffy about trading for them online and I pretty much avoid buying them from eBay...

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I also try to get the HMs right away for trading purposes. I picked up 2 at DLR this past weekend and 3, three weekends ago. I used one of each (one from this past weekend, one from three weekends ago) to trade for the 2012 HM pins from a private trader that I actually wanted (two of the zodiac signs). That's pretty much the only reason why I would pick up the new HM pins - for trading. And yes, they might actually be worth an OE rack pin - why? Because unless you can find good trader lots here on DPF or at Josh's My-D pins store, one is usually spending $3-5 per pin to trade. If it's a "hot" pin at the moment, why not? The private trader is the one who determines their value at the time. If I had been able to get a 2nd Jack t-shirt, I could have traded it for this really cute Beauty & the Beast cast lanyard heart from years ago! Alas, that didn't happen