Frosted flakes and demon cakes! (Brand spankin' new here)

Hello there! As the title says, I'm new. Both to this site and pin collecting. In fact, the only pins I currently have are the ones I recently got from Epcot. And they're all favorites now. I'll have to post a picture of them if I can figure that out.

So tell me, if anyone cares to share, what makes a pin special? Just personal preference or discontinued ones? Any new bit of information is appreciated.

Thank you!

Hello and welcome to the forum!

The things that make a pin special for me are if they pertain to a collection or are sentimental to me.

Good luck and welcome to the addiction!

Welcome! Discontinued pins, especially old/rare open edition pins or certain limited edition pins, can be valuable, but the only person who can tell if a pin is special or not is the collector. There are highly sought after Little Mermaid pins that I couldn't care less about (since it's not one of the collections I'm interested in), but Ariel collectors might be willing to trade a lot for them to add to their collection. While there's a general standard for what makes a pin valuable (and even this is subject to a variety of factors), what makes a pin desirable varies from collector to collector.

The most important thing is just to have fun with it!

I agree with AshleyV......beauty is in the eye of the beholder. What I think is special and valuable is not necessarily the pins that you think are special/valuable.

I have a firm policy with collecting things (not just pins), I NEVER collect something because I think it will be worth something. I only collect the things I love and then, to me, it doesn't matter if they are "worth" anything to everyone else.

Welcome aboard and hope to "see" you around.

BTW - I LOVE the Cheshire Cat - very special and valuable to me!

Welcome to the site.

Hi and welcome to DPF. Also what can make a pin more 'special' is Limited addition number or trade to wants ration which can be found on sites like pinpics.

Xanaduhaz said:

Hi and welcome to DPF. Also what can make a pin more 'special' is Limited addition number or trade to wants ration which can be found on sites like pinpics.

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Not trying to pick on you hug but holy mothballs do I disagree with this statement! Value is only ever in the owner. I can't count the number of times people have purposely inflated the asking price of LE pins simply because of assumptions that since it's an LE it must be valuable. Plenty of pins have high wants to low trade ratios and people feel this justifies asking XYZ over the original asking price.

Even the frequently offered advice of "see what it's selling for or has sold for on ebay" is convoluted. There are people out there who will see a pin for sale and bid on it. Even after the pin has reached an asking price for above what they initially wanted to pay, they will continue to bid, not so much because the pin is worth that but because they do not want their competition to own the pin at a low cost; the thought process of "Well, if I had to pay $200 no way are you getting this at $50". I've bid on three auctions in the last year where my bid won't be top, but the seller offers me a "second chance" offer to purchase the pin. And I ask: "Do you have more than one of these pins to sell/" and the answer has always been "No, the winner couldn't/didn't come through." All fine and dandy except my last offer was four spots down from the top.

The other thing to consider is ask your homeowner's or renter's insurance policy what they will pay for your pins in the event of a catastrophe. If you're expecting them to refund you the $150 bucks you spent at auction for a pin that had a retail cost of $12.95, you're in for an abrupt awakening. Like anything you might claim as "collectible" you have to hire an appraiser to document accumulated values on objects

Only become a serious pin collector if you enjoy the thrill of the pin-hunt, the excitement of new pin releases and the commodity developed between pin members both on the forum and in person at the parks and gatherings.

Welcome to the hobby. Let the pinarchy begin!

Welcome aboard! My most special pins are the pins I get when I visit the parks, because then they have a story to them. Whether I picked up the pin because I rode that attraction or traded for it with another collector at the park it leaves a lasting memory and a story.

Hi
welcome to dpf

For me the value of a pin is completely personal and subjective. I'll buy something that reminds me of a fun Disney vacation, or favorite movie most of the time. But then I will see a pin that has no relationship to my other collections and because I laugh at it, or think it is unusual, I try to acquire it. So while I try to limit my collections to Dragons, Jungle Cruise, Alien Encounter, Robin Hood, Sword in the Stone and Figment, I get sidetracked by Countdown to the Millennium pins, Star Wars gingerbread pins, Chinese zodiac pins, etc. Like a Magpie I'm attracted to shiny things! A totally addicting hobby that I'm not in for the potential resale value of my collection. Welcome to the community!