How Many Pins Do You Have/Rarest Pins/Tips For A Newbie

[_Stitch]

Hello guys!

I am fairly knew to the Disney Pin world! So I am curious to find out how many pins you guys have (All pins, and number of LE's). I have around 30-40 pins, (enough to fill 2 lanyards). I only have 2 LE's but they are 4500 and 3000, so not that rare.

What are the rarest pins you have?

Where are all the places you can get pins?

I am a newbie, so can you please give tips on how to grow a collection, find pins that you want, how to spot out if a pin is real or not, and how to be somewhat cheap

Also, I am just curious, how many collections do you have, and what are they. I mainly collect Lilo & Stitch, but I want to start collection Princess & the Frog, Oliver & Company, and Figment pins.

 

[Tokaji]

Welcome, and that's a lot of questions! Haha.

I think I probably have around 200 pins or so, and the rarest pin I have is LE 250, although that isn't always the best way to determine rarity.

Growing a collection is as simple as it sounds: buy and trade for pins that you want in that collection. Done! The only hard part is determining which ones you want and which collections to fill first. For instance, your Stitch collection has a metric TONNE of possible pins to go into it. You have to figure out which ones you like the most, or maybe limit the collection in some way - pins just with Stitch, pins just with Lilo and Stitch, etc. You are the person who will determine the kinds of pins you buy and collect, so make them things you really really want. Don't collect just to have them all, partly because it's impossible and partly because you'll always be chasing something, collect to be able to look at your pins and say, I love love love all of these.

As for spotting a fake and being somewhat cheap, these are two things that are mutually exclusive. Pin trading isn't a terribly cheap hobby (another reason to be very selective in your collections), and anything that looks too good to be true probably is. Spotting fakes is usually accomplished by looking for bad craftsmanship in a pin - sloppy lines, dips in paint, borders in the waffle pattern on the back, words that are spelled incorrectly or can't really be read (back or front). This is also a skill that comes with practice. So don't despair if you buy or trade for a fake or two - it happens to all of us along the way, and it's a lesson to learn from.

Personally, I collect UP, Brave, Fantasia and Topiaries. I have a very small Peter Pan collection as well, and a few other pins that don't really fit into collections, but I like anyway. But I've been collecting for a couple of years. I would suggest a newer collector to pick one or two collections to really focus on to start with. Give yourself a pin budget and do your best to stick to it. Never pay tons of money for a pin just because YOU'VE GOTTA HAVE IT RIGHT NOW NOW NOW. Because you'll see that pin drop in price by half in two months and shoot yourself in the foot for paying so much in the first place. Otherwise, just have fun with it. Shop around, check out the forums. There are a lot of lovely people here selling things for good prices or doing at-cost pickups for all kinds of things. You've definitely come to a great place to start (and continue) the hobby.

 

[_Stitch]

Welcome, and that's a lot of questions! Haha.

I think I probably have around 200 pins or so, and the rarest pin I have is LE 250, although that isn't always the best way to determine rarity.

Growing a collection is as simple as it sounds: buy and trade for pins that you want in that collection. Done! The only hard part is determining which ones you want and which collections to fill first. For instance, your Stitch collection has a metric TONNE of possible pins to go into it. You have to figure out which ones you like the most, or maybe limit the collection in some way - pins just with Stitch, pins just with Lilo and Stitch, etc. You are the person who will determine the kinds of pins you buy and collect, so make them things you really really want. Don't collect just to have them all, partly because it's impossible and partly because you'll always be chasing something, collect to be able to look at your pins and say, I love love love all of these.

As for spotting a fake and being somewhat cheap, these are two things that are mutually exclusive. Pin trading isn't a terribly cheap hobby (another reason to be very selective in your collections), and anything that looks too good to be true probably is. Spotting fakes is usually accomplished by looking for bad craftsmanship in a pin - sloppy lines, dips in paint, borders in the waffle pattern on the back, words that are spelled incorrectly or can't really be read (back or front). This is also a skill that comes with practice. So don't despair if you buy or trade for a fake or two - it happens to all of us along the way, and it's a lesson to learn from.

Personally, I collect UP, Brave, Fantasia and Topiaries. I have a very small Peter Pan collection as well, and a few other pins that don't really fit into collections, but I like anyway. But I've been collecting for a couple of years. I would suggest a newer collector to pick one or two collections to really focus on to start with. Give yourself a pin budget and do your best to stick to it. Never pay tons of money for a pin just because YOU'VE GOTTA HAVE IT RIGHT NOW NOW NOW. Because you'll see that pin drop in price by half in two months and shoot yourself in the foot for paying so much in the first place. Otherwise, just have fun with it. Shop around, check out the forums. There are a lot of lovely people here selling things for good prices or doing at-cost pickups for all kinds of things. You've definitely come to a great place to start (and continue) the hobby.

Thanks for all the advice dude! I will keep all of this in mind!

 

[KT07]

we also have a few hundred. That is like nothing by the way. Many people have thousands. I forget who had the most but years ago this question was asked and someone had like 20k or some crazy number. As far as LE pins, we have 20-30. But our most rare pins are not always the lowest LE. We have one of Mickey with a Walt shirt on. It was made by the two peoples that voice mini and Mickey. That was before Wayne past away. So it will be the only pin he ever helped make. On top of that the pin was a cast exclusive that was pulled of the sells shelfs because fakes were made. So now no one knows how many of the real ones got out. Add it all up and it is probably our most HTF pin. Now the one I think is the best is or would be the large D guide pin that the cast members at city hall wear. It is owned by Disney and part of the uniform. They are watched over and it is hard and expensive to get your hands on. I think that is the one and only true holy grail. The city hall department was very close to walk and something he always had his actual hands involved in. Others will have different reasons that make a pin HTF, that's just our opinion on it.

Welcome to the pin world. Enjoying your time and take it slow. Let the magic happen, do not try to force it.

 

[PinFanatic]

we also have a few hundred. That is like nothing by the way. Many people have thousands. I forget who had the most but years ago this question was asked and someone had like 20k or some crazy number. As far as LE pins, we have 20-30. But our most rare pins are not always the lowest LE. We have one of Mickey with a Walt shirt on. It was made by the two peoples that voice mini and Mickey. That was before Wayne past away. So it will be the only pin he ever helped make. On top of that the pin was a cast exclusive that was pulled of the sells shelfs because fakes were made. So now no one knows how many of the real ones got out. Add it all up and it is probably our most HTF pin. Now the one I think is the best is or would be the large D guide pin that the cast members at city hall wear. It is owned by Disney and part of the uniform. They are watched over and it is hard and expensive to get your hands on. I think that is the one and only true holy grail. The city hall department was very close to walk and something he always had his actual hands involved in. Others will have different reasons that make a pin HTF, that's just our opinion on it.

Welcome to the pin world. Enjoying your time and take it slow. Let the magic happen, do not try to force it.

20k? Yikes, and I thought I was obsessive with my 3k!

 

[TiggerSue]

HaHa! I also think my 2K Collection is "excessive" but, there are lots of Collectors who own a LOT more

There are people who have more than that listed for Trade!!

And, remember what Tokaji said, this is NOT a cheap Hobby so, be careful how deep you get into it. Have FUN & just collect what you'd love to be looking at 5 years from now.

 

[TheMickeyMouseRules]

So still well under 2K... Whew! ***wipes brow*** Hopefully will stay under 2K for awhile.

I have a few LE 100's, and if I had to pick one low LE as a favorite pin, maybe: 111906 ACME - Artists Series Say Cheese Mickey. I love this pin since it is different/artistic from a lot of other pins.

But one of my favorite pins ever does not even have an official LE size:
Pin# 114442 HKDL - Hidden Mickey - Tsum Tsum Popcorn
&
Pin# 60751 'Movie Moments - Singin' in the Rain'

My pin collection is made up of pins I find attractive/pretty... if they are attractive to me AND high demand that is just coincidental (I do not seek out high demand pins). I avoid pins with hype or high prices. If a pin is over priced... let it go and instead buy nice quality at cost/close to cost traders. Then you may come across that expensive pin in a trade... which is what this hobby is about... pin trading not pin buying at excessive secondary market prices.

 

[CCofRR13]

I've been collecting for over 3 years. When I count up my collections (Cheshire Cat by himself, Cheshire Cat with Queen of Hearts and Cheshire cat with Alice/or whole group of AIW - I also have a small group of Stitch dressed as other characters) plus my oldest son's train/railroad pins, hubbie's Star Wars pins and youngest son's Nemo/Jack Skellington pin, we have around 5oo.

I think my rarest pin is my biggest grail - Cheshire Cat Fortune Cookie (Pinpics #59882) LE 100. I have a few other LE 100 pins but only a few. My son might have a rare railroad pin or two as well.

I agree with everyone that this is not a cheap hobby. At the beginning, I spent WAY too much on pins, not only for my collections but for trading as well. I also made the mistake of trying to collect everything. I was able to control my spending better once I narrowed my collections down.

I got scammed out of pins on Facebook (FB) and Pinpics, so I am very gun shy about trading anywhere but here. I have found a few, trustworthy people that I buy pins from off of FB. Also, number one rule with buying pins = if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

There are numerous ways to obtain good pins here on DPF. There are people who do park pick ups and pin events for near to cost prices. People run games that for a flat fee, you have a chance of winning some very nice pins. Check out trade auctions for your chance to get a great pin by trading, not buying. I always check out the trading posts as well.

If you can't already tell by many of the posts, there is a strong community vibe here. Everyone is very good about trying to help each other find pins to finish collections, pins on our Want lists and grails.

Welcome to the wild, wonderful world of pin trading/collecting!

 

[Propita]

We have way too many. The majority of our collecting was in the late 1980s-early 1990s. but I have some more-recent ones.

I've decided to limit my collecting to Club 33 (original logo--and I have many non-pin Club 33 items) and Boo (Monsters, Inc.).

I did collect Minnie's Moonlit Madness but have missed the last few years, so I guess that's basically from the start to 2015. I did collect Magic Music Days, but also ended that.

I have a whole bunch of pins I'd love to trade en masse for the few pins I want, but no one with the few I want would trade like that, even for 50 pins! I can't blame them, but it means I have to sell all these pins.

I have four Beloved Tales pins left (Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Lion King, and Dumbo), having sold three others. The first two are worth quite a bit. I bought these from the Disney Soda Fountain in 2009 when they were $12.95+tax. Sad thing? They had, like 30+ of each, sitting right there. Had I known the price was going to skyrocket, I'd've bought a ton of them.

Look me up on pinpics if you want to buy something I'm "trading." I'm propita there, too.

 

[Gelatoni]

I have a few hundred pins and am slowly trying to build up more LEs. My collections are Gelatoni (and to a lesser extent StellaLou and Cookie), Tsum Tsums and Attractions/Events that I have experienced.

My rarest pins are LE50. Hong Kong Disneyland 11th Anniversary Jumbo and Hong Kong Disneyland Pin Hunting 2017 Magic Access Jumbo.

There's a lot of places to get official Disney pins. The obvious ones are the parks, hotels, stores and cruises. Pins are also given away and sold at certain events or movie screenings. You can get pins by subscribing to Disney magazines, belonging to Disney fan clubs or signing up for Disney credit/debit cards. In the US, some of the sports related pins may be sold by universities or stadiums. There's also the Disney Family Museum in San Francisco and Adventures by Disney. Occasionally, Disney may have auctions or conduct market research surveys and give away pins for participating in them.

If you include licensed and partner pins, the number of places you can get Disney pins are endless. I've seen pins sold at Target, CVS, Walmart, etc. Disney has also sold or given away pins in relation to promotions with companies like 7-Eleven and McDonalds. One of the most interesting pins I've seen is a pin for donating blood at a hospital that Disney was partnering with in Japan. A lot of these pins are difficult to find information on because most traders pay attention to pins from the parks and Disney stores but not much attention to something like a shopping mall promotion in Singapore.

 

[OpieDoodle]

I am still super new as well. I've gotten pretty overwhelmed with how many pins are out there and trying to determine "rarity". I've kind of taken an approach of just collecting characters I like to start. So my focus is Stitch then, Coco, then I really like a lot of the hidden mickey sets so I'll likely collect some of those as well I've been learning a lot over time just being on this forum and I have found a couple harder to find stitch pins that I want thanks to just being active in the forum.