Pin Collecting: Are We Having Fun?

Almost a year ago, I became a Disney convert, complete with the symptomatic condition of collecting Disney pins. I scoured estate sales. I approached eBay auctions with the same wide-eyed enthusiasm that some people have when entering an Old Country Buffet.

Pins! Everywhere! And at a fraction of the original prices!

One of my personal treasures

Never forgive. Never forget: Toad Hall Piece of History

I soon racked up a large collection of Haunted Mansion Pins, Nightmare Before Christmas Pins, and even a few Vinylmation and retired Disney pins. On top of that, because I was using eBay, I was getting pins at an incredible discount! What could possibly go wrong?

The Hangover


It wasn't long after I started collecting pins, when the term "scrapper" appeared on my radar. I joined a few Disney pin collecting forums, and found out there were unauthorized pins, flat out fake pins, and some pins which were indistinguishable from the real McCoy - but were still considered fake. (That last one still has me scratching my head, but I'll touch back on this in a little bit.)

I felt a bit let down. Cheated, actually. Here I was, spending money on Disney pins to add to my collection, and they weren't even legitimate?

Well, this disappointment turned to outrage, and I investigated a few claims on Disney pin collecting sites about what to do, and what to look out for when buying or trading Disney pins. It was around that time that two people got in big trouble over fake Disney pins. Upon researching this, it wasn't so much a case of selling fake pins as it was blatantly stealing intellectual property from Disney and having a manufacturer in China reproduce it. Kind of like sneaking a camera into the movies to record the original from the screen, and then selling homemade DVDs that you filmed, complete with people walking in front of the screen. Luckily, someone took notice and those people were shut down. These were people who knowingly tried to cheat people. What about the second and third-hand sellers on eBay who couldn't tell that they were selling fakes? How was a buyer (such as myself, and many other fans) to know if he/she was being scammed?

Tilting At Windmills


There was a lot of concern on various sites over real pins versus fakes, how to approach sellers on eBay who probably didn't know a real pin from a scrapper from a beer bottle cap. There was talk of starting a site to make note of obvious scammers (which really went nowhere), and there have been a few helpful guides written by eBay clients to help people when buying pins.

However, when all was said and done, people selling used Disney pins still sold them regardless of if they were scrappers. People buying Disney pins on eBay still complained about getting counterfeit pins, and very little was resolved. Unless you figured out the source producing fake Disney pins, you couldn't really fault the unwitting seller, and that Caveat Emptor axiom would always come back to bite buyers, especially when it came to used goods.

What could possibly be done about this?

Pictured: Goatse Mickey (not this pin's official name outside of my house)

 It's a fake, though. I may not be able to tell you how, but heaven knows someone will let you know why.

Of Smart Shopping & Bruised Pride


There I was, with a collection of Disney pins, and a portion of them were (according to other enthusiasts) counterfeit. I stopped trading and collecting from eBay, and resolved to only buy pins from the Disney Online Store, or from the parks (whenever I got around to going). It was really the only way to ensure I was getting 100% genuine Disney merchandise for my hard-earned money.

Then something hit me out of the blue while I was writing an article for a web site that deals in skepticism...

Why do I collect Disney pins? And why did I get so upset when someone told me part of my collection contained fakes?

Pictured above: You can see how certain claims might lend to the confusion.

These were questions I had to ask myself, because I allowed my enjoyment of a hobby to get ruined before it even got off the ground. Then I came to some realizations (a few of which I know are not going to be popular with the more vociferous Disney pin collectors) which got me back out of my Disney pin trading funk and let me enjoy the hobby once more:

Collecting Disney Pins is not funding my retirement legacy


First and foremost, whether I give money directly to Disney for brand new pins, or if I take a risk and buy used Disney pins elsewhere, no matter how much the perceived value of my Disney pins appreciates over time, it's not likely that I'm going to get rich because of it. If anything, the amount I spend on Disney pins moves me further from financial stability (which is the way with most obsessions). Dealing in Disney pins isn't like investing in penny stocks, nor is it like collecting fine art. They are pins - little things, if you will - that make people happy.

This was placed next to a quarter to show you how you can get a cup of coffee with your pin collection.

Authorized Disney Pin Sellers, present your certificates!


Do you know who is authorized by Disney to sell Disney pins? Disney stores. When it comes to those pins I mentioned earlier - the ones where the fakes can't be differentiated from the real thing? Ultimately, Disney has the final say in which ones are authentic, and unless we're talking an egregious case of intellectual property theft (as mentioned above), the House of Mouse isn't going to take a stand.

Why?

Because, apart from speculative errors pointed out on pin enthusiast sites, there is little (if any) way to tell if a Disney pin - made in China and stamped as such on the back - is real, or if it is simply a knock-off that was manufactured in China (also stamped as such on the back) and sold directly to people without being handled by Disney in any official way. Simply put, Disney pins do not fall under the same auspices as Faberge Eggs or Cisco Network Solutions. Traders and re-sellers do not have to be certified, and the cost of a fraud prevention screening would ultimately make even the act of trading pins with Cast Members a bureaucratic ordeal.

I don't know if it's art, but I like it!


If someone knew you liked something - let's say Disney's Beauty and the Beast, and painted a picture for you based on the characters in that animated feature, would you turn them in for trying to defraud The Happiest Place On Earth? If you were at a garage sale or poking around Etsy and saw items based on Disney intellectual property, at a price that seemed very reasonable to you, would you cry foul? Did the Catholic Church, eBay, or descendants of the Merovingian bloodline crack down on the person selling that grilled cheese with the Virgin Mary on it a few years ago?

The reason for all of the rhetorical questions is because the perceived value of a thing will always outweigh the component value. This is why we don't refuse to buy Disney pins that are over 20 cents, and also why "scrapper pins" can sometimes sell for more than the real thing. (On a side note, I know a number of people who collect fake pins, either out of morbid curiosity, or as some personal crusade to remove what fakes they can from the current pin trading market. Disney responds to both groups with a nod and a smile, like one would the tinfoil hat crowd, but they're never going to hand out merit badges for this sort of behavior.)

As an example, if you offered me the rarest, most sought after Figment pins for a penny each, I would not take them off your hands. The personal value of those Disney pins is actually less than, say, a fake version of a Donald Duck pin that everyone owns (and I don't particularly care for Donald, to give you some perspective). The point is that what makes something valuable to me, could mean it's utter garbage to someone else. This is how trading and buying used goods works.

Bottom Line


If you like something, and it's not hurting anyone - be it collecting Disney pins, praying to the deity of your choice, or liking Figment (in which case, you are a misguided individual who makes even kittens cry) - then I'm not going to stop you. Likewise, I'm not going to tell someone that spending money on second or third-hand goods might yield in some fakes, when ultimately the price looked great compared to paying the full retail value at a Disney store.

I don't like you.

Do I expect that sort of open mindedness in return? No.

Why? Because this is the age of the Internet - where decorum is easily eschewed for raining on someone else's parade, and going overboard with hyperbolic threats over opinions has almost become a digital arena sport.

Who's better - Superman or Batman? Which Disney pins are worth more, and OMG I can't believe you might have paid good money for possibly fake pins by buying them from places that aren't Disney!

Outrageous, no? Yet you can have my Donald Duck pin with the "Wanger Bros." logo (yes, I am aware of everything I just did there) when you pry it from my cold dead hands.

But...it was only $1.99 on eBay! Why didn't anyone tell me it was fake?