Pin Traders!

[madhatter04]

The only real pin trader horror story was back when I worked in Foods. I had the luck of getting a random Rancho Del Zocalo shift, and, of course, they sent me to the door to be the greeter with a pin lanyard. The manager warned me to make sure the pins were metal and the backer was rubber and not plastic.

So half way through the day, an old man with a cowboy hat comes up to my and grabs my lanyard (without saying a word), and said "I want that one" and handed me a plastic pin with plastic backing. I told him I was sorry and couldn't trade the pin because it wasn't an authorized Disney pin. The man didn't put up a fight, but you should have seen how quickly he left!!

CONTRARYWISE, my first day being the Queen of Heart's friend, we did a set at the PLaza Pavilion during one of their pin trading fiascos, and a nice middle aged woman showed me her Alice in Wonderland pin collection, took one of the Queen out, and said "Here, your majesty! A gift for the fairest queen that ever did reign!" THat made my week. Haha! :D:

[Fantasmic_Freak]

Oh but on the contrary the most fairest queen was the old hag, thats hilarious, talk about obsessed! i jsut want to go up in the matterhorn to see if tink can sign the autograph book. After all, the old tink could.

[Disney Debbie]

I was a Super Pin Trader both times I worked at D/L and yes I did this voluntarily. Really enjoyed my work especially when the the little guest got excited about finding a pin they really wanted. One of our responsibilities was to train the guest (big and little) how to trade with CM's, but from the looks of it we were not as successful as we would have liked to have been.

Try working with those people with the suitcases and layered lanyards every day. Some of them are just wonderful and I have some great friendship because of it, but most of the time all I got was grief and guest concerns.

When I come to D/L to visit I trade pins with the CM's, but I carry my pins in a bag in my fanny pack. I do enjoy trading for pins to add to my own collection as they always remind me of my trips.

Sorry you folks have had some bad experiences with the pin traders. Please remember that some of the guest who wear the lanyards are day guest who got into pin trading on this visit. Try wearing a lanyard from time to time and you just might have a wonderful experience with one of those guest.

Overall, my experiences were extremely positive and I have many, many fond memories that I will never, ever forget.

This is just my two cents.

[DisneylandIs101]

Maybe I'm in the minority, but I dug the Pin Trading. Those who worked with me will remember my 60-pin lanyard which I wore (as opposed to the 12 pins we were supposed to wear). I had friendly APs who would look for me when they came in, and one group that I made sure to stop and chat with at the Plaza Pavilion every Sunday afternoon.

But, of course, there was Laurie. Laurie was one of those "scary" APs, even to a Disneyland nerd like me. She is the only guest I ever saw with the stroller and no kid, though it was no SUV stroller. She was notorious for seeing a lanyard on a CM in the distance and screaming "LANYARD!!!" at the top of her lungs while running to the CM. She would grab my lanyard and yank it (and me) toward her, and proceed in critiquing my collection. She pointed out every scratch, every freebie pin, and every travel pin (WDTC and AAA)...since I had 60 pins, I often took more than one of each of those, as long as the guest had a good attitude). She didn't seem to realize that the pins I wore were, for the most part, not my choice...my collection changed daily based on the trading whims of guests.

It's odd now that I work at Universal Studios. I have six pins on my lanyard there (Universal doesn't have nearly as many pins, and many that they do have are pretty lame). I also have a Walt Disney Studios pin on my hat...it's like my Mighty Microscope in Star Tours, keeping a piece of the past. The thing that has taken getting used to, other than my lanyard being WAY lighter than my DL lanyard, is that I look at the same six pins every day. I think I would trade if anyone asked, but Universal has no pin trading, and I've never had anyone (even people wearing DL lanyards and pins) ask to trade.

At least Universal is more lenient on personalizing your costume (sorry...it's just 'wardrobe' in Hollywood). Maybe it's just one of many rules not enforced at USH, but I like the fact that even other companies' pins seem to be allowed, as long as they fit a Hollywood theme.

[Wizard69]

I was a Super Pin Trader both times I worked at D/L and yes I did this voluntarily. Really enjoyed my work especially when the the little guest got excited about finding a pin they really wanted. One of our responsibilities was to train the guest (big and little) how to trade with CM's, but from the looks of it we were not as successful as we would have liked to have been.

Try working with those people with the suitcases and layered lanyards every day. Some of them are just wonderful and I have some great friendship because of it, but most of the time all I got was grief and guest concerns.

Sorry you folks have had some bad experiences with the pin traders. Please remember that some of the guest who wear the lanyards are day guest who got into pin trading on this visit. Try wearing a lanyard from time to time and you just might have a wonderful experience with one of those guest.

Overall, my experiences were extremely positive and I have many, many fond memories that I will never, ever forget.

This is just my two cents.

I agree. I am a Pin Trading Specialist and the regular pin traders are getting out of hand. The best experiences are with the day guests (especially the kids). They aren't out to get only the lanyard pins and they don't get pissed off when we don't have any lanyard pins on us.

There are a few regular pin traders who are cool but the majority of them are just plain rude passholes.

[screnwriter]

Hey Fantasfreak I'll have to check out that site. I was in the show the first 5 years and know it better than I know anything else in my whole life!

I remember once being at Pooh Corner, talking with a pin-obsessive, who was wearing a pin vest FULL of pins. I jokingly asked, "How many mortgage payments are you wearing there?" (the guy was in his early 20's). Then his MOM (with whom he undoubtedly lived, along with his collection of Star Wars action figures, Pez dispensers and comic books) said - rather icily - "We don't discuss that any more." While Junior just looked blankly at the floor.

Oh yeah - nothing like the adoration you get from showing the world how fiscally irresponsible you are! Nothing against pins themselves, as I'm sure you all feel, but when it's your whole dang life!

Oh, and did anyone else hear of the trader who was buying admission passes for complete strangers and giving them money to buy a special pin that was 'one to a customer with passport?' :p:

[SRT_GB]

Now they've opened that new pin store in the old DTD ticket booth...groan :barf:

[Fantasmic_Freak]

Yah great idea, get the pin carts out of walkways, and create more of a disney owns this property so we put our pin store out here! and what an original title of the store, Pin Traders! I still like, We make 18 months a year! The Hanging, halloween haunt.
:p:

[NikkiGrrl]

being a pin trader i started off crazy like, but i've since calmed down and just get "crazy" on vacation (which is once a year). but it's the only thing i collect (besides hunted mansion things) so...

[techie-13]

Hubby and I aren't really "pin traders" we're really more "pin collectors". We buy the pins we like and ones we would like to put in framed sets. I've done a couple of pin trades here and there (mostly with kids) if I have a lanyard on (very rare unless I'm with the niece and nephews) but there really is no reason to go nuts and we only carry a few pins to trade now and then. I carry a backpack when we go into the parks (to put sweatshirts and stuff in) I couldn't see carrying around MORE STUFF!