Welcome back to another Disney Stuff. It’s been almost 4 years since this column debuted here on MousePlanet and I’d like to think I’ve hit upon many, many different collections and accumulations of Disney memorabilia. Somehow there always seems to be something else to write about. There are plenty of things I haven’t touched on yet and considering how much is out there, I may never get to it all. One of the things that really surprised me that I haven’t written about yet is really one of the most popular Disney collectibles there is—and that’s the Disney pin.
It’s hard to believe that I haven’t covered Disney pins. They’ve become such a ubiquitous collectible in the Disney universe. Pins are certainly everywhere in the Disney parks and resorts, as well as on the Disney Cruise Line. I have plenty of them. My daughter has more. My wife has a few select choices and this past summer, my twin boys got into pin trading at Walt Disney World. So, I have an abundance of Disney pins to talk about.
I’ve always thought of them as a great deal. Think about it. For $6.95, you can get a solid, well-made, and quite often beautifully designed Disney souvenir. That’s a rarity these days. Obviously, some pins are more expensive, and once you get truly immersed in the world of Disney Pin Trading, you can empty your wallets rather quickly. Obsessive collecting aside, all you really have to do is wander into most gift shops in one of the Disney parks or resorts and for less than $10, snap up a little piece of great Disney stuff. There’s a Disney pin for everybody, no matter what your preference or taste.
Take my wife for instance. She likes her Disney stuff to be subtle. No words or logos, just a simple classic design. She is a huge fan of Tinker Bell and thus her rather small collection of pins primarily features everyone’s favorite pixie.
My wife's pin board. Photo by Chris Barry.
My daughter has run the Disney gamut from her Princess days, to her High School Musical days. Now she seems to be pretty specific in what she’s looking for and likes to find as many unique pins as possible. See if you can spot Meg from Hercules, Webby from Ducktales and Gadget from Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers. You won't find those three everyday, I guarantee it.
My daughter's pin board. Photo by Chris Barry.
The boys have just gotten started and their pin board has plenty of space for more.
My son Casey's pins. Photo by Chris Barry.
My son Alex's pins. Photo by Chris Barry.
My taste in pins varies. I started out buying only the classic animated characters in their simplest fashion. It was my goal to get as many of the classic characters as I could and I’ve done pretty well in this quest.
A handful of classic character pins. Photo by Chris Barry.
Then, when these classic characters began to get scarce, I began to stray from the classics a little like, for example, these Mickeys in some different costumes…
Mickey in costume. Photo by Chris Barry.
…or these park vehicle pins.
Two great vehicle pins. Photo by Chris Barry.
Soon, I was into buying the mystery packs like these Star Wars and park attraction sets.
Three from the Star Wars mystery pack. Photo by Chris Barry.
Part of another mystery box set. Photo by Chris Barry.
After that, the floodgates pretty much opened.
My pin board. Photo by Chris Barry.
I was still always on the prowl for something classic, but my tastes expanded. I’m still not much for pins with words or sayings on them. I have pins for each of the parks. When I heard rumors that the MGM name was going to disappear, I made sure to buy a pin with the Studios' original name.
Two of my park specific pins. Photo by Chris Barry.
A few years back we started buying pins for each of the hotels that we have stayed in. I'm still searching for Port Orleans Riverside and Port Orleans French Quarter specific pins if anyone can help me.
Our resort pin collection. Photo by Chris Barry.
Once I became a VIP member of the Disney Movie Club, I began receiving special VIP pins with movie purchases and have gotten some great ones that way. It's not too often you see anything with Archimedes from The Sword and the Stone.
Some Disney Movie Club VIP pins. Photo by Chris Barry.
These are some of my favorite cast member pins; the special Hidden Mickey pins that only cast members receive and can trade with you. I especially like the 5-legged goat from Mary Blair’s famous mural at the Contemporary Resort.
Some great cast member pins. Photo by Chris Barry.
There are other cast member pins that were given to them by the company for certain occasions like these two examples I found online. The first one is especially poignant to us because we were there when Hurricane Charley came barreling right through Walt Disney World. I picked up the 2nd one because it's a pin commemorating the start of…what else…pin trading!
The “2004 Hurricane Season Thank You” pin. Photo by Chris Barry.
The “Millennium Celebration Thank You” pin. Photo by Chris Barry.
Some pins are just really cool and have no story or history behind them. I just liked them or traded them with a cast member when I came upon them. Here are some random favorites.
A set of Walt Disney World 40th Anniversary pins. Photo by Chris Barry.
Various Mickey shaped pins. Photo by Chris Barry.
Some unique character pins. Photo by Chris Barry.
A pair of very unique Disney pins. Photo by Chris Barry.
Pin collecting and trading is one of the most popular things to do when you visit the Disney parks. We have a lot and we haven’t even begun to scratch the surface of this world. There are thousands and thousands of pins out there and there doesn’t seem to be any end in sight. I’ve collected pins from D23, pins from the Disney Store, and from the former World of Disney on 5th Ave. in New York City. I have pins from pre-ordering movies on DVD. I have pins from eBay and from antique stores. I even have a pin from Sotheby’s when they auctioned off those Mickey statues a few years back.
Disney seems to love producing these things as much as we seem to love snapping them up. Some I wear. Some I just display. Some I’m looking to trade when I head back to Walt Disney World. Some I’ve given to my kids. All of them, I enjoy. I think they’re a very cool collectible and every time I look at any of these pin boards hanging in our basement, I’m taken back to a specific memory. I remember when we got that pin, or where we were or the great cast member that traded with us. It’s fun. It can be relatively inexpensive. (Although, I’d hate to add up the dollar amount that all five of these boards represents!)
Most of all, just like all the other Disney stuff that we have and love, it makes us think of magic and wonderful family times—and that’s the real purpose of having all this stuff in the first place…isn’t it?
So, the next time you’re in Walt Disney World or Disneyland, venture into a pin store, pick out your favorite character or attraction, and get yourself started on your own pin collection. Or, pick up a few inexpensive ones that you probably wouldn’t be so interested in keeping and trade them with some cast members for something really unique. It’s a fun thing to do, it could get you talking to some interesting cast members or guests and, of course, it helps to build more, great Disney memories.
Thanks for reading, let me hear about your pins and I’ll see you next time with some more of that great Disney Stuff.
