Are HIdden Mickey's or Cast lanyard pins more rare?

[Volksjager]

When we first started collecting pins we set out to find the hidden mickeys and cast lanyard pins thinking they would be rarer than the open pins...now I'm not so sure.

Any idea how many pins are produced for the HM and CL series?

Are they really more 'valuable' than open series pins?

[joanna71985]

I could be wrong, but I always thought that they were the same thing. Hidden mickey pins are cast member lanyard pins.

[Maleficent's Dad]

Cast lanyard pins are only available by trading with a CM. They all have hidden Mickeys on them, but aren't "Hidden Mickey Pins," they're cast lanyard pins.

Hidden Mickey pins can be purchased at most pin stations/gift shops.

Since anyone can purchase hidden Mickey pins, I would presume that Cast Lanyards are more "valuable" as they are not as easy to obtain.

[Volksjager]

I guess I've just found that it was not that hard to find the hidden mickey or cast lanyard pins the last time we went down.

[CanadianWDWFan]

Any idea how many pins are produced for the HM and CL series?

We found that the number is on the back of the pin. In the HM series ours says 1 of 3. Our other pin series say 1 of 4 for the Halloween ones.

[Volksjager]

I guess what triggered this question was that I thought Cast Lanyard or Hidden Mickeys were 'worth' more since they were harder to find. The last time I went down I decided to try and find the Hidden Mickey Monorails, and to my delight I found the whole set of 8 plus 2 that said Cast Lanyard and 2 that said Cast Lanyard "? of 4" on the back.

I was surprised that I could find the whole set so I am wondering how many pins they make for the CL or HM series? I suspect they make a ton of them and that they are just a bit harder to find since you need to trade for them with a cast member.

They are getting to be "no big deal" for us, which is unfortunate. That is why I am going down in December with a new theme to collect, one that is not so keyed on the CL or HM pins.

[jkj1224]

CM lanyard pins are basically the same as hidden mickeys but they are the older pins, before they started calling them hidden mickey and putting the actual mickey on the front of them. Neither the lanyard or the hidden mickeys are really any more "rare" than open stock pins the difference is since you have to trade with them it maybe harder to find the one you're looking for.

There are a couple of series you can purchase called hidden mickeys (villians and mugs) but they are larger in size then the actual hidden mickeys you have to trade for.

Hope that helps...

[Volksjager]

Thanks, that is what I suspected.

[Ian]

If you're ever in doubt, just go to www.pinpics.com and look up your pin there.

It will tell you what the edition size was and how many were produced.

[Volksjager]

At PinPics, if I look up a specific Hidden Mickey pin, I don't see edition size or how are produced, it only says Trade instead of Open and that they are not limited edition.

Is there a different place I can look to determine the edition size for pins other than limited editions?

[RobWreck]

If it's not listed as a 'Limited Edition', then they can't list an edition size because Disney can always go an do another run of that pin. Whether they will or not is a different story, but by not putting a LE size on there, they are in effect saying 'We can make more if we want to". As for how large an initial print run would be, that is beyond the knowledge of most pin traders... but when they're making something with the intention of trading it away rather than relying on selling it, you can bet that the print run would be pretty large...
Rob