magicalmom
04-01-2011, 07:27 PM
A number of unauthorized copies of Disney pins (AKA "scrappers) are turning up in online auctions. Manufacturers in China make more pins than Disney orders, and then release the unauthorized ones directly into the secondary market.
Signs that you risk getting scrappers:
a seller offers multiple identical lots.
an inexpensive lot contains hard to find pins, or pins that were released on very limited quantities.
a single lot contains several of the same pin.
Don't buy mystery lots; make sure the photo is of the exact pins you will receive. Once you receive them, check them over. Fortunately, the manufacturers tend to cut corners with scrappers. Look out for blemishes, blurring, inadequate paint coverage, unreadable back stamps, colors that look "off," or areas that should be painted dark instead being bare silver metal (e.g. Chip's nose) If you receive suspicious pins, contact your seller before you leave any feedback, and try to work it out.
You probably can't avoid scrappers totally - I've got a dozen or so here that came in otherwise nice lots. I'll either throw them away or use them as thumbtacks.
So why does this matter? Aside from the rather important legal and ethical problems with scrappers, they inhibit trading, because cast members are highly likely to have the most commonly available pins on their lanyards before your child tries to trade with them. The people who unwittingly buy scrappers end up with mostly the same pins, and your child can't trade a pin that the cast member already has. In addition, if you paid Disney prices for a Limited Edition 200 pin, and then there are suddenly 2000 copies of the pin out there, you no longer have what your thought you paid for, right?
Disney pins are a great hobby - I buy them, sell them, collect them, and trade them. (I also give them as gifts, so be nice to me :mickey:) The scrappers are very frustrating, and I think it will take all of refusing to accept them from anybody to clean up the marketplace.
OK - end of rant :blush:
Signs that you risk getting scrappers:
a seller offers multiple identical lots.
an inexpensive lot contains hard to find pins, or pins that were released on very limited quantities.
a single lot contains several of the same pin.
Don't buy mystery lots; make sure the photo is of the exact pins you will receive. Once you receive them, check them over. Fortunately, the manufacturers tend to cut corners with scrappers. Look out for blemishes, blurring, inadequate paint coverage, unreadable back stamps, colors that look "off," or areas that should be painted dark instead being bare silver metal (e.g. Chip's nose) If you receive suspicious pins, contact your seller before you leave any feedback, and try to work it out.
You probably can't avoid scrappers totally - I've got a dozen or so here that came in otherwise nice lots. I'll either throw them away or use them as thumbtacks.
So why does this matter? Aside from the rather important legal and ethical problems with scrappers, they inhibit trading, because cast members are highly likely to have the most commonly available pins on their lanyards before your child tries to trade with them. The people who unwittingly buy scrappers end up with mostly the same pins, and your child can't trade a pin that the cast member already has. In addition, if you paid Disney prices for a Limited Edition 200 pin, and then there are suddenly 2000 copies of the pin out there, you no longer have what your thought you paid for, right?
Disney pins are a great hobby - I buy them, sell them, collect them, and trade them. (I also give them as gifts, so be nice to me :mickey:) The scrappers are very frustrating, and I think it will take all of refusing to accept them from anybody to clean up the marketplace.
OK - end of rant :blush: