Would like to start collecting pins need advice - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
So it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our long-running forums. They came online in 2000 and brought together so many wonderful Disney fans. We had friendships form, careers launch, couples marry, children born ... all because of this amazing community.
Thank you to each of you who were a part of this community. You made it possible.
And a very special thank you to our Guides (moderators), past and present, who kept our forums a happy place to be. You are the glue that held everything together, and we are forever grateful to you. Thank you aliceinwdw, Caldercup, MrsM, WillCAD, Fortissimo, GingerJ, HiddenMickey, CRCrazy, Eeyoresmom, disneyknut, disneydani, Cam22, chezp, WDWfan, Luvsun, KMB733, rescuesk, OhToodles!, Colexis Mom, lfredsbo, HiddenMickey, DrDolphin, DopeyGirl, duck addict, Disneybine, PixieMichele, Sandra Bostwick, Eeyore Tattoo, DyanKJ130, Suzy Q'Disney, LilMarcieMouse, AllisonG, Belle*, Chrissi, Brant, DawnDenise, Crystalloubear, Disneymom9092, FanOfMickey, Goofy4Goofy, GoofyMom, Home4us123, iamgrumpy, ilovedisney247, Jennifer2003, Jenny Pooh, KrisLuvsDisney, Ladyt, Laughaholic88, LauraBelle Hime, Lilianna, LizardCop, Loobyoxlip, lukeandbrooksmom, marisag, michnash, MickeyMAC, OffKilter_Lynn, PamelaK, Poor_Eeyore, ripkensnana, RobDVC, SHEANA1226, Shell of the South, snoozin, Statelady01, Tara O'Hara, tigger22, Tink and Co., Tinkerbelz, WDWJAMBA, wdwlovers, Wendyismyname, whoSEZ, WildforWD, and WvuGrrrl. You made the magic.
We want to personally thank Sara Varney, who coordinated our community for many years (among so many other things she did for us), and Cheryl Pendry, our Message Board Manager who helped train our Guides, and Ginger Jabour, who helped us with the PassPorter-specific forums and Live! Guides. Thank you for your time, energy, and enthusiasm. You made it all happen.
There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.
And we are no longer charging for the Live Guides. If you have a subscription, it's yours to keep for the lifetime of the Live Guides at no additional cost. The Live Guides will stay online, barring server issues and technical problems, for all of 2019.
That said, PassPorter is not going away. Most of the resources will remain online for as long as we can support them, and after that we will find ways to make whatever we can available. PassPorter means a great deal to us, and to many of you, and we will do our best to keep it alive in whatever way we can. Our server costs are high, and they'll need to come out of our pockets, so in the future you can expect some changes so we can bring those costs down.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your amazing support over the years. Without you, there's no way us little guys could have made something like this happen and given the "big guys" a run for their money. PassPorter was consistently the #3 guidebook after the Unofficial and Official guides, which was really unheard of for such a small company to do. We ROCKED it thanks to you and your support and love!
If you miss us, you can still find some of us online. Sara started a new blog at DisneyParkPrincess.com -- I strongly urge you to visit and get on her mailing list. She IS the Disney park princess and knows Disney backward and forward. And I am blogging as well at JenniferMaker.com, which is a little craft blog I started a couple of years ago to make ends meet. You can see and hear me in my craft show at https://www.youtube.com/c/jennifermaker . Many PassPorter readers and fans are on Facebook, in groups they formed like the PassPorter Trip Reports and PassPorter Crafting Challenge (if you join, just let them know you read about it in the newsletter). And some of our most devoted community members started a forum of their own at Pixie Dust Lane and all are invited over.
So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
Well I would say pick a theme. I have a lot of Cinderella because she is my favorite. Also I made a point to get a pin from every hotel I have stayed at.
Mostly just go with what you like! And set yourself a limit. It is easy to spend a lot on them.
I agree with go what you like and setting a limit. But it is great fun! I got my Fiance a lanyard and some pins for his first trip and he thought it was a little silly at first now he really likes it!
Registered Message Board Members Get Our Free Newsletter! When you register you'll have the option to sign up for our weekly PassPorter Newsletter. It's chock-full of feature articles; news; tips; contests; photos; and special offers in our online store.
Thanks! Excited to get started! Gosh , it will be hard to pick a favorite, but I can see where it would be extremely helpful. I love Alice and Wonderland where my daughter likes Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Tinkerbell & Fairies
We started collecting pins back on our first family visit to WDW back in '01 and haven't stopped yet. They can be very addicting.
Have you considered pin trading? There are several sellers on Ebay that offer "lots" of pins that you can buy in 10, 25, 50 or 100. Most lots we have bought worked out to be about $2.25 a pin, so it is a great way to get started and not break the bank. Get your kids a lanyard and let them trade with the CMs. Pin trading is one of our DD's favorite things to do at WDW and she has an eye for the good ones. Of course, when she picks out a pin, she has no idea it is a limited edition or a CM hidden Mickey pin.
At the end of our trips, we take the pins we want to keep off the lanyard to add to our collection and order another lot for the next trip to trade. The fun thing about trading with the CMs is that many of them will have CM only issued pins. These are ones you can't buy, so they are always fun to look for.
The only problem we have with ordering lots off of Ebay is that every time we do, DH finds a bunch he wants to keep for our collection and not give them to DD to trade. Several times we have had to order more so she had enough to trade!
Like I said, it is addictive!
__________________
Last edited by home4us123; 02-22-2011 at 05:59 AM..
Reason: fp534
[QUOTE=Nala;3574455]Have you considered pin trading? There are several sellers on Ebay that offer "lots" of pins that you can buy in 10, 25, 50 or 100. Most lots we have bought worked out to be about $2.25 a pin, so it is a great way to get started and not break the bank. At the end of our trips, we take the pins we want to keep off the lanyard to add to our collection and order another lot for the next trip to trade. The fun thing about trading with the CMs is that many of them will have CM only issued pins. These are ones you can't buy, so they are always fun to look for.
[QUOTE]
What a wonderful idea. My Mom has been collecting since her first trip with us in 2000. She never trades b/c all her pins are special, but she thinks trading would be fun to get super unusual pieces. Thanks!
Also, I think DH wants to start collecting. It is so much fun picking out pins to bring back for Mom. He thinks it is "too late" to start. We've been visiting WDW since 1997. I don't think it is too late. I just know us and we will have a mammoth collection after the first trip we decide to start collection. Especially now that we can get the DVC pins as well as the D23 pins. LOL
(At least pins will be less expensive and easier to transport than my snowglobe addiction.)
Watch out because it is TOTALLY addictive! I would suggest starting with a pin lot from a reputable seller on ebay. You'll find ones you'll want to keep and ones you'll want to trade. Then, as you keep trading, you'll notice series you'll want to look for. It's one of those things that once you get started you'll figure it out and have your own interests in terms of which pins you want to search for.
We started collecting pins also back in 2000 when Disney expanded on the fun pastime. We too order "lots" from ebay. I have even gotten desparate cuz the kids have run out of trading pins and had the ebay pins sent directly to our hotel during our stay. Each of the kids has special ones they hunt for. DD loves anything chip and dale and small world. DS is into Tigger and Toy Story. The usually find a Goofy pin or two to remember their Grandpa as Goofy was his favorite and they add it to his lanyard that they have inheritied.
we started collecting pins on our first trip with our son-he was 2. We always get the year pin and then we each pick one or two that we like. our son is almost 8(we also have a 5 year old daughter) and it is cool to look back and see what characters they have liked over the years. We never trade pins because they are memories to us.
Registered Message Board Members Get Our Free Newsletter! When you register you'll have the option to sign up for our weekly PassPorter Newsletter. It's chock-full of feature articles; news; tips; contests; photos; and special offers in our online store.
I always go to ebay and buy trading pins...I used try to buy alot from same person to save on shipping. This way my son can trade them and I know I did not spend alot of money for them...we just got back Saturday and he traded for some great new pins!!
I hear you can get great deals on pins on eBay - and thinking about the amount of $$ I spent on pins last trip - it might be something I should look into
I've just started and am keeping my collection only to DVC pins with the year on them. I am so afraid of expanding beyond that because I know it would get real expensive real fast (Whenever I start a hobby I have a tendency to go all out ). Depending on how you dive into a hobby I would suggest start with something you like as people here suggested, maybe a character or year pins, etc. Just be careful because I think the pins are coated with an addictive substance that will make you want more and more
Just be careful because I think the pins are coated with an addictive substance that will make you want more and more
I am pretty sure they put that addictive substance on EVERYTHING in Disney! At least if nothing else then certainly on those Mickey bars! Boy I could go for one now.
I agree with Jack and Jenna's mom. We buy but don't trade - they are our memories from each trip. We always get a year pin (that's mine!) and a resort pin. Then I let my daughter pick out a few more, usually a character or a ride pin she likes. We will also get an exclusive Castaway Cay pin from our cruise.
I agree with Jack and Jenna's mom. We buy but don't trade - they are our memories from each trip. We always get a year pin (that's mine!) and a resort pin.
I am the same way! Now that they're so expensive I limit myself to a few each trip that mean the most, and they are some great memories! Have fun!!!
__________________
Amanda =)
Living out a childhood dream during my summer 2015 trip to WDW. Is it time to go back yet?
“All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them." –Walt Disney
About This Page: 
Dancing in the ABC filming of the Disney parade!
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
They can be very addicting. 
Deb
Robyn
<--- Disney Fantasy 2016!
). Depending on how you dive into a hobby I would suggest start with something you like as people here suggested, maybe a character or year pins, etc. Just be careful because I think the pins are coated with an addictive substance that will make you want more and more 
Hybrid Mode
