Monday, October 2, 2023
Before we went to Disney World, my friend Maren had the most clever thought to buy some inexpensive pins from eBay for her kids to trade. I have LOTS of pins that I have collected through the years, but I have never done pin trading. Pin trading is exactly what it sounds like – trading one of your pins for one from a Disney cast member. The cast used to wear lanyards full of pins and you could trade with any of the dozens of cast members you would interact with during the day. Now, there are about 10-12 pin trading stations in each park. I bought a lanyard full of about 25 pins for $20 from Facebook market place a couple years ago, because why not. Pins cost from $8-$30 each, so my bargain was just in case I wanted to trade. When I was with the pin-trading kids, I really wanted to trade.
In my mind, I was searching for something particular to trade for. The kids were just trading up – from one that was okay to one that seemed better. I soon jumped on board with that. I picked up a Merida pin because she was adorable, then (sadly) traded her away the next day when I found a popsicle pin.
I got my first popsicle pin at Aulani in Hawaii last year. It was a Cheshire cat popsicle. I was looking to collect more popsicles while we at WDW. I found a Jack Skellington soon, then Pluto, and Goofy. Next Keith bought me a blind pack of 5 (the only way they are sold). You get 5 random pins in a package and hope they are not repeats of the ones you already have. The 5 pack costs $40, minus our 20% discount – so $32 for 5 pins. We did a package opening video and everyone squealed with delight at all the right times. It might have been worth the money, but I got THREE repeats! AAUUUGGHHH But I also got Baymax (so cute!) and Flounder. There was more fun trading throughout the trip – including walking over to the pin station as the LAST thing I did before we headed home and finding the Mickey popsicle! I enjoyed it so, so much! Thanks you pin-trading kids for inspiring me.
There are sixteen popsicles in the set and I couldn’t help but to look on eBay to see what it would cost to get the last six that I didn’t have. I was NOT going to buy them, because I am going back to WDW and I will continue my search. I like a quest! The individual pins were between $10 and $14 each – sort of expected since they cost $8 to buy and you run the risk of not getting the one you want. Except for one complete set for $30 (with free shipping). I looked at it. I read it. I tried to figure out what I was reading wrong. Someone was selling the whole set of 16 (which I did not need) for less than my discounted price for 5.
Huh.
I showed it to Keith for confirmation I wasn’t reading it wrong. He said get it. I said no, I would be questing.
I checked later that night and it was gone. I was so disappounted, but it was fair – someone else jumped on a great deal. I told Keith and he looked. “No, it’s still here.”
“Buy it!”
I will find another quest. I have 10 extra pins to trade now.