Mint Julep

I had my first Mint Julep (granted it wasn't a real Mint Julep) on our honeymoon at Disneyland along with some Mickey Mouse beignets. I didn't realize at first that this pin was of a Mint Julep, but once I caught on I fell in love with it!

 

Pin #: 85636
Purchase on PinTalk
February 2012

Aurora Tea Cup

I've always had a thing for tea, so I was hoping to add one of the princess tea cups from this Hidden Mickey series.

Aurora is one of my favorite princesses, so I was especially excited to get this tea cup!

Pin #: 71402
Purchase on PinTalk
February 2012

"B" for Baloo

It's embarrassing to admit, but I had never seen The Jungle Book until last week! I have now seen it twice and watched The Jungle Book 2 for good measure. Needless to say, I loved The Jungle Book! The music is some of Disney's very best and the characters are so lovable (except for that Shere Khan!).

 
So since I found a new movie to love, I had to have a pin. This Baloo pin is great--it works as both my first Jungle Book pin and as an addition to my bear colection!

Pin #: 82324
Purchase on PinTalk
February 2012

Alice in Wonderland Comics Trio

I've been reading the Alice in Wonderland book and the story has been reemerging as one of my favorites. Here are three of the five Alice in Wonderland Comics Hidden Mickey series from 2011. 

I really like the simple but bold styling of these. There is also an Alice pin and a Cheshire Cat pin in the series.

Pin #: 82309 (Queen of Hearts); 82310 (Mad Hatter); 82311 (Caterpillar) 
Purchase on PinTalk
February 2012

Jiminy Cricket

I've been on the lookout for a Jiminy Cricket pin and really thought this cute version was, well, cute! 

Always let your conscience be your guide!!

Pin #: 74885
Purchase on PinTalk
February 2012

Scrapper Comparison: Park Icons 2011

My first attempt at buying some of the 2011 Park icon pins was not very successful. I purchased three pins (Dumbo, Castle, and Ear Hat) on ebay and received scrappers!

Scrappers are pins that were manufactured outside of the producers contract with Disney (say they make an extra 200 copies of an LE 750 pin) or that did not meet quality standards and were meant to be destroyed but were instead sold. Scrappers are lower quality and have certain characteristics. For example, the paint is often not completely filled in. The paint or metal may be the wrong color. Furthermore, the pin may have rough edges, feel too light, or have incorrect backstamp information and/or designs.


The park icon pins I received were wrong in both the metal and design colors. The park icon pins have a unique blackened metal, similar to the Sea Serpent pin from the Vinylmation Park #7 collection. However, the pins I was sent were the usual silver color.

In these photos, the authentic pins are on the left and the scrapper version is on the left. It can be hard to see the difference in the metal coloration in a photograph, but there are also other variations between the authentic pins and the scrappers. The detail is much greater in the authentic pins of the castle and of Dumbo. It is also clear that the yellow is different on the ear hat pins. The authentic pin has a bold, true yellow color, while the scrapper has a watery, almost-green yellow color. 

The backs of the pins also highlight some key differences between the two versions.

authentic

scrapper

The metal color difference much clearer on the back, but pay special attention to the area in the red box in the second photo. The scrapper version of the pin is plagued by one of the surest signs of a scrapper: the border on the Mickey head waffle pattern. See how the pattern doesn't reach all the way to the edge? It's also pretty clear that the scrapper doesn't have a real Mickey head waffle--the shape is more like a teddy bear head than a Mickey head. 

Hopefully this comparison is useful when evaluating the authenticity of a pin. Especially online, scrappers are hard to avoid, but the best tool pin collectors can have on their side is knowledge!

Disney Bear

In addition to my obsession with Disney pins, Peter Pan, puppies, etc., I also love, love, love bears! I didn't have any bears in my pin collection, but I have now corrected this serious oversight with the waving Disney Bear:

This little bear reminded me of my Build-A-Bear from Downtown Disney in CA, Peter (naturally). 

Pin #: 56956
Purchased on PinTalk
February 2012

World of Color Fountains

Truth be told, when we were in Disneyland last May I had no idea what these little guys were supposed to be. I saw them around and I was intrigued, but I really didn't get it. Once I got home, I saw them online and discovered that they are fountains from the (amazing, awesome, best thing ever) World of Color show. With that information, I realized I had to have some! 

Pin #: 82319 (Purple); 82318 (Yellow); 82321(Green); 82320 (Dark Blue); 82322 (Light Blue); 88062 (Orange completer)

Purchased on PinTalk

February 2012

50th Pin!! Peter Pan's Flight: Tinkerbell D-Ticket

So... Another Peter Pan's Flight pin... However, this one is unique in a few ways!

I love the retro style of the pin and the reference to the old ride tickets. None of my other Peter Pan's Flight pins have that!

Pin #: 78800
Purchase on PinTalk
February 2012

Daisy Duck "S"

While in Disneyland, I admired the Disneyland Character Letter set. The letters spelling out "Disneyland" are in the likeness of several characters. Now that I have the Daisy Duck "S," I am hoping I will be able to collect the rest of the pins in the set... You know I have my eye on that Peter Pan "E"!!

Pin #: 44973
Purchased on PinTalk
February 2012

Dalmatian Cutie

When I saw this adorable little Dalmatian puppy, he reminded me of my puppy and I felt compelled to add to my collection. Of course this is Pongo from 101 Dalmatians, and my dog doesn't even nearly resemble a Dalmatian... still had to buy it!

Pin #: 74882
Purchased on PinTalk
February 2012

Mickey Bandleader with Trombone

Another music pin! Need I say more about why I got this one? No, probably not! 

Pin #: 48460
Purchase on PinTalk
February 2012

Queen of Hearts Vinylmation

Alice in Wonderland is one of my top picks among Disney films. This Queen of Hearts vinylmation was just released recently with several other Alice in Wonderland characters in vinylmation form. 

I wonder why she's so mad...?

Pin #: 88553
Purchase on PinTalk
February 2012

DeeBee Mouseketeeree

This DeeBee is a completer from the 2011 Hidden Mickey series. I bought this one for my mother-in-law since she has a few DeeBees in her collection. This one is so cute that I may start collecting them myself!

Pin #: 88063
Purchase on PinTalk
February 2012

Soda Bottle: Green Donald Duck

In addition to Stitch and DeeBees, my mother-in-law also likes soda caps and soda bottles. This one from the 2010 Hidden Mickey series is great and hopefully will make a great addition to her collection.

Pin #: 75115
Purchase on PinTalk
February 2012

Stitch

Stitch is not one of my favorite characters, but my mother-in-law collects Stitch so I got these for her. These might be duplicates of ones she has already, but they can still be traded for new pins she doesn't have... 

Pin #: 82049 (Portrait); 74243 (Cutie)
Purchase on PinTalk
February 2012

Traded: Boba Fett for Upside Down Mickey

I've made my first online trade!! I traded my Boba Fett vinylmation (which was cool) for an upside-down Mickey Mouse vinylmation.

Traded this..

for this!

I think this Mickey is pretty unique and will be a conversation starter. And that's why we wear pins, isn't it?

Pin #63500

Trade on PinPics.com

February 2012

Park Icons 2011: Railroad, Monorail, Castle, Mickey Ice Cream Bar, Mickey Ear Hat, and Dumbo

I just received two orders of pins that I purchased from a member of the PinTalk forum! How exciting!

Among these pins are five of the seven 2011 Park Icon Collection pins. I received:

1. The Railroad:

2. The Monorail:

3. Cinderella Castle:

4. The Mickey Ice Cream Bar:

5. The Mickey Ear Hat:

The other pins in the collection are:

6. Flying Dumbo (which I also ordered online through ebay):

7. Pirate Flag (which I do not have):

Photo credit: pinpics.com

I had previously tried to order the Castle, Ear Hat and Dumbo pins online, but I received scrappers! A post comparing the scrappers with the authentic pins is coming soon.

Pin #: 81369 (set of 7 pins); 81374 (Railroad); 81375 (Monorail); 81369 (Castle); 81371 (Ice Cream Bar); 81372 (Ear Hat); 81370 (Dumbo); 81373 (Pirate Flag)

Purchase on PinTalk forum

Date: February 2012

Delivery!

I just received two packages of pins today, as well as a trade yesterday, so new posts are on the way!!

 

How do you bring your pins to the park?

I'd like to hear from you about your pins!

What is your favorite way to bring your pins to the park? Do you bring all your pins, or just a few to trade? Do you wear your pins on a lanyard or use pin bags?

Do you keep your favorites safe in a bag/at home, or display them on a lanyard for everyone to see?

Any suggestions?

Sorcerer's Hat: Neverland

This pin is meant to be a birthday gift, but I managed to get my hands on it about a month early... I like surprises, but I also like getting things a little early sometimes!

This is a 200 LE pin from the Walt Disney Imagineers collection. Each pin is in the shape of Mickey's Sorcerer hat and depicts a different attraction or character. Since Peter Pan's Flight is my favorite, I was coveting this pin!

Pin #: 82805
Gift
February 2012

Trader: Sea Serpent

This is the other pin I received in the mystery two-pack of the Vinylmation Park #7 collection, along with the Donald Duck Philharmagic pin. 

I wasn't hoping to get the Sea Serpent (from the former World of Motion attraction), so hopefully I can trade this for one of my wants. There were others in the collection (the Castle Banner and Kali River Rapids) that caught my eye and I'll be looking for those.

Pin #: 86325
Purchased on DisneyShopping.com
January 2012

Donald Philharmagic

I have mentioned that I was in marching band, so it shouldn't be a surprise that I loved this Donald Duck/Tuba/Mickey's Philharmagic pin. 

Mickey's Philharmagic is totally my kind of thing, and I desperately wanted this. However, the pins come in mystery two-packs (out of a set of ten) on DisneyShopping.com. I knew my odds weren't great to get the one I really wanted, but I was interested in other pins in the collection too so I went ahead and placed the order. The shipping seemed excruciatingly slow, but the pins finally arrived. I opened the first mystery packet to find the Sea Serpent pin, one of the ones I wasn't wanting. When I opened the second packet and was greeted by the pin I wanted very most out of the ten, I was verrry excited. Yay!

Pin #: 86333
Purchased on DisneyShopping.com
January 2012

Peter Pan's Flight 4

This will be the last Peter Pan post... for now, at least.

 

This very cool addition to my collection also features Peter Pan's Flight. And, it spins! Once spin the round piece of the pin, other characters from the film are revealed!

 

It's pretty neat to have a pin where the characters can actually fly around Big Ben!

Pin #: 45583

Purchase on ebay

Date: January 2012

Peter Pan's Flight 3

The second pin I received for Christmas quickly made its way to the top of my favorites list! (but we all know they are all my favorites!).

When I hold this pin in my hand, I am transported to the ride. The island looks just like the one in the ride, Peter looks ready to bring us to Neverland, and the clouds are so shimmery and beautiful!! I LOVE THIS PIN!

This pin is also commemorating the 40th anniversary of WDW and is LE 1500.

Pin #: 87007

Gift

Date: December 2011

Peter Pan's Flight 2

Okay, get ready to be inundated with Peter Pan pins! My Peter Pan collection has been growing and I got two 40th anniversary Peter Pan pins for Christmas.

The first is this retro-style pin-on-pin.

It's hard to read in my photograph, but the bottom text reads "Fantasyland." I love the vibrant blue! These pins celebrate the 40th anniversary of Walt Disney World and are LE 1500.

Pin #: 85926

Gift

Date: December 2011

Good vs. Evil Peter Pan

It's obvious that I am a big-time Peter Pan fan, so of course I had to have this pin.

This pin is part of the Good vs. Evil series. Peter Pan is the "good", naturally; Captain Hook is the "evil" counterpart to this pin.

Photo credit: pinpics.com, #48815

It's very unique compared to a lot of the Peter Pan pins where he is pictured flying with various arm and/or leg arrangements. In this pin, he is holding his pan flute and Tinkerbell is perched on his knee.

Pin #: 48821

Purchase on ebay

Date: January 2012

Mickey Mouse Club

When I was looking for Mickey Bandleader pins, I also came across this older pin.

It's more of a baby-Mickey bandleader, but it's still very cute! It's also sort of a two-in one pin, since it has both the Mickey Mouse Club and the Bandleader Mickey.

This pin was released as part of the 2000 celebration and is LE 10,000 (which makes me wonder how many of each non-LE pin is made!).

Pin #: 2135

Purchase on ebay

Date: January 2012

Mickey Mouse Bandleader

Of all of Mickey's activities, my favorite is probably his role as bandleader. I was in marching band for several years, so I love to see Mickey marching down Main Street, USA. I came across this pin while looking for a marching Mickey and it was just what I was looking for!

Pin #: 51901

Purchase on ebay

Date: January 2012

Pin Collection Video

Here's a video version of my pin collection... More pins will be added soon!