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.
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| authentic |
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| scrapper |
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!
