Tip Tuesday: "Special" pins

Welcome to another Tip Tuesday!
(Sadly, yet another on a Wednesday)

I've talked before about pin trading at Walt Disney World both for serious pin collectors and family-fun pin trading.

This week, I went to my #1 source when it comes to pins -- my wonderful wife, the DisneyMommy, who is a massive pin collector.

It's her style of pin collecting I find so wonderful and it is this concept I want to share with you. She collects pins that have special value. I'm not talking about limited release pins or pins for special events. I'm talking about pins that have special value to her.

For instance, the photo above is a page from her pin book with different resort pins. She collects pins from those resorts we have stayed at. No resort stay -- no pin. That's what make these pins special.

Another page has nothing but cutie pins. This is a thing between my wife and my daughter. They collect different pins featuring Disney characters in the cutie style. These pins aren't particularly valuable to traditional collectors, but to her, each pin has a special meaning because they are completing the collection together.

Another tip when it comes to special pins deals with special events. Like the resort pins, we try to collect pins from different special events (Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party, Epcot Flower & Garden festival, Osborne Spectacle of Lights, etc.). Again, the pins are a memento of the event itself. Where is the memory in collecting pins from special events you haven't actually attended?

So when you're thinking about collecting Disney pins, think about which pins are special to you.

It's all about remembering the magic.


Special thanks to the Box people and the DisneyMommy for this idea.

Pin center at MK is moved from Uptown Jewelers

The official Disney pin blog recently announced that one of the main pin centers at the Magic Kingdom will no longer be at the Uptown Jewelers. The pin center has been moved to the Magic Kingdom tip board area at the end of Main Street U.S.A. in between the hub and Casey's Corner.

Based on some of the pictures on the blog, it looks as if this new location will be more like a kiosk than a store. I have a feeling this means the new main pin center now will be at the Frontierland Trading Post. If you're looking for some of the more limited pins, Frontierland sounds like it's your best bet now.

Disney announces 2010 hidden Mickey pin collections

What better way to start off 2010 than with a little announcement about hidden Mickey pins?

At the stroke of midnight, Disney released the 2010 hidden Mickey pins for Walt Disney World and Disneyland.

Check them out for yourself (a few of the WDW hidden Mickey pins are pictured above):

WDW: http://eventservices.disney.go.com/files/WDWHiddenMickey2010.pdf
Disneyland: http://eventservices.disney.go.com/files/DLRHiddenMickey2010.pdf

Disney said on their official pin blog that these pins will start appearing on castmember lanyards in the coming weeks.

So all you Disney pinheads out there have some new collections to start searching for!!!

Next D23 charter member pin: The Mad Hatter

According to the D23 FanFare email newsletter, the next in the series of D23 Charter Member pins will be released this Friday, May 1. The next pin will feature the Mad Hatter. Also a new D23 shirt featuring the Mad Hatter will go on sale the same day. The shirt features a drawing of the Mad Hatter with the phrase "Your cup of tea" above it. It is in the same style as the Tinker Bell and Jiminy Crickett shirts.

By the way, the Tinker Bell and Jiminy Cricket pins went back on sale this afternoon. No word on how many are available, so D23 members, get them while you can!

D23 update - D23 pins to go on sale very soon

I happened to be checking the D23 Boutique to see if any of those "temporarily sold out" pins might again be up for sale, when, what to my wondering eyes should disappear, but the links to those (and any) pins.

Late this evening, I saw a new update on the D23 Web site:

"For those D23 members who missed out on our exclusive pins the first time around, we have great news! This week Disney Shopping will be putting the 'D23' and 'Plane Crazy' pins back on sale, and next week, look for the Tinker Bell and Jiminy Cricket pins to return."

There you have it D23 fans! Look for the return of those popular pins starting later this week and into next week. There's no word on how many pins are available - so if you want them, better get them fast!

UPDATE #2: The "D23" lapel pin and the Plane Crazy pins are now on sale as of 4/23.

Hollywood Studios 20th Anniversary pins unveiled

Disneypins.com is showing the five pins Disney will release May 1 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Disney's Hollywood Studios (formerly known as Disney-MGM Studios). Each pin features Mickey Mouse clad in a director's outfit. I especially like the top left pin shown above.

Each pin is limited to 1,500 pieces, so I expect they will sell out fairly quickly. Based on the listings for these pins, it appears that they will be available in several places at Disney's Hollywood Studios.

Speaking of the Studios' 20th anniversary, if you happen to be at Walt Disney World May 1-2, you might want to take part in "Studio 20," an anniversary celebration event put on by StudiosCentral.com and WDWCelebrations.com.

Retro Epcot pin series coming to WDW

Image copyright 2009 Disney. All rights reserved.

I happened to be reading some recent posts on the "What's HapPINing?" blog on disneypins.com and noticed this pin set sneak peek. It features a series of retro Epcot pins, including DreamFinder and Figment and some old Epcot logos. According to the April 12 blog entry, this pin set is "coming later this year to Walt Disney World."

I'm not one to usually purchase entire pin sets, but I just may have to pick this one up on my next trip to WDW (if it's released by then). I imagine it will be available at the main pin center near Spaceship Earth.

D23 pins to be re-released

This just came out on the official D23 Web site:

"Pin-tacular news! Because of overwhelming demand, the D23 member-exclusive Tinker Bell and Jiminy Cricket pins will be available again soon from Boutique 23. Stay tuned for more info!"

The Jiminy Cricket pin sold out in less than one day while the Tinker Bell pin sold out within the first week to 10 days.

Keep an eye on Disneyshopping.com to see when the re-released pins will be available.

Pin update: Stretching portrait pin series sneak preview

The What's HapPINing? blog at Disneypins.com has a sneak preview of some of the pins that will be released at Disneyland this summer just in time for the 40th anniversary of The Haunted Mansion. This pin series will join the family of other pins in which classic Disney characters will take on roles in famous Disney movies and attractions. In another such series, Disney characters assume the roles of characters from "Mary Poppins."

This particular series is great! I especially like the pin with Daisy sitting on Donald's grave with the bust of Donald looking up in dismay. I also like the pin with Mickey, Donald and Goofy sinking into quicksand. The look on Donald's face is fantastic.

I may just have to find a way to get these, even though I'm not heading to Disneyland anytime soon.