Pin Trading - Glossary
GlossaryEvery hobby and collectable has its own language and pin collecting and trading is no different - if you don’t know what a LE WDW June 2000 POM is or if you want to trade for a DLR Exclusive CM PTP - read on.
AP - Annual Pass Holder.
Back Stamp - a pin’s back stamp usually identifies the park or resort it came from and the location in which it was manufactured. It can also include information on the edition size, the event it commemorated, the date it was released and for whom or what it was manufactured.
CM - Cast Member - anyone who works for the Walt Disney Company.
Core Pins - pins that have no edition or time limit for their availability to collectors or traders. Also called rack or open stock pins.
The first Character of the Month pin
COM - Character of the Month - a series of character portrait pins released monthly at Disneyland in 2000 - limited to 500 pieces each.
DAK - Disney’s Animal KingdomŪ, the fourth theme park on the Walt Disney World property.
DCA - Disney’s California Adventure.
DL - Disneyland Park
DLP - Disneyland Paris
DLR - The Disneyland Resort - every property in the resort including theme parks, hotels and the vendors and shops of Downtown Disney.
D-MGM - The Disney-MGM Studio - the third theme park built on the WDW property.
Domed pins - This refers to the way a pin is finished. Domed pins have a layer of clear epoxy or plastic over the top of the design. Over the years, the epoxy can yellow unless stored in a nearly air tight container.
DQ - Disney Quest - this entertainment complex markets their own logo and attraction pins.
Error Pins - These pins have a mistake on them, either a spelling error, a color error or an error in design. The primary difference between an error pin and a mistake pin is that an error pin is corrected and reissued while a mistake is allowed to sell unchanged. The best example of this is the Disney Store Millennium pin #94 - with the incorrect date and #94A - the corrected version.
Exclusive - What makes a pin exclusive is its availability - it may be released only on a particular park, at a particular event, on a certain day or to certain people. Both Cast Members and Annual Passholders have exclusive pins made by the company especially for and sold only to them. Exclusive pins are usually referred to by their date of release and occasion - for example, the DL Mother’s Day 2000 LE 900 Kanga and Roo pin.
GWP - Gift With Purchase - these pins are given in a promotion with a specified purchase. The DLR has been offering a gwp series of mini-map pins.
HG pins - Holy Grail pins - every trader has at least one - this is "the" pin goal, the "must have" pin, the "one" that would complete a collection - the one that they would trade half of their traders for. This is the pin that makes trading fun - and painful - at the same time.
HTF - Hard to Find - due to their availability or their release locations, some pins are more difficult to get than are others.
LA - Limited Availability - pins only available for a certain amount of time or only for an event - these can be available for a matter of hours to a number of days.
Lanyard - The neck strap many traders wear to display their tradable pins - they come in many colors and in adult and children’s lengths. Tokyo Disneyland also markets collectable lanyards with medallion dangles.
LE - Limited Edition - pins have been released with edition sizes as small as 50 to over 20,000.
POM - Pin of the Month - pins released monthly as a series. WDW is running the POM Zodiac series in 2001.
Mint - a pin in "mint" condition is free of flaws, scratches or dings of any kind - a perfect pin.
MIB - Mint in Box - this pin is in mint condition and in its original box.
MOC - Mint on Card - this pin is in mint condition and is on its hang card.
MOMC - Mint on Mint Card - this pin is in mint condition and on it’s original hang card, which is also free of creases or other flaws.
Mistake pin - some pins actually manage to go through the whole design and manufacture process with mistakes in them - a wrong color, a missing body part, wrong dates or some misspelled words are on the final product. As a rule, mistake pins are not corrected and the pin is either pulled or allowed to sell. A good example is the WDW "Januray 1, 2000" LE 5,000 - the edition was allowed to sell out, mistake and all.
MK - the Magic Kingdom, the first theme park built on the WDW property.
Mystery Pins - The name says it all. In WDW these pins can be released at any time and without notice and have editions from 300 to 1,000. At the DLR they can be released any day of the week, any time of the day and at any pin location and have an edition of 1,200. Because they are so difficult to get and their edition is so low, they are usually very highly sought after.
Newbie - a newbie is someone new to the hobby of pin trading and special care should be taken during any trades with newbies and children. Remember - everyone was a newbies once and if we want the hobby to continue we need to take care of those coming in.
Open Stock Pins - pins that have no edition or time limit for their availability to collectors or traders. Also called core or rack pins.
Out of Stock - this pin may not be retired, sold out or discontinued, but due to demand may not be currently available but will be re-stocked at a later date.
Pin Book - a soft-sided bag with several pages on which pins are stored for trading or to store your collection. Pin bags are available at DL, DCA, and WDW parks.
POP - Pin-On-Pin - these pins are designed and manufactured in layers - usually 2 - and these layers can be glued, welded or bolted to the pin. Also called 3D or layered pins.
Promo pins - Promotional pins made for special events or to commemorate merchandise by different divisions within the Walt Disney Company. These pins are usually given as gifts at trade shows and collectable expos.
Rack Pins - Pins that have no edition or time limit for their availability to collectors or traders. Also called core or open stock pins.
Retired - The production run on this pin has been completed and they are no longer being manufactured, the pin may still be available, but what is in stock is all that will be produced and once sold will no longer be available.
Shark - A Pin Shark is a trader out to profit from a trade or who takes advantage of a trade or of other traders.
Secondary Market - Pins offered for re-sale (usually at a mark-up) by individuals or businesses after they have been purchased at a Disney venue are said to be sold on the secondary market.
Sold Out - This pin is no longer available for purchase as the production run, whatever the edition size, has been entirely sold.
STs - Super Traders - Cast Members who wear vests with 100 different pins and trade at specific locations. Super Traders can theme their vests, play pin games, give pin talks, have information on new releases and retired pins. The Super Trader is the arbiter of all things pin at their location.
TDL - Tokyo Disneyland - every property in the resort, including the park and hotels.
TDS - The Disney Stores - the stores have sold pins since their opening and released a series of 102 pin designs in 2000 and will release another series in 2001/2002. Note:
TDS - Tokyo Disney Sea - there are already pre-opening pins available for this park scheduled to open in September of 2001.
TDS - Tokyo Disney Store - With the huge market for pin traders in Japan, the Tokyo Disney Stores have released hundreds of designs over the last year.
WDAC - Walt Disney Art Classics - this collectable division distributes promotional, convention and membership pins.
WDW - Walt Disney World - every property in the resort including theme parks, hotels and the vendors and shops of the Downtown Disney Marketplace, Pleasure Island and Disney West Side.
WOD - World of Disney - whether in the Downtown Disney area in the DLR or in the Disney Marketplace complex in the WDW resort - these are the two largest Disney stores in the world - pin trading and pin sales are encouraged here.
Grading a pinAll trading is a matter of degrees and is completely subjective - one trader’s good pin is another’s mint. As always, be aware that while different traders see different pins differently - they can also see the same pins differently.
Mint - Completely free of flaws, defects or scratches - in perfect trading condition.
Near-Mint - Very few flaws, defects or a very small scratch - nearly perfect trading condition.
Good - may have a scratch, defect or flaw - still in tradable condition.
Fair - may have more than one flaw or scratch - think before trading.
Poor - pin can be in very bad shape - with scratches or flaws - beyond tradable condition.
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