Scrappers - what do you do with them?

pocahontas94

Earning My Ears
Joined
Jan 18, 2017
Hello there,

I have a question regarding scrapper pins. What do you do when you get scrappers? Do you just keep them, throw them away, give them away?

I'm just asking, because I'm not like a "serious" collector (I hope you get what I mean by that). I bought a lot on ebay even though I knew that they were scrappers. Because I won't trade pins and only keep them for myself and my little brother. So we don't need the real deal, it's the same for us. But it got me thinking, all those people who don't want scrappers...what happens to them?

Have a nice day everyone :)
 
I honestly couldn't tell you which was a scrapper and which was the real deal. Nor, I'm willing to bet, can the average park visitor, be it an adult or child. Trade the pin away, especially on one of the pin boards. At the end of the day, no one will really care, unless they're anal about pins, for some reason.
 
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I honestly couldn't tell you which was a scrapper and which was the real deal. Nor, I'm willing to bet, can the average park visitor, be it an adult or child. Trade the pin away, especially on one of he pin boards. At the end of the day, no one will really care, unless they're anal about pins, for some reason.

that's exactly what i thought! but i just kept reading and hearing about people going crazy because they got a scrapper and since i don't care about scrappers i was just thinking, what do they do with them...
and yeah you're right, i didn't take into account that the people i saw online were obviously the really big pin collectors. i mean, whoever doesn't know/care about scrappers wouldn't be online defending them or anything i guess :laughing:
 
that's exactly what i thought! but i just kept reading and hearing about people going crazy because they got a scrapper and since i don't care about scrappers i was just thinking, what do they do with them...
and yeah you're right, i didn't take into account that the people i saw online were obviously the really big pin collectors. i mean, whoever doesn't know/care about scrappers wouldn't be online defending them or anything i guess :laughing:
Nor are they likely to admit that they're selling/dumping scrappers on the less informed. Me? I'm happy to get a good deal on pins, scrappers or otherwise, to trade for something I'd actually want.
 


When I used to buy lots from eBay, I would pull out the ones that I knew were scrappers and toss them in the garbage if they were really bad. If they were okay (i.e., cute), I would cut off the pin back (so they lay flat) and use them in art projects. When I realized that the cost per pin of the remaining pins exceeded the cost of buying pin sets, I stopped buying the eBay lots of loose pins.

I generally agree that a lot of people buying the scrappers either don't know that they're getting a scrapper or they don't care. Either way, the pins end up in circulation at the parks.
 
I honestly couldn't tell you which was a scrapper and which was the real deal. Nor, I'm willing to bet, can the average park visitor, be it an adult or child. Trade the pin away, especially on one of he pin boards. At the end of the day, no one will really care, unless they're anal about pins, for some reason.

I disagree. I'm not a serious pin collector, but I still don't want scrappers. I think knowingly buying scrappers and then trading them for authentic pins is being dishonest.
 
I disagree. I'm not a serious pin collector, but I still don't want scrappers. I think knowingly buying scrappers and then trading them for authentic pins is being dishonest.
How would you even know, though? And once you get them home and they're in your binder or whatever, at the end of the day, does it mater if they're real or fake? They're pins. Enjoy them.
 


How would you even know, though?
Some of the scrapper pins are so bad that it's pretty easy to tell that they're not real pins. I once got a pin (in an eBay lot) where Belle's yellow ball gown was green and another pin where Ariel's red hair was brown. Pins like those are pretty easy to tell that they're not real or if they were real, they should not have passed quality control and should have been scrapped. To me, those were pretty obviously fake, so rather than trade them away, I opted to throw them out. That was when I stopped buying lots from eBay.

And once you get them home and they're in your binder or whatever, at the end of the day, does it mater if they're real or fake? They're pins. Enjoy them.
To some people, yes, it matters if they're fakes or not. I try to avoid trading for pins that are obvious fakes. I know I have scrappers/fakes in my collection, but I try not to put more into circulation and I try not to add them to my collection. It's a choice each person makes when they get into pin trading.
 
How would you even know, though? And once you get them home and they're in your binder or whatever, at the end of the day, does it mater if they're real or fake? They're pins. Enjoy them.
Knowing there are others with this attitude has made pin trading less pleasant for me. I would definitely take any scrapper out of my collection and throw it away, I buy most of my pins, sometimes a child has wanted to trade, I'll take what's offered, that's how sometimes I get a scrapper.
 
How would you even know, though? And once you get them home and they're in your binder or whatever, at the end of the day, does it mater if they're real or fake? They're pins. Enjoy them.

Scrappers are very low quality. They are often discolored and don't have the same level of detail as an authentic pin.

Why would anyone want to spend money on authentic pins to trade them for poor quality pins that others paid pennies for? Again, I think knowingly trading scrappers for authentic Disney pins is totally uncool.
 
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I disagree. I'm not a serious pin collector, but I still don't want scrappers. I think knowingly buying scrappers and then trading them for authentic pins is being dishonest.
I don't normally trade pins. All of my pins were either purchased directly from Disney or given to me, after being purchased directly from Disney.

And I would be pretty upset if someone gave me, or traded with me, a pin that wasn't "Disney." That was what is called a scrapper.

If someone wants to do anything with scrappers, they should be totally up front that they are trading scrappers.

A lie is a lie is a lie.
 
Scrappers are very low quality. They are often discolored and don't have the same level of detail as an authentic pin.

Why would anyone want to spend money on authentic pins to trade them for poor quality pins that others paid penny's for? Again, I think knowingly trading scrappers for authentic Disney pins is totally uncool.
Trade them back with the park. That's what I do. Hell, Disney charges enough per pin at this point that they don't mind tossing what is old or fake. They're not losing a dime on a bad transaction like that.
 
Trade them back with the park. That's what I do. Hell, Disney charges enough per pin at this point that they don't mind tossing what is old or fake. They're not losing a dime on a bad transaction like that.
Disney might not take a hit but I do. I buy my pins directly from the parks. If I've spent the money on a legit pin I don't want to trade for a scrapper. It makes trading very unfair. I'm very reluctant to trade with CMs because of all the scrappers. If I'm spending good money on a pin I only want to trade with someone who has spent good money on an authentic pin. So I really don't trade. It's a bummer.
 
Trade them back with the park. That's what I do. Hell, Disney charges enough per pin at this point that they don't mind tossing what is old or fake. They're not losing a dime on a bad transaction like that.

Michael, we have to agree to disagree.

What I don't want to do is knowingly trade a scrapper and have someone unknowingly come along and trade a pin that they spent their hard earned money for to get a piece of junk. Cast members don't throw out scrappers as they go. They do it at the end of their shifts, so it's very possible that someone will get that scrapper.
 
It's comments like the many here that make my second guess trading pins or getting my kids interested. Knowingly trading a piece of garbage to someone who doesn't know better is simply wrong. Trading them with a CM is the same thing. They will not refuse a trade if it looks close and some other guest will come along and trade a real pin for your trash. Spend the money on real pins to trade or don't do it at all. Your simply screwing over the people who want to do the right thing.
 
It's comments like the many here that make my second guess trading pins or getting my kids interested. Knowingly trading a piece of garbage to someone who doesn't know better is simply wrong.
But those are the best people to dump them on...
 
I recently bought a few pins off eBay to give my kids some to trade. They have been collecting for a while and they don't want to trade any they have currently.

So the pins I received have the Disney stamp on the back, the mickey head pin backing and I can actually remember seeing these styles in the parks over the years. I'm curious - how good are the fakes?
 
I just want to briefly mention that discoloration isn't always indication of a scrapper. Of course, if it's something like eyes being gray instead of white, or hair being the wrong color, then yeah. Also thicker lines are typically an indication of a scrapper.

However, I've bought some of the Mystery Set pins at Disney and gotten two of the same, right out of the packaging, that had a different coloring.

Most of the time, unless you're comparing real to fake side to side, you can't tell. I'm sure we have fakes in our collection, but they look nice enough that I personally don't care, although I can understand why some other people would. Really, the most annoying thing to me from those bulk sets isn't the scrappers, it's the fact that everywhere you go, it's the same old, stupid, boring pins - the medals, the pennants, the chasers... it makes it hard to find good pins to trade for the bigger your collection gets.

Honestly, until Disney takes a stance on it, there are gonna be scrappers around. It's not just the price that's appealing, some people just don't know better. Our first couple of trips, we bought off of eBay, because we read people suggesting doing so, and we didn't know there might be fakes in there. Now we buy the packs of mystery sets on eBay, because those are guaranteed to be real but it's still cheaper than buying them in the parks. It's more expensive, granted, but maybe it's a good way to start phasing out the fake sets.
 
Im an avid pin trader and I often trade for scrappers. If I love the pin I love the pin. Just because some people get hung up on the cost factor doesn't mean it isn't of value to someone else. My kids also often trade for scrappers. The joy they experience has value as well.
 

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