I
don't know what it is about the pins. It might be simply that they're
cute, affordable, don't take up much space, and come in such a
staggering variety that
you're bound to find something that appeals to you. Got a favorite
character, favorite ride, favorite holiday, favorite sport?
There's a pin for that! With new ones released on a weekly basis, not
to mention the special editions, mystery boxes, and whatever else
they scheme in the smoke-filled rooms of Disney Marketing, there are
so many pins. Even if
you could afford it, you'd never be able to collect them all.
And
I don't know about you, but that's a big relief to me, because it
means I am under no obligation to try.
I
exaggerate. I wouldn't say I've ever been into
pin collecting. If I see one I adore, I will usually get it, but that
rarely happens these days. I mostly got it out of my system back in the
mid-2000s—you know, around the time of the 50th
Anniversary, possibly the single most rewarding time to be a
Disneyland fan in my lifetime—but
that was enough for me to build up a reasonably sized collection.
I've
never actually traded
for a pin. Ever. I have one
that I bought on eBay, because it was already out of production by
the time I discovered that I really wanted it. Everything else in my
stash came from a Disney theme park pin store, sometimes through the
intermediary of a friend who gave it as a gift.
So
I might not be the most qualified person to talk about this. But did
you know there's no licensing process for blogging? Strange but true!
Actually,
I'll come clean: this is mostly an excuse to show off my pin
collection. Photos and explanations under the break!
Er...fair
warning: these are not good
photos. They were taken in the decidedly nonprofessional setting of
my apartment, using the sub-amateur equipment that is my phone,
against the completely ad-hoc backdrop of my coffee table. And I was
not always able to wrangle the flash very well.
