Avoiding Fake Disney Pins and Scrappers
By: Jennifer Romano & Ryan Mondics
As an avid Disney pin collector, I always want to make sure that my pins are of the highest quality. However, there are many pins out there that may look like the real deal, but they are either fakes or scrappers. First, a fake Disney pin is exactly what the name implies. Some companies create Disney pins that look very similar to real pins and then sell them online at a deeply discounted price and claim that they are authentic. Many of these pins look very similar to their real counterparts, but there are a few tell tale signs that you have a fake. For example, the color of the pin may be slightly off or the detail work on the pin may be askew. Or even worse, some of the pin may be bubbling or peeling up because it was made in such a cheap manufacturing process. Many of these fake pins are magnetic, so that is an easy way to tell if they are fakes.
See these Hidden Mickey Pluto pins below. The pin on the left is real and the pin on the right is fake. You can tell because the shade of yellow on Pluto is very dull. Also, the Hidden Mickey stamp is bigger on the fake pin.
You can see from the back of the pins there isn't a big difference. But the real pin on the left has two smaller posts next to the main pin post. While the fake pin on the right only has one smaller post next to the main pin post.
In addition to fake Disney pins, there are also pins called “scrappers;” these pins are made where actual Disney pins are produced, but they did not meet the quality control criteria to be sold. Often times, they are sent to other sellers, who re-sell the pins as authentic Disney pins to unsuspecting buyers. These pins are often times very hard to sort out from real Disney pins because they were manufactured in the same place as the real pins. However, there are some signs that should help to distinguish scrapper pins. For example, scrappers are often very sharp around the edges, and the artwork has an unfinished look to it. Also, there may be details missing from the artwork that the real pin would have. On the back of the pin, “limited edition” or “limited release” may be stamped in a prominent place, when the pin is not actually a limited edition or a limited release. The back of the pin will also look really messy when the pin is a scrapper. On real Disney pins, the back is smooth and covered with a particular pattern. Sometimes it is a pattern of Mickey heads or sometimes just raised bumps.
You can see from this Disney Villains pin below, the eyes on Evil Queen are distorted.
On the back side of the Disney Villains pin, there isn't a space between "of150" in Limited Edition of 150.
Basically, if you are buying Disney pins online at a deeply discounted rate such as a dollar a pin, those pins are probably fake Disney pins. If the deal is too good to be true, sadly it probably is! Do you have any advice on avoiding fake Disney pins? Please share your knowledge with us!
-DPB
