Nightmare Before Christmas, Star Wars and a Cat Who Got Pin Traders in a Frenzy

Nightmare Before Christmas, Star Wars and a Cat Who Got Pin Traders in a Frenzy

By: Sam Meyers

On a bit of a whim, my husband and I woke up at the crack of dawn to get in the 5 a.m. line for the Nightmare Before Christmas pins being released at the Disney Soda Fountain, in Hollywood.

For those of you have never been to a DSF release, it’s a unique experience and although a bit tiring, it’s always a good time. Hanging out with Disney fans and getting to take home awesome pins (and maybe even trade a few- while you wait) is always worth it in my book. I promise to do a complete blog about the DSF experience, but for now, onto the details of the pins.

The pins we came for celebrated the movie being shown at the El Capitan this week, included a Marquee featuring Jack and Sally, and three pins one featuring Jack, one with Sally and another of my favorite NBS character Zero all a limited edition of 400. While I’m not really a NBC collector I have to say I found these pins really beautiful. The individual pins were large and with stained glass they have a really unique look. With light behind them, they get a really spooky glow that is perfect for Halloween!

There was a decent amount of people there, although not quite as many as I expected considering how popular the movie and Jack seem to be in. My husband and both pulled good numbers that got us two sets (it’s a lottery) and with a number under 150 – yay me! I was really hoping there would be a surprise release, but sadly there was nothing. It seemed a lot of people were hoping for a surprise release, because a lot of people left without getting pins at all.

Thankfully the lines went very quickly and while waiting we even got a sneak peak at the Star Wars pins being released in December (the real “nightmare before Christmas” if you ask me.) They were very, very cool and the jumbo pin was amazing! Please enjoy the pictures, while I take a moment to cry about how hard these pins will be to get.

Okay, I’m back and ready to tell you about how our morning did not end here. With pins in hand I waited patiently for my husband to get his and listened to various chatter and speculations on when the Pin Trader Delight pins would “flip.” Again for those of you not familiar, I promise to get into this on another day, but for now, just know that there are 4 PTD’s that are released at a time. When all four pins sell out a brand new set of four is released. They LE size generally ranged from 300-400 on each and there are always some that are more popular than others.

In this case one lonely PTD (Glimmer – a fairy who I’d like to mention had a very small role in a Tinkerbell film I’ve never heard of) was the last one left. A few good souls took one for the team and purchased her to help make the flip happen and it worked! My husband was in the store when it happened and I panicked with texts and phone calls as the pictures and yelling from the store quickly announced that amongst the four were Dinah (LE 400), from Alice and Wonderland and Oaken (LE 300), from Frozen. Alice, Cat fans and those with Frozen Fever rejoiced and it was very clear that those two would not make it through the day.

They sold out by 1:00 p.m., leaving behind Prince Phillip (LE 400) from Sleeping Beauty and Otto (LE 300) who no one could figure out what movie he was from. For the record he is from Robin Hood. While maybe not as popular as the other two, both are really nice pins and I think this set is sure to flip quickly.

After getting back in line we got two Dinahs and two Oakens. I had been waiting for Oaken because he is hilarious and I loved the pin when I saw it previewed at D23. I hadn’t even considered a Dinah PTD, but she is a beautiful pin and though I got her to trade I’m having a hard time parting with her. The pin is large, detailed and just plain pretty. Cat and Alice fans, you might not want to hear this, but in my humble opinion, she is a must for your collection.

Have questions? Wanna trade? Say hi at @DoubleSamPins or DoubleSam on pinpics.

-Disney Pins Blog

Need help with Disney pin abbreviations? Click here.