How do you carry pins around the parks?

My DS has been collecting pins for several years. He loves trading with CM, buying new pins etc. He insists on taking most, if not all, of his pins with him every time we go. Luckily we leave a lot of them in the room and carry just a few lanyards full each day. His logic: this is the only time he can show off his collection - it is very hard to find an interested pin collector outside the World. To go to the parks, we take three lanyards (one for each of us) full of pins, both to trade and display. Each day he reviews his new additions, changes pins etc. He really enjoys pin collecting and trading!

The problem: The lanyards are hot and heavy. Within a couple of hours, they find their way to the backpack. Every time we stop to pin trade we have to dig the lanyards out, sometimes from the bottom of the pack. This increases the risk of the backs coming off and losing pins. I bought a little fannie pack type pin holder from the Disney Store but it only holds a handful of pins.

Any suggestions on how to carry pins around in the parks would be greatly appreciated!

How about pinning them on to a piece of cardboard and sticking that in to a backpack or something? And/or, you could get a non leather type belt and pin them on it. Hats could be used as well.:thumbsup:

I carry mine pointy side out. (no one bumps into me twice... :thedolls: :funny:




Actually, I keep a lanyard just with the show/trade pins handy (in a fanny pack). Then keep the bulk of the other pins in a bag/holder in the backpack. Once or twice a day, I refresh the lanyard and start all over again.

When we were there just recently they sold a book thing that you could put all your pins in. I saw it at the pin trades place in down town disney. It was nice each pin had a little area and was enclosed in a plastic cover to protect them. I don't recall the price though.:thumbsup:

I have mine on my lanyard, but it's soooo heavy so I don't carry them anymore. I will probably just get another lanyard and start that one up. I only have one pin to trade off the old one and that one is complete.

I have seen some folks use baseball caps to carry/show/trade pins. We also sometimes have 3 lanyards and put them into the front pocket of the backpack so they are all together when we aren't wearing them. Usually we try to just "share waer" one and replenish when we go back to the room.

I usually wear pants with pockets in Disney, and get lots of sun burn on my neck. So, I just keep the pins I'm trading in the left pocket and the pins that I am keeping or traded for in my right pocket.

Since I no longer need film with my digital camera I keep them in the front pocket of my camera bag. I usually thorw about 10-15 traders in there a day and replace them as needed. Each night at the room I take out the pins I traded for and replace them with new traders :thumbsup:

My family wears them on a laynard and at the end of the day they swithch off with pins they want to keep go in a book and they leave the one's they want to trade on their laynards.:)

I'm not taking all my pins with me next time. If I take my laniard, and get some cheap pins, then I can trade, but trying to take all 62 pins, and wear them is just too scary because I would be destroyed if I lost any.

We've been trying to figure out what to do with them, and I think we've settled on a shadow box with a glass over it, and will display them on the family room wall. They're nice because they have a fabric back, and the pins are easy to attach, and then you put the whole thing in the box. Some of them have a glass that opens and closes.:thumbsup:

Thanks for the great ideas! I will mention these ideas to my DS. I really like the baseball cap idea because he wears one of these every day we are at the parks. He also wears shorts with big pockets so maybe he can store another supply in his pockets :thumbsup:

I have a goofy hat that i carry/wear around the park that i attach the pins to but, you have to be careful if you put to many pins on it. If you do put to many pins on it the hat will start to lean towards one direction. :goof: :smickey:

I have a little folder-like bag that Disney sells:
http://www.laughingplacestore.com/im...ucts/8196L.jpg

I think I got it for around $20-$25
It has multiple soft "pages" you pin your stuff to, and plastic liners in between to protect them. It is small enough to fit inside a backpack, but also has a strap so you can carry it over your shoulder or slung across your body messenger-bag style.

I, too, get too hot to carry my lanyard mid-day. But if you aren't carrying them, people won't know you're a trader! And many missed opportunities ensue. Find some kind of something your child is willing to wear which identifies him as a pin trader--either a much lighter lanyard with only a few traders on them, a hat with a few pins, a fanny pack with a few pinned to the front...something along these lines.;)

My daughter keeps hers in a pin trading book we bought in Downtown Disney. It was not expensive $25? and it has quit a few pages in there. When we go to the parks she wears Lanyard with the pins she's thinking of trading along with some of her favs. that she just enjoys showing off!

When I was in WDW earlier this year, I got chatting with a gentleman who was an avid pin collector / trader. He had pins on his bucket hat and all over his lightweight safari style vest / jacket. He mentioned that it's usually better to invest in the lockable type pin backs for the pins you don't want to lose or trade (less chance the pins will fall off).

I think the lockable pin backs are available at most pin locations for just a few $.

Could you not create a sash for your pins (something like what scouts wear)? I know it would still be a pain to wear in the heat, but it at least wouldn't be hanging around the neck.

Personally I don't think the pin book is a good idea because, its just another thing to carry around and if you put to many in it, it gets to heavy to carry around and you want to put it into a backback or leave it in your room. Trust me I have a binder that I use for my card collection
and since i have about 300 of them it now weighs atleast 5 pounds and i don't carry it around anymore it just stays at my house. :crowd: :down: