Confused Over Cast Lanyard/Hidden Mickey Pins

[GrillMouster]

Would somebody please help me understand this whole cast lanyard thing? My general understanding is that Disney started creating pins that they only gave to CMs, were not for sale, and they were called Cast Lanyard pins. Apparently there were different series of these. On the official disney pin trading site and on dizpins I've found checklists of series II, III, and IV of these pins, but where can I find a list of series one pins? What year were each of these pin series released? It is also my understanding that, at some point, Disney decided to put a hidden mickey on all cast lanyard pins, and that may have happened by series III or IV. Then, at some point Disney decided to stop calling them Cast Lanyard pins, and began calling them Hidden Mickey pins, is that right? I thought that Cast Lanyard/Hidden Mickey pins weren't for sale, but on 11/11/07 I found some license plate pins with the words "Hidden Mickey" on the card for sale at a pin cart in the American Adventure pavilion at Epcot. So, if there are some hidden mickey pins for sale, and others not for sale, how am I supposed to tell the difference when I'm at the parks?

I'm not getting into pin trading for the money, but I do like having desirable/collectible pins, which I guess means that they have some monetary value, but, again, I'm not interested in selling them. Are cast lanyard/hidden mickey pins considered collectible/desirable? Are they valuable? I went to AK on Black Friday with a lanyard full of discounted pin sets I bought at my local Disneystore, and I left with all cast lanyard/hidden mickey pins. There were different hidden mickey pins on almost every CM's lanyard. I looked them up on PinPics and almost all were re-issued hidden mickey pins, which means they're the third version of the pins (1st as a cast lanyard pin with no hidden mickey, 2nd as a cast lanyard pin with a hidden mickey, 3rd identiacl to the 2nd version only now called a "hidden mickey" pin). Also, PinPics showed that lots of members had these pins and few were being traded, so does that mean that they are not valuable? I'd like to know how to determine the value of pins so I don't make a bad trade. Does anyone here consult a price guide?

What's the difference between Cast Lanyard pins and Global Cast Lanyard pins?

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

If you manage to grasp the whole cast lanyard thing you can explain it to me! It is VERY confusing.

If you haven't been able to find a listing of the first set on PinPics I am not sure where else to look. I know we have never seen any of the really "old" cast lanyard pins at WDW. If I did run across one I would probably question the authenticity.

The "cast lanyard" pins changed over to "Hidden Mickey" pins in late 2006. If you find a pin that says "Hidden Mickey" on the back with a year earlier than 2006 it is fake.

Some of the "hidden Mickey" pins have "completer" pins for sale. The villains in the cauldrons and the license plates are 2 examples. The ones you buy are larger than the cast pins, so there is a difference. I have the cauldrons and I bought Cruella. She is the only one of the set that is for sale - you have to trade for the others. In February I got all of them except Captain Hook. In August there were TONS of Captain Hook all around MK because they reprinted them. But I was happy to finish my set.

Sometimes they will release cast pins where 1 pin design is at the other park (Disneyland instead of WDW) which can make that one pin rather elusive. Some series are more "collectible" than others. We just collect what we like and don't worry about value, so I am not a good source on that aspect of it.

Hopefully you will get some additional responses with more answers!

 

[NJBlackBerry]

Just a bit confusing...

A great place to start is the Official Disney Pin Trading site at http://www.odpt.com; check out "Getting Started".

Here's one page in the Getting Started section - http://eventservices.disney.go.com/pintrading/page?id=getStarted#lanyard

It is confusing.... And we've been collecting Cast Lanyard/Hidden Mickey pins for years!

 

[daber]

Let me add to the confusion.

WDW, DLR, and DLPR each have their own sets. As one poster also noted, sometimes the set was divided between WDW and DLR making it even more difficult to get. A DLPR one was given out at WDW. Then DLR has multiple sets, the park set and the hotel set. A new Holiday one just came out at DLR hotels.

You should be able to find lists of all the set either on Dizpins or pinpics.

As for value.....it's in the beholder. But just remember, there is no edition size so they can make more of the old sets any time they want. Yes, the idea was you could only trade for them, but they have also sold quite a few, including old series pins as a spend $X, get this for $1.