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And now...may we present.... Here's the Scoop!! |
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What’s Happening to Me?!
Do you find yourself spending an entire day at Disney without riding one attraction? Do your fingers show evidence of little pinpricks all over them? Do you find yourself drawn to people whose chests sparkle and gleam in the sunlight? Do you even remember if those people had faces?? You’re not alone! Thousands of people just like you are sharing the same experience… Pin Fever! Unlike adolescence, Pin Fever can strike at any age. Children of all ages are falling for this captivating and quirky treasure hunt. Fully grown adults say things to their children, like, “Look! See! Everybody’s doin’ it! C’mon! There’s a Cast Member lanyard!” For years, the Walt Disney Company has offered hundreds of styles of enamel pins, each uniquely designed and inspired by the treasury of Disney’s best-loved Characters & Attractions, Holidays and Events. Pin Trading is the new sensation at Walt Disney parks throughout the globe. It’s continued popularity seems only to increase, and with the 100 Years of Magic Celebration, Walt Disney himself appears on more pins than ever before. Walt memorabilia has always been very popular, collectable and valuable. Pins bearing his image are the perfect tribute to the man for whom this new Disney Tradition would surely have been a favorite pastime. That’s because Pin Trading is family fun that’s all about meeting new friends who will continue to meet during their visits to Disney Parks and events throughout their lives. Now, how harmful can that be? So relax. Enjoy what’s happening to you and your body. (Your shoulder is starting to droop from carrying a fifty pound pin bag!) We will get through this together. Your Pin Pals are here for you. And yes, I am one. My name is Scooper Trader... …and I am a Pin Addict. Please join me in the weeks to come, as we explore the History, Manufacturing, Etiquette, and Stories of this addictive hobby, as well as the people who make it so fascinating and FUN! |
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Monday February 4, 2002
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I had a nasty pin experience today, and my Best Pin Pal, Al, suggested I write about etiquette. I know many of you are "Seasoned Citizens", so don't take this the wrong way, but I'd rather not waste any more thought on that batty ol' biddy today. Those who know me know I love everyone. That's really why I do what I do for a living. But every three years, there's…just…one. Suffice it to say, if somebody doesn't want to trade, just leave us alone. Or the next time, we may just have to kill you. Murder by multiple pin pokes is something that none of us wants to see happen, so… Let's talk about the rest of us Pin Traders. I have some favorite Pin Pals, and since so many of them are from the World Wide Wire, I'm lucky that, at one time or another, they will make a visit to see me in my part of The World. Some of them are my Web Celeb friends, the people who work so hard to bring us together through this medium by providing round the clock click fixes of pin chat, news and information. Since there's a new pin coming out approximately every fifteen minutes, we count on them more than ever to do their volunteer work. What makes them stand out to me more so than their cyber-fame and philanthropy is what great traders they are. Fun, generous Traders who make trading easy. Especially when they have to say "no". Which rarely happens when two good traders come together. Despite the fact that I'm in the fortunate position of being a conduit for hundreds of trades every week, it is the exchanges with these particular Traders that always stick in my mind. They are the ones I turn to when I need to put a Batty Biddy out of my misery. Thanks to the magic of this medium, my collection includes many pins that I will never be able to associate with a face, due mostly to long distance trades. This is new to me, and it makes me appreciate the Pin Pals I meet in person even more. Knowing them as I do now, it's just as much fun for me to put aside my wants and desires to help these friends find their "Holy Grails". It's so simple to do, and it's sure to make you confident that you're spreading the kind of good "Pin Karma" that Traders like my buddy ZX Dad always share so freely. There's also legendary Traders like one of my personal heroes. He's so modest, he'd probably be embarrassed if I mentioned him by name, so let's just call him "Ward". "Ward" is "Pinnish" for Walt. What amazes me about "Ward" is how he can have all that beautiful facial hair completely camouflaging his mouth, without a trace of his latest meal hanging around in it. In addition, that full, not-even-really-gray beard and gentle demeanor make me feel like I'm trading with the Father Christmas of Pins every time we meet. I wish all trades felt so warm and fuzzy. But then trading with Ward wouldn't be so special, would it? He's not only got great pins, he KNOWS pins. I never talk to "Ward" without learning something. He's fair, honest, and sincere, and he doesn't go around handing out pins to kids just to look cool, or worse, trying to score a CTT. Or at least (thank goodness!) not around me. Actually, were he to give a kid a pin, I'm sure he'd do it with humility and a minimum of fanfare, because that's the kind of guy he is. (Kinda like me.) And since he knows that there's a good home for every pin, I think he would agree that we cannot determine the path a pin will take to get to that rightful home. Just prepare a good home, and your pin will find its way to you. Oftentimes we must create space by sending another pin on its journey to find its home. Or even better, we'll find a loving home for it in someone's (Hallelujah music!) "Permanent Collection". But parting with a pin really should begin with an offer. It's okay to make a suggestion when someone doesn't know what to ask you for in exchange for the pin that you want from them. But browbeating someone into trading with you is downright carnivorous. Though she may have gotten the pin she was looking for today, that Batty Biddy will never see her puss reflecting in my pins again. Nor any of the people who were there with me. Saddest of all, I will never get to reach into my pocket and try to find a special pin for her. And that makes me sad. The greatest joy I find in Pin Trading is through acts of selflessness. What goes around, comes around. I've noticed sharks usually starve to death, all by themselves. More valuable than any pin is your reputation. With thousands of new pins needing adoption every day, there's enough pins for everybody. Sure! Slough one you don't love off to live with some kid. But don't forget all those adoptive Traders out there whose only wish is to have that special pin of their own. Pins are people too, you know, and… Wait a minute. What am I talking about?! THEY'RE JUST PINS! Tell you what. Let's spend some time this week appreciating our Pin Pals, and next week I'll reveal the shocking truth about how pins are really mere pieces of metal and enamel. Until then, try not to do anything that'll make people think you're a Batty Biddy. Peace, Love, and Pins! Your Pin Pal, |
Time to take a peek into the Scooper Trader Mailbag!
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Dear Scooper Trader, I was referred to you by one of your favorite Pin Pals, Bob Neitzel, your friend from International that makes the School Buses. I'm a School Bus (and a model) from Chicago, and Bob helped me fulfill my dream of becoming an enamel pin. Would you please use me to help describe the process?
Sure! (Nice Headlights!) Below is our Pin-up Pin as she appeared in a recent
advertisement. To her right is her beauty makeover into a dazzling
pin. We find her more desirable now, don't we Traders?
Let's take a look at the steps it took to create that miniature work of art on the right. That's what each pin is, you know. A little handmade work of art. They're not just churned out of some machine by the thousands . They're individually minted, almost like a coin, then hand filled with colored enamel, fired, polished, electroplated, and polished again. By the thousands! In fact, enameling specifically refers to the fusing of the colored enamel material to the metal by firing it. And that's why we call ALL PINS of this type Enamel Pins. But before we create your little treasure, another work of art must be created.
Using a photo model, the artist prepares a detailed
line drawing. This is enlarged and transferred to a large wax plate
the size of a small dinner plate (NOT SHOWN). A tracing machine (NOT
SHOWN) helps the artist transfer the image to a round block of soft
metal called a "Coin". Once it is etched, and the detail
perfected by the artist, the metal is hardened through a magnetic
process, and that forms the die.
This is secured into a press that will pound it into
the ingot with tons of pressure, thus transferring the reverse image
into the copper. (Brass and bronze can be used, too.)
Once the impression is pressed in (kind of like a regular coin is minted) it is punched out like a hole punch with another two-ton cookie-cutter press called a "Punch".
The two pieces you see fit together perfectly. The stamped ingot is laid on the larger piece. The two dots on the ingot are aligned with the two small holes on the larger piece. This provides the "Registration" or alignment, ensuring that the smaller piece (the "Punch") cuts precisely into the ingot. Here's what you get:
That's IT?!? Yes! I told you these are little handmade works of
art. Now it's back to the drawing board. Next, the line drawing must be colored to guide the Colorist in coloring the pin through to its completion.
(I'm already exhausted, so here it is in a nutshell…) Each color of the epoxy enamel is applied by hand,
using a syringe to inject it directly into the recesses as shown.
This takes a while because the pin has to be fired after every color.
I'm told it's forty minutes per color at a temperature that's almost
as hot as Florida in August. Anyway, here are the stages following up to the First Polish.
Had enough? But wait! What about the electroplating process?! Sorry, I just don't have it in me right now. It's estimated that TWO HOURS cumulative time is put
into EACH PIN. Hopefully the process is a little clearer. I know
there's stuff missing, and we'll try to fine-tune this a bit. And this is just the MOST COMMON Process. Peace, Love, & Pins!
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Tonight....some very special magic....
...from Scooper Trader... 
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FINALLY! I'VE GOT SOMETHING
TO WRITE ABOUT!
I knew it was just a matter of time. The last time I wrote, I said I'd give you a full-blown exposé on how these little darlings of ours are made. How to tell the different materials, blah, blah, blah. It started out okay, but as anyone who has ever heard me talk about pins knows, I talk about EVERYTHING I know until you trick me into trading again. Writing this column was meant to be informative and FUN, and writing that piece started to feel kinda like a term paper. By "FUN" I meant for me too, and since I teach our Pin Pals "how pins are made and how to trade" pretty much full time, I just couldn't do it. I will! Or, actually, something close to it. (It's a surprise.) You WILL, in any event, learn how pins are made! But another time. So… lately, it's seemed like the ol' inkwell's been a little dry. And then… I MET HIM! Imagine... (Please go back now, and pause long and hard.) What a man. (Pause. Please.) What a name. (Slow.) What a day… "Disney Magic," I said. "We see it here, first hand, every day". "Your name is constantly followed by 'Magic', and it actually IS!" "MAGIC!" is what I said to Roy in the Q&A this afternoon. But I'm jumping ahead. Like most people, I have a lot of Disney memories. I've been a guest at the Magic Kingdom since it first opened. I was born in California, and have very vague, very early childhood memories of The Happiest Place on Earth. Grandma and Grandpa said the kids and the lines were always too crazy there (yeah, even then.) When we moved to Florida, we'd watch the Wonderful World of Disney, and Mom and Dad would talk about Disneyland and how they'd see Mr. Disney come by. It made me a little sad because, even as a child, I knew I'd never know what it was like when Mr. Disney comes by. As long as I can remember being aware of the younger Disney namesake, I thought Roy Elias Disney looked an awful lot like his Uncle Walt. And for a long time, not too long ago, (I think) he sported a mustache like Walt did back when it was a big Disney no-no. The mustache was absent today when Roy E. Disney rode in proudly
at the helm of the newly restored Roy O. Disney locomotive, rededicated
to the Walt Disney World Railroad at a "Special Celebration".
A posthumous reunion for brothers Roy and Walt is what it was, I thought.
But here was Mr. Disney himself at the controls, driving, smiling
and waving, and it was he who stopped on a dime this 80-ton modern
day wonder, just like the daily-ops Engineers did twice earlier in
the morning at rehearsal. By showtime, many familiar faces were gathered in front of the Mickey Floral, and numerous Train Buffs were a form of groupie that was new to me. Train Buffs are a lot like Pin Traders, only they're mostly men and their pins weigh tons. A Century or two ago, when this train was new, people probably marveled that such a machine could be conceived. As it pulled into the station, I could only wonder how there are any Craftsmen still around who could restore such a glorious, functional work of art. Turns out, they're there, in Tennessee, and they know HOW to build a TRAIN! Take a close look. Seeing Mr. Disney step down off the steam engine, I thought, whoa, he looks like Grandpa a little. Not old, really. Just tired. Won't be long before he's zipping around in one of those electric scooters, those "Outta My Way! People Movers", like a fast, furious, FOCUSED Indy 500 Speed Trader out snarfing up all the Lanyard Series pins. Then I remembered how hot those engine compartments can be. Now, I dress a little, oh, let's just say "more" than most people do in this Florida heat. And I was… well… soaked. I thought, "so THAT'S why there's always two guys in the engine compartment all the time! They take turns passing out!" Truth is, I think Roy WAS a little overcome by it all, just like we get every time we return to "The World" after a long absence. I'm there everyday practically, and this kind of surprise "fill-in-the-blank" celebration thing still has a soft spot with me. (And speaking of which, I just have to say right here, I'm sorry,
but I'm done celebrating "PINS!" I'll have a "Pin Celebration"
when I don't have to pay twenty-five bucks to go stand in line to
pick-up the pins I maxed my credit card out charging "on or about"
two weeks ago. Here's something I'd celebrate… a FASTPASS for
pin lines!) So it wasn't long before we saw Roy's familiar smile return like daybreak, and heard warm, heartfelt words in that rich, resonant voice, the voice that takes you back, spellbound, to your TV set, listening to Uncle Walt invite us to his newest playground. Come out and play! And Finally… I felt the handshake. That handshake that had the
full power of A Hundred Years of Magic. And I felt that connection,
that "I AM SOMEBODY" feeling that so many Cast Members so
often give me. I honestly expected him to just blow right past me. As I look back at him there onstage, I actually don't remember much of what he said today. I don't think he DID say much today. He didn't have to. Just being there said so much. I overheard a couple of the older train fellas mention it feels real good to see someone from the family here with us again. They felt they had to whisper that. I still often wonder what things would be like if Walt showed up around the parks, just, like at a popcorn stand or to ride It's a Small World, the way he used to at Disneyland. Roy E. Disney sort of answered that question for me today when he said how much fun it was to see kids' faces still lighting up. He told everyone what a great job they're doing to keep that Magic alive. He said he thought some of the kids at the attractions (hosts & hostesses) recognized him today, and maybe smiled a little more. Or maybe they DIDN'T recognize him, but they smiled anyway. I smiled. A lot. As I sat there in the Disney Story Theater, far away enough from him for me to take in the whole picture, yet close enough for me to look him in the eye, I thought it was funny that he was wearing a Hawaiian lei. What's funnier is as I look back on the picture in my mind, I see him wearing Mickey Ears. And I thought, "so this is what it's like when Mr. Disney comes
by......it's Magic...."
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