I'm going to Prime this year, and I will probably be solo at the pin trading event. I think I might just shout out in line "Is anyone new to pin trading this PAX??!?!" and have them be my Pin Trading Event buddy for the evening. I will answer all of their pin-related questions, and walk them through the trade tables. Maybe I could take 2 people with me? Any more than that seems like it might be a bit much. I'll have to think about this a bit more, but I like the concept so far.
I like this idea. Like a pin-mentor, or pin-sherpa. I wonder if it's possible to formalize that idea a bit more? Even to help on the show floor figure out what to do with their shiny new pinnys?
Being new to pin trading this year at East, I found the pin trading event overwhelming. I had extreme anxiety going in because there was no explanation of "this is how this works" for newbies. Having something like that would help immensely for easing new traders in and might help make things run smoother. Also, I agree the crowded tables with people just standing there for forever left me with a bad taste for the whole event. I am claustrophobic and very much an introvert, not a good combination for the shoving crowds I was trying to deal with. I only made two trades, which I still have no clue if they were any good because the staff didn't talk to me besides handing me whatever I pointed at in my stunned terror. I was just so relieved to get out of that mess and move on to something else that night, I really don't know if I'd want to do another pin trading event now unless I saw that the format was changed.
Totally agree with this. It was my first time at a trading event, and I was confused on why people were just standing at the tables. At the time I didn't know some staff had games to trade for certain pins and what not. I can't handle crowds that well, so being stuck in the queue, wondering what is going on just made my anxiety shoot through the roof.
If there was a "beginner" table where an enforcer could be at just to explain how it went, whether this was at the beginning of the line or right at the entrance of the staff's table, would have been extremely helpful. Also, if the tables were a little more spaced out, I think the flow would be better.
ArcticLancerBest served chilled.Registered Userregular
I've posted a few of my feelings elsewhere with this one, but it's nice to have a place to put such things.
East 2014 was my first PAX, and I picked up a core set because I wanted to collect the year pins for any PAX event I attend. The collection grew a little after that, mostly when I decided to grab some of the first run of blind boxes.
East 2015 was my first real trip into pin trading. I didn't dive in hard, but Friday morning I did spend my hour in the merch line with a friend, as I didn't care to go ebay fishing for a polygon. :P
Anyway, the pin trading event itself I enjoyed a ton. It was one of my surprise hits of the entire show, although honestly it was less for the staff trading (but more on that later). Firstly, I don't mind my time spent in lines. It's PAX - you come accepting that's a part of the experience, right? This year I made an effort to connect with people in lines where I could, and carried around a bunch of Dunkaroos in my bag to give out to line friends ("We're friends now, so get dunkt on!"). This meant waiting to get into the event wasn't as big a pain for me as some others, but it's also an example of us being interested in different things - I wanted to hit pin trading so I could try and find someone with a KI Fightstick, one of the few pins I was desperately searching for, and I did. It was great. Then while inside the pin trading area a woman was walking around asking if anyone had a Catguard for trade. I'd obtained one earlier in the day and merrily traded it to her, taking the only pin she had doubles of. At the time I was just happy to help her the same way someone else had helped me - I had no idea the D&D pin was so sought after, so it kinda felt like karma in the end.
The staff trading for me was something of an afterthought. I'd enjoy talking with a few of them, but as had been mentioned earlier in the thread, it's this devil's choice of "I could talk with these people, or I could move along and let some other people in to give them a chance with this stuff." So for the most part it was just once-over a table and move along. That said, I did find the games were quite awesome, and would love to see them return. Maybe they could be positioned better to be their own section and reduce the load on the other tables? Having them in the mix really bogged down traffic in a few places, you know? But seriously, having my Pink Knight pin go to battle with Spinal and come out victorious (I rolled a 4 on a D8 while Mike got a 2 on a D12), and watching a friend actually get the result he wanted on a roulette wheel, were incredibly memorable moments among the whole thing. So was watching my friend compete for that Gold Overwatch against the guy who won it with his Christmas Kemper. :P
All that said, I know that I had the benefits of having friends already involved to give me some introductions, and I'm a 6-foot tall guy, so I don't really get lost in a crowd. I very much agree that making it a more accessible event for people just getting into it should be prioritized. I also remember seeing the layout when they were setting up and wondering why they weren't doing an outward-arc then, so I'm glad to see others make the same suggestion and it be heard. Ultimately, I think it's hard to have "the right answer" because some of us want different things, but I'm glad that you're still striving to improve.
Thanks for the efforts, guys. I look forward to seeing what you come up with next year.
Posts
I like this idea. Like a pin-mentor, or pin-sherpa. I wonder if it's possible to formalize that idea a bit more? Even to help on the show floor figure out what to do with their shiny new pinnys?
2015 PAX Prime Omeganaut (I will forever hate Katamari)
Totally agree with this. It was my first time at a trading event, and I was confused on why people were just standing at the tables. At the time I didn't know some staff had games to trade for certain pins and what not. I can't handle crowds that well, so being stuck in the queue, wondering what is going on just made my anxiety shoot through the roof.
If there was a "beginner" table where an enforcer could be at just to explain how it went, whether this was at the beginning of the line or right at the entrance of the staff's table, would have been extremely helpful. Also, if the tables were a little more spaced out, I think the flow would be better.
Looking for Edith Finch Pin!
Pinny Pals Lanyard
Pinstructor is fantastic, and I am totally up for this. It would be great to have newbie Pin people as my PAX Buddy for Prime.
Nusquam Findi Factionis
My Digital Pin Lanyard
East 2014 was my first PAX, and I picked up a core set because I wanted to collect the year pins for any PAX event I attend. The collection grew a little after that, mostly when I decided to grab some of the first run of blind boxes.
East 2015 was my first real trip into pin trading. I didn't dive in hard, but Friday morning I did spend my hour in the merch line with a friend, as I didn't care to go ebay fishing for a polygon. :P
Anyway, the pin trading event itself I enjoyed a ton. It was one of my surprise hits of the entire show, although honestly it was less for the staff trading (but more on that later). Firstly, I don't mind my time spent in lines. It's PAX - you come accepting that's a part of the experience, right? This year I made an effort to connect with people in lines where I could, and carried around a bunch of Dunkaroos in my bag to give out to line friends ("We're friends now, so get dunkt on!"). This meant waiting to get into the event wasn't as big a pain for me as some others, but it's also an example of us being interested in different things - I wanted to hit pin trading so I could try and find someone with a KI Fightstick, one of the few pins I was desperately searching for, and I did. It was great. Then while inside the pin trading area a woman was walking around asking if anyone had a Catguard for trade. I'd obtained one earlier in the day and merrily traded it to her, taking the only pin she had doubles of. At the time I was just happy to help her the same way someone else had helped me - I had no idea the D&D pin was so sought after, so it kinda felt like karma in the end.
The staff trading for me was something of an afterthought. I'd enjoy talking with a few of them, but as had been mentioned earlier in the thread, it's this devil's choice of "I could talk with these people, or I could move along and let some other people in to give them a chance with this stuff." So for the most part it was just once-over a table and move along. That said, I did find the games were quite awesome, and would love to see them return. Maybe they could be positioned better to be their own section and reduce the load on the other tables? Having them in the mix really bogged down traffic in a few places, you know? But seriously, having my Pink Knight pin go to battle with Spinal and come out victorious (I rolled a 4 on a D8 while Mike got a 2 on a D12), and watching a friend actually get the result he wanted on a roulette wheel, were incredibly memorable moments among the whole thing. So was watching my friend compete for that Gold Overwatch against the guy who won it with his Christmas Kemper. :P
All that said, I know that I had the benefits of having friends already involved to give me some introductions, and I'm a 6-foot tall guy, so I don't really get lost in a crowd. I very much agree that making it a more accessible event for people just getting into it should be prioritized. I also remember seeing the layout when they were setting up and wondering why they weren't doing an outward-arc then, so I'm glad to see others make the same suggestion and it be heard. Ultimately, I think it's hard to have "the right answer" because some of us want different things, but I'm glad that you're still striving to improve.
Thanks for the efforts, guys. I look forward to seeing what you come up with next year.
Perhaps I can interest you in my meager selection of pins?
Always looking to trade.