be careful with your pin backs

ArcadiaExeter

I just wanted to share this with the community. i bought some locking backs for my pins off ebay, and i tried one on my 15th anniversary pin (in hind sight not the best one to try it on) well it got stuck and in trying to remove it (yes i was following the instruction for removal) i broke the pin off.

luckily i have 2 of the 15th anniversary pins but i was hoping to use one to trade. I just wanted to let everyone know to be careful because apparently those pins can snap off fairly easily. Also to let everyone know there are now only 1999 of them in existence.

Konig Wolf

Did you actually dispose of the 15th anniversary pin that had the broken pin back or do you still have it?

ArcadiaExeter

i still have it. and if i could manage to get it fixed i probably would.

grgemonkey

Woah I hope you kept it! Breaking the pin point isn't that huge a deal! You can weld that back on pretty cleanly, I'd just take it in to any phone repair shop and ask them if they'd be able to help, those guys got steady hands.

Even if you don't get it fixed, that pin is still valuable, you'll lose a little bit sure but it's still going to be a 15th pin face (100% fine for display) vs a person not having a 15th pin at all. If you keep and provide the pin point too, some one else might take a stab at repair.

ArcadiaExeter

i was thinking about taking it to a jewler or someone to try and put it back on. i'll have to see about it.

Vaanrose

Can I ask which kind of backs you were using? There are two kinds.

These:

Or these:

I have and use both. The first kind, the locking kind, is definitely a tighter grip, and can sometimes be hard to remove. The second kind, the clasping kind, still holds on tight, but they're also much, much easier to remove. Any pins I intend to trade keep the second back type so I'm not standing there looking foolish when it takes too long to take off the lanyard. I will say that you should always keep a handful of the rubber backs in your pocket, because most people want an official back when you trade.

In my experience, I'm not sure the added grip strength of the locking kind outweighs the ease of removal of the clasping kind. I wore all my pins for four days straight with just the clasping kind and never had an issue, and both kinds held on solid during the lanyard shake test.

I have read on Disney pin trading sites that longtime repeated removal and insertion of the clasping backs can cause some damage to the pin posts, as the clasps dig into the metal, so I do see most people recommending the locking kind over the clasping. So if you're the fidgety kind who takes their pin backs off and on a lot, maybe keep that in mind, but for most people I don't think it's much of an issue. My pins have been sitting untouched since September, for example.

ArcadiaExeter

yeah it was the first kind. i actually take mine off a lot so im not going to be using them anymore.