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Pinny Arcade Beginners Guide!
Diffusion
Pin CushionOmahaRegistered User regular
Pin CushionOmahaRegistered User regular
Hello and welcome to the wonderful world of Pinny Arcade! This thread will help you on your start to collecting, trading, and joining this wonderful Pinny community of ours! So lets get to it!
The Pins!
So either you'd like to get started or maybe you just got started at one of those Pax things, and now you would like some more pins. The main place to go is PA's store (found here) to see all the current sets and first party pins are up for sale, as well as any Limited Editions or Partner pins that are up (At time of writing, the KI pins and Katie's pins are there). It is also a good idea to keep up on the PA main site, as Mike tends to let us know when a new Limited Edition pin is going up on the store.
As for other third party pins, they tend to come and go as they are available, and placed within their own stores. Luckily, @PAX_Skeletor has made a wonderful thread here that keeps track of all of these.
So when will pins sell out? We really don't know, however we do know a few bits to always consider:
- With the exception of the DLC pin, the minimum print run on pins is 1000.
- Unless it is a Limited Edition, pins can be reprinted either by PA or the third party in charge. This is rare though, most companies would rather make a new pin for the next Pax.
The Tools!
The community has made a number of places to help you out with collecting and trading including:
The Community Thread! - This is where you can read up on general whats going on within the community, and join a Pin trading group if you like. Groups are made depending on which Pax you primarily go to, and matches you up with others so that you can swap pins from all the Paxes. The groups have two levels, Enthusiast (I like pins, but I don't need em all) and Hardcore (HAVE ALL THE PINS).
Pinny Pals! - The best site for online trading! Made by our very own @grgemonkey, this site tallies your collection, lets you search for who has what pins to trade, and put out open trades for anyone to take. This, along with the forum trading post (found here) are your best ways to trade online through the community.
Twitter - The best people to follow for pin news are @pinny_arcade (the official account), @Retnus (Brian Sunter, head of merch at PA), and @cwgabriel (Mike, the guy who draws PA). They are the ones that tend to tweet out the majority of Pin News
Pinmash! - This rating page, made by @dmosinee, lets you pick which pin you think is "better," and looks at all of that data to give us a ranking of what we think are the "best" pins. This ranking is purely opinionated, so demand, price, and popularity can all factor in, but this tends to be a pretty good guide of which pins are valued higher in the community. Feel free to hop on and rate all you like!
Pinny Wise and the Guidebook Add On - These apps are great for keeping track of your collection or trade material, and help out when on the hunt while at Pax!
Ebay and The Pin Trader - If you would like to just purchase unavailable pins, Ebay and the Pin Trader (managed by @Shadowscars22 ) are your ways to go. Ebay is hit and miss, as Ebay tends to be, while the Pin Trader is the main secondary market site.
Trading!
Now that you are on Pinny Pals and/or are heading to Pax, you want to know how to trade well! Here's the main things to know!
- The Rules. Read this first, as it covers all the rules made by Penny Arcade.
- As noted in the rules, the staff and Line Entertainment Enforcers primarily do straight 1 for 1 trades. This is the best way to build up your collection if you keep your eye out, allowing you to trade extra pins or "fodder" (common extra pins specifically used for trading away, these tend to be the sets that are currently on sale in the store (Base Set, current Holiday Sets, etc) , the sets for sale at the merch booth for Pax, or easy to get pins from 3rd parties at Pax) for pins you may need or something you can use to better a trade.
- There is no concrete Price guide for pins, but a decent amount of the community keeps up on the Ebay & Pin Trader prices, as well as actively discussing how hard a pin is to get / current demand (Pinmash). This being said, there are two general rules to guide you along.
- Trade for what you would like. Use what you are comfortable with to get pins you would like. How much you value the pins should be your main factor, this may be through Price, Rarity or Sentimental value, but that is for you to judge.
- Do not be afraid to say No or walk away from a trade. Once again, do what is comfortable with you. If you think a trade is fishy, feel free to ask for help or say no.
- Lastly, always follow Wheaton's law. Just be friendly and yourself, and of course, don't be a dick.
Meanwhile, if you are just starting on your trading adventure, here's a perfect starter guide by @Hingo!
Getting Started From Scratch
1) Buy pins! These can either be pins at PAX if that is your starting point, or the PA store online. If you happen to get started elsewhere (somehow stumbled upon Naughty Dog's shop when the 30th year anniversary pin was available), then you're still good to go.
2) Build your "fodder" and trade bank up. This will most likely coincide with 1), but can also come from the Moonrise booth at PAX, for example (play demo, get free pin).
3) Trade! Either do this while in lines, walking around PAX, using the PinnyPal's website, or, the holy grail for new traders - the PAX Pin Trading Event.
3a) The PAX Pin Trading Event is where you can turn your excess purchased pins and free demo pins (fodder) for whatever ends up being on the tables the PA staff has set up for the trading event. You can place down your Kemper Ghost, even though it might make you tear up a bit to part with him, only to pick up a shiny new Kemperoo someone placed down 5 seconds earlier for a trade. I cannot speak highly enough of the "even playing field" this event has for new people. The downside is that if you don't know about this early enough, or the popularity of it, you might show up too late. It's worth it to be within the first 100 or less people in line for this, because from a starting point, you will make out like a bandit... or ninja... a bandja. Let's say East 2015 is your first PAX, and the pin bug bites you. You buy an extra PAX East 2015 set for trade, and pick up 2 Moonrise pins from the demo on the show floor. You get the Star Trek pin, but don't really have any attachment to it other than to use it to trade at the event. While standing in line for the Pin Trading Event, you can announce that you are willing to trade your Star Trek pin for 3 fodder pins. There will be people that will take you up on that offer. You know have 9 pins for trading. Initiate bandja protocol - you leave with Patrick Rothfuss's Talent Pipes, a Kemperoo, Gabbie and Tyche, Kemper Crockett, Strip Search, TF2 Pyro (you only like the Pyro and didn't want to spend the money on the full set), Zane and Mercy, and Iris.
How did you know you could trade the Star Trek pin for 3 fodder pins? You have to wait in line for a while, the pin looks great, Star Trek hits a higher population of fans than Rock Band, and Ebay. Yes, I hate Ebaying pins, but that is entirely personal preference. It still gives a data point of a dollar value of a pin which can be converted to a "fodder" ratio. My personal fodder value is $7.50 (set of 4 pins = $30). If you see a single pin listed on Ebay from Day 1 of PAX [Cardinal Direction or Australia] for around $40-50, then 3 fodder pins is easily justifiable, if not 4 or 5. Also, if no one takes you up on the offer of 3 for 1, you can always go down to 2 for 1 and still have one more pin than you intended. That being said, I try not to be too greedy. Usually the consensus around here is that everyone walks away happy from a trade, it was a good trade.
F.A.Q.
Q- So, which pins are the most rare / expensive?
A- The DLC holds the title of the rarest. Only 300 were made, with the majority of them given out during the Kickstarter. They tend to pop up on Ebay here and there, and every so often, the PA Crew lets some of their last ones out for an event. As for price, as stated above, there is no guide for price (most pins fluctuate in price quite a bit on the secondary markets) , but there are tools to put some values on the pins. Check pinmash, ebay's completed listings and the pin trader for good benchmarks.
Q- Well then how do pins become rare, and how can I tell?
A- Collection Economics! (Yay Economics! thanks @SerpicoBC) This is mainly a balance between Actual and Perceived Availability. Most print runs for 3rd party pins are 1000-1500, which in comparison to LE print runs, is not many at all! If the company however makes it easy to get, the pin can be and stay pretty common for quite a long time even if the pin is out of print (Examples - Rayman, Chainsawsuit, the Behemoth pins). When that is changed to make the pin difficult or near impossible however, then the demand skyrockets and you get a rare pin (Examples - Leeroy, Gold Overwatch, Twitch).
Q- How will I ever get all the pins?
A- Mike designed Pinny Arcade like the Disney pins, it will eventually be practically impossible to have em all. Every big release and Pax, the ranks of the complete hardcore thin out. If you really do want to get them all, good luck and good speed. If you are ok not having em all, that's perfect too.
Q- What are time stamp variations?
A- Some pins (Core set, Pin trading logo, Merch 1 and 2.0) had multiple printings, and are time stamped different years depending on when they are made. Some collectors here really do want them all, so they will collect both time stamps of the same pin, but most people do not really care.
I will add more questions as they come along!
Other helpful links
Shipping guide thread - @dmosinee made a wonderful guide on how to ship out your online trades
Pin Trading 101 - Panel from Pax South 2015 featuring myself, @Shadowscars22, @PedroAsani, and @SerpicoBC
Community Podcast - Pinny Pals podcast, hosted by @Pureval, @NowHiringHenchmen, @Manic2k, and @PedroAsani
The Pins!
So either you'd like to get started or maybe you just got started at one of those Pax things, and now you would like some more pins. The main place to go is PA's store (found here) to see all the current sets and first party pins are up for sale, as well as any Limited Editions or Partner pins that are up (At time of writing, the KI pins and Katie's pins are there). It is also a good idea to keep up on the PA main site, as Mike tends to let us know when a new Limited Edition pin is going up on the store.
As for other third party pins, they tend to come and go as they are available, and placed within their own stores. Luckily, @PAX_Skeletor has made a wonderful thread here that keeps track of all of these.
So when will pins sell out? We really don't know, however we do know a few bits to always consider:
- With the exception of the DLC pin, the minimum print run on pins is 1000.
- Unless it is a Limited Edition, pins can be reprinted either by PA or the third party in charge. This is rare though, most companies would rather make a new pin for the next Pax.
The Tools!
The community has made a number of places to help you out with collecting and trading including:
The Community Thread! - This is where you can read up on general whats going on within the community, and join a Pin trading group if you like. Groups are made depending on which Pax you primarily go to, and matches you up with others so that you can swap pins from all the Paxes. The groups have two levels, Enthusiast (I like pins, but I don't need em all) and Hardcore (HAVE ALL THE PINS).
Pinny Pals! - The best site for online trading! Made by our very own @grgemonkey, this site tallies your collection, lets you search for who has what pins to trade, and put out open trades for anyone to take. This, along with the forum trading post (found here) are your best ways to trade online through the community.
Twitter - The best people to follow for pin news are @pinny_arcade (the official account), @Retnus (Brian Sunter, head of merch at PA), and @cwgabriel (Mike, the guy who draws PA). They are the ones that tend to tweet out the majority of Pin News
Pinmash! - This rating page, made by @dmosinee, lets you pick which pin you think is "better," and looks at all of that data to give us a ranking of what we think are the "best" pins. This ranking is purely opinionated, so demand, price, and popularity can all factor in, but this tends to be a pretty good guide of which pins are valued higher in the community. Feel free to hop on and rate all you like!
Pinny Wise and the Guidebook Add On - These apps are great for keeping track of your collection or trade material, and help out when on the hunt while at Pax!
Ebay and The Pin Trader - If you would like to just purchase unavailable pins, Ebay and the Pin Trader (managed by @Shadowscars22 ) are your ways to go. Ebay is hit and miss, as Ebay tends to be, while the Pin Trader is the main secondary market site.
Trading!
Now that you are on Pinny Pals and/or are heading to Pax, you want to know how to trade well! Here's the main things to know!
- The Rules. Read this first, as it covers all the rules made by Penny Arcade.
- As noted in the rules, the staff and Line Entertainment Enforcers primarily do straight 1 for 1 trades. This is the best way to build up your collection if you keep your eye out, allowing you to trade extra pins or "fodder" (common extra pins specifically used for trading away, these tend to be the sets that are currently on sale in the store (Base Set, current Holiday Sets, etc) , the sets for sale at the merch booth for Pax, or easy to get pins from 3rd parties at Pax) for pins you may need or something you can use to better a trade.
- There is no concrete Price guide for pins, but a decent amount of the community keeps up on the Ebay & Pin Trader prices, as well as actively discussing how hard a pin is to get / current demand (Pinmash). This being said, there are two general rules to guide you along.
- Trade for what you would like. Use what you are comfortable with to get pins you would like. How much you value the pins should be your main factor, this may be through Price, Rarity or Sentimental value, but that is for you to judge.
- Do not be afraid to say No or walk away from a trade. Once again, do what is comfortable with you. If you think a trade is fishy, feel free to ask for help or say no.
- Lastly, always follow Wheaton's law. Just be friendly and yourself, and of course, don't be a dick.
Meanwhile, if you are just starting on your trading adventure, here's a perfect starter guide by @Hingo!
Getting Started From Scratch
1) Buy pins! These can either be pins at PAX if that is your starting point, or the PA store online. If you happen to get started elsewhere (somehow stumbled upon Naughty Dog's shop when the 30th year anniversary pin was available), then you're still good to go.
2) Build your "fodder" and trade bank up. This will most likely coincide with 1), but can also come from the Moonrise booth at PAX, for example (play demo, get free pin).
3) Trade! Either do this while in lines, walking around PAX, using the PinnyPal's website, or, the holy grail for new traders - the PAX Pin Trading Event.
3a) The PAX Pin Trading Event is where you can turn your excess purchased pins and free demo pins (fodder) for whatever ends up being on the tables the PA staff has set up for the trading event. You can place down your Kemper Ghost, even though it might make you tear up a bit to part with him, only to pick up a shiny new Kemperoo someone placed down 5 seconds earlier for a trade. I cannot speak highly enough of the "even playing field" this event has for new people. The downside is that if you don't know about this early enough, or the popularity of it, you might show up too late. It's worth it to be within the first 100 or less people in line for this, because from a starting point, you will make out like a bandit... or ninja... a bandja. Let's say East 2015 is your first PAX, and the pin bug bites you. You buy an extra PAX East 2015 set for trade, and pick up 2 Moonrise pins from the demo on the show floor. You get the Star Trek pin, but don't really have any attachment to it other than to use it to trade at the event. While standing in line for the Pin Trading Event, you can announce that you are willing to trade your Star Trek pin for 3 fodder pins. There will be people that will take you up on that offer. You know have 9 pins for trading. Initiate bandja protocol - you leave with Patrick Rothfuss's Talent Pipes, a Kemperoo, Gabbie and Tyche, Kemper Crockett, Strip Search, TF2 Pyro (you only like the Pyro and didn't want to spend the money on the full set), Zane and Mercy, and Iris.
How did you know you could trade the Star Trek pin for 3 fodder pins? You have to wait in line for a while, the pin looks great, Star Trek hits a higher population of fans than Rock Band, and Ebay. Yes, I hate Ebaying pins, but that is entirely personal preference. It still gives a data point of a dollar value of a pin which can be converted to a "fodder" ratio. My personal fodder value is $7.50 (set of 4 pins = $30). If you see a single pin listed on Ebay from Day 1 of PAX [Cardinal Direction or Australia] for around $40-50, then 3 fodder pins is easily justifiable, if not 4 or 5. Also, if no one takes you up on the offer of 3 for 1, you can always go down to 2 for 1 and still have one more pin than you intended. That being said, I try not to be too greedy. Usually the consensus around here is that everyone walks away happy from a trade, it was a good trade.
F.A.Q.
Q- So, which pins are the most rare / expensive?
A- The DLC holds the title of the rarest. Only 300 were made, with the majority of them given out during the Kickstarter. They tend to pop up on Ebay here and there, and every so often, the PA Crew lets some of their last ones out for an event. As for price, as stated above, there is no guide for price (most pins fluctuate in price quite a bit on the secondary markets) , but there are tools to put some values on the pins. Check pinmash, ebay's completed listings and the pin trader for good benchmarks.
Q- Well then how do pins become rare, and how can I tell?
A- Collection Economics! (Yay Economics! thanks @SerpicoBC) This is mainly a balance between Actual and Perceived Availability. Most print runs for 3rd party pins are 1000-1500, which in comparison to LE print runs, is not many at all! If the company however makes it easy to get, the pin can be and stay pretty common for quite a long time even if the pin is out of print (Examples - Rayman, Chainsawsuit, the Behemoth pins). When that is changed to make the pin difficult or near impossible however, then the demand skyrockets and you get a rare pin (Examples - Leeroy, Gold Overwatch, Twitch).
Q- How will I ever get all the pins?
A- Mike designed Pinny Arcade like the Disney pins, it will eventually be practically impossible to have em all. Every big release and Pax, the ranks of the complete hardcore thin out. If you really do want to get them all, good luck and good speed. If you are ok not having em all, that's perfect too.
Q- What are time stamp variations?
A- Some pins (Core set, Pin trading logo, Merch 1 and 2.0) had multiple printings, and are time stamped different years depending on when they are made. Some collectors here really do want them all, so they will collect both time stamps of the same pin, but most people do not really care.
I will add more questions as they come along!
Other helpful links
Shipping guide thread - @dmosinee made a wonderful guide on how to ship out your online trades
Pin Trading 101 - Panel from Pax South 2015 featuring myself, @Shadowscars22, @PedroAsani, and @SerpicoBC
Community Podcast - Pinny Pals podcast, hosted by @Pureval, @NowHiringHenchmen, @Manic2k, and @PedroAsani
Everyone's favorite "Bag of Pinny", Proud member of The Pin Cushions, Prinny hat pinster.
My pins are right here!
Feel free to send me a trade request!
My pins are right here!
Feel free to send me a trade request!
Diffusion on
+12
Posts
Great guide, @Diffusion !
2015 PAX Prime Omeganaut (I will forever hate Katamari)
Always looking to trade.
The other question is perhaps advice on trading, by which I mean if you have only been to a single PAX as you got into the Pinny Arcade community, you may only have one copy of pins so you might not want to trade them. And trying to go to multiple PAXs just to accumulate enough pins to be able to do trades, because most trade stuff seems to involve the PAX exclusives. I did hear advice regarding pins bought online but which pins work better? So anything in regards to maybe more advice regarding trades. I think what you've said thus far is really great and informative, but would it be rude to ask for more information on how to best get started?
Nice job @Diffusion
https://pinnypals.com/pals/Evenstar
1) Buy pins! These can either be pins at PAX if that is your starting point, or the PA store online. If you happen to get started elsewhere (somehow stumbled upon Naughty Dog's shop when the 30th year anniversary pin was available), then you're still good to go.
2) Build your "fodder" and trade bank up. This will most likely coincide with 1), but can also come from the Moonrise booth at PAX, for example (play demo, get free pin).
3) Trade! Either do this while in lines, walking around PAX, using the PinnyPal's website, or, the holy grail for new traders - the PAX Pin Trading Event.
3a) The PAX Pin Trading Event is where you can turn your excess purchased pins and free demo pins (fodder) for whatever ends up being on the tables the PA staff has set up for the trading event. You can place down your Kemper Ghost, even though it might make you tear up a bit to part with him, only to pick up a shiny new Kemperoo someone placed down 5 seconds earlier for a trade. I cannot speak highly enough of the "even playing field" this event has for new people. The downside is that if you don't know about this early enough, or the popularity of it, you might show up too late. It's worth it to be within the first 100 or less people in line for this, because from a starting point, you will make out like a bandit... or ninja... a bandja. Let's say East 2015 is your first PAX, and the pin bug bites you. You buy an extra PAX East 2015 set for trade, and pick up 2 Moonrise pins from the demo on the show floor. You get the Star Trek pin, but don't really have any attachment to it other than to use it to trade at the event. While standing in line for the Pin Trading Event, you can announce that you are willing to trade your Star Trek pin for 3 fodder pins. There will be people that will take you up on that offer. You know have 9 pins for trading. Initiate bandja protocol - you leave with Patrick Rothfuss's Talent Pipes, a Kemperoo, Gabbie and Tyche, Kemper Crockett, Strip Search, TF2 Pyro (you only like the Pyro and didn't want to spend the money on the full set), Zane and Mercy, and Iris.
How did you know you could trade the Star Trek pin for 3 fodder pins? You have to wait in line for a while, the pin looks great, Star Trek hits a higher population of fans than Rock Band, and Ebay. Yes, I hate Ebaying pins, but that is entirely personal preference. It still gives a data point of a dollar value of a pin which can be converted to a "fodder" ratio. My personal fodder value is $7.50 (set of 4 pins = $30). If you see a single pin listed on Ebay from Day 1 of PAX [Cardinal Direction or Australia] for around $40-50, then 3 fodder pins is easily justifiable, if not 4 or 5. Also, if no one takes you up on the offer of 3 for 1, you can always go down to 2 for 1 and still have one more pin than you intended. That being said, I try not to be too greedy. Usually the consensus around here is that everyone walks away happy from a trade, it was a good trade.
2015 PAX Prime Omeganaut (I will forever hate Katamari)
The second question, @Hingo wrote up a great guide to help you up your fodder counts and collect during a Pax (So good I'd love to put it in the OP if thats ok with you Hingo). As for what sets to grab online for good fodder at Pax, the best option used to be the Lookouts, as you got the most bang for your buck (6 Pins at $35). Now a day, pretty much any set will work, but I'd aim for getting sets that have only been released online (Sketch and the Holiday Sets). Just like yourself, tons of new people join the fun at Pax, and they like to be able to trade for pins rather than outright buying them, so your fodder may suddenly become great trade material.
With that said, OP has been updated with a few more Questions!
My pins are right here!
Feel free to send me a trade request!
2015 PAX Prime Omeganaut (I will forever hate Katamari)
First, because I am anything but ungrateful for this. Thank you for the advice and the links to useable items!
But to clarify what I meant about trading, I didn't mean just about fodder pins, though that is very useful. My question was with regards to trying to 1 per 1 trade with someone where everyone comes out happy. For new people, like me, the only trade material to get before a PAX is online purchases, as @Hingo mentioned, thanks for discussing online pins. Do you have any recommendations on what types of pins, which 3rd party or which, right now, KI pins, to get? And perhaps this is getting too specific of a question, but this concern is brought up because from my browsing I've heard nothing but negatives towards the NaughtyDog Anniversary and Clicker pins, which makes me think they are a bad investment to try and trade with someone because unless I really want them or want to be a completionist, the consensus in the community is that they aren't that desirable and finding someone who would be happy to trade for them is low. So when talking about buying Pins online, is there a way to help narrow the scope of which pins people at PAX, who may or may not buy pins online, might consider?
That will really vary based on the pin. Certain people really want some pins. A lot of people refuse to buy online, but will trade if its offered. I tend to buy extra of a few pins to help fill in gaps for people because I don't have time to line stand multiple times.
You can almost always find someone willing to take a pin off your hand. Finding the right match for a trade. that's harder.
@BrushwoodMutt all pins are subjective, of course. One thing to take into account is there will be traders who are not like you. You may find someone like @PedroAsani who believes all pins are beautiful. You might find someone who could care less about pins that aren't cats. You could find someone who thinks the Clicker pin is great (provided it's shipped properly). As a beginner, I would focus on what looks "cool" that isn't available at the cons, since that's what other new people would want. Based on the merch banner from East, I would have tried to bring anything that wasn't Twisp and Catsby that I thought people would like (i.e. the Sketch Set).
As for KI pins, I (personally) feel they are very niche pins. My assumption would be that The Last of Us has more fans than KI, so the Clicker could be a better potential investment. However, someone might be nostalgic for a Spinal KI pin because their late father played KI with them on SNES when they were younger and always won for some god damned reason, probably because of wizardry. I'm sure @SerpicoBC will get in on this eventually, but pin "value" is very subjective. Maybe a link to the pin trading 101 video that @fishfishmonkeyhat recently spliced together would be a good thing to add to the FAQ...
2015 PAX Prime Omeganaut (I will forever hate Katamari)
Also thanks for answering my questions, I sometimes feel as a newb I'm asking too many. But I'm glad this community seems really open and nice to helping each other! ^ ^
You basically got 2 random pins for around $14.
forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/194745/double-secret-boxes/p1
Dinotimecopforce.com
2015 PAX Prime Omeganaut (I will forever hate Katamari)
I loved using this table at prime last year. It allowed me to collect a few staff pins and upgrade a few pins for later trade, and also reduced the staff needs I had come the pin trading event, so I could trade for even better pins (and not staff)
My pins are right here!
Feel free to send me a trade request!
“I let out a battle cry. Sure, a lot of people might have mistaken it for a sudden yelp of unmanly fear, but trust me. It was a battle cry.”
Pinny Pals Lanyard