Heigh-ho, heigh ho, it’s off to collect pins we go: Disney pin event raises money for veterans’ service dogs
For Disney pin collectors, the “happiest place on Earth” on Aug. 3 wasn’t Disney World: It was at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 734 in Peters Township, where enthusiasts gathered to buy, trade and sell the collectible keepsakes.
The Pittsburgh Disney Pin trading event, which drew more than 100 Disney pin fans and a dozen vendors who swapped and bought pins and merchandise, was for a good cause. Proceeds from the event were donated to the VFW post’s service dogs for veterans program.
“It was a win-win. We were happy that we had such a big turnout; everybody had a really good time, and I’m an advocate for veterans programs, and this is so worthwhile,” said Emma O’Hair of Peters Township, who helped organize the pin swap. “The more people that came, the more we were able to raise for the dogs.”
This year marks 25 years since Disney pin trading officially began. Since then, hundreds of millions of Disney pins have been circulated.
Carissa Roeder, another one of the event organizers, is the co-founder of Pittsburgh Disney pin Facebook page that started in February. In six months, the site has grown to include 156 members.
Roeder said the joy of collecting pins is that there is a pin for everyone of every age.
Pin aficionados often work to collect all the pins in a specific set or series. The sets center around popular themes like characters, movies, or attractions. There are Disney princess sets, superhero T-shirt sets, food-themed sets, Hidden Mickey sets (the iconic Mickey Mouse head silhouette is hidden within the design), and villain sets.
Roeder, 30, started collecting pins on a family trip to Disney World when she was about 10 years old.
“My brother and I got into pin trading. We purchased our first pin there and I realized there were (pin) boards at the park so you could trade,” she said. “And then I kind of got away from it, but two years ago I got back into it when my brother and I went to Disney at the beginning of 2024. He wasn’t into it at first, and then he saw me having a lot of fun with it and he got back into it, too. It’s something we bond over.”
Houston resident Annie Bernacki’s collection has grown, one by one, to include about 500 pins. Bernacki started her collection on a trip to Disney when she was 12.
“I started pin trading before pin trading was a thing,” said Bernacki, who was a vendor at the pin trading event and still owns the Grumpy pin that was among the first she bought. “Pin collecting is for everybody, and I love it for that reason. You can get pins for as cheap as $5, which means it’s affordable for most people to do. I like meeting people, and I like talking to people and finding out why they collect what they do. My favorite part is seeing the ages. There are 5-year-olds trading, and I love it. It’s something my kids are growing up doing now.”
Bernacki, holding a Han Solo pin with dangly legs, said her favorites are pins that move or spin.
Some pins can be worth thousands of dollars – a 2003 Ariel carousel pin is valued at $4,000 – but the true value is in the meaning the pins hold for collectors, Roeder said.
Amanda Seader of Oakdale collects dogs and cats Disney pins. Fittingly, Seader brought along Banjo, a 7-month-old black Labrador retriever who is training to be a service dog for the blind.
“We did a little bit of buying and trading today,” said Seader, who also was accompanied by her mother, sister, and best friend. “We did a little bit of buying and trading today. I do animal themes and collect all the cat and dog pins. And after that, my pins are kind of random. I pick up whatever I think is cute.”
Like most pin enthusiasts, Seader has taken several trips to Disney World and Disneyland, where Mickey-head-shaped trading boards are located throughout the parks, but she didn’t start collecting the little works of art until a trip to Disney World in 2021.
“The park had just opened up again after COVID, and it wasn’t very full, and we found a pin board at the resort where we were staying and that’s when we got started,” she said. “You can trade with cast members there – a lot of them wear lanyards with pins for trading – and there’s janitorial staff and other staff you can trade with too, which makes it fun.”
Seader said the most she ever spent for a pin is $60 for the Disney 70th anniversary castle pin.
Brothers Drew and Logan Bowser of Kittanning attended the show to sell a portion of their mother’s extensive pin collection. Jolene Bowser recently started working on a cruise ship and sold her home, and is selling pins as part of her downsizing efforts.
“My mom loves Disney, and we went so many times growing up,” said Drew Bowser. “It’s the joy of collecting sets and completing them that gets people hooked. We’ve had people who have bought some pins from us to complete the last set, and they get so excited.”
The brothers had hundreds of pins displayed, including a complete special edition set of Disney princesses valued at $1,700.
Sisters Rylan Kress, 7 and Jayden Kress, 13, of Charleroi, arrived at the swap carrying their thick Disney pin binders.
Their mom, Erin, said the girls started trading pins about four years ago on a trip to Disney World.
Rylan added a Piglet pin and a Nala pin to her collection, and also picked up a mystery pin. Rylan left the event with four new pins, including WALL-E and EVE pins.
Trading also provides the girls with the opportunity to have conversations and talk face-to-face with other people, handy skills to learn.
“It’s a lot of fun,” said Erin Kress. “There’s Disney pin trading online, but being at an event, where they can open up their books and people look at them and decide if they want to trade, and what they want to trade for, is really fun.”