What are Fantasy pins?

If you’re new to the world of pin trading or perhaps you’ve never bought a pin from eBay or Instagram you might find the term “Fantasy pin” confusing. This article will explain a little bit about what a Fantasy pin is and how to identify one. We have included a handy checklist at the bottom  of this article that may help you to identify Fantasy pins.

Fantasy pins are pins that are made by Disney enthusiasts but are not made by or endorsed by Disney. So they aren’t official pin trading pins although they may look very similar to official pin trading pins. This means that you can’t go to a Disney park and trade them with a cast member. This doesn’t stop collectors from trading them with each other as long as they are clear that it is a Fantasy pin!

Fantasy pins are made by Disney enthusiasts so are always going to be highly themed and very cute! I am a huge Marie fan and one of my favourite Marie pins is a Fantasy pin which my husband bought for me.

So now that we are a little more clear on what a Fantasy pin is, how do we tell it apart from an official Disney pin? The main way I’ve found is to have a look at the back of the pin. Official Disney pins will have the official Disney Pin Trading seal stamped on it and a copyright Disney stamp. Official Disney pins should also have the Mickey ears pin back but we know we know how easy it is to lose these, so not a 100% indication! 

Fantasy pins will generally have a plain back and look like any non-Disney pin you may own from the back.

Another thing that may help to identify if it is a Fantasy pin and you can’t see the back (e.g. you’re buying a pin online) is to have a look online using a search engine like Google. Us pin traders love to talk about pins so you should be able to find information about the pin online. Generally Fantasy pins have much smaller runs than official Disney pins, people don’t tend to share information about them as much and may mark them as being Fantasy pins. You could also ask the seller to share an image of the back of the pin.

I hope that’s cleared up a bit of confusion you may have had about what a Fantasy pin is and how to identify one. We love Fantasy pins here at Pin Trader Club but nothing beats the official pins!