When I started collecting Disney pins, there were so many of them and so much variety that it was difficult to choose which ones to buy. I had a seriously limited budget (still do), and very little space to devote to them. So, I needed to limit myself, and I knew I needed to choose one subject to focus on.

In those years when my budget was really tight, I chose to get pins that were related to the special Disney perks I had access to. D23 member and Visa card exclusives are a top priority since they aren’t available to everybody, and I have those every year. During my Annual Pass years, I would also pick up the pins available to AP holders. Sometimes, I would stretch the budget to choose one more, and that would be my souvenir for the year. The variety of these pins didn’t give me a subject to focus on. I kept track of them to see if a pattern or subject emerged. Many of these have dates on them – or at least the year – so I try to get any Holiday pins available if I’m at Disneyland for the holiday itself.

I would get other pins at garage sales, with offers from other Disney products and services, as gifts and a couple I found on the ground. One year, I found a pin in a shop that had a photo of Walt Disney. I decided to make these priority pick-ups. When I could find a pin with a Walt photo, that would be my souvenir for the trip.

At some point, I wanted to focus on attractions created in 1972, which mainly resulted in the purchase of pins celebrating the Main Street Electrical Parade. I downloaded and printed a guide from 1972, but I didn’t keep up with the collection. Then I tried the Haunted Mansion, but even that became so diverse that it was overwhelmingly expensive and expansive. I still like looking at those pins, but I can’t buy them all.

When ‘Frozen’ hit it big, I collected those pins. I love Olaf!

Looking at my spreadsheet (current in 2018), I should probably focus on collecting Disney pins with Mickey and Minnie. Those are pins where they are together. They appear on more of my pins than any other subject. The Holiday dates and Chip and Dale are in the second and third spot with Walt’s photos fourth in number. I have more pins not on the spreadsheet, so maybe I need to reevaluate. It’ll give me an opportunity to relive those memories.

This is part of our Disneycember coverage. Disneycember appears to have been coined by Doug Walker, the Nostalgia Critic, and Channel Awesome. Come back every day during December and read a new Disney article.

If you want to read more about Disney and creativity, check out “Disneyland Is Creativity” and “The Haunted Mansion Is Creativity.” Read more about the Disney Company in “Penguinate! The Disney Company.” Check out other Disney stories at www.penguinate.weebly.com.

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