🆕 Never Post! Hunting for Trash in Disneyland

Contributing producer Rose Witmer and her sister Maggie explore the nature of collecting — specifically, collecting Disney branded enamel pins — in an age where social media dominates hobbies across the board, and clicking "purchase" is easier than hunting for something IRL. 

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Never Post’s producers are Audrey Evans, Georgia Hampton and The Mysterious Dr. Firstname Lastname. Our senior producer is Hans Buetow. Our executive producer is Jason Oberholtzer. The show’s host is Mike Rugnetta.

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Never Post is a production of Charts & Leisure and is distributed by Radiotopia

Friends, hello and welcome to Never Post, a podcast for and about the Internet. I'm your host Mike Rugnetta and we have a dogged show for you this week. Contributing producer Rose Whitmer and her sister Maggie take us around Disneyland as they search for a specific enamel pin, all while reflecting on the state of hobbies, especially those involving collecting at the time of peak social media. But first, we're gonna take a quick break. You're gonna listen to some ads unless you're on the member feed, and when we return, Rose, Maggie, and the search.

The Internet is for buying things. There. I said it. It's not about education or community or discovery or friendship or the collective search for truth. It's about stuff.

Digital, physical stuff. It's about subscriptions really principally at the moment it seems, including to Never Post, please. $4 a month. Okay. I'm joking.

The Internet is for a lot of things, including all the things that I just said it wasn't, but it can often feel, I think, when engaging with your interests online that you are always being funneled into a pattern where mainly what you are expected to be is customer. I feel at least like I am constantly swatting away the fly that is purchasing. This is even a major problem in some hobbies. Musicians have a name for it, gas or gear acquisition syndrome and it plagues Reddit, Instagram, message board communities the world wide web over. The push to buy to be nothing more than a tapping finger connected to a credit card is so strong that in the last couple weeks, attending an indie comics fair and then a tape fair, as in like cassette tapes, with my daughter and my wife, it has felt positively intoxicating to, I mean, buy things, but from people to just, talk about our hobbies, to say why we're interested in some such item or why we're not interested in something.

And I mean, sure, you know, you gotta get on the train, you gotta go somewhere, you gotta clear your schedule, you gotta rub elbows with other people, but hey, at least there are other people. That is in a way what this segment is about. Contributing producer Rose Whitmer and her sister Maggie know at all times that it would be possible to open up their phones and become customer at any moment via the internet. They could acquire exactly what they are looking for, but they choose instead to do the more difficult thing, to become person rubbing elbows with other people. Why?

Well, take a listen and find out.

Even if you're not involved yourself, you've probably seen the breakneck growth in the popularity of blind box collecting. This idea that you will pay good money for something collectible, only knowing options of what might be in there. You might know Labuboos, Hachipoopoo, Mofusan, Sunny Angel, Skullpanda, Monchichi, Lego minifigs, and other toys that have swept the collecting market in the last few years. Or you might know Pokemon or Magic the Gathering cards. Blind boxes even go back as far as baseball and other trading cards placed in packs of tobacco and chewing gum.

So not new. But there is a corner of the collecting world you probably aren't aware of. And at first, it isn't going to seem to have much to do with the Internet, but just bear with me.

Okay. We're here at Disneyland. It's 06:40PM. Sun's getting low. Nice golden hour over the park, and we're in Tomorrowland.

Tell us what we're gonna go check on, Maggie.

Right now, we are going to check on the shadow box trading that they have here in Disneyland.

Okay. So we're gonna go look over and see if they have a pin that you're looking for?

Yes. Right now, I am collecting the character trash can series. Okay. There's 16 total. I have 12.

Okay. So there's just four more characters that I need.

Okay. So let's walk over and see if she's got what you need.

I'm Rose, and this is my sister, Maggie. We're at Disneyland a lot. Some people, like my husband, might say we're here too much. But we live close by, and it helps that Maggie works here, so we get to go to Disneyland for free. She's part of the custodial team that works to realize Walt Disney's vision of a pristine and sparkling park for families to enjoy together, and she takes that very seriously.

Collecting these trash can pins allows her to show off the pride she takes in her work and the joy she gets from a job well done. We are fans enough to come often, but we know that the Disney experience is many things for many people. A once in a lifetime vacation with the whole family for some, and a casual evening at work for others. It's rides, it's shows, it's food, it's crowds, it's consumerism. And one tiny corner of that, that's an enormous piece of some people's lives, are Disney pins.

So what I'm gonna do now is across the way, there is a store that sells pins. So I have to buy a pack of that same pin set, pay for it, bring it over there, and open it in front of them.

Okay. So now we're coming into the store. We've just got, like, a giant wall of different kinds of pins in mylar bags. We can't actually see what specifically we're getting. There's also some cardboard boxes.

So we found yeah. Of course.

Pick a bag for me. Okay.

Think this top one. Way yeah. Way up there. Let's do that one. Okay.

A pin is generally a couple inches tall, relatively light but dense metal with a smooth spread of colorful enamel on top. They're fun to look at and even nicer to touch. You can find one for any and every Disney character you can think of, with some of the more popular characters boasting thousands of different designs to choose from. You can buy them directly from Disney at possibly every retail location in their theme parks. The one we're in now is exclusively devoted to pins and their adjacent accessories, lanyards, display boards, and anything else to show off your haul.

Thank you so much. Thank you.

Okay. So now we're gonna walk back across the street over towards Star Wars Launch Bay, and we're gonna go wait in line with about 20 other people that are also looking to trade

with the official Disney tin trader.

In the world of Disney pins, this method of blind boxes is branded as mystery boxes. For about $45, you buy up to five pins in an opaque package. You know the set it belongs to, but not which ones in the set you're going to get.

My hope is that in this bag are the pins that I need.

Okay. So what would that be?

So the four characters that I need to complete this are Pluto, Donald, Stitch, and r two d two.

Okay. So these are little pins that look like the front of a Disneyland trash can. Correct. But they're themed for different Disney characters. So the Mickey Mouse one has, like, three quarters of it in red with two little, white ovals on the front, like his

Like

his his shorts.

Yeah. Just, like, color blocking Mhmm. To give the essence of the character.

Mystery pins are a physical version of something we watch play out over and over and over and over on TikTok. Creators posting videos of themselves opening their purchases similar to a shopping haul, but with more suspense.

We found the new mystery pins of Disney characters as trash cans. There's 16 pins in the set. Which trash can is your favorite one?

Would the creator experience the joy of finally getting the one pin that they needed to complete the set, or would they have to face the disappointment of getting the same one from the last three times that they bought this collection?

Okay. So our next step, we're headed up to take a look.

There are shadow box frames on the table. They each hold a dozen or so pins. If Maggie gets a duplicate, she can trade for one of those. Maggie takes a breath and opens her bag.

Thought that was so good. You know, it's She's got stitch.

99. We've got Pluto. 99. We've got Donald's.

Three of the four she needs. The other two in the pack are duplicates, and she decides to swap one for an orange on the board.

Okay. Awesome. Thank you. Thank you so much.

Okay. So how do you feel coming out of that?

That's really good. I traded for that orange bird one because it is a more unique character. If I'm doing pins with other guests, then it might be a more desirable pin to trade for.

How was it?

What I'm really curious about here is, as Maggie hunts for that last pin in this set, how much does the method she uses to obtain it matter? How much does the thrill of the gamble increase the reward when she finally completes the set? So are would you say you're happy with,

the pack that you got?

Yeah. Absolutely. I now have three of the four that I need, so I just need one more pin to collect

that series. Okay. And what's the the last one?

The last one is gonna

be R2D2.

Okay.

Alright. We'll be on the lookout then. Yeah. So

now, Maggie is looking for one very specific pin. She has 15 of the 16 she needs to have every pin in the set. But for her, gambling on $45 packs and hoping to get lucky is not the way to find her last pin. Luckily, she has other options.

Okay. So right now, we're in Maggie's room. It looks like it's still recording. Okay. Okay.

So

When we get home, we sit down in front of her collection, which covers three cork boards on the wall of her room.

How many pins do you think you have?

I would say more than a 100, but less than 200.

She has 328 pins. This makes Maggie, as she puts it, a casual collector.

What would you say your preferred method of acquiring pins is? I prefer to just buy them outright. There could be a lot of different personalities with trying to do in person trading. If you look into, like, any pin community, they talk about, you know, the Frontierland traders in Disneyland and then the ones in Epcot. They can be kind of mean girls of of pin trading.

It's not all like that, but I'd rather just try my luck with buying in person. But then if I'm, like, kinda, like, down to the wire with something, like with the trash cans, I only have one left. I'll I'll look into doing an in person trade as opposed to buying the pin one off.

In a practical sense, the internet can give Maggie whatever she wants or needs. She could go straight to eBay or Amazon and search for exactly the pin she's looking for, paying the market price. She can and has joined any of the dozens of popular Facebook groups that help facilitate trades and sales of individual pins. There's even dedicated online retailers for pins, like the site Pink a la Mode, with hundreds of options available with the click of a button.

How do you feel about someone that goes online and buys the entire collection outright?

I'm totally fine with that. The problem is that the person that they're buying from is probably not giving them a fair price. So because you didn't have to go through the inconvenience of buying all the mystery sets, it's gonna be a pretty big markup.

So you're paying a lot for the convenience of getting precisely what you want when you want it. And when your collection grows into hundreds of pins like Maggie's has, that adds up to a heap of extra money with none of the friction that comes with interacting with another human face to face. That face to face would happen and feel much different if she were back in the park, where instead of buying a mystery pack, she could trade individual pins with any other guest, or with any cast member at a pin board. They are required to accept any trade for any pin legitimate or counterfeit.

Would you say there's like an emotional difference in buying it outright new, trading it with another guest, finding it on a pin board in the park.

The most exciting way that you can find a pin that you're looking for is finding it on a public Disney pin board because that is, like, pure luck. Because there could have been any variation of people that came in. If you came ten seconds later, someone else could have come up and put a fake pin on that board. But it's all, like, the right circumstance. It's a pin you want.

You can trade any pin you want for it, and it's just right there in front of you. That's the most exciting.

Once you start looking for them, you'll see these pin boards all over the park. They're usually about a foot tall, shaped like a Mickey head, and covered with soft velvet fabric. The perfect background for showing off a dozen or so pins ready for trading.

How do you think you'll go about getting that last pin to complete the collection?

I think I will try to do some one on one trading for that. Just because it's one pin, I don't really wanna have to buy another five pack of pins to try to get that one.

Okay. So now we are lining up to go through security. Alright. You're going in my bag. After

the break, we're back at the park.

Alright. We've been allowed entry.

Are a lot of people here.

There are a lot. The pin trading event is being held in a hedge circled picnic area just outside the front gates of Disneyland. There's dozens of tables and at least a 100 people. I hadn't anticipated how overwhelming this would be. But the vibes are friendly and energetic.

This feels more like a family reunion than strangers gathering to exchange trinkets. My sister Maggie and I make our way over to a table on the outskirts. We're directly under the monorail track. There are a bunch of people on either side of the table flipping through black binders loaded with pins. And when I say loaded, I mean loaded pages and pages and pages, each page filled with 10 to 30 pins available for trading.

Hi. Hi. Hi there.

We are immediately greeted by someone in a pumpkin Mickey shirt standing on the traitor side of the table. He has a bright smile, dark hair, and broad shoulders, and he tells us his name is Juan.

I am looking for one specific pin right now.

Okay. What is it?

It's the r two D two trash cans.

Oh, you haven't found that?

Juan is skeptical here because the main pin that Maggie is looking to trade isn't what most people would consider a grail pin. Grail pin as in holy grail, a pin of great value or rarity for them, the most coveted thing that they want. Maggie has grail pins, but today, she's looking for her r two d two trash can pin.

I have that's my last one, and these are my Normally? My duplicates.

I'm a go find a place.

Juan just leaves the table he's set up at and disappears into the crowd behind us to help two complete strangers find the pin they're looking for. In his absence, we look down at his collection on the table. He has Disney pins on offer, but next to them are some pins that he designed himself. These self designed fan art pins are called fantasy pins. And now that someone like Juan has access to cheap manufacturing, they're a huge influence on the online pin trading ecosystem, providing high quality custom creations that Disney would never dream of making.

Most official Disney pins are a couple inches tall, but Juan created some that are round pins as big as my palm with Guillermo del Toro characters Disneyfied and super cute. Another collection has Disney princes like Aladdin in leather fetish harnesses. They're gorgeous and feel like a love letter. It's a connective tissue between the parts of Disney that Juan loves to the parts of himself that Disney would never embrace. We're admiring his fantasy pins when

Girl, you're gone.

That's okay. No

luck.

I'm so sorry.

But it kind of doesn't matter. Juan was so kind to even wade into the crowd on our behalf. It was such a surprising and wonderful first encounter at the event. We ask him about his fantasy made pins. How would you say that compares

with some

of the pins we've been seeing on the public pin boards in the park that are kind of like Yeah.

Know that's

low quality buy

and

Yeah. Bulk Yeah.

Fake pins.

So fantasy pins and scrappers are very, very different beasts. Fantasy pins are pieces of art that someone's created for the intention of someone collecting them. Scrappers are second produced garbage that manufacturers will sell to anyone who will buy them. And scrappers are a huge issue with trading. And it's just like one of those things you see people drop a scrapper for an authentic pin, and it's just it hurts.

Yeah. You can go on eBay right now and buy yourself a pile of 50, quote, unquote, Disney pins for $30. But what you're buying is terrible enamel and cheap metal and definitely not pins actually produced by Disney. But if you're only considering the cost, the choice between 50¢ and $15 for each one is for some people easy. Since the only rule in the park to trade is one to one, Maggie estimates that 80% or more of the pins on the public boards around the park are scrappers.

But some people just starting out, especially kids, don't always know the difference.

It also hurts when you see a kid, like, get a lanyard purchase for them, and then they trade for a a scrapper. I've encountered, someone bought them, like, some mystery boxes. This was back in the day, and they were dropping them on boards for scrappers. And so what I did is I followed them. I picked up all the ones they dropped on the boards, and I went to their parents and them, and I was like, hey.

Listen. I I I get it, and it brings them joy with what they got. But let me tell you, like, the pins that you just purchased were worth $3,400, and you now have $6 worth of fake pins in your hand. So these are for you. Like, I want you to take them back.

And if you're wanting to trade them for something else, go ahead and do it again, but letting you know, like What's the everything that you just got is fake.

Juan stepping in here seems uniquely grounded in the in person version of pin trading. Online, there just isn't the mechanism to be able to monitor what people are trading. You're mostly on your own, but in person, you're part of a community with all the rules and norms that come with it, good or bad.

Yeah. I'll a drink with them already. Thank you.

Nice to

meet you guys.

Thank you, boss.

Good luck on your

Thank you. Just knocked my knees so hard.

We thank Juan for his help and with his well wishes, head back into the crowd. We can overhear the various discussions and trades happening all around us, and it keeps bringing me back to this question of value. Online, the price is usually the price. But here, the value of something is constantly shifting, and there's never any money exchanged. So someone might ask for three of your pins for one of their rare ones, but you might get a different deal at the next table over where someone else really needs the one you have to complete their set.

This is somewhat regulated by supply. Some pins are just rarer. But it also has a lot to do with demand, which you can see here in person very clearly. There are people everywhere. As soon as we start asking, it quickly becomes clear how much demand is influenced by social media.

Hey. Hi. Caitlin? Yes. Yes.

At a table on the edge of the event, we meet Caitlin, who has made pins for business, literally.

I'm a personal shopper, so I will pick up pins for people that don't live in the area, so they obviously can't come to Disney every Tuesday.

So she's here weekly to get a first chance at each new release.

I just moved here in July. So I've noticed it get busier and busier, like, each week. So I think as, like, PinTalk has been growing, so I think the the hype is there. Then I think resellers and people who have been in the business for a while have started to notice that more people are interested in it, so they're trying to go and get more. And then there's a lot of people that will hike the price up quite a bit online, and they're the ones that are usually there first thing in the morning.

I came to Disneyland today with one mission, and that is to trade pins.

Alright, pals.

I got

a duck update for you.

I got business to make here.

Do you

guys have a pin trading board here?

I now welcome you to Pin Talk. Because, of course, if there's a hobby, there's going to be a well of content about it.

Today, we're only trading for candy apple pins here at the Magic Kingdom. This set has been on my radar for such a long time. It came out in 2016 and there's a total of eight including the chaser. You know the drill. Our first goal is to complete an entire set and the second goal is to get as many as we can.

Let's get started. Come on.

Brand new to this niche? There's videos introducing you to the process, the lingos, and the hot tips.

Word on the street is there is a brand new mystery pin set, and it's six characters as slippers.

Been here a while? Learn all about the new drops and what you absolutely need to add to your collection.

Today, I'm starting a new pin collection.

You won't believe what we scored at

the Swap Me today.

Let's see what pins I got.

You'll learn the things you never knew, you never knew.

Let's make a mermaid out of Disney pins.

There's something for everyone and it's never ending.

Let's go spend a thousand dollars on some Disney pins at D 23.

I start hearing from so many people who are new to pin trading that short form content and specifically pin talk is what got them hooked, like Ash.

I ended up getting into pin trading because I got sick. So I was literally just scrolling through TikTok, and I kept getting, like, all these TikToks of people, like, pin trading, and I just got my annual pass. So I was like, well, this seems fun. It's like another activity I could do in the parks. And then I just joined a bunch

of Facebook groups and fell into the rabbit hole.

We start hearing this over and over. I got into pin collecting recently after seeing it on Pintok.

TikTok, I feel like, grew the community.

This is Alyssa, who among her many roles is a content creator on Pintok.

I mean, I feel like so many of the people even here are from TikTok. Yeah. Most definitely. That's how, yeah, that's how we ended up at this. Just like making friends with some of the gals who post pin videos on TikTok, and then they invited us to come out today.

So it's getting bigger. Yeah. Growing. It's growing. Yeah.

She owns Collect Random with her husband, Matt. But they aren't just making content about pins, they sell them too. Their eBay store has almost 20,000 pins for sale, and their live auctions have become a major gathering place for pin collectors to see what's new and climbing in popularity. Making short form content about pins seems like a no brainer for her.

I kind of initially did it because I thought it would be cute to, like, do like an ASMR thing because I was watching videos of people like doing slime videos and do where it's like the hands and they're like touching this thing and I was like watching these videos like and I'm like I can do this with pins. Yes. And I made one video and people were like, what is happening here?

Now you're overbooked for like 20.

Now I'm like, oh my god.

I have

a million videos on my draft. I can't do these. I can't edit these fast enough.

One reason I think short form content is so addicting is because short form experiences and memories make life exciting. It's hard to remember any details from the days at work that are all similar and the thousands of times doing laundry, but the excitement of novelty of short form interactions stands out clearly in our minds. With less effort and expense than having novel experiences ourselves, we can watch someone else do it online and get a similar hit. It's not hard to get mesmerized by the stories and adventures, the intricacies of the design, the tactile draw, the smooth, colorful enamel. I see how it would be hard to swipe past a pintalk video if it came up on my feed.

Pin training has existed long before the rise of short form content, but the increased popularity of both has been mutually beneficial. People find out about this hobby on TikTok and then are pushed to participate IRL. But also the experience of trading in person is perfectly suited to the type of experience someone chronically online might crave. Starting the moment you enter the park, it's a string of short semisocial interactions, small bursts of narrative one after another. It feels video feed like in its unfolding.

Maybe that's not on purpose, but judging by the amount of people we're meeting who came to this meetup from a video they saw and the nearly as many people who make Pintok content themselves, I'd say it's not a coincidence. While we're meeting all these folks, we're still trying to find r two d two. But everywhere we look, we're getting turned down.

Nope. No. No.

You guys

do not have that one. I don't think I have it today.

Oh, that's okay. That's okay. Yeah. You'll find it eventually.

But we haven't come this far completely empty handed. Maggie made a few trades she didn't expect. One, an anime style Snow White with big sparkly eyes, an exclusive from Hong Kong Disneyland. The other, a small purse shape styled to represent Sleeping Beauty, or Aurora for those who know. Both are from sets that she's casually collecting already and would have cost her 20 to $30 each had she bought them online.

We head over to a table right up against the massive hedges surrounding the alcove. Various people mill around chatting and flipping through even more black binders. Maggie jumps in.

Oh, do

you have any trash cans? I'm looking for R 2 D 2.

Oh, I had R

2 earlier.

And you traded it?

Hold on. I think I I know someone that does.

Hold on. Let me go. They here?

We really need to get her that one. Is that

After the break the

little thing.

Hey. Hello.

Our search continues.

Okay. That's someone here that's looking for it,

and they have some other trash cans. Shit. Okay.

I'm good.

Okay. Alright.

He's not being me.

No. No worries. I'm here. Okay. Cool.

I'll let him know.

My sister Maggie and I are still on the hunt for a tiny r two d two trash can. While we search through various traders' binders, we strike up a conversation with Ashley and Kat, both decked out in Disney gear. They found a whole other place to find pins I hadn't thought of, on the high seas.

So like for example, when we were in the cruise, there was the little, Chinese New Year's pin set. And me and my family were like buying boxes and there was a one pin that I had. And they got to a point where random people were around me, like, rooting for

me as you're opening to,

like, get it. Was it the Stitch? It was the Stitch. Mind you, Stitch is one of her favorite characters. Yeah.

And it was the last one. And to to the point where I was like, I can't keep spending money. So then, like, my brother was like, I'll buy you a box. My mom was like, I'll buy you a box.

Strangers are jumping in. Look at

her box. Middle of this cruise and everybody, including, like, the cast members there. And then when I pulled it, literally, when I tell everybody pulled out a

screen. Yes.

So that's

community right there.

For sure.

It was literally, like, like, as cheesy as the sound. It was, like, that moment that I was, like, I like this. And then it just kept going from there. Yeah. Literally.

This was so much fun to hear, and it put the pursuit of r two in a whole new light for me. The joy of it. And for some, the joy is in the risk.

They'll put, like, maybe a 100 to a 150, like, pins on the randomizer, and it's kind of like, you bet what you can't,

what you want

Yeah. And you bet you get what you get. Right.

Kat started a collection on a high risk randomized auction. The people betting have no idea what they're betting on. All they know is it's a verified authentic pin and not much else.

You can easily spend $50 and get a $10 PIN. Oh, really? But that's so I feel like it's very much for people that like to gamble, that's like the that's the show for them.

Maybe me.

That's the show for them.

Yeah. Yeah.

In Kat's case, she got lucky, extremely lucky. She made a random bid and won her $150 grail pin for $27. But, of course, not everyone wins, but everyone is entertained. Alright.

So Alright. So let's get let's get to it. You guys want a banger? And I'm trying to find another really really really really really really cool thing for you. Where is

she? Maggie

has shown me some of the QVC esque live streams from places like Gopin Pro and Pink a la Mode.

Come and get the seals and deals party people. Let's go with this. This is really cool. Oh my gosh. We got one of these new ones here.

Darth Vader, you open it up with the his Oh. Wow. Some Tylenol. You got your Arista Kitties vanity. You got Mickey in front of MGM Studios with the lion.

It is layered pen on pen sleeping beauty. This one's really cool. Midway Mania with Weezy and Bo Peep. Woo.

The Ariel Flower Girls. Come and get it, lovebugs.

We have Stitch as the Sorcerer's Apprentice. He's trying to get the brooms to cooperate.

Yes. Hey, Lady and the Tramp. Seventieth anniversary with Lady and the Tramp there. Alright. Twenty five years of pin trading limited edition.

Let's go baby.

A dizzying stream of hundreds of pins and thousands of dollars and reactions and comments. Some of it in the open auctions and some in randomized and mysterious gambles.

Janet, tell me three or four characters or movies you like so I can help you pick out like a

nice $100 pin, girl. Starting at $40.

40. $40, Star.

This one is 75. 75. It's a $130.

$8.50 up to a thousand. $1,500 pin.

Oh, run it. We got it. Not a problem.

Here we go. Here we go. There we go. 321. Run it.

All this seems a lot like gambling?

22. 32. We're all Kristen. Last

goes to Disney pen gal. Thank you for that.

Okay. A beautiful grab for Raven King. Congratulations. Didn't last long. Knew it wouldn't.

It was startling at first. It was one of the reasons I started initially exploring this world. But is it any surprise given how ubiquitous gambling has become in nearly every online space? It's hard to escape the encouragement to start betting in what we would consider traditional media too. But isn't this exactly the structure of Disney's own model?

In the gamble of mystery boxes direct from Disney, they are the house that always wins. This community seems to be finding ways to circumvent Disney so they can't always win. They use the Internet to find each other and make their own valuations while still scratching that itch we all have to be surprised and excited and engaged.

All good. Thank you, guys.

We say goodbye to Ashley and Kat and they wish us good luck on our quest. I am so reinvigorated by their joy and enthusiasm to help Maggie find R 2. But as we look around, we notice the crowd is thinning and the tables are slowly empty. I checked the time and realized the event has technically already ended. Let's see.

We decide to try one more table. One that has been incredibly busy, but we now see our opening. Hi.

Sorry to interrupt. Yeah. Hi. I am looking for the R 2 D 2 trash can. Give me two.

Oh my gosh. I feel like we just traded that to somebody.

Has small pins.

Has small pins.

Where is he?

Can you

see He's right

over there.

In the hat.

In the hat.

In hat. The gray hat.

Thank Yeah.

He brought it

from me.

Excuse us. Do you have the R 2 D 2 trash can?

Oh, I think she traded

it. Dang it. Traded it? All yellow. Good.

But just as we're about to pack up and head out somewhat defeated, we hear a voice behind us.

That's okay.

Is that the last one? We have one over here.

You have it?

No way. You

watch my

stuff. I'm leaving. I'm leaving. I'm leaving. I'm leaving.

I have to one more trade. It's on my last desk.

And Maggie, what did you just get? I found my r two d two trash can. How do you feel? It feels really good. I almost gave a I lost hope there for

a sec.

Yeah. So what did you trade to get the r two d two?

I traded another trash can, and they they liked another one of the trash cans I had. So we traded another pin and I got Mickey, Donald, and Goofy as Dapper Dans. And I kind of have a mini Dapper Dan collection. Okay. So I I have some to match.

Yeah. That's so cool. I feel really good about this. A successful pin trading event. Yeah.

We

got it. And we're exhausted. And now we have to make the long walk back from the front of Disneyland through Downtown Disney and out to the parking lot.

So how does that what we just went through, how does that feel compared to if you went online and bought that trash can?

Oh, it's a completely different experience. You know? It would just be, here's a username that has this pin. I would try to probably find one for like less shipping. It's probably closer to Orange County.

And then it would just come in the mail and that would be it. But like that fun of like talking with everyone and like the search of it was like, it feels more rewarding.

It did feel very rewarding. And I didn't even walk away with any pins for myself. It just felt good to be around people who care about something enough to gather in one place, navigate the social complexities and awkwardness that comes with talking to strangers, and delight in each other's primal joy of gathering little shiny things.

So it was a way for me to learn about stuff, about these little corners of the parks that I would never known about because I'm just rushing rushing to get to the next ride.

But as we walk and bask in the glow of community

We've got a very unhappy child behind us.

We're reminded that not everyone is so content.

I feel very bad, but so is the,

the, like, atmosphere of Disneyland.

You never know what you're gonna get.

It's a

lot of crying.

A lot of crying, a lot of arguing, a lot of passive aggressive. Well, if you took the kids off this, then I wouldn't have been able to get the food. And now she's having a meltdown because the mac and cheese isn't right. It's the happiest place on earth. Happy in quotations.

Why do you think people have such a hard time actually being happy here? Well, this can get to a whole philosophical debate. Please. We got a little bit to walk still. Are we ever truly happy?

I think a lot of people, after the lockdown of the pandemic, people were like, I need to feel happy. And for a lot of time, what did that was Disney. Going to Disney parks, buying Disney merchandise. But, like, that's just a a band aid over a bigger problem if you're actually unhappy. Obviously, this is a a very happy place for me too, but I can also compartmentalize

a

little bit. This is like a major corporation Right. That is manufacturing a lot of this. Yeah. So it is it is real, but it also isn't.

Yeah. So if you are truly unhappy, going to going to Disney isn't gonna fix why you're unhappy.

As tired as we are, there's no question this was worth it. I think how much differently this would have been if Maggie had just bought this last pin on eBay and called it a day. It's not really the friends we made along the way, but it's certainly more memorable than the one click buy could ever be. The internet is great at making our interests and hobbies more accessible. But if we want to participate in the best part of being human, and I think that's our interactions with others, we have to consciously choose to take it deeper.

Okay. As we walk back to the car, I think I'm gonna end it here. Okay.

Thanks, Maggie. Thanks. Thank you so much to my sister Maggie for welcoming me more deeply into her world. And thank you to everyone we met and talked with. We would love to hear from you about your collecting and how the Internet shapes it.

Have you started? Stopped? Let us know. All the ways to get ahold of us are in the show notes.

That is the show we have for you this week. We're gonna be back here in the main feed on or around Thursday, May 14. Did you know that capybara can sleep in water? They just keep their noses right above the surface while they snooze. Did you know that capybara teeth are always growing?

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