My D23 Pin Experience
Friday:
Got backup group for MOG #23 and was pretty excited since I felt this meant I did have a shot at some pins. I assumed there were 15 spots per BG (I think I heard someone mention around that number for the 2024 expo) and with each spot +1s that meant there could have been 660 (15 X 22 x 2) people purchasing before me. I figured there could potentially be some pins left at that point ONLY because a lot of the MOG pins were more expensive than usual so maybe some people wouldn’t be buying one of everything; POVs and Dining with Character “plates” were $80 each.
I wasn’t hovering near the store entrance but as soon as my BG was called I was in line fairly quickly but still had to wait 45 minutes to get in to actually shop. In line everybody seemed to have a plus 1. I did not try for a plus one for a couple of reasons, I wanted to give the opportunity for somebody else to be able to get a spot and I wasn’t sure if the person I was attending the expo with would be there in time to be my plus one. I wasn’t interested in selling a plus one spot to the highest bidder/reseller because I just didn’t feel that's fair to others who genuinely want the pins for themselves or to use for trade. When I got in line at MOG, I noticed several big name resellers. I was surprised, but also not, at this because earlier in the day these same resellers had lamented on IG they did not get spots and were looking for plus 1 opportunities.
While in line it was clear other people knew each other in line because the people behind me were asking the people in the “shopping” area what was still available at that point.
I was able to get a decent amount of pins. None that will probably go into my personal collection. But I figured if I got the opportunity to buy pins at retail, I should buy what I could for trade purposes.
I would say I was a little disheartened after the experience only because it did take up a lot of time and energy throughout the day. For reference BG 23 was called back at 2:51PM when it seemed like it would have been called much earlier based on how groups 15-20 had been called.
Saturday:
Woke up at 5:55am and tried for WDCS and got BG 67 (I think) and I knew there was no way I was getting in with that number. And I was right since later in the afternoon I think they were calling BGs in the 20s (I could be wrong) and then I got a push notification saying the store was ending groups for the day.
Sunday:
I didn’t even try. I didn’t want to. Honestly it was one of the best decisions I made of the weekend. And after reading all the comments of how things went down on Sunday and possibly the other days, I’m glad to have skipped out. I was able to get a bit more uninterrupted rest and did a full day of expo activities. When I walked by the stores and the pin trading area, the energy just seemed so tense and stressful, I was glad not to be around that.
Changes I'd make:
As most everybody else is saying for future expos, absolutely get rid of the plus one situation. One thing I think they could try to implement is instead of an RSP which I know many people want, is instead of giving everybody the opportunity to buy every pin released for the day, split up the release throughout the day. For example, if there’s three sets being released for the day have a different VQ drop for each. That way more people can get pins. And you can only get one BG per day across all three pin stores. There were people in the MOG line with me who I saw on IG had also been either in the DEC line or DSSH line earlier in the day. So the easy fix for that would be you get your badge scanned similarly to how its scanned at every other activation at the expo and if you've already scanned in, you can't get more pins but that could also require a bit more coordination between badges and VQ's accounts.
So say there’s a drop at 6am for Set #1 of Princesses, then drop at 11am for Set #2 of Villains and last drop at 3pm for Set #3 of Cats and Dogs. This would probably require a bigger footprint for each store but at least this way more people could get pins and then in theory actually trade more. Because say I get Set #1 of Princesses and somebody else gets Set #3 of Cats and Dogs, then in theory we can actually trade pins if I need a Marie pin and they want a Moana pin.
Each set drop for a potential LE 400 has 400 spots available, 20 BGs of 20 people. Maybe not all 400 people buy every pin from the set, then those pins get saved for a standby situation at the end of the day. Just a bit of wishful thinking. But I’m very glad I didn't let pins ruin my D23 experience. I loved most everything we did and at the end of the day, they are just pieces of metal. Just wanted to share my experience!