Collector Stories

I started with the Dapper project NBA Top Shot and was hooked instantly. When Dapper came out with Disney Pinnacle I knew I had to jump in. The pins scratched an itch for me. The collectible is amazing—I have a special spot in my heart for Digital Display and Silver Sparkle Variant. As a Canadian I can’t get to the parks easily to pin trade and be connected in that community. But with Pinnacle I can always be a part of that community and trade 24/7 with anybody in the world. The connectivity of the product is everything to me.

I also love collecting sets of movies I grew up watching. For example, Cars is my favourite set. I love it because my dad and I watched that movie a million times when I was a kid. Like the majority of Pinnacle collectors, your childhood favourite movies typically hold a dear spot in your heart and make you want to collect them.

Within the Dapper community I’ve had opportunities to meet so many different collectors virtually and in real life. This summer led me out to California for D23 as an ambassador! The D23 weekend was unreal—meeting collectors, introducing people to the product, and sharing the love of digital collectibles is everything. I stood there in California thinking “how is this real life.” I love sharing my collectibles with people, so having such great energy and being asked “when will we see these in the parks” had me feeling bullish. Speaking of parks, my first experience at Disney ever was with 2 Disney Pinnacle collectors—shoutout MagicPinCollect and FairyPinMother! Most people will say they went to Disney for the first time with family or friends, but my experience is extra special because I met up with my internet friends, people who I wouldn’t know existed if we didn’t love the same thing.Where am I going with all this? I love the collectible, but I love the community more. Completing sets, making pinbooks, and trading is fun and amazing, but going to Disneyland with people from the space is even more special. I guess what I’m trying to say is that no matter the value of my pins, you can’t put a price on friendship and opportunities. Without Disney Pinnacle my life would be very different today, and I can't wait to see what the future holds.

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Why do I hoard Judy Hopps pins? No, m_hazy does not own a Judy Hopps costume, so it's not that. I saw Zootopia at El Capitan Theater in Hollywood when it came out. I and had low expectations, but it became a favorite movie of mine. I even dressed as Nick Wilde at D23 one year and got to meet a couple of the animators where they signed a print for me. I've been collecting Zoootpia ever since, especially my favorite character, Judy Hopps.

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Sorta accidentally fell into it, after a few weeks buying drops here and there, I got more and more involved. Made some great friends, enjoy trading immensely, and I love seeing the progression of the pin designs.

We have a great community with very helpful, skilled people in every aspect. In Walt's on words "You can design and create, and build the most wonderful place in the world. But it takes people to make the dream a reality."

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I stumbled on this all by accident. I think I had an email from NBAid saying I had a free claim from TopShot that I musta opened but didn’t think much else of it at the time. Because they’re both Dapper, I got the email for the free Luke capsule for Star Wars Celebration 2025. I remember the couple times that I’ve been lucky enough to go to Disney that the pin trading was one of the most fun parts of my trips. AND at the time it happened to coincide with a trade event weekend back when we only had sometimes trading and MP. I was hooked, for a while I was just learning but once I found a groove I did some serious grinding for any Jar Jar I could snag. I think I started with serial #284 and I’ve traded it all the way up to #8 now. Then my second grind came when I realized I had accidentally gotten a number of the hardest to find SS, and since those were in reasonable supply for a low level collector like me, I went for that next. So far, I’ve been lucky enough with everyone’s help to stay at that Master Set! Now, I spend my days waiting for the next SS drop and next trade event where my goal is always trade with as many people as possible to provide them the best opportunity for rewards. You never know what might be the thing that gets the next person hooked is. A freebie got me, a reward set could do it too.

I’m CynicdarK, and I’ve been part of Disney Pinnacle since September 2024. I got into the program pretty early, and what started as just collecting some cool Disney pins quickly turned into something much bigger.

I built a pretty substantial collection during my first run, but in the summer of 2025 I decided to sell the entire thing and step away. Apparently I wasn’t very good at the “stepping away” part. 😂 By August/September, I was already getting pulled back in, and since then I’ve gone all-in on rebuilding.

Today, my collection has grown to over 10,000 pins, including 124 completed sets, 233 Chasers, 195 Rarity Hunters, seven Legendary pins, seven perfect serials, and three #1 serials. I’ve always enjoyed the chase—whether it’s completing a set, finding a low serial, landing a DD, or tracking down that one pin I’ve been looking for.

But the biggest reason Pinnacle has kept me around is the community. I enjoy the trading, collecting, talking about new drops, watching different sets become favorites, and getting to know other people who are just as into this weird little digital pin world as I am.

I’ve collected, traded, sold everything, left the hobby, came back, and somehow ended up with 10,000+ pins.

At this point, I think it’s safe to say I’m here to stay.

— CynicdarK