Disney Fan Events have included a lot of pin trading, a fan activity that has been around for quite a while. But the Stereo Geeks are brand new to the pin trading world. Until late last year, they only considered pins an incidental addition to their geeky collections.

But the social media algorithm spares no one. A few scrolls later and the Stereo Geeks found themselves searching for pins, and trading opportunities.

The first pin trading opportunity appeared at Toronto Comicon 2026. The con was set to have a meetup for pin traders but the event itself turned out to be a bit of a disaster. Hear more about that in our Comicon recap episode.

Ever since, Ron has been able to find Canada-based groups that actively share pins to sell and trade, as well as information about the pin trading world.

And so, Ron and Mon’s collection of pins has grown. But there was one major goal of joining the groups—a pin trading event for Toronto-based pin-thusiasts. 

Ron and Mon wanted to be organized for the pin trading event. They couldn’t get their hands on pin folios, the preferred choice for carrying pins for trading. So they planned to DIY their traders and managed to organize something. Not the best but better than nothing.

Ron also got advice on how to determine the price of the traders. While there are paid apps, the Stereo Geeks aren’t that involved in pin collecting to justify the cost. eBay is a source to find out pricing, as well. Thus, prices were found and noted in the hopes that trades would be like for like.

The day of the event was not great. Spring was changing to summer but it was raining cats and dogs, complemented by blustering breezes, and shockingly cold weather. It was deeply unpleasant.

Add to that, public transit had shut down part of the line. Which made an already 2-hour, multi-vehicle trip, even longer. Astoundingly, the journey from the event was even worse: wetter, breezier, colder, and with inconsiderate company. Sigh.

But after what felt like an age, Ron and Mon arrived in Scarborough for the Disney Fan Event, quite damp, and chilled, but ready to immerse themselves in pins.

And were there ever some pins! So many pins from every Disney fandom. Anybody with a love for princesses would go goggle-eyed at the array of treats.

For Ron and Mon, the primary goal was to get Star Wars and Marvel pins. Technically, both properties belong to Disney, so their merchandise also gets included among the Mickeys, Donalds, and princesses. It can be confusing and hilarious.

First stop was at a vendor who had contacted Ron about some A-Force pins. The whole exchange went very well and Mon found some other lovely pins from our fandoms.

While the main event at the Disney Fan Event were the pins, several vendors were selling other wares, as well. One person makes her own Mickey ears—and hers looked so colourful.

Another vendor paints and sells adorable bird houses. They were really cute. Mon had a chat with a vendor whose wife etches geeky designs into glassware. And yes, they’re still dishwasher safe.

Mon and Ron also stopped by a table selling cable ties and straw caps with cute characters on them. Some may have come home with us.

We also caught sight of plenty of resellers selling bags, plushies, toys, trading cards, and many other collectibles and fan merchandise. There’s something for everyone here—as long as you’re a fan of Disney, that is.

The plan really was to trade some of our meagre collection of trading pins to get pins we would have preferred. That part of the event did not work out at all. 

There was one vendor interested in a Belle pin we had. It appears Belle is an incredibly popular character! Unfortunately, the vendor, despite having a plethora of pins, had only one pin we were interested in.

There were a couple of children who had the same pin we were interested in and similar interest in our princess traders, though our Snow White.

Unfortunately, it became overwhelming trying to figure out how to trade our more expensive pin for a series of less expensive ones, especially since we only wanted the one. Then the children googled our pin and deemed it less worthy than their wares.

We gave up and decided to purchase the pin we wanted instead of trying to trade.

We made another attempt at trading later but it turns out our fellow trader already had our rare Belle pin. Alas.

Pin trading looks fun, and we’ve seen some great videos of people trading. But our fandoms in the Disney world are too narrow, and the traders we have currently are a mix of rare and common. We might need more practice to make this activity a success.

Despite the lack of pin trading, the event turned out to be extremely fun. The vendors were lovely and friendly, and there was plenty of chatting. The organizers have much to be proud of.

Below, Ron and Mon share their favourite finds from the Disney Fan Event.

I have to hand it to Mon for always being prepared. Since we’re so new to pin collecting, Mon suggested we do some research into pins of our fandoms and favourite characters so we knew what to look for. 

Our list was long and we knew we wouldn’t be able to find most of them. But it was a starting point and we now have a solid ISO (in search of) list that we can refer to. 

One of the pin sets that I had discovered online was an Eternals set, six pins of the 10 characters, within a box shaped like their ship, the Domo.

Now, for some reason, not many people liked The Eternals. We are not those people. It’s one of my favourite MCU films and I think about the characters, the story, the music, and the innovation Chloe Zhao brought almost daily. I love this film with a burning passion and will fight for it always. Listen to Mon and me gush about the film in our Eternals review episode. 

Unsurprisingly, since the film didn’t do well, there isn’t merchandise available. I added the pin set to our ISO list with no hope of ever finding it. A person can dream, though. 

So imagine my surprise, as we walked around the Disney pin event, browsing the amazing vendors, when the familiar shape of the Domo caught my eye. The vendor kindly let me know I could open it to take a look. Within, were my beloved characters in watercolour. Beautiful. The easiest purchase at the event and now a wonderful addition to our collectibles. We’ll be showing off this pin set on the Stereo Geeks Instagram page. So follow us to get a closer look.

As someone who is not all that invested in all this, I was much like a puppy following my person around. I had little idea of what the Disney Fan Event would really be like. It was, despite the cold weather outside, a warm and friendly space full of excitable folks looking to finally get their impossible finds. 

I was hoping to see beautiful things and find some of our wish list items. I got both. The amount of stuff on sale was mind-boggling, but they were also all gorgeous, be they handmade or from the workshops of the Big Mouse. It was a ton of fun just looking, and that was my favourite part of the event. 

But I was super-chuffed at bringing home a few FigPins. I love figure pins, and the size and quality of FigPins are particularly amazing. I didn’t think we’d find any, but I got a few X-Men characters, and most importantly, an Ahsoka Tano FigPin that I have been eyeing for a long time. That was certainly a find for me. We’ll share these finds on the Stereo Geeks Instagram account, so follow to keep an eye out.