Journey into Pin Collecting

 

I never expected to fall down this rabbit hole. 

After experiencing things that are normal to pin collectors in the community, I'm still learning. This glossary here is useful. If I never need help regarding designing pins, I refer to this to achieve the best I want.

While I spent over a thousand at this point, I considered myself still pretty decent. I think I gave up a lot of potential pins because I could live without them or put them off till later. 

Honestly, with the pin collecting, I’m getting to know myself as to what themes I subconsciously lean-to. 

I love Nuwa’s art but I wasn’t intending to get any Disney fantasy pins at all until I laid my eyes on the Evil Queen. It's too lovely not to have and now I’m building up a Disney Villain board with Nuwa Yzma being my first FTD preorder. I mean who wouldn’t get Yzma? 

I still like glittery diamonds enough. I still like light designs of my favorite designs in a particular series. 

However, I noticed I tend to pick the goth and dark designs even with the cute and girly designs is a theme even with the theme of characters representing darkness death, and destruction. 

My first Patreon reward was Nuwa Sakura for November. My second and third were Mamobot Dragonair and Califlair's new theme series that will be delivered in February. I refuse to leave those three pin clubs particularly not letting go of Califlair's pin rewards after seeing the two so far. My third was Califlair’s Angel & February reward. 

FTD Yzma is my first ever FTD preorder whereas my first ever Patreon discount was the three Fashion Gardevoirs I've wanted. I haven't exactly had a true Patreon early access preorder from Mamobot just yet. Moon Prism Project Saturn is my first Patreon exclusive preorder as all I seen from the series it’s all in the pin club shop. I don’t think it was ever in the public shop. 

Neuvi Tarot is my first PSS pin whereas the Childe PoP I refuse to give up is my second PSS pin, both preorders. 

My first-ever group presale is the Silvy Moonie Saturn and I need to buy it the moment it releases. I do not know how many spots are there but it’s probably 40-ish given the previous full presale; surprisingly only two so far managed to get full: Riftan and Saturn. I scored a spot as soon as I got the confirmation of the group formation and now awaiting the date. 

I have seen the Mercury presale and already taken off after the first day and probably all of the group members paid already. I have seen early access members paying by other means than this. 

As much as I will be in pin jail for that, as long as I don't spend way more than I'm expecting, I'm okay. Honestly, as long as Mamobot doesn't fail me now by releasing the Eeveelution Crossbreeds Wave 1 in February, then I'm fine. 

Thank god I mostly stick with Saturn and Moon, but the only sometimes is because there is so much that I would buy at one point. 

Getting access to pin clubs is like getting crack to be honest. Nuwa's FTD series and Mamobot releasing early access Patreon open preorders are so bad to me but I know when to pick and choose. I feel like I'm being forced to pick and choose the Eeveelution Crossbreeds but I have to get the ones I know I need as February will be the hardest obstacle to get over. 

Because I'm actually spending not that much by comparison to others, in fact, I think what I'm spending in February alone is comparable to one of my cousins spending on a Kickstarter bundle that included add-ons of specials, I'm only focusing on designs I wanted. Sure I follow over a hundred artists on Instagram, but I'm only focusing on what I can do right now. Heck, I haven't spent anything on Mamobot in January other than getting the monthly reward. 

I'm investing in Califlair as I plan to stay all year. I'm staying in Mamobot and Nuwa's Patreon for obvious reasons. I don't plan to join any Kickstarters even for any ita bag once I manage to scrouge enough to buy an ita bag for my liking. I only joined a DC Kickstarter once and I've fallen down the rabbit down to not join a Kickstarter at the moment. 

Even if the creators are now limiting the LE so as not to create any dead stock, creators are still upping their game all over the place. I have seen pin designs that are just so good and there are some I know I can't pass up comes the preorder date like Silvy Moonie Saturn that I refuse to let go. 

Sure there are some stray pins I'm eying like from PSS and if a design I really love pops up in Discord Instagram or Patreon, it's all up in the air. The only designs that I know I want are up on Mamobot 

And I was right. Mamobot threw my intended budget out the window with the release of Eeveelution Fusions Wave 1 and Moon Prism Project Saturn. I was just lucky I only spent 109 previously including the pin clubs I stayed in but Mamobot revealed the Jirachi one and I really like this reward.  

In February alone, I will wound up preordering two Saturns, one from Mamo and the other from Silvy. They are going to look great in my Saturn shrine anyway so no regrets. No regret buying Wave 1 either. 

I already have two boxes at this point with the Wave 1 plus Saturn and the other was six of Wave 2 Fashion Gardevoirs. I'm pretty sure my 212 order that comes with a freebie pin and a free Mamocard essentially brought up the total to 15 items in total all of which are two inches with one 2.85 with the card being a card so it has to be a Mamobox. 

The start of February and the tail end of January already have been one bad financial decision after another. But those are designs I don’t regret. I cannot regret the upcoming Childe PoP that I have been waiting a long time for. At this point, after February, I’m gonna stick with planned purchases. 

Though with Mamobot’s sets I’m eying, some surprises that would set me off to get the earliest and cheapest pricing I can get. The Saturns could be counted as impulse purchases but they are also planned ones as I told myself that I only want Moon Prism Project Saturn and that PoP. I told myself Saturn and maybe Moon and haven’t stepped out since. 

I prefer to get them at the early bird price rather than later. I’m still spending badly but less. 

Since my budget is way off now, I will see if the Dabihawks zine leftovers and Dark Miku will be released in February to budget for the reward and the other Saturn. Honestly, I also need to see Nuwa's March reward and her FTD release to be sure too. At least I'm gonna score the Childe PoP. 

Mamo and Nuwa usually do open preorders for an entire week with an early bird discount is what I will try to get even after work. PSS always did a 48-hour preorder period only extending if not getting preorders to justify production; she only recently did the IF series as a week-long to have more than one character per month. I hope to see Itto and Kazuha even Tomo. 

I also have to take into account future waves of the Eevee Fusions because I need to buy them as well as Wave 3 of Fashion Gardevoir. I already completed Moon Prism Project Saturn, I just need to focus on Pokemon for Mamobot. I can’t afford another Moon Prism Project when the Eevee Fusions are calling me; I promised myself Saturn and that's it on the Moon Prism maybe with the possibility of Moon/Serenity. 

Again, other than Mamobot and Nuwa, I’m looking at PSS and hopefully, Zupins, the latter of which I hope to open an OP for a design I really want. 

There might be stray designs that would come up that are going to be hard to pass up on my budget. Silvy Moonie Saturn ended up being that and Nuwa Yzma. 

I know PSS will be plenty hard on my budget and no less following over a hundred Instagram accounts when it pops up a design or an in-hand sale I've been wanting for a while. 

To save as much money as I can, I have to see what Mamobot aka the Dark Miku and Nuwa aka the FTD and the monthly reward have to offer as well as any news on the Dabihawks zine leftovers to get certain designs such as PSS' Zhongli while still retaining one paycheck for a design I joined a group for. Mamobot already threw me off budget. Though after the eyeliner weirdness on the finished IF one, I’m wary and now aimed for a Zupins OP. 

I want the Zhongli but have to give up the Jirachi and if Mamobot releases the Dark Miku in February, I would likely have to give up the Zhongli for the time being or even look forward to the in-hand release of it or find another Zhongli. Again, it all depends on so many factors at this rate that the only thing I know I can spend on is the Silvy Moonie Saturn and IF Childe PoP. I refuse to give up the Dabihawks pin and now a Wriolette pin. Those will do great on my OTP board. 

I can give up that Zhongli for Midnightmoon Zhonglis. If there is a Zhongli open preorder for Zupins, you bet I’m gonna buy it. I mean there's a new series supposedly with Kaeya open preorder in January, I don't know what is coming next now that I finally followed her at last. 

Push comes the shove, I have to sell some pins. I'm considering the freebies I don't like and impulse purchases. I'm only going to sell some of my personal collection if I'm gonna make something from it. I'm likely going to sell the Nuwa Cinderella and focus entirely on villains for Nuwa. 

I can just sell the Nuwa Link and Nuwa Cinderella next month or this month for some quick cash. Unfortunately, I have to sell them but it’s for funds and I can part with it. 

I didn't want to sell the Nuwa Link after seeing the sample but if I have to. 

I am cautious about Silvy now, especially after seeing the Sakura, Syaoran, Venus, and maybe Riftan. Pluto did turn out great as does previous turnouts like Luna and Serenity. The skin for Sakura and Syaoran turns out too dark and the coloring is off from the original art so it didn't translate the shadowing and bright lights as it should've done. As for Venus, the hair splays to the side whereas the flowers on the left are on two levels. 

I know pins are artistic interpretations of the original art and aren't one-to-one but at least try matching. The worst I saw was somehow just changing the colors outright and UV printing exclusively to the exclusion of everything that could be done to make look good. I have no idea what happened to that pin in particular because it's so changed and so disappointing that it didn't try to match. 

Mamobot is great with Pantone and his pastels always turn out great. 

All I know about Sakura is that when presale buyers in the group noticed the darker skin, it was too late to ask her to change it because she already put it into mass production at that point. What I can say in the end, the pins are pretty but overbaked or have slight inconsistencies that might detract if noticed just enough. 

They are still pretty pins but I just hope that she doesn't stray too far from the original art to match it in some way in her later pins. I have not seen a production sample of Mars yet.  

Her style of shadows and bright lights can work but not always so I hope Saturn turns out great. I know that she always uses effects to raise the price extremely that she and her business partner exclusively sell expensive pins. 

At least her other series are doing fine. 

Pin mails have been a pick-me-up treat. Finally receiving the first pin mail of February certainly makes me happy. I’m waiting for the Dragonair and Fashion Gardevoirs to arrive especially putting the Dragonairs side by side. In March, it’s the Nuwa Link and Califlair again. Unless the largest Mamobot preorder comes in late March, I’m happy. In April, there would be a lot of packages. 

Again, preorders and pin rewards. 

I don’t know about in hands yet but I hope I get the Dark Miku and Dabihawks pin. Those are priorities at the moment as in hands. Maybe the Wriolette pin but that’s not a priority. 

Future preorders would be Eevee Fusions Wave 2 and 3 complete sets (since there are 9 in total, there’s gonna be three waves about 185 at early bird pricing so two more to go) and Fashion Gardevoir Wave 3 some pins (I must get Mew and Florges). It’s very rare for me to want to have the whole set and the Eevee Fusions put me over the edge because every design is too good not to have. 

I knew one of these days I would be spending close to 200 or just a little 200 on Mamobot as I will use the discount codes when I can if only to save money. 

I really like freebie stickers. It's either of the designs I didn't like enough to get as pins like the two Fashion Gardevoir stickers I have of the original and the Butterfree design. I actually like the Butterfree sticker well enough but does it ignite a feeling of FOMO? Just a little but not enough especially in the month I'm prioritizing certain pins. I've seen the pins I didn't buy in better lighting and it looks good but not enough for me to buy it and keep it for life. To be honest, I'd rather get the Sylveon Fusion with Beautifly rather than the Butterfree Gardevoir. At least that would fit in nicely with the Goth Pokemon board I'm basically designing. I tend to be drawn to the relatively dark designs of Mamo's art because it's for my inner Goth lolita soul hence the Dark type Miku. With some exceptions, I'd prefer some Shiny designs over the original. 

Even if the Dark Miku isn’t going to be released in February, I still have to go and basically practice for its eventual drop so I can grab and go but without buying the practice item. 

Pokemon will always be my biggest collection by far. Again, Mamobot is piling that up. 

I haven’t collected CCS and other magical girls in a while. I’m considering MonocacyBottomPins’ upcoming Syaoran or Tomoyo whereas I bought two Saturns in one month. However, there’s Meg I’m looking forward to. I am keeping my Disney collection as small as I can with Nuwa, Mamobot, and maybe some extras. I’m hoping that Nuwa doesn’t release an FTD I want in February because for Mamobot, I am focusing exclusively on the Dark Miku for in-hand drop whereas focusing on preordering for the ones I wanted even if again it would set me back 185. I haven’t heard anything about the Dabihawks leftovers as the last round of shipping batches has yet to be announced nor have the leftover sales been announced; all I know is they were shorted an item. In fact, I have no idea which item was shorted and there is still no news of delivery batches sent of the remaining packages. 

My Digimon and shounen collection is so tiny. Disney is only inching just as much as Sailor Moon through Saturns and whatever comes up. I'm keeping an eye out for any interesting Saturn/Hotaru Tomoe designs that might come up from reliable pin makers. I love Saturn's OG costume though so I kept an eye out for that too. 

My love for magical girls is mighty but I haven't decided on any CCS lately, only Saturns. Pokemon is my priority more so than anything interesting that might be up for Nuwa's FTD series. If it’s like Jasmine a design I can live without, I can skip. If not, we shall see. If it’s Alice, I’m in trouble because she can do youthful characters. I preordered Yzma so quick as it’s the quickest I did for Nuwa notwithstanding the drops for Mamobot because I will be fighting. I can’t be cart swiped for the Dark Miku. 

Like I collect and love Moulin Rouge, but I don’t collect all Disney crossover with it. I prefer to see Satine and Christian than having characters in those roles.

Thankfully I'm not trying to collect that much Disney, only the designs that interest me though I would love a Yzma from Mamobot. 

Honestly, it helps that I'm already picky so I usually just pick up designs I actually want to keep forever. I aim for preorders from very reliable pin makers who fulfill orders and preorders in an orderly manner. Honestly, Mamo and Nuwa are like machines more Mamo as his customers get preorders earlier, and if something is late, he’ll let us know as it took nearly two months for me to get the Dragonair. Even then, getting the rewards is still timely as we can get it the month of or within one to two months. 

Califlair is also reliable because her pins are tiny and single-layer unless they are on the bigger side. Unless something comes up, she gives news in the newsletter. 

The drama with Different Distractions with Jessica admitting to it was just awful, especially with the rumors against reliable pin makers or those who make so many orders in a month but barely show the manufacturing process. 

In fact, one creator I’m following had a lot of uploads on pins that people haven’t seen yet on the updates. The only thing missing is the Mars pin. 

I don’t follow scammers or those that take years. Unlike Hederahelix who has artisan pins made, they are always on time and never ever take as much time as Man on the Moon or Nyxxi. I would like a HederaHelix pin one day but I feel justifying one hundred for a pin is too much for me. Still, if I somehow scored a preorder because I can trust them, others I feel I can’t lest it falls through as one case I saw where it took a year to refund. Hederahelix can take up to two years for their most complicated pins but will give updates. 

My rule of thumb is to affordable as long as I'm willing and able to be selective for creators. At the moment, I'm a dedicated customer of Mamobot foremost with Nuwa closely behind. I cannot afford Califlair unless I spend a bulk on her once a year so it's best for my budget that I stay in her pin club. 

Most designs I do want are concentrated on Mamobot with some stray designs that are often out there.

I prefer to stay in Mamobot and Nuwa's pin clubs for the foreseeable future as they are often the most affordable and accessible. The open preorders they do are like heaven for a newbie like me. 

Honestly, thank god I'm not a massive Sailor Moon and Disney collector. I never bought from Different Distractions and thank my lucky star I did not when I have been eying others within my budget. I didn’t have any thought of buying from Silvy and Lavender until I saw Saturn. 

Seriously, again Saturn especially if it's a design or a line that I would've like such as Mamobot's Moon Prism Project that is Patreon pin club exclusive then I have to get it. I have zero clues about Mamobot if he's going to release the second wave of the Eevee fusions next month because late March at the very least will be the preorders sent out for Wave 1. 

I know that Sailor Moon, Disney, and Pokemon are enough to create a whole category for pin/sticker clubs. Silvy has a whole Moonie Club while Poroful has Pokemon Food tier club as examples. Noddiart has SM and Disney categories as well as Ghibli is another example of a dedicated fandom club. 

If you really like the artist and you really like the characters of a particular fandom in their style, then go for it. 

Though considering some pin club tiers sometimes have limited spots so there will be spots to essentially fight for. 

Of the creators I'm currently buying, Mamobot and Nuwa are basically crack for a newbie. Again, relatively affordable if you can be selective. I can't afford to stay out of planned purchases now. Nuwa creates great designs so I would like to set aside money for them but it depends on the design. Yzma won over my heart less so her Jasmine Red. I love Yzma so I have to get her never mind that Nuwa drew her absolutely gorgeous. Her art on Alice is nice but no dice in keeping it forever. I can see myself keeping the Evil Queen, Vanessa, and Yzma forever. Yzma has the honor of being my fastest FTD and in general pin preorder yet. To be fair, getting the Moulin Rouge pins was fairly fast too as I want to keep those forever. 

As for ita bags, I’m even more pickier. It was only recently I wanted an ita bag and it was a Mehrak ita bag too. My Genshin pins which are still in the production phase are limited to three. I love Kaveh and it should be appropriate that I should get another Kaveh pin. My first Genshin preorder was Kaveh amusingly so it’s fitting my first ita bag is Kaveh-themed even if it’s gonna be a Genshin bag in the end due to my pickiness even with my OTP pins. Getting Velkia pins is a must and obviously go great with the bag. Now the pins turn three to five with the Velkia pins that I have to get both of. My second Kaveh and first Al-Haitham. I haven’t gotten a Zhongli yet! I don’t know if that’s comical or just haven’t found the right one. 

I still haven’t done up my goth Pokemon board mostly because I don’t have the centerpieces and lots of others. They are Mamobot-only designs. For example, my much-needed Dark Miku and the darker colored Eevee Fusions (Sylveon fusion with Beautifly for example is such a need especially would look great on the goth Pokemon board). I can't build a board just yet without those and their specs. 

The Disney board is what I'm trying to keep relatively small. I have no clue why I had a Disney Villain board even when the Evil Queen started out that Disney collection. Still have no clue how to go about that especially when I don't know if Nuwa is gonna release more designs I like. Yzma was the last FTD I liked so I hope to see more. Again, I'm not planning too big a Disney collection. It was Nuwa who kicked it off. 

As always, there are artists commissioned or otherwise who won’t do certain fandom stuff. David J Brunson, an exclusive artist for the Pin Hut and Pinchantress, refused to do anime after only doing 2 Demon Slayer designs for the former, as he considered the medium perverted; what to note was his outburst to someone asking about them was unwarranted and really shouldn't be said to make anyone feel unsafe in the community so Pin Hut and Brunson apologized in a post acknowledging he knows nothing about anime with the latter taking down the story itself. He took time off after that to reevaluate himself and from what I saw, he doesn't have many stories other than previews of his art. Penguchan refused to do any Hazbin Hotel designs as she dislikes the show. 

Just because they are well-respected artists in the pin community does not mean they will get on every trend or like everything. There are other fish in the sea. 

However, as anime is very popular as well as any current hot topic fandom that arises from anything popular, there are other fish in the sea. If you want detailed hot waifus and husbandos, you can look elsewhere. Heck, some shops have NSFW artwork for pins. 

Just a heads up and really a sensible thing though these artists have to say that. Anyhow, Mr Brunson is the permanent artist for two people so his commissions are coming in great for his profits as he’s primarily a Disney fantasy pin seller. 

I still have no clue why I got myself into an expensive hobby. Combined with ita bag/display case/shadowbox, my spending on pins is considerably less than others. I would know considering the pin discord server I’m in prominently, it doesn’t even scratch the surface. My big money spenders usually goes to four people now: Mamobot, Nuwa, PSS, and MintyxPins now that I joined her HSR club. 

There are designs I simply cannot leave thus it had planned even before my bank account is treading closer below the needed amount that I would have to pay a waiver. 

Sure, there are pin makers I follow so I can get varied art of characters. Been eying a couple Genshin pins from Putorblue. If anything, those threw me off. 

Like Genshin, I’m trying to narrow down characters I like. For Genshin, it’s Kaveh, Childe, Neuvilette, Zhongli, and a little bit of Alhaitham and misc characters. Yeah, female characters in Genshin have potential but it’s really hard to when I’ve been burned too many times by it even when these ladies can be well-written at times. After Signora, I'm just waiting for Arlecchino to get me the bad crazy villain with potential that can be fulfilled. After Raiden Shogun, I felt too burned to get future Archons including Furina and Nahida which didn't convince me enough to collect them. Genshin, can I get my evil villains or morally ambiguous women like Ruan Mei or Sparkle, I'm begging? I don't want waifus, just my villains. 

For Honkai, it’s Aventurine, Dan Heng, Dan Feng, Blade/Yingxing, and a bit of Dr. Ratio and maybe Firefly and Acheron. Again, the ladies can be well-written but it’s just hard after being burned by Genshin’s writing of women and unwillingness to take potential. 

Hunk designs I’m not drawn to since hunks aren’t my preferred type. Any Haitham and Ratio pins are under that many hoops for me to consider. I think what got me was Ratio’s weirdo and fan service combo whereas Alhaitham as a foil got me. 

Choosing to collect ORV after getting the Dabihawks pin is for my sanity. ORV became one of my favorite pieces of literature ever. It’s just best for my sanity and wallet I get it after I get my only MHA pin. 

I'm already planning to collect lots of Honkai pins after all. I'm not collecting Boothill in the same way as I will not be collecting Itto. Genshin has a whole lot of likable characters but I'm going to specifically aim to collect only characters I know I'll keep forever. I'm just hoping to see more Ratio and 

Getting pins of one of my fave books of all time is a thing I need to have because I don't know if ORV is going to get the MXTX treatment with the books translated. The webtoon is made into comic books that you can buy and translate so I would take what I can get.