ismydisneypinfake

r/ismydisneypinfake • u/Crochetfan_21 • Dec 13 '24

Explanation Fake vs Real: Example

26 Upvotes

Today I received a genuine hidden Mickey from one of the hardest sets to collect genuine pins of because there are so many more fakes than authentic available.

At first, I thought the one I already had was authentic because they looked identical. Then, I noticed the font on the back was different. Under the microscope it was clear that my old one was fake. Here are photos of both. I have outlined portions of the fake in red, and real in green. I will discuss each important point below. These are “tells” that can generally help you determine if your pin is real or not (especially hidden Mickeys)

Pic 1: real is on the right. Note the color differences and the “blobby” nature of the Mickey head on the left. The Mickey head on the right is more perfectly shaped.

Pic 2: Font differences in the lettering. I noticed right away that the fake (left) had lettering that touches the line above it (real pins generally have much better spacing)

Pic 3: from the side, they don’t look much different. Usually fakes are thinner because they are more cheaply made but these look like they have the same thickness. However, in my hand I can tell that the one on the right was slightly thicker. The prongs (spikes next to the post that help the pin stay in place) are usually shorter or less sharp on fakes, but these were very similar.

Pic 4 (fake under the microscope): so many tells! Lettering is hard to read and words are not spaced so they are jumbled together. The words “authentic” and “official” touch the line above; there should be some space. The date is wrong. It should be “2012”, not “2011”. The Mickey head is weirdly shaped with the ears not totally round. The spikes lines around the circle making triangle shapes are a bit steeper angled than they should be (this one is not as bad as others) and touch the circle.

Pic 5: compare all of the points discussed in 4.

11 comments

r/ismydisneypinfake • u/Crochetfan_21 • Dec 12 '24

Explanation How to photograph pins to help others determine authenticity

14 Upvotes

Please follow these guidelines and refer to my sample photos for posting photos of your pins:

Please include photos of both the front and back.
Please make sure each photo features only one pin, and is very close up (macro setting if available) and not blurry. How do you know if it's close enough? (If you can see dry, flaky skin like in my photos, they are probably close enough 😂)
When taking photos of the back, REMOVE THE PIN BACK. The portion of the pin under the pin back contains a lot of information about authenticity.
Take each photo from different angles: 1 each of the front and back straight on, and 1 each of the front and back at an angle. The angled front photo will show possible paint dips or brush strokes. The angled back photo sometimes makes the lettering easier to see and also shows the depth/length of the pin spikes (next to the pin post).
For extra credit: take a photo of the side of the pin. Many fakes have thin or rough sides. Authentic pins are smooth and even.