Disney Star Wars Weekends 2013 Jabba the Hutt/Slave Leia Completer Pivot Pin (From Death Star Set)

Disney has been releasing commemorative pins for decades, so Disney pin collecting is a full-fledged hobby. In fact, I think you could probably make a very respectable collection of just Disney’s Star Wars-themed pins. They have released a couple of Jabba pins in the past: one with Jabba and Leia for Star Wars Weekends 2006, and one “Slime Magazine” pin from a collection of magazine-themed pins from 2011.

This one was released for Star Wars Weekends 2013, but turned out to be rather more difficult to get than I had expected. The problem was that they decided to make it a “completer” pin that is only available in certain sets. This wasn’t clear before Star Wars Weekends started, so a number of people on eBay had them up for preorder. But my order ended up being cancelled and I had no choice but to get it in a set. Since my choices were either this Death Star set  for $100 or a framed set that cost almost $400, I went with this one. The pin is limited to 700 pieces, 500 of which come in the Death Star set and 200 of which were available in the framed set.

The set comes in a fairly nice round box with a picture of the Death Star on the front. The 5 pins are arranged inside, with the Jabba/Leia one in the middle. The other four pins are available separately. (Click the pictures below for a closer view.)

These are “pivot” pins, which means that a different character will stick out of the side depending on which way you tilt it. They’re made entirely of metal, which gives them a nice high-end feel. You can see the construction below. They’re made of two metal plates that are joined at the bottom, with the moving character plate sandwiched in the middle.

I’m not too happy that this one ended up being so costly to acquire, but on the other hand it’s considerably more limited than the other pins, which makes it seem more special. I do wonder if anyone actually wears this kind of pin or if they’re entirely made for collecting and display (my hunch is the latter).