Please be aware that there may be slight variations between pins. I handle my pins in a grading system where if I hold my pin from an arms length and do not see any imperfections, then it is considered standard grade.
Most of pin-making is done completely by hand and not done through a machine! Each color is hand-filled by those working in the factories - colors swirled, glitter mixed in, hand-polished, and each color is carefully screenprinted, and such. There's a common misconception about how much of pin making is automated or done through a machine when that is not the case at all! When I was first making my first batch of enamel pins in September 2024 I did a lot of research and watched a lot of videos and was surprised to see how much of the process was done completely by hand, including hand-filling each of those colors through a small pipe, swirling colors if needed, and screen-printing different colors one by one. I was astonished and really impressed and appreciative of what goes into enamel pin making.
Enamel pins are probably the most labor intensive of my merchandise (including my plushies) and while I aim to bring the best products to my customers, I cannot go through the physical labor to judge pins too closely nor do I want to encourage scrutinizing my factories who are doing so much work on hand-making my pins for my audience to enjoy. So please be aware that I do not offer my pins at a "collector's grade". There are standard grade pins and "seconds" pins if available. While I understand and always, always try to have the best product and quality for my customers, I try to make the pin grading process fair for all parties.
Standard grade pins may exhibit small minor imperfections as follows:
♥ Small or tiny specks or bubbles in enamel / paint areas
♥ Slightly varying or uneven fills
♥ Small misaligning with screen printing
♥ Small knicks or bumps on metal shapes
Second grade pins may exhibit in some defects:
♥ Noticeable/deep scratches or misfilling or missing of enamel filling.
♥ Noticeable smudging on different colors.
♥ Incorrect colors or lack of screenprinting.
Some items such as my mochi-mochi pins are always going to be mixed grade.
Please be aware that you CANNOT CHOOSE WHAT SECOND GRADE PINS YOU WANT. They are packaged and shipped as is. I do not allow customers to choose which of the "seconds" pins to purchase.
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What are Mochi-Mochi pins?
>> Mochi-Mochi pins are what I call my dyed soft enamel pins. They feature a metallic pin that is dipped into paint, dried, and then have areas either recessed and/or screenprinted features to create a cute borderless pin that has all of the same charms and strength of a metallic pin. They look like candy and squishy desserts, so I named them after mochi, my cat.
Are any of these pins going to be restocked or are they limited edition?
>> I think that I don't announce what is going to be a limited edition pin because the truth of the matter is that I don't actually know how well an item will sell. If an item sells out and has a higher demand, I generally try to make more of it to meet demands. However, I generally order 50 of each pin design to test the waters. If an item moves exceptionally slow (taking several months or even years to sell out) I will not make more just because the minimum quantity to order these are so high and I have a LOT of products but not a lot of space.
Do you produce variants of the same pin? (Different metal variant of XYZ)
>> I might! But keep in mind that as I don't have a large following for enamel pins, it's hard for me to say that I might make or what I might not make. Maybe in the future when I get a larger enamel pin base, any of these policies or practices may change.