By “You and me, we’re in a club now” – Ellie Fredricksen
The Grape Soda pin, as seen in Pixar’s Up, is a memento we see only briefly in the film but stays very close to our hearts. We first see it when Ellie gives it to Carl when she accepts him into her exclusive club and again when Carl awards Russel the Ellie badge, which is the highest honour Carl can bestow.
This Grape Soda pin replica was created for the Disney Store and released in 2021. The pin is approximately 5cm in height and 3cm in width. It is made from zinc alloy. The pin cost £9.00 however at the time of this post, I can see the cost dropped down to £6.30 on the Disney Store website. Unfortunately at the time of this post, the pin is not available for purchase from the Disney Store website.
The Pin
The pin is of the Grape Soda bottle cap and safety pin as seen in the film. The design on the bottle cap is the Grape Soda logo screen art. It also comes with the Mickey icon pinback.
First things first, please be aware the safety pin is flat and is not a functional safety pin. It is purely decorative. The Disney Store website also states that the pin is a 3D bottle cap. Whilst the bottle cap is a couple millimetres thick and has bumped edges, I would not classify the bottle cap as “3D”. It is a very flat pin and certainly a lot flatter than I thought it would be when I purchased it online. I was perfectly happy with a non-functional safety pin but when I read the words “3D bottlecap”, I assumed the pin would be a lot thicker and in the shape of an actual bottle cap.
I must admit, I was quite disappointed to see how flat the pin is when it arrived. The design of the pin is very nice and looks movie accurate, but I would not say it is movie accurate. Unfortunately, it is not 3D or in the shape of an actual bottle cap. However, as a pin only and not a replica, it is a nice pin.
Packaging
The packing is very sweet. The pin is on a piece of card that looks like a vintage postcard. The card is approximately 16cm in height and 11cm in width. There is a red, white, and blue airmail border and inside there is an image of a young Ellie and Carl about the shake hands. The image captures the moment where Ellie welcomes Carl into her exclusive club and the quote “You and me, we’re in a club now” is written underneath the pin. There are also two banner flag shaped boxes labelled “to” and “from” so you can gift this pin to someone special as if it were a postcard. On the back, there is also an “Official Pin Trading 2021” logo in the top right hand corner.
Geekkie Opinion
Although I am a little disappointed with this pin, it is a lovely pin and the packing is lovely as well. I do not think it is a bad product.
The frustrating part for me is that I feel the pin is not as advertised. The Disney Store website clearly refers to the pin as a replica and states that it is a 3D bottle cap. I do not feel it is either of these things. On the other hand, it is a great pin for pin collectors. It is also a great display piece, particularly with the packaging, even though it is not an accurate replica. Upon further searching, I have seen better replicas out there. Do I regret purchasing this pin? No. I am happy to have this pin in my collection and I like the way it looks on my shelves. I do, however, wish I had a more film accurate replica pin.
If you wish to purchase this pin, you will need to purchase it second hand. Unfortunately, there are not many floating around on eBay but there are a lot of alternative pins. Many of which are functional safety pins. Alternatively, as this is an official Disney pin, you can also do a trade with a fellow pin collector.
I certainly will be seeking out a replica pin in future so stay tuned!