Over the past couple of weeks at different TORs (Pittsburgh at the beginning of the month and Detroit at the end) I have had an on-going discussion with senior collectors about a challenge in the hobby. It affects them as they are holders of the super rare and super valuable collectibles. The problem is the vast majority of the hobby does not know what they don’t know. Because they do not know, they do not know the value or more specifically the prices collectors are willing to pay for the rare items.

Some cases in point. In the past three months we’ve placed three (3) Calusas, two (2) Kiminschis, a Monsey, a 155, a Checote, a ’24 US WJ contingent patch, key red and whites/KRS strips etc.. In the past year we’ve privately placed two (2) Balugas, three (3) Zhingwaks, several four figure WAB issues, key insignia and world jamboree items, etc.. All of these were private placements and have not seen the light of day. To most in the hobby these transactions never happened because they weren’t aware of it.

Jason Spangler, the Santee Swapper, runs an e-mail service looking at things on eBay. That’s where the eyes are. He has shown top twenty sellers for each of the past couple of months. We’re consistently at the top by magnitudes over the next highest sellers (there are reasons for this but that’s another topic) but what’s seen in this report is only a fraction of what we’re handling by dollar volume (not necessarily patch volume – we’re shipping 200+ packages a week most with multiple patches).

In addition to the placements we make we are often asked for advice on either the buy side (i.e., “what should I pay?” questions) or sell side (i.e., “What should this sell for?” or “Can you help me place xyz item?”). We may not be involved in the final sale but know of what transaction happened such as several MAJOR insignia collections selling in the past year or two in the hundred thousand dollar range as single sales/single buyer.

Physics tell us, a tree DOES make a sound when it falls in the woods even if no one is around to here it. Private patch sales indicate a value even if only a few people see it. So, how do we educate the hobby? Is this not a problem? Is it those who have these items don’t want collectors to know the value?

Update: As examples, here are some of great Scout pieces that went through us in the past 3 days most which were not offered publicly:

Stag totem pin, Hood

Lodge 24 totem pin (with blue cloissone)

1940 NOAC Medal with Name Badge

Lodge 189 event First Flap

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I’m not a member of the National Rifle Association but our incoming council president is. When we met recently for lunch he had the December, 2010 issue of American Rifleman. In it they have a wonderful article about the Marksmanship merit badge, this year’s National Jamboree and the NRA’s partnership with the BSA. Check it out on their web-site.

As the article points out:

“Marksman” was one of the first 14 Badges of Merit (later termed Merit Badges) offered in the original 1910 Scout Handbook

Aritst Joseph Csatari

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Just as I blogged earlier that we may never know what all was issued for the 2010 Jamboree, I am thinking there is a corollary. If you don’t get these now, will you ever be able to get them? Right now is the best availability of these. Prior to the Jamboree, eBay had around 74,000 items in the Boy Scouts category. Actually it had dropped as low as 64,000 in late July. Now it is over 81,000 after getting as high as 84,000. We were partly to blame for this bump.

In our trading we also picked some older JSPs but not many. Most of what we got were from 2005 but we even got some back to 1997. The older JSPs turn up from time to time but very few collections are coming out. Thus, if you are trying to fill in older issues you might find some local ones at local TORs or have to do an awful lot of searching on eBay and dealer sales lists for a long time.

I can tell you this is true about Jamboree neckerchiefs too. I have been picking them up for a few years now. I am more likely to find older, pre-1973, neckerchiefs than I am newer ones. The problem is the same as with modern JSPs. They are dispersed amongst 32,000 participants and are sitting in their closets/attics/basement. There they’ll sit for a generation or two.

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Within the group of not knowing what all was issued for this Jamboree are staff patches. The Collections merit badge, and I had nothing to do with these, issued at least 14 different patches (again I’m not sure this was everything.) On day two of the jamboree, I talked with collector Wally Majors of Mississippi who already had over 113 different staff pieces. Before the jamboree we took a call from a guy who made up a Scuba staff patch as that was the group he applied for but was turned down due to his health. But still he made his patch. I’m of the opinion that all of these are near worthless. I’m surprised at what the OA pieces are going for but my guess these will come down in price quickly. Time will tell.

Update: I forgot that there were also a MB Midway participant patch for sale at the trading posts, and two different staff patches available at the MB Midway headquarters (also not counting their staff shirt or the two staff shirts at our booth.)…The list is endless.

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This is an after the fact jamboree blog, in part because we were so busy I couldn’t live blog, but the Army closed the base to visitors on Saturday 7/30 at 11 am because the Scouts had filled up all available parking. I heard from my Scout Exec yesterday that the Scouts were expecting 30,000 visitors but had gotten 45,000 by the time they closed the base. He said an all-council e-mail went out from HQ notifying councils that the base was closed and that they could not take any more visitors. For those who want to question Scouting’s relevance, see NY Times article, they are wrong. Now are Scouts adapting to changing times as fast I would like? No. But, relevant? Yes. Actually, seeing the leadership deficits at all levels of politics and corporations I believe we need Scouting more than ever. Does it need to adapt? Yes. Overflowing crowds though indicate that we must be doing something that people want.

Also, my Exec said they had a ‘shining light’ gathering for the simulcast of the Saturday show. Very well attended. Very positive. The simulcast was a great idea by National. I haven’t checked to see if it is on YouTube. It would be good if it is.

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Heard from one Scouter who had gotten dye sub patrol medallions for his troop. After about four washes they were all in the ghost patrol. Basically, the color washed out. Not sure if this is true for all or any of them but let me know.

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Troops began to depart at 3:30 this morning. Earlier when passing a group of Scouts in line I snapped the following picture:

Not once did I see one of these patches out for trade. My basic conclusion is that we will never know what all was issued for this Jamboree. Someone could collect this jamboree for the rest of their life and not have it all. Still though, it will give us things to look for.

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We have a new category of patches now – Sharpies. Some enterprising, or bored, Scouts took to taking magic markers, Sharpies, to make black ghost patches. Some of these were so good that one had to look closely. Below is a picture of an Indian Nations JSP done up this way. I saw a Blues Brothers Northwest Suburban also done up this way that was REALLY hard to tell it was doctored. We passed it around and most of us had to look real close, and not because of failing eyesight at least yet.  If it wasn’t for the marks on the red border one could pass it off as a black ghost.

Update: Found the Northwest Suburban Sharpie issue:

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While counseling the Collections merit badge, one of the questions I would ask was “Out of this group of four patches, which one is the fake?” I would set out an old Grand Canyon CSP with BSA but no FDL, an Ashie pre-FDL flap, a 479 NOAC flap, and an Echokotee privately made re-issue. I don’t think I ever had a Scout who got it right.

Some thought the Grand Canyon was a fake because it did not have a FDL. Everyone got the 479 right (it had a FDL but some were still guessing as it did not have printing on the back nor a hologram).

They almost all said the Ashie was a fake. Why? Because it did not have BSA or FDL or BSA printing on the back, none of my examples did, nor a hologram on the back. To a person they all said the lodge 200 flap was real. Thus the teachable moment. What you have been told is wrong. The only way to know is to get knowledge. And, until then trade 1 for 1.

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