For two years I had these three boxes of Scouting memorabilia sitting on a shelf in my warehouse. The boxes had been there so long I seemed to remember I needed to film an unboxing but had honestly forgot what was so special about the collection. In real time as you watch this video you will see the moment when...Read More
I can't tell you how a collector in Maryland ended up a batch of pristine mint 100 year old merit badges but in this unboxing you will get to see them. Although he was doing his Scouting in the Baltimore area there is stuff from all over that ended up in this Boy Scout collection. I worked with the family...Read More
Over the course of weeks in a resellers Book Club (shout out Libby!) I wrote the Mission for my 20+ year old business that was sparked by my boyhood passion for collecting Scouting memorabilia. Our mission is to preserve Scouting history and memories by recycling memorabilia back into the movement and embracing new Scout patch collectors. We aim to grow...Read More
Monday will be tough as we start a new school schedule. I'll be awake at 5 AM and out the door before 6 to get my son to his bus pick up site. Patrick is attending an arts magnet high school in Charlotte that is 40 minutes from our house. So the good news is I will be at...Read More
It's time to look ahead to the TOR calendar and figure out which shows we can all attend this year. I have updated a 1-page flyer to help promote ALL the shows across the country. This flyer gets mailed out in all of my eBay orders. I'm about to print 1,000 of these to last for the next month...Read More
In the spring I put out a call for thread heads coming to the Charlotte TOR to bring a display to share. I wanted to carve out some room in the floor plan to allow people to display their collections. Marcus Bailey answered the call and brought a terrific display of OA sashes. Today I'll share one ripple...Read More
Finally home from the beach and ready to get back to work. The good thing about turning your hobby into your business is I am always ready to go to the office and dive in. I have packages to pick up, messages to respond to, and lots of sorting and listing to manage. Plus it's time for the...Read More
Fresh out with a new unboxing video today. While I was traveling home from NOAC I spoke to this Scouters widow for more than 30 minutes in the Denver airport. She shared so many stories of his growing up and long career in aviation. His sash is a neat reminder of how the skills that boys learned in Scouting...Read More
I am halfway through my next book club and this time it's got me thinking about Best Hobby Pages. On the website I give kinda the standard list of a dozen reasons why it's a great product. But what I lack is a story and that's what the focus of the book I'm reading is called Building A...Read More
One week after everyone got home from NOAC and the wave is cresting already. You won't find as many 2024 sets going up for bids going forward. It's been a fun feeding frenzy for the hobby. One of my fails at this year's NOAC was attempting to trade previous year NOAC patches. I had made sets with the...Read More
On the last full day of trading outside the Student Union at NOAC I recorded a seven minute video walking around to share the patch trading. As you watch the video you will see young and old faces having fun in a hot western sun. The video is proof that good old fashioned patch trading is alive and...Read More
Just past midnight this morning I pulled up to the arrivals at the Charlotte airport and gave my Philmont Ranger a big hug. Sophia flew out in late May and had an epic summer out at the big ranch. She drank the Kook-Aid and went back for more flavors. On the way home she told me just a few of...Read More
The last 3 1/2 days I've done little during the day but swap perhaps a thousand patches with Arrowmen at NOAC. Whether they were getting a set they wanted or just picking up a flap off my blanket and leaving their patch in its place. I can assure you the pastime of patch trading at National events is alive...Read More
We got in yesterday and I was able to get a few hours of patch trading down at the Union. It was pretty busy for a Monday. Unfortunately, the trading location is outside *(it's north of 95 degrees here) and somewhat limited with everyone sitting on the hard ground. I did not go back last night after the show...Read More
I got an email from John Athayde at PatchVault at couple of day ago. Here is the summary to share. Over the past year and change, we've rolled out cataloging for OA Sections/Areas/Regions, Camps, and Councils (CSPs only to start). Similar to the OA rollout, we encourage editors to volunteer for areas where they are either collectors or somehow officially related...Read More