It took almost three days round trip to get all the Best Hobby Pages product and set up in Charlotte. This picture was from the first day I pulled orders and got them off for BHP. Joe has been coaching me up on all of his processes so that customers can expect a smooth transition. Let's just say my new...Read More
I've got another collection I'm looking at now that has a bunch of stuff. One of these days I want to run up on one for sale in an estate that has all of my core needs. What are the chances I find one that has tough merit badge and insignia pieces? So far I haven't lucked into one of...Read More
I enjoyed putting a little teazer in the video about a curious item traded for at the 1981 National Jamboree. Most of the readers would quickly recognize that a couple of small canisters containing some dust certainly is actually ash from Mt. Saint Helens. Some enterprising Scouts realized this would be the perfect thing to trade at the Jamboree and...Read More
I made table reservations this week to attend the Atlanta TOR at the end of the month. This will be my first time going to that show in many years. Now that I am in Charlotte it's not quite so bad of a drive. I know some road warriors like Mark Graff will travel 12+ hours to get to TORs...Read More
I've decided to move forward with the idea of having silent auctions at next years Charlotte TOR. We have a lot of old timers in the Scouting community at the church that hosts the event and I think with time we can put together a nice auction. Plus one of the thing that people love at TORs is the silent...Read More
Early this morning I got a message from a fellow collector in Charlotte that he had picked up one of the Rockwell Coin sets from the 1970s for $50 at an antique mall. Those have been $200 sets all day long for years on eBay. Just goes to show nothing beats picking on a weekend to turn up good Scout...Read More
I talked to Chris Jensen yesterday about catching a ride in his patch bus to some TORs this fall. Looks like I'm going to Central Ohio and St. Louis with Chris. I'm also going to Winston-Salem in December. This pretty much keeps my 1/month goal intact for this school year. I do have a collection of OA flaps that you...Read More
I had a phone call last night with a gentleman about the possibility of working on camp staff next summer. Although patches are my fun hobby turned business what really set the hook in my mouth for Scouting was my love of Scout camp. My flexible schedule kinda leaves the door open for that opportunity so we will see what...Read More
My daughter Sophia was my sidekick for this show and she definitely pulled her weight. She helped me load and unload, watched the tables while I endlessly chatted with folks and even sold some patches. She still doesn't understand this hobby but it was nice to have her there. Now that the TOR season is upon us I took a...Read More
The article that set off this firestorm was an article that appeared in Buzzfeed reporting on a letter sent by the President of the GSUSA to the BSA President. This was more of a nastygram. In one of the Girl Scout Facebook groups that I belong to a lady summed it up simply with these words "back off boys". Many...Read More
Before the Girl Scouts got here I had time to continue prepping and pricing things for the TOR this weekend in North Carolina. I priced items from my last collection pick-up and put together a notebook of stuff from the host lodge Occoneechee 104. All this has to end tomorrow when we meet back up with my wife at the...Read More
I spoke on the phone last night to a gentleman who ended up with his father-in-law's collection and was looking for suggestions on what to do. The sad part is he described how his wife's dad could pick up any patch or item in the collection and tell you a story about it. We lose so much of our institutional...Read More
For some reason I've had my best month ever so far this month in my antique mall booth. I don't know if its people driving through on vacation or maybe just a little Jamboree buzz. Either way it's got me encouraged to head out there this morning and look for any spare room that I can add some more. They...Read More
This past Friday I spent the bulk of the day in my antique mall booth adding lots of fresh inventory. One of those things was TOR style black boxes that pull out from a table. These are mostly filled with CSPs, rank & position patches and other miscellaneous patches that aren't too valuable. It's a shot in the dark to...Read More
It's hard to believe that in less than two weeks I'll be spending the weekend at a TOR. The Occoneechee TOR is held at Camp Durant near Carthage, NC. One of the cool things is the lodge cook team does all the meal prep and eating feels like being we are at a fellowship. Literally everything stops for about 1/2...Read More