Scouting Hot Finds Boy Scout Memorabilia

Over the last few episodes we've talked a lot about selling Scouting memorabilia on the Internet.  From Facebook Stores to eBay fees that topic has been covered in depth.  One of the interesting pieces of feedback I got from a listener was what about the other side of the transaction?  So tonight we are turning the tables and looking at things from the buyers perspective.  Dave Scocca of North Carolina is my guest and we will hear his take and with my commentary thrown in.  Find more Scouting memorabilia content and all of my podcasts at http://www.scoutpatchcollectors.com.

Join me for a discussion about how to buy and sell Boy Scout memorabilia online bypassing the juggernaut online marketplace - eBay.  I'll be sharing my story of opening an off-eBay store over 5 years ago and how that has worked for me.  I'll also go into two eBay competitor auction sites that perhaps you have never heard of named Webstore and eBid.  The discussion will also get into some unorthodox ways to buy/sell patches over the Internet.  I will be taking live callers to if you have something to add to the conversation please consider calling in. Find more Scouting memorabilia content and all of my podcasts at http://www.scoutpatchcollectors.com.

In this episode of Scouting Hot Finds I'm going to tackle two big questions that a lot of people have when dealing with Boy Scout memorabilia.  The first is how to get started whether through an estate sale, craigs list, or finding a trading assistant willing to help you.  The second part of the show is a little bit more sophisticated and discusses the various online alternatives you have.  We will discuss eBay of course but also what are the alternatvies to this monolithic auction site with increasingly stinging fees and policies. I'm goign to REALLY crunch the numbers on this show and tell you what the fees translate out to.  You can hear just what a profit margin you can look to make on eBay. I've had my own off-eBay site for more than five years and I'll share my experiences and ideas.  I will take live phone calls so get your questions ready and let's talk shop! Find more Scouting memorabilia content and all of my podcasts at http://www.scoutpatchcollectors.com.

Tonight its a rare show where I'm going to be live on the mike and looking for your phone calls.  My topic is the Trade-O-Ree. I just got home from a neat local show and I want to share some of my experiences and have the listeners call in and share some of their favorite TOR stories.  I'm also going to give an update on the NOAC TOR which will be the grand daddy of them all for 2012. Find more Scouting memorabilia content and all of my podcasts at http://www.scoutpatchcollectors.com.

Join me as my guest Mark James of Double Eagle Trading tells the story of how he took his hobby of patch trading and knowledge of building website and married them together to build one of the best Scout memorabilia online stores off eBay.  Mark dishes some advice about how to get started online and shares his stories of his big catches and big disappointments getting started as a patch dealer.  If you are interested in stepping up your game and starting to wheel and deal on the Internet this interview will be very informative.  I also break down for you the specifics on my newest Prices Realized Guide. Find more Scouting memorabilia content and all of my podcasts at http://www.scoutpatchcollectors.com.

The first Eagle Scout was awarded in 1912.  This year the BSA is celebrating the centennial of the Eagle Scout award and my guest tonight is the recognized expert on the memorabilia issued for the highest rank in the Boy Scouts of America.  My guest tonight, Dr. Terry Grove, literally wrote the book on Eagle Scout memorabilia in 1990. With subsequent editions he updated the material and broadened the categories included.  This year he is coming out with a centennial edition of his book and is tackling the identification of the Eagle Scout patches down to the weave and stitching.  Terry will also announce the release of a new digital eBook that we are selling as a joint venture to help collectors identify and classify their Eagle Scout patches. You can see the video that explains the eBook on Youtube at http://youtu.be/xzdMi8YcezA  This year I also published a prices realized guide for Eagle Scout memorabilia that you can find for sale on my website. Find more Scouting memorabilia content and all of my podcas

If you have been collecting Boy Scout memorabilia for some time then the names Arapahoe and its principal author Albertus Hoogeveen will be familiar names.  Today in collecting circles we talk about the Blue Book as the primary reference guide for Order of the Arrow (OA) collectors.  However before that it was Araphoe II - A History of the Order of the Arrow Through Insignia published in 1979, that die-hard OA collectors cataloged their collection by.  The book was the result of the collaborative efforts of the authors of Arapaho II: Albertus Hoogeveen, Richard H. Breithaupt, Jr. and David C. Leubitz. It was subsequently updated by printed supplements published in 1984 and 1989. By the early 1990’s, Arapaho Software, a partnership between Richard H. Breithaupt, Jr., Albertus Hoogeveen and Douglas E. Beaudoin, moved the hobby into the computer age with Arapaho II On Disk.  My guest tonight on Scouting Hot Finds Radio is none other than Albertus Hoogeveen.  We will hear the first person story of how the Arapah

Brad England and Debbie Hite join me for a rare totally live episode of Scouting Hot Finds Radio.  We are doing this one with no mulligans and looking forward to some audience participation in the chat room and on the call in line.  You might have guessed that our main topic is...trading patches.  Brad England is one of the moderators of the Scout Patch Collectors Facebook Group.  He will share some ideas for how people can be active in the group while keeping things efficient as people post trade offers back and forth.  Debbie is going to share some of her experienes trading on Facebook.  We will also get here to tell us about being an Internet celebrity.  :)  Both of my guests have lots of experience trading Boy Scout memorabilia online and we look forward to a lively show.  Please consider calling in if you are willing to participate with a comment or question. Find more Scouting memorabilia content and all of my podcasts at http://www.scoutpatchcollectors.com.

Tonight I am talking with Bob Hannah who has fifty years of experience collecting and trading Boy Scout memorabilia.  He and his wife also run their own Scouting museum right out of their home.  One of the neat things Bob will talk about is how the hobby has changed over those five decades.  For those of us enjoying the resurgence of trading through Facebook - Bob will reminisce about trading through the mail back in the day.  On the show I will also be talking about the publication of the latest edition in my series of Boy Scout memorabilia prices realized guides.  This book covers Baden-Powell, World Jamboree & International Scouting Issues. Find more Scouting memorabilia content and all of my podcasts at http://www.scoutpatchcollectors.com.

Tonight we conclude the interview with Brad England who has perfected a strategy for trading Boy Scout patches on Facebook with people all over the world.  In this episode Brad explains exactly who to upload your images and use the built in Facebook tools such as tagging to make trades.  There are some tricks that make Facebook a unique platform for swapping as they like to call it overseas and Brad shares his tips and tricks.  Find more Scouting memorabilia content and all of my podcasts at http://www.scoutpatchcollectors.com.

I knew I was on to something when I saw tonight's guest trading like a mad man using simple Facebook tools.  Brad England has perfected a patch trading strategy that we are sharing on today's show.  By creating a Facebook profile just for his Scouting and trading endeavors, Brad has been able to connect with Scouters from all over the world during the last two years through Facebook trading.  Boy Scout collectors will be familiar with the flurry of trading during  a national event like a Jamboree or NOAC.  Brad has figured out a way where we can keep that passion for trading from being buried in a shoe box and thrown in the back of the closet.  Listen in and discover how we can use his methods to trade through the mail and get something from the postal carrier other than junk mail and bills. Find more Scouting memorabilia content and all of my podcasts at http://www.scoutpatchcollectors.com.

Boy Scout collectors will want to tune in to hear the conclusion of my interview with Roy More of the Scout Patch Auction talking about the long awaited revision of the OA reference guide known as the OA Blue Book.  Its been just six years since the last guide was published but WWW collectors are well aware of just how many issues have come out since then.  In part 1 of this recorded session we heard the plans for a 2012 publication date.  Today's show will wrap up the discussion including some interesting back and forth from the people present for the presentation at the Dallas TOR. Find more Scouting memorabilia content and all of my podcasts at http://www.scoutpatchcollectors.com.

Order of the Arrow collectors have been asking for some time now - "what's up with the Blue Book?"  Well today on the show we have the answer.  Roy More of the Scout Patch Auction now holds the right to the publication and he is activety working on the project and recruiting help.  I was able to attend his session at the ISCA National Convention regarding the Blue Book project and I've got part 1 of that audio for you here.  What you are going to hear is an unedited recording so that you can put yourself in the room with Roy and the others who were able to be in Dallas and attend the session.  As you will hear the goal is to have the update ready for the 2012 NOAC and that means some lodges and areas of countries need to make sure there information is up to date!  The last Blue Book came out in 2006 and its been going on six years that collectors have been without a unified and agreed upon listing of new OA issues.  Part 2 will air next week and will pick up where this audio leaves off. Find more Scouting mem

Join me for some big announcements regarding Boy Scout patch trading at the 2012 National Order of the Arrow  Conference (NOAC) and the 2013 Boy Scouts of America National Jamboree.  I've known about some of this for months but I couldn't let any of it slip until it was official.  The two breaking news items are the location of the evening trading at NOAC and the total scoop on trading at the Jamboree including an unbelievable announcement regarding youth to adult trading.  You'll have to hear it from Craigh Leighty and Terry Grove - the elected leaders of ISCA. Find more Scouting memorabilia content and all of my podcasts at http://www.scoutpatchcollectors.com.

Tonight I'm happy to welcome Brett Estrade webmaster of Patchlodge.com to the virtual guest chair.  Brett is an avid collector and former Lodge Chief of Chilantakoba 397 who has used his skills as a computer programmer to build a website that caters to a specific need in the Boy Scout collecting community.  Patchlodge.com serves as a virtual image gallery where you can host your Scouting memorabilia collections including listing your needs and traders.  One of the key features is the ability to conduct trades using the site's image library.  Brett will also explain how he has leveraged the Patch-L listserve to bring fresh content to the site via his bulletin board.  I hope you will take the time to learn about this unique website that is totally built as a service to the hobby. Find more Scouting memorabilia content and all of my podcasts at http://www.scoutpatchcollectors.com.  

On the show today I wrap up my three part conversation with John Pannell webmaster of OAimages.com.  We are looking for some action on the phone line as John is coming on live to take listener questions or comments. Find more Scouting memorabilia content and all of my podcasts at http://www.scoutpatchcollectors.com.

Join me as I continue my interview with John Pannell of OAimages.com.  As the webmaster of easily the most visited website in the Boy Scout memorabilia collecting hobby - John opens up about how he built his site and gives us the scoop on where he is now 15 years into this labor of love.  Listen as we get under the hood of his website and discover how much its changed over the years.  John goes into all the features he has added over the years like the much loved price guide, his blog, and even a feature that was a bust - the forum.  Perhaps the most timely part of the discussion is dishing on the new wave of Chinese fakes of vintage OA flaps that is infesting eBay. Find more Scouting memorabilia content and all of my podcasts at http://www.scoutpatchcollectors.com.

Here is the interview you have been waiting for Boy Scout patch collectors.  I've got John Pannell of OAimages.com in the virtual guest seat for this show.  John is going to share with us the story of how he took over a struggling website with a few hundred images fifteen years ago and began work to transform it into the #1 reference site for Order of the Arrow collectors now getting an average of 40,000 hits a day.  If you are interested in the early days of the web or a die hard user of his website or members only price guide feature you won't want to miss this show. Find more Scouting memorabilia content and all of my podcasts at http://www.scoutpatchcollectors.com.

In this episode I conclude my interview with Todd Kelly of Big Rock Publishing.  Todd goes on to talk about classic Scout fiction of the teens - 1930s including some of his favorite titles.  Boy Scouts looked a little different in those days and if you believed everything you read in those books you might be shocked.  However, its clear that these titles cemented the spirit of Scouting in prewar youth and help keep the movement growing.  Find more Scouting memorabilia content and all of my podcasts at http://www.scoutpatchcollectors.com.

Tonight my guest on the show is Todd Kelly who runs an online publishing business that has many Scouting titles in its inventory.  Todd's passion for collecting Scouting memorabilia is old handbooks, magazines and especially Scout fiction books which were very popular from the teens through the 1930s.  In the interview Todd is going to help share the history of these Scout fiction books as they are set against the backdrop of early 20th century America.  We will also learn how his company, Big Rock Publishing has digitized some of these early classics and now offers them as eBooks. Find more Scouting memorabilia content and all of my podcasts at http://www.scoutpatchcollectors.com.