Re: A question for collectors...
Jim Carter - HCI Project (hci@SKDAD.USASK.CA)
Tue, 7 Jun 1994 10:04:14 -0600
>Hi everyone!
>The Council has taken the Summer Camp patch for this
>year and added two new parts to it. Along the bottom it says "Camp
>Sponsor" and on one side the word "Trustworthy" has been added. These
>patches are considerably more expensive than the standard patch. The
>wording on the order form starts out with "Attention collectors and
>Scouters."
>
>I was wondering if this kind of thing actually works or if patches
>like these actually have any value to collectors?
NO. Most collectors prefer patches/badges made for honest uses => giving or
awarding them to Scouts/Leaders. Patches made for the explicit purpose of
fundraising (regardless of how nobel the purpose) are tacky to say the
least and frauds to say it stronger. You don't buy badges for your uniform
- you earn them. While some collectors buy patches/ badges for their
collection, the patches/badges of value are those which have actually had
some significant meaning attached to them.
There are a number of factors that should be considered in determining
collector's value of any type of item (patch/badge/book/etc.). These
include but are not limited to:
- Original significance (e.g. eagle is more significant than first class and
fund raising patches have no significance outside fund raising)
- Scope of significance (e.g. national is more significant than local, and
old/obsolete may be more significant than new/current)
- Aesthetics (e.g. number of colors IF AND ONLY IF designs are equally
attractive)
- Sentimental value (e.g. I have a badge I got from a person who was given it
directly by B.P. or local badges may be of greater significance
to someone who is involved with that local area than to someone
who isn't)
- Supply vs. demand {is more relevant than straight rarity since there has
to be
a demand to be of value} (e.g. the producers of fund raisers
often try to create a demand for a potentially rare patch)
I personally, along with many other collectors, am apalled with the many
activities (including: fund raising issues, buying and selling for profit,
and auctioning to the highest bidder) which tend to take collecting out of
the realm of anyone who wants to participate and tend to make it an
activity available only to the rich. Scouting is for all of us and
collecting can be a fun part of Scouting.
Jim Carter
(not yet formally introduced, but a Rover Scout Advisor and a Badger among
other things.)
Terry Howerton Sakima Group, Inc. SCOUTER Magazine Kansas City | 
