Collectors’ Corner

Collector’s Corner

Welcome to Collector’s Corner.

 My name is Thomas Price and this article and the ones to follow will be an aid to your own collecting of scouting memorabilia both locally and nationally. This column stems from some ideas that had been tossed around on Facebook. The idea was simple: Provide an insight into collecting from a local level. In today’s world of collecting, the Internet and eBay have made it much simpler and cheaper to trade and collect and to grow collections faster. But this comes at a price, as face to face trading and Trade-O-Rees have diminished in popularity. This column is a nudge back in that direction. Collecting is about the personal relationships people build through it and the bettering of one’s scouting experience over time.

            Many of you probably have a shoebox or a bag of patches from events over the years with no real knowledge of value, rarity or importance. Throughout these columns I hope to address these three areas and give everyone a better idea of what they have stuffed in drawers or packed into their attics. I hope to have a new post every three weeks but I need your help in keeping the information accurate and relevant, so if I am off in the number produced, time needed to earn, the event something was issued, please post on the message board the correction because it takes everyone to preserve and accurately identify our history. So without further delay, let’s get into our first column.

Wagion Lodge #6 (90^th Ann. Patch Set)

            Starting at the Lodge Banquet in 2011, a patch set was first issued in pieces to celebrate the lodge 90^th Anniversary. At this time, a White Boarder Flap (S-42); “S’ Meaning fully embroidered flap patch by the American Scouting Historical Society and the International Scouting Collectibles Association; and a six-part weekend patch set was available. Because of shipping problems, no patches were actually at the banquet but could be pre-ordered and they would be shipped. This was soon changed to a pick up at the April Lodge Weekend because of shipping costs.

            The center of the weekend patch set was a patch celebrating the 90^th Anniversary and featured fireworks, which would be the feature event at the Aug. Lodge weekend. The Banquet patch featured a football player “kicking off” the lodge year. April feature “The Beginning” and a large OA Arrowhead. June featured a dream catcher and as of this date, the Aug. Patch featured a tent, fireworks, a ribbon and a scout. The final piece to be issued in October of 2011, features an alien in a spaceship to represent the future. All patches at 3” Pentagons with Red Boarders and Blue Backgrounds except the center which has a white background. The rarity of these sets was set early when the Banquet patch sold out. The rumor is also the Aug weekend patches needed to be re-ordered because of the demand, making the total number of complete sets at 300 or 350 with extras of some weekend patches.

            The White Brd. Flap (S-42) (300 Produced) is paying tribute to the (F-1) design of our lodge’s first flap. At the 2011 SectionNE-4B Conclave at CampPotomac, the (S-43) was issued. It is the same design except the boarder is orange and it says “Conclave 2011” in red below the lodge name. (250 or 300 were produced and sold out quickly to the 50 member contingent) The August Lodge Weekend saw an issuing of was will be listed as the (S-44). It has the same 90^th Ann. Design and a Red Boarder. A Special flap was also issued at the event, a Light Blue Brd. Flap (S-45). The rumor is that only lodge members who helped with the 90^th Anniversary Committee were issued one. 20-25 are said to exist and one was put into the lodge auction at the weekend and was sold for $125. Bidding from the youth stalled at $65 but an adult purchased it after it jumped over $100. The real question regarding this flap is if it was ever actually approved by the lodge chief or the executive committee.

            This question is in reference to what people would consider a “General Issue Collection” from the lodge. Clearly some collections want everything, but because of prototypes and special runs or limited productions, some people only collect the general issue or approved patches from a lodge. A key example of this is the 2006 Wagion Lodge “Fish Fry” round. Not officially approved by the lodge executive committee and issued by the trading post advisor, this round patch has never been officially associated with the lodge collection. As in 2008, a flap was made for the 2008 Conclave Wagion Hosted featuring the Monopoly Man on it wearing a head dress. Only one or two are known to exist but it was never approved by the national standard for patch making and thus caused the lodge to produce (S-34) instead. Both, the “Fish Fry Round” and Monopoly Man” patch could catch high prices at auction to collectors looking for everything, but in my personal opinion, they are not part of the “General Issue” collection, or a complete set of Wagion Patches, every lodge member could have had a chance at, depending on honor.

            I have a strong feeling this flap will be added to the Blue Book, the official collection guide for OA Patches, as a general issue piece but I think a better question is, who approved the patch, and if it was done through the proper channels, then it should be added to the collection. Another interesting patch that was issued in Aug. was a 3” Black “90^th Ann. Weekend Service Crew” Round. The patch has a Black Boarder and a Black Background. The T-Bird is in front of a Sun or a “Firework”. The rumor is 40 or 50 were produced and only sold to the youth who came up to the lodge weekend early to help. I have heard from at least one lodge member that Elangomats were unable to purchase any because they were working at the time of the sale or had little knowledge of it.

            The 90^th Anniversary August Weekend also saw another auction to benefit the youth going to NOAC supported by the collection donated by Matt Oris. Mr. Oris was a long time lodge member, keeping his Vigil as a youth in the 1950’s, serving as the youngest Camp Director in Conestoga History and staying active up until his death in 2010. His collection has helped raise more than $5000 for the NOAC committee and the pieces that were sold at the Aug. Weekend were still very nice for every collection. Many early Area 3-F patches sold for under $30 to many youth in the crowds. A number of early Jamboree pieces from 1950 were sold and filled some holes in collections. There were also 25-30 flaps and CSP that all fetched good prices for the youth at the event. It was capped with one of the 90^th Ann. Blue Flaps fetching $125. The estimated amount made was around $1200, and it all goes to support the youth going to NOAC.

            Well that’s the 90^th Ann. In a nut shell. Rumor is another flap will be issued in October but no solid conformation of that yet. A NOAC around was supposed to be at the weekend as well but never arrived in time. Between the fireworks, patches, friends and food, the weekend was one of the best in years. If you missed it, you missed out on some good deals and great times. I hope you enjoyed this and I will see you down the trail.

WWW,

Thomas P. Price

2006 Wagion Lodge Chief   

(Above: 90th Anniversary “trader” flap)