eBay Scouting Hot Finds Newsletter
Friday Morning Edition
August
 03, 2018

It's been a wild ride for patch traders here at the 2018 NOAC.  We had rain the first day, a spiraling fiasco the next 48 hours and Thursday brought a return to calm and awesome trading you would expect when over 6,000 Arrowmen are in one place from all over the country.
 
Vintage eBay Scout Auctions This Weekend
I have always said that the hardest person to trade with is a 17 year old Arrowmen at a NOAC and this crop of kids did not disappoint.  Last night I walked around for fun and tried to trade a 2-piece set I had dupes on for interesting SAPs and got told "no" about 75% of the time.  If you didn't offer 3:1 on just about anything they had it was the same story.  Yikes!  Well I set a good example and did pure 1:1 trading on my blanket.
 

Click To See My 2018 NOAC Issues For Sale
 
Auctions Ending Friday & Saturday on eBay
The really good sets are once again tied to popular crossover ideas from pop culture.  There is an Eno (hammocks) set, a Dr. Pepper set one that is based on a popular game Fortnite etc. However, there are also some sets that are very stunning and beautiful works of art.  As usual the currency of a NOAC is a big two-piece set but some lodges have added random extra flaps and clever dangles.  I talked to Mike Lush who told me he had counted about 60 different SAPs issued in total for the event. (special issue CSPs)
 

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Boy Scout Memorabilia Auctions on eBay
In my discussion last night with Russell Smart about all the drama we had at the NOAC over patch trading he reminded me of a very good statistic.  How many problems did we have at the 2017 Jamboree (an event probably 6x the size of this NOAC) with the forethought that went into that event?  ZERO is the answer.  I have made an impassioned plea in a video on Facebook for a change in how it's done and I hope the people who were harassed and corralled like hot sweaty cattle into a cramped space will not soon forget it doesn't have to be like this - you can raise your voices and make a change.
 

Patchblanket.com Santeeswapper Store
Some have asked me to comment on the TOR as they were not able to make it up to Indiana.  The first two days of the show that Streamwood did were pretty good.  Despite doing just about everything he could to promote it there is just no magic bullet to getting people to drive hundreds or thousands of miles to come to the largest show since 2015.  I believe Chris was able to rent out most of the tables.  I saw him for the first time Thursday night trading some patches as I believe he has been helping with the OA Foundation auctions. 
 

It's not up to me what happens from here with ISCA and the leadership at the top.  Ultimately nobody else has stepped up in the last twenty+ years to offer an alternative to the leadership.  God knows I don't want to have anything to do with it.  However, if you don't think the hobby can do better than what is there now maybe they need to fold up the tent or stop putting themselves "in charge" of patch trading and other vital projects (OA Blue Book) in this hobby and then running it into the ditch. Certainly there is a collector out there (I say collector not dealer because we ALWAYS have a bullseye on our back) who can offer to serve and let the old guard retire. I had so many people come up to me yesterday that said thank you for having the guts to call out people on this fiasco.  Now the question is will anybody else in this hobby be brave and stand up or are you going to sit on the sidelines and watch the train wreck?
Have a great weekend,
 


Jason Spangler
Santeeswapper LLC
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