Your time isn't going to make a down payment on a construction project :)

But I get what you're saying.

As far as collectors go, I'm reasonably certain that they don't wear the badges out in public. Most would display them in cases or keep them in boxes, whatever it is collectors do.

Even so, not only did you earn the right to wear that badge, you learned what it stood for. Unless that collector has also come across what your badge stands for, they have just paid a lot of money for a pretty rock. And frankly, if someone values my badge enough to spend serious bucks on it without even knowing the meaning behind that, it sort of strikes me as a form of praise.

It's always good to know your badge is aesthetically pleasing to the uninitiated.

Yeah but so far I have not found a major that interests me that will translate into a generous income. That and I doubt we will ever get houses down here, but that is a whole different complaint.

I know what you are saying and it is true, but I just feel like pouting about it sometimes.

Excellent point on it being just a piece of metal, with maybe a few jewels. Yes it is our symbol, and something that you have to live your life through to really appreciate. So in reality, only a handful of people are really going to take the time to buy them.

1) A brother, with whom it has meaning to (And if he's not selling for a profit, whats the crime, and also for the record, most of us on ebay dont bid against known brothers, and we do make a realistic attempt to keep it in the fraternity)

2) A genuine collector who is going to appreciate it for its value and beauty, not wear it to try and pretend to be a brother.

3) A seller who is obviously trying to make a 'quick buck'

http://www.fratpin.com/lambdachialpha.htm

asking price for an all sapphire white gold badge = $450
price I paid from LXAZ1 for an 8 sapphire 3 diamond white gold badge = $189.00 (Cheaper than what Herff Jones charges for a similar badge with emeralds instead of sapphires and yellow gold)

and in fact there arent too many of number 3's out there. So realistically what is the harm?

Kevin it seems to me that it was I who was being referred to on the $600 plus point you were making.

I am almost 20 years old, and greatly appreciate our history. Our merger with Theta Kappa Nu, was, and still is the largest in fraternal history. Not to mention the fact that they were only around for approximately 15 years. So with me being so young, and paired with the fact that TKN badges are becoming more and more scare, to pay that much money for a Chapters Founding Father's Badge is but a pittance in my opinion (everyone has their own), and lord willing there will be plenty of time when I get a little older to make better charitable donations to the organization itself.

Also I would NEVER sell my original badge

I've got some serious problems with all of this.
I'll agree that he isn't ripping people off.
What, you turn 60 and suddenly become a doddering old fool? Serious collectors or anyone who's been in contact with a lot of fraternity and sorority pins could tell in a nano-second that that ADPi pin was not a hundred years old! And I know plenty of collectors who actually do know just about absolutely EVERYTHING about EVERY GLO.
I doubt the reasoning here. More likely, he's been collecting them for a while and now has a lot of valuable ones so he's selling off the less valuable ones. I'm in the same position. I've bought so many KD pins that now I realize that some aren't as valuable (in terms of age and genuine gems and gold). BUT, you will never catch me selling those KD pins on ebay.
This is WEAK! Again, just because he's in his 60's he can't figure out how to get pins to a new colony? Pfft!

Here, I actually agree with you.

Ok I guess where I was specifically going with the age thing was computers. I consider myself blessed to be able to remotely keep up with computers, and I actually grew up on these things. So to take an older gentleman who probably didnt even have an idea of how to turn this thing on 5 years ago, and ask him to know everything about them in such a short time. It can be very mind boggling, and lets face it, this day in age, computers are by far the easiest resource in researching historical items or gathering info. Now in some aspects I agree with you, but you said something very interesting that kinda stuck with me.

You know the value of your pins, but would never sell even the 'cheaper' ones on ebay. Well look at what he has for sale right now, A White Gold, all emerald badge, one that is not that common to come by, and a Theta Kappa Nu Badge, with Pearls, and an Alpha Guard (1st Chapter in that particular state). So he is in fact trying to share some 'better' items with the world. So I guess the point I am trying to make, is most likely a brother is going to end up with it, or someone who appreciates its true value. What is so wrong with that?

Even though you have several more expensive badges would you just donate it to HQ to be stored away, or give to someone you barely know that may not appreciate its true value/history. Now it would make a little sense more sense if he found someone who could afford to pay a fair price for it (what he paid or a little less), if they appreciated it, but most of the people he is that close to, already have one or several of their own. He is at least letting someone he may not know personally, but whom may be very deserving of it have a chance.

Okay, I just found out who the seller is so I have to retract my earlier statement. He IS a doddering old fool. I'm no longer surprised that he's clueless about other organizations and pins in general.

Oops forgot to give my spiel on 'knowing everything about every GLO'. What if he happened to be an amateur collector, and appreciated the pin for its beauty and not because it belonged to a particular group, then lets say he either had a project (collecting GLO badges that were at his school when he founded his local and then became LXA), now lets say he slowly upgraded to better ones (with jewels) now what is the harm in putting the less valuable one back on the market. He doesnt have to know the entire history behind every organization to accomplish his project, just that the organization in question was on his campus. So he made a mistake, it happens.

Now you are absolutely right about some people knowing everything about Greek-Lettered Organizations, but lets face it they are few and far between, and it cant be expected out of everyone (even though I am studying my butt off to learn as much as I can about them)

He may be a doddering old fool to the people on GC, but he really is a great Brother, and always willing to help those of the younger generation whenever possible.

You know, since the term doddering old fool has a appeared I have had one guess as to who it is and would not be at all surprised if I were right

Honestly it shouldnt have been impossible to figure out. If you clicked the links to his ebay, connected LXA and his grammatical errors, it was only a matter of time, but I thought the geniuses on GC would have gotten that figured out about page 1.........oh well.

Don't underestimate us "old" people, puppy. :D
You're right, white gold isn't easy to come by, however, it does tell you that the badge isn't likely to be old. And TKNs aren't as rare as you'd think. Yes, it's a nice pin, but it's pearled. Personally, I'm looking to upgrade my pearl TKN to a diamond one.
What I would do with my less valuable KD pins is to donate them to a chapter with members who would appreciate them. Sadly, some chapters don't really value their pins that much. The newer, balclad ones would go back to KD HQ. Yes, they have enough KD pins, but a balclad pin isn't much of a gift.

Hmmm. Well, it's good to know that he is at least good to some people. On here, he has shown himself to be a sexist, racist, hateful old drunk. Oh, and did I mention his penchant for trying to get people thrown out of their glo? Some brother. :rolleyes:

Ya know, Trey, I think we're actually on the same page with a lot of this. I realize now that you were really just trying to defend a brother. That's honorable, so I'll cut you some slack. :)

Being a great Brother/Sister doesnt necessarily mean being a great person, but based off of my experiences with him, he has always been nothing but helpful and willing to do what he can for me. Guess not eveyone can have that experience.

I didn't click through to the ebay pages ;) I just guessed.

I'm sure he's done great things for the fraternity, but it's usually those "good ol boys" who have their less acceptable attitudes and behaviors overlooked because they're good brothers for example.