ebay...
 

I figure just one big thread will do for eBay. No sense having one for each goody I find.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Big-Old-Silver-c...QQcmdZViewItem
Old Pocket Watch:
The three Greek letters πολ represent a fraternity chapter - Pi Omicron Lambda - known to be at a Southern college (Centenary-Louisiana, founded 1825; Shreveport, Louisiana). The flags are presumably the Frat Chapter flags. Pi Omicron Lambda was founded in 1923, installed Mar. 31, 1925 and became dormant in 1958. It was a chapter of the Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity, which still exists today.

I am aware it by the time most people read this will be over, I just found it. Pretty cool though. TKN chapter dormant for almost 50 years, too bad.

My!
 

Brother,

You are observant....

Yours in ZAX,

Mike Raymond, ZU-Zeta

Thanks Mike. I always told my mom growing up that spending hours on the computer would get me somewhere. :)

A pseudo ebay post as I just saw these listed on Ebay this morning, they are selling these things:
http://www.greekbeads.net/lambdachialpha.php

I can't imagine these are licensed products. I have no problem with Nationals trying to make money and to not to sound critical, but do they ever block the sale of products? I mean the leather thing is kinda cool, I would never wear it, but the Mardi gras beads on the other hand are a bit tacky.

Whatever, but if I saw one of my guys wearing those I would kick them.

Don't kick 'em...these guys are licensed. The pain of paying all of the licensing fees outdoes any damage inflicted by your feet.

Regardless if they are legal, I would get out my wingtips if I saw someone trying to sport those ugly things.

Reason why I asked to begin with was because most every greek based store carries that little officially licensed product logo, they do not have it. Unless I missed it.

Brother Dever, You are once again amazing even if I did not like you!:D

Wowie you are a History Nutsoid!;)

Looks like this item may go High, High and High!

I would bid, but do not have any clothes that have pocket watch spaces!:)

Sorry my friend but it ended last last night. I wish I would have caught it earlier, not sure how I didn't.

Alas, a day late and a lot of $$$$!:(

Hope it went to a Good Brother!:)

If you want to find out who is/isn't licensed, visit GreekLicensing.com (http://greeklicensing.com/search_res...ID=35&catID=34). There are 120+ firms licensed w/LCA.

I thought it was interesting when I visited a campus recently...a stop by a t-shirt store showed they had lots of Greek stuff for sale, but none of it had the "Greek Licensed Product" stickers.

In the past we've had discussions about this issue, and I want to make a clarification. The prevailing sentiment is that you can take the artwork from IHQ's web site, give it to somebody @ Kinko's & have them produce your rush flyers. In and of itself, that's not problematic.

The reason IHQ & 60+ other GLOs have gone into agreements w/the Greek licensing folks isn't to keep you from doing the occasional Homecoming announcement.

Obviously, as a guy who produces printed materials for chapters, I'd hope you come to me...however, the reason these agreements exist is because of the idiots who produce materials that are derogatory & portray our brotherhood in a poor light.

Case in point: everybody's seen the t-shirts that "get attention" (e.g. "We get more box than UPS"). Another example is the geezed-out guy leaning up against a keg.

We've all heard the phrase, "Perception is reality". If we're perceived as being nothing more than a bunch of drunk misogynists, how are we ever going to get people to pay attention to the good work we do on NAFD or other philanthropies?

A couple of years ago my wife & I went to a Cub game @ Wrigley & sat in the upper deck. As we walked upstairs, we passed a couple of guys on the ramp - both of us noticed the shirts they were wearing.

As we sat down, we compared notes; I saw the familiar "upside down V-X-A"...my wife saw the phrase surrounding the letters: "Be a Dick...Join Lambda Chi". When I went downstairs to grab a brew, I chatted w/these guys for a minute.

I asked them what the deal was w/the phrase on their rush shirts...they said, "Aw, it's just what people call us on campus". A term of endearment?

Not that I know of...seems to me that if people on your campus think you're "dicks", you've got a problem. I don't think those shirts would pass "the Mom test" (a.k.a. what would your mom say about that shirt???).

In a perfect world, everybody would follow the rules & do things "the right way". Since's it's NOT a perfect world, just make sure you follow the most recent translation of Xalepa Ta Kala: "If it's worth doing, it's worth doing well."

I had a few shirts that didn't even pass the Dad test, knowing my mom would see it. I came home for break and passed out and I think he was getting some of my dirty clothes out of my suitcase to throw in the washer and saw a shirt I got from somewhere. He quietly folded it up and shoved it in a side pocket of my suitcase, didn't even realize it till I was packing up to go home.

All good point though, its a real struggle to fight with guys who want "funny shirts" at the expense of our dignity, I have been guilty of this. I am curious how much of a hand HQ plays when approving items for sale, if at all. I imagine it would be way too hard to approve every single item and I gather they just authorize individual sellers and trust their judgment? I would be surprised if someone from LCA said hey, lets make Mardi Gras beads that have 'Lambda Chi Alpha' on them so brothers can take them to the bar and make asses of themselves. This is true just just about anything, be it teeshirt, hat, or having a key chain.

I would love to wear this around:
http://cgi.ebay.com/LAMBDA-CHI-ALPHA...QQcmdZViewItem
Unfortunately it has our letters on it.

~~
By the way you don't happen to have a brochure or website for your printing company do you? I was planning on getting a large quantity of postcards printed up to send to our alumni whenever I get around to making their new website. I am still shopping around for the best price.

Thanks.
In ZAX,
John Dever

Pardon the Interruption, but...
 

That is disgusting. Obviously, it's being sold by a member and was used on a campus recently.

Surely that can be stopped.

That is just one of about 10-20 shirts that get posted every week. I have plenty of shits ive got from bars like these, letters don't belong on these kid of shirts. I know is going to be a topic of conversation at conference this summer from what I understand, which is more of an issue. Sure you can try and get ebay to delist them but the fact remains there are hundreds of these shirts out there, which HQ has a huge problem with from what I have been told.

I'm sure no one has EVER made a Chi Omega shirt that went a little
too far or bordered on a line of indiscretion.

http://tinyurl.com/ypvgjx

Not that that shirt is bad or shedding any ill light, but the same potential
is there for you as it is for us...

We have as much power to stop this from happening and preventing the
sales as anyone else............none

I'm sure no one has EVER made a Chi Omega shirt that went a little
too far or bordered on a line of indiscretion.

Of course it has happened -- (They make terrific dust rags.)

http://tinyurl.com/ypvgjx

Not that that shirt is bad or shedding any ill light, but the same potential
is there for you as it is for us...

Or for Alpha Chi Omega...in this case.

We have as much power to stop this from happening and preventing the
sales as anyone else............none

Having offensive shirts boxed up and sent to the National HQ before they are distributed works pretty well.

Have any of you even seen the types of shirts that are popular on today's college campus?

Those T-Shirts are NOTHING compared to http://www.bustedtees.com/ or http://www.tshirthell.com/hell.shtml .

The most proud possession you have is your name.

My issue is with offensive shirts that bear the names of our honorable fraternities.

Excellent point.

While it may seem funny to the wearer, it can make you look like idiots and the lips began talking and then the word gets out.

Being lonely is sad.:(

I really wish they would stop relisting those damn beads. Now I just feel sorry for them since no ones buying them.

It makes me happy. It's costing them 3 bucks to list them. They aren't
licensed. The beads are on sale for 8 bucks elsewhere. They are trying
to bilk our Brothers out of money...forget them!

WG Ruby Badge
 

So there was a White Gold All ruby LXA Badge on ebay this past week and it looks like it found its way in to Heather Holmes hands for $123.00,......sorry Tom and Bob :(

Who is this Heather Holmes?

This website right here http://www.fratpin.com/ and she marks them up at least twice what she paid......I can guarantee you will see this last one she bought go for $300+ but probably more like $400 based off of the sapphire one she has listed!

Brother Trey . . .
 

Bravo on the hunt


You should consider my business . . .

Offensive to who? To you, probably. But you are not the target audience.

Today's recruitment is nothing more than marketing. You have to do what gets attention and appeals to your target audience.

The target audience isn't older alumni, or parents. The target audience is the 18-21 year olds that sit behind them at class, or see them walking on campus.

A funny, or to some offensive, shirt stands out. It is branding. You have to compete with not only the other greek groups to get recognition, but also other marketing tools.

A college campus is overloaded with marketing schemes. If the t-shirt helps to get attention and helps recruitment, more power to them.

Brother John G,

What do you mean I should consider your business............can you elaborate on this.

I was wondering the same thing. An unfinished sentence is like...

Thats all fine and good but it depends on what perspective you take. If you are a potential Associate Member cool looking shirts with funny slogans are great. Where does it stop though? A lot of it has to do with how others, non-greek non-perspective members, greeks, sorority's, parents, alumni, teachers, and administrators see them. Getting new guys is half the battle, the other half is politics. No one is going to take you seriously if you fit the stereotype as typical frat guys who just want to drink and get laid. Perhaps I am putting too much emphasis on shirts, but that kind of attitude is detrimental to greek life as whole. "As long as it gets new guys, who cares?" Yea its all marketing, but you aren't just marketing to perspective members. I'm surprised someone who is having a problem with putting off a good image in Amherst would take that perspective. There is a reason the town doesn't like Greek's, perhaps a unwillingness to change their attitudes, and of course, bad marketing.

touche!

Greekbeads
 

Hi all,

Dever860

I actually am one of the owners of the greekbeads site. My name is Stephen Gordon and am from the Lambda Alpha chapter down in New Orleans. Myself and three older alumni came up with the idea after katrina to add a bit of our own flavor to our fraternity as I (president at the time) tried to resurrect our chapter. These items were originally presents to Nationals after we successfully worked together to bring the chapter back after the storm!

I am surprised by the negativity that my own brothers are saying about this product. We are licensed and have come up with another unique product for the Greek community.

At the last winter leadership conference I handed out FREE beads and wrist bands to all brothers and associates there as a gesture of good will and because after the storm many fine brothers took me in and anything I can do in return I gladly will. Bill Farkas, Biff Halloway, Aaron parker, Tim Reuteur and a handful of other brothers at nationals loved the products when we gave them one off pieces at an event last November. Because of the positive response we ended up having this made in larger quantities for the rest of our brothers to enjoy!

The reason why the beads were listed multiple times on ebay is because a well known Greek website was interested in becoming a distributor for the products and we sent them free samples to look at. He put them on ebay to test the market at diffrent prices.

I put them on shortly after that to test the market myself at the higher price and see what the response was for the beads. I listed the tag at the regular 8.95 price.

The price on our website was originally the price just for brothers that we came up with after the winter leadership retreat. I will gladly sell any brother any item for a discounted price even from what the website says. I am not here to squeeze anyone for cash and really would like to get the products to as many brothers as possible! I LOVE lambda chi alpha with all my heart and would never do anything to try and do otherwise!

Dever, I don't try to put off a good image in Amherst. I put off a true image, but I don't try to bend it or distort anything. There is nothing in Amherst, and probably won't be for many years considering the state of the greek community. I just tell it like it is.

Yeah, I see your point about politics and parents, staff, administration, etc. But will a shirt really make a difference? Where I come from, any type of letters, slogan or not, was cause for discrimination and ridicule.

It boils down to marketing, simple. Beer commercials use women in bikinis for a reason. Do they care about the Christian Right Wing groups?

If it was ONLY greek organizations using the slogans, I would say it may be problematic. But it's not. These type of t-shirts are everywhere. I remember at Mt. Holyoke, the cheerleading team had a shirt with two pom-poms and a megaphone positioned to resemble male genetalia with the slogan "practicing perfect mounting since 1997" or something like that.

20 years ago I would say the shirts are inappropriate. But in today's college environment, I don't really see it.

I'll concede to the point that maybe I was focusing too much on the whole shirt thing, but that was just an example of a larger issue.

Shirts and beads aren't the problem, is where you decide to show them that is going to be the issue. I wear my raunchy shirts sometimes when I am around the house, but I would never ever wear them to work, or to a meeting with my professors. Shirts are great marketing tools, but they have their time and place, which is what I was getting at. Unfortunately not everyone can be responsible for how they decide to display their letters. I have a LCA hat, the black and green with the women in the shape of LXA, I try not to wear it in places that I know that it would offend people. Meaning I rarely ever wear it outside of the house.

Now the whole issue with the beads is totally different. My problem with the beads unless it is decided that all college students are ignorant, beads are synonymous with drinking. This is a bit different than shot glasses and whatnot, but usually you try not to take your own expensive glassware out for a night at the bars. I guess my whole point is we expressly ban people wearing letters while drinking, because as everyone know alcohol makes people do real dumb stuff, trust me I know. And based on that, wearing letters at the bar leads to a horrible image. Some fraternities do it here, none of which I would consider the most respectable ones on campus. Beads are meant to be displayed while drinking, thats the entire idea which is why I have a problem with selling them with letters on them. We don't allow the wearing of letters while drinking in public, so there isn't a real need for drinking beads.

GZ I wasn't referring to the image you personally put off at Amherst, I was referring to how others perceive the image put off and the repercussions putting off that image involves. I wasn't making a personal attack on you personally, but referring to how the town of Amherst perceives greeks. There must be a reason for the bad blood, as broad as it may be. The fact of the matter is whatever that reason is it had to have come from someone. It just takes one person to ruin a good and sacred thing for everyone, as history has shown quite frequently, especially with GLOs.

I totally agree with the whole marketing thing. Perhaps I am a traditionalist on this matter and in some respects a hypocrite, but somethings should remain scared. Our letters being one of them. I have a shot glass with letters on it, and it is the very last one I would take out of my cupboard. Same goes with shirts, unless I have nothing else clean it's staying in the closet, and in most cases I will wear something thats dirty first.

Its all about image. There has to be some limit on what people can do to be funny and attract new members.

Interesting. I can see the difference between beads and shot glasses. But would you really wear your beads to a bar? If a brother of mine wore those beads to the bar (no offense to the brother that sells them) they would get a beat down for tackiness, in the same spirit if they brought their own LXA beer mug. They are FINE for a Mardi Gras party within your own house, as are shot glasses, etc.

It's funny you brought up the fact that you would never wear one of those shirts meeting with your professor or work. Good for you. You are about 15 years ahead of most other college students. Unfortunately, you would be surprised at the current state that people dress today. I was able to work in a courthouse for quite some time. You'd think people appearing before a judge would at least wear khakis or nice jeans, right? Most people wore PAJAMA pants, and several instances, one person wore PINK FUZZY SLIPPERS to COURT!!!! I also live near a high school. Everyday I see kids coming from it wearing pajama bottoms.

AMAZING!

As for Amherst, that town is a lost cause. The stories I could tell you about the anti-greek things they have done. It's almost straight out of a bad 80's frat movie.

I think it's just a trend, nothing to worry about. In a year or two, those catchy/dirty shirts will be haning with cargo pants and flannel shirts.

The problem is not looking ahead, but looking behind!

GZ and Dever, both right!

Promotion is great, but why do Greeks promote so many things other than their affiliations?

So, we need to promote us, not big companies!

So, I have seen two Brothers promote LXA items, this Brother and Heath from PinStation!

Have bought much from him, beads are not my thing!:)

But, if they are licensed then it is a go! Just do not bid or buy items. Your decission!:D

Tom, I actually like the beads a little.

I was talking in general terms thought, not specific to the beads.

S, the thought may be Good, but you need to place it better.;)

NOT BEING A MOD ANYMORE!:o:(

I thought this was a bad dream when I seen it the first time.........

http://cgi.ebay.com/Rare-Lambda-Chi-...QQcmdZViewItem

Wow.

Either:
1. HQ is making an attempt to truly market the LXA name by officially licensing every product imaginable.

or

2. HQ is whoring itself out for money.

A skateboard? What's next, LXA toilet seat? LXA soap? LXA condoms?

I think the beads and the skateboard are great. If I could get a Lambda Chi wakeboard I would consider it. I looks better than sticking a sticker on your board.

Please feel free to shout me down if I'm wrong about this, as I haven't been out "shredding" lately, but...

What's up with the skinny little skateboard? Didn't those things go out of style about 1979? Does it come with knee socks and feathered hair?

My cousin had one of them, and I fell and busted my ass every time I tried to ride it.

I don't have a problem with it, but I do think some other brothers do.

But some brothers do raise an interesting question, where do we draw the line?

What shouldn't have LXA letters?