Hands up those of you that thought I had died?
Well after a protracted buying break I am now back and spending my pocket money on little bits of tin once more.
This one is a Filey 1969 in blue, yellow and silver. Its a little tarnished but the pin is intact and is a welcome addition to the clan.
Made in London by J. R. Gaunt.
For this one it is Skeggys Jolly Fisherman skipping gaily across the beach The breakout on this is his pennant. This badge was made by Reeves and Co.
Here I present the full run of Bognor Regis badges (excluding variations and replicas) as you can see style varies wildly and three of the main makers of badges for Butlins all get a look in.
This by no means completes my collecting of the Bognor badges as I only have 8 of the 21 camp badges, none of the 11 Committee badges and 2 of the 8 known replica badges. Collecting continues.
A last month I posted a replica Ayr 1960 replica well here we have the real deal. Made by Fattorini it is in great condition and looks so much better then its replica with thicker lines and no horrible plastic skim. A lovely effective 2 tone badge.
A double bonus on today's blog entry. This is a 1960 Ireland badge, my only badge from Ireland and as I found out one I hadn’t logged on my “Big list o’ badges”. Ireland seems to be oddly rare in the world of Butlins, odd because it seems to have been a popular camp with lots of colour variation in the latter years. Maybe I should start trawling ebay.ie? This badge was produced (aptly enough) by the Jewellery Metal Co. of Dublin.
Hers a quick comparison for you, all of my badges have been bought from eBay as it is a brilliant resource for these at at the moment It certainly fills all my meagre needs (this may change if i ever get more discerning.)
Here is a very bad eBay style picture of two badges. One is real and one is replica. Normally you don't get to compare the two side by side but I’m feeling generous today.
Which is a genuine 49 year old badge, which is a more recent replica? In this case the badge is very common so price differences are not that huge, however some badges are very rare indeed and buying a replica when you are after the real thing may be a very costly mistake.
As I am feeling generous here is a better picture.
Any the wiser?
Time to talk about the badges anyway. This is a fantastic little design, the 1st pennant reflects that this was the opening year for Bognor which has had some very nice designs over its 7 year badge issuing period. The original was made by W. Reeves of Birmingham and the replica is stamped replica on the rear. The job of spotting it is made harder by the fact that there is no acrylic skim on this issue so cosmetically it is very similar to the real thing.
Ok here's the answer. Or rather here's how to work it out. The original is likely to show more wear to to metal and will not look quite as symmetrical or perfect as the replica. The original badges were more often silver in colour. The real test is the rear. The real badge will have a pin with two points of joining, the replica will have a single piece pin mechanism normally of a safety type. The real giveaway is the big REPLICA stamped on the back of course. Sadly few ebayers thing to photograph the back of a badge but if it doesn't state replica in the auction you may have a recourse to return or complain.
If you bought the badge on the left congratulations…its a replica.
Another day another replica. This badge came with the 1947 issue and I don't hold it against the seller that they seemed unaware of its replica status.
It is a simple badge and I’m not really sure why its worthy of a replica, however it is in tip-top condition so ticks the box in my big chart-o-badges.
Here's some piccies 
