[perezfan]

The "book values" may not be impacted, but they consistently sell for lots more when the ribbons and charms are included (and are attractive). I have followed this matter closely, and the ribbons/charms can make a huge difference in the actual prices realized.

I know that I'll pay lots more if the piece is more attractive... below are some of my Reds Pins. I bypassed a ton of them (witout the nice ribbons/charms) until I could find these prime examples.

The seller that Mike referenced on ebay adds brand new ribbons/charms to his vintage pins (and pawns them off as all-original). This guy has no scruples, and you can see in his buying history, that he purchases bulk groups of charms, new ribbon by the yard, etc. He has some very elaborate and ornate "creations". Perhaps not as alarming as the autograph fraud discussed on this forum, but these items were definitely created to deceive.

Any somewhat experienced collector can tell the original ribbon from the new. The materials aren't even similar. Plus, after you've seen enough, you know which ribbons/charms should go with which pins.