I Say The Hobby Will Survive

Try bidding on some items on ebay....

....the amount of competition on some material tells me the the hobby is very alive and well even if it does not seem like it in other venues. According to recent articles in Linns (or the APS mag) there are more "loners" out there than there are members of the APS, which is about 40,000. That would put the number of "active" collectors somewhere near 80,000. These are just the US collectors.....worldwide the number is well into multiples of millions.

The hobby will not only survive....it is doing exceptionally well with the internets' ability to search for material anywhere in the world. Very unlike the black & white picture-less fliers we used to get from just a few sources. Who can resist the wonderful giant color images ? Every day I find several dozen items that I would love to have.......only my budget keeps me from buying everything I see.

.....like a kid in a candy store.....

I'm 39 and have been collecting for almost 35 years now. I HOPE I have a good 40 years of collecting ahead of me.

My 8 and 10 year old sons are getting into stamp collecting pretty good now, too. They love collecting with me or - better yet - with their grandfather. Some of my fondest memories are collecting with my grandfather. Remember those machines in the department stores where you put in a quarter and got 4 MNH stamps from the 40s, 50s and 60s? :)


Outlaw 1-3

outlaw - well said.

Of course the coming 13.8 Trillion Dollar bail out of stamp dealers and auction houses will be a big help!