Dont Mean To Offend Just Curious

Here's a thought: everyone reading this (especially those considering that young people are not taking up stamp collecting because of the prevalence of video games, TV, and general decline in society), stop for a second, think of a young person in your life (niece, nephew, kid in the neighborhood, bartender's son, etc), grab a glassine envelope, stuff it with a pile of worldwide used stamps, and mail it to that kid in an envelope covered in commemorative postage...

SV,
We missed your pillar post!... Don't forget the cake and tongs.

I don't know if we can fully blame something like video games. I play video games on a regular basis and even have a PS3. As Gaff said, just plain ole expose at an early age would be helpful. I was exposed early on because my older sister once collected and I was a nosy little bother..brother.
But I feel another problem needs to be addressed .At least in the United States, Philately is not really in the public view anymore. It's rare to see a stamp store driving through a town. I don't think Washington D.C. even has a stamp store anymore. How many are left in New York City aside from Champion? I remember the Washington Post newspaper had weekend articles on stamps up till the early 1990's - nothing now. We're just too invisible to the public. Too bad I don't know of any living celebrities that collect stamps. Maybe they should introduce it as part of rehab. I've heard stamp collecting mentioned twice on the Simspons, but it was kind of dissed (Bart collects, but the rest of his family mocked him when his collection was stolen). Getting the younger generation involved is great (you can also donate stamps to military personal healing in hospitals), but a two-prong approach might help - get back into the public eye to let them know we exist.
Will

Does the President collect stamps?

This is funny, but here's something to consider...

I started actively collecting again back in June.

I quit smoking in July (five weeks tomorrow!).

Looking at stamps, sitting quietly and placing them in stockbooks, has kept me occupied for many calm hours that could just as easily have been spent haunting the pub drinking beer and smoking my health away...

The baby boomers are the ones that are keeping stamp collecting alive. We started collecting in the 50's and 60's and now have retired and have the money to spend. The only reason we started collecting is because we did not have all the gadgets available today. If we had, had them most of us would not have started collecting. No mater how you look at it, stamp collecting is a dieing hobby. In about 10 years you should be able to pick up classic stamps at a bargain price as there will not be much of a market for stamps, let alone the classic stamps. I wonder how long it is going to take the dealers and investors to realize the hobby is dieing and need to sell soon if they expect to be able to recapture or make any profit. Soon stamps will be worthless pieces of paper as most of them are already from a money stand point. You can see the future with the APS losing more members each month then they are getting and also by the fact no young people attend stamp shows. Not to be a doomsdayer but I can see the writing on the wall.

This sort of discussion goes on in most hobby forums I follow.

Too often we use the monetary value of the objects we are collecting to determine whether the hobby is "dying" or not. The hobby will only be truly dead when there is no one to buy/sell/trade with - kind of like one of those Twilight Zone episodes where you're the only one left alive after a nuclear holocost.

However, having said that, money makes the world go around. Certain stamps will maintain their values better than others. True rarities will most likely go up in value (assuming the plug isn't pulled on the economy).

And then there are lots of people who buy stamps at face value or used stamps for pennies each. There isn't much to lose there.

"The rumors of my death have been greatly exagerrated".

Maybe with the advent of the internet and forums like this one, collecting will be revived. I know the enjoyment level goes way up when you can interact with others, discuss, brag, and yes even debate a point.

Many years ago, I was active in GAPS, which was the local stamp group--stood for Greater Augusta (GA) Philatelic Society. It is no longer active, having given up the ghost in the 1980's (I think) But the enjoyment of collecting was very much increased by having the club.

So perhaps the internet can, if not take the place of clubs, provide an alternative to clubs. After all, we can have members here from all over the world and have access to members knowledge and expertise in many areas.

Well if there is any silver lining to a decline in stamps as those who inherit their collections decide to just sell them we will fall into piles of virgin stamps to add to our collections at a much reduced cost.

as anything collectible there is an ebb and flow, I myself only in my late 30's feel I'm near the cutting edge of technology these days and enjoy all things electronics yet I find a nice quite relaxing time away from the buzz of all my gadgets in my stamps, kind of like a mini vacation for a few hrs seeing different country's thru the snapshots of stamps.

so I don't believe it will fade away, just ebb and flow over the decades.

Something refreshing. At the end of october there will be a stamp exhibition/competition in a shopping mall not far from where I live in Montreal. That mean allot of people shopping around can take a look at the exibits. It's call Ophilex 2010 and the Quebec Federation compares it to the olympics where one philatelist surpass himself and the others. I may eventually participate to competition although it take me long to decide to get involve. But it's great thing to have it in a shopping mall to promote philately. Daniel

From Perth Western Australia,
the most isolated city in the world.

From Ace Stamp Auctions last week...........

Dear Collector

Yesterday's sale was our best so far with prices realised exceeding $100,000
and over 250 bidders, 100 of which were in the room. Thank you to all of you
who have supported the auctions thus far, both as vendors and as bidders.

I think stamp collecting is reasonably healthy.

neat

One of our SCF members is in a stamp club that tried to start a stamp club in a local school...it was going well and then as I understand it the parents balked at the cost of supplies..so there you go ! perhaps they bought the kid a video game instead !!

scandalous

SHOOTS BRAH, STINK EYE? YOU FROM HAWAII BRAH?