Time To Get Angry With This Community And Boston Expo 2026

"How did the tariff fear pan out in the reality of the show? Were dealers reluctant to come? Did tariffs play any role?"

One could also ask if collectors were reluctant to go to te show.

None of this something any of us are likely to be able to answer. All we know is who did show up. Who stayed away is beyond our sight.

I did hear months before the show rumors that some dealers had pulled out, but I don't know if they were US or foreign dealers, nor their reasons, and of course this is just hearsay.

I know of two US dealers who decided not to come. One showed up to wander around for a few days. The other did not. I also know some collectors who did not show up, but I am not sure of the reasons in some cases.

The political remarks were not all from one side. And it is not a posters fault that not everyone is getting the same information from the world at large. Simple disagreement was not necessarily the reason, but much darker and more potentially dangerous situations often were. Even in something as basic as a stamp show was clearly affected by it; fortunately the show came off without any serious outside issues. As to a final report, I would think that the big stink over the judging might make people wary of producing it without making absolutely sure of all the details.

Any post that doesn't point out that there's been plenty of mud slinging from both sides on this forum is biased. Remember all the nonsensical pearl clutching about "blue state" governors and mayors and crime and public transit and all that in the run up to the Boston show?

It was an inflammatory nothingburger, just as silly as "railing on about ballrooms and reflecting pools", as you said. Ballrooms and reflecting pools have nothing to do with philately and this is not the place for them; if you have opinions on those topics, I don't want to hear about them here. I've seen plenty of nonsense here from folks on both sides and that's absolutely how we all get these threads shut down.

We all have our political opinions, and that's great. But I do my best to divorce my political beliefs from my posts here, and some of us could stand to do a lot more of that.

With regard to tariffs: it's a fact that the current President has decided to introduce them. It's a fact that they had an impact on the decision of certain dealers to participate in the show. It's also a fact that the show organizers hired someone with ties to the previous administration of the current President to lobby the administration to get philatelic items exempted.

Pointing these facts out should not be controversial. Insofar as current events have an impact on philatelic events, they should be fair game for discussion. But you should not be able to determine from my posting of these facts what my political beliefs are, and the same should go for everyone else, too.

Anyone who thinks that everyone can automatically discuss political issues that affect stamps or shows is being naive. The current world has engendered very strong feelings in people, and the idea that everyone can stay neutral about them while posting is not likely to happen. Often the intent is not to do so originally, but emotions take over because they are so powerful. And to some, they might feel an element of danger in not stating them. Clearly philately is important to all of us and that can add a layer as well. Personally, I feel some threads get closed too soon, and for the wrong reasons; obviously others disagree.