Charles Shreve Is Making Stamp Collecting Sexy Article

At least he was wearing them.

.
Well, here's one helper he won't be hiring:

Man Found Dead in Ed Buck's Hollywood Apartment Was a Friend and Fashion Stylist

Again

I do not know how this makes stamps sexy. I guess the headline writer thought there was some allure with handling very expensive collectibles and associating with rich people.

demand and desirability give a stamp its "value and sexiness," says Shreve. The top three determinants: rarity, exceptional quality, and a rich history.


My inference here is Shreves makes stamps "sexy", by creating demand and desirability that apparently would not be there. His ability is to persuade rich people to dump big money on stamps is what makes it sexy. If this circle of money were to dissipate, the sexiness would be gone, and you'd own a dud beanie baby. A stamp is only worth, what someone is willing to pay.

It is a local publication but it is good that some people see that stamp collecting is not dead and in fact a lot of people engage in it including names that are recognized beyong philatelic circles. You will not see a glossy article on the local car wash attendent and how he/she enjoys collecting used Forever stamps on ebay. Now THAT is not sexy.

They mention Shreve snagging all of Bill Gross' various collections (going back to 2007), but the real feather in his cap was pulling down the Floyd Risvold Collection on the American Westward Expansion in 2010. The auction books themselves are collectors items.

The Cunliffe inverts was another one.

> The Cunliffe inverts was another one

this was my fav. In total awe that this was assembled. It's crazy to me that it was only ~5mil for the entire collection. Doesn't seem like a lot of money for such an awe inspiring philatelic exhibition.
To me, stamps just feel cheap relatively speaking. (Note- I can't afford 1 item from the collection). But when you compare this to classic artwork, it's pocket change.

In this case, sexy is being used as a marketing term to sell stamps.