Capex22 Stamp Show June 9-12, 2022

I was there Thursday, Friday, and Sunday. I planned on being there on Saturday, but "real life" intervened and I found myself with some lawn cutting and plumbing chores instead.

Attendance was pretty good on Thursday and Friday. I know it was higher on Saturday, but still way below expectations based on conversations with the dealers. Sunday's attendance was dismal.

Great exhibits. I love the one frame shows. Lots of dealers. Probably 1/3 are regular attendees at the bi-annual Mississauga show. Most were Canadian. I did notice a dealer "Burstamp" all of the way from Australia, Philangles, and auction house in the UK, Christoph Gartner from Germany, and a number of firms and houses from the US including Dutch Country Auctions.

I thought the seminars were generally excellent, but sadly under attended. There was one "brag show" that I walked out in the middle of, but most were informative, enlightening , and inspiring.

I cannot help but make comparisons between CAPEX '96 and CAPEX 2022. This was a much smaller show, much lower attendance, a really did lack the "international aspect" that was present at the last show. I spoke with many attendees who were in fact quite disappointed with the show.

Happily, I did see some younger 20-somethings at the show as well as others in their 30's & 40's. Still based on what one would see by simply sitting for an hour in a chair and guessing people's ages, the demographics of this hobby, in Canada anyway, is shockingly negative.

The big thing missing from this year's CAPEX was the international postal authorities that had booths at previous shows.

And the "passport" that you got at the door with which to go around to the different post offices; you would stop at each booth, buy their CAPEX (or similar) stamp to stick into the passport and get it cancelled with their special CAPEX cancel.

Peter

I was really excited to go, was about to make my way there, just before I left my daughter asked me a question that made me stop in my tracks.
I thought about it, I ask her what she thought I should do…her reply was go fishing…..that's what we did.

I enjoyed myself overall, there was much to do, a little to buy, and old friends to see. It was well-organized.

But, the economics make no sense today, perhaps someone brighter than me would explain. I wouldn't want to be a dealer paying $3K + for a booth, and another $3K + for hotels and travel, hoping to generate enough revenue to break even. At least the avid collector can call it a vacation.

I enjoyed it.

So sad to see this post after the fact! Are there plans for a 2023 show you can share? Would love to help get the word out! :)

Hi RMSS,

Unfortunately, CAPEX shows are few and far between. These have been the shows:

CAPEX 1951 (Toronto)
CAPEX 1978 (Toronto)
CAPEX 1987 (Toronto)
CAPEX 1996 (Toronto)
ROYAL 2011 (Montreal)
CAPEX 2022 (Toronto)

So on average - every 10-12 years.

Frankly, due to the rapidly aging demographics of Canadian stamp collectors/philatelists, I would even go as far to surmise that CAPEX 2022 could very well have been the last National Show to be held.