APS Gass (Great American Stamp Show) 2022

It is hardly the first time.

Maybe collectors are getting to old to travel.

It gets harder and harder to hook the horses up to the buggy.

Its the oats to feed them that are getting too expensive.

Rodgcam - I participated in the private perfs portion of the auction Friday afternoon. Fair number of in person bidders with prices coming in higher than I expected.

"too old to travel " that wasn't it ,maybe the city is the problem . I wouldn't walk around that downtown area without "heat" .

As mention above there was a good balance between Floor bidding ,Agent bidding and internet access to bidding .You can tell there was money in the room because of the fast pace of bidding ,it wasn't like the auctioneer was trying to ask for a bid ,it moved fast .

You knew each bid came fast after the high bid was established there was not the normal lag . What kept everything civil and calm was the vast amount of lots and everybody had a chance with other lots . Over all, a well run auction and all the collection lots and bulk lots were hitting their estimates as posted in the catalog .

First, thank you to all those who attended the show. Typically, our west coast shows tend to have fewer dealers, given the difficulties of bringing material from east of the Mississippi. We also lost six dealers within two weeks of the show starting for various personal reasons. David is thankfully on the mend, and I hope to visit with him at another show sometime soon. Overall, the number of stamp show dealers is declining and will have to factor into future shows.

Most of the dealers that attended were very happy with sales - either on par with the last Sacramento show or, in a few cases, better sales numbers. Since shows started again last year, traffic has been down consistently. Those attending are more serious buyers, but we're getting fewer casual interest shoppers. Beginners are still coming to get the experience, and we had some excellent interactions with them.

I had a good chat with Jim Lee on Friday. His retirement was not a surprise as he's been winding down shows for the past few years as he's permanently relocating to spend time with his children and grandchildren. He taught his essays and proofs class before the show's start and plans to work on a revised version to record next year. He will provide it to the APS so we can retain that vast knowledge for the future.

Overall, the Rumsey Auction did very well. The rest of the Bob Mason Estate sold on Sunday, and preliminary numbers for that sale were $92,000. All of the proceeds will go to support digitization efforts at the APRL. In total, the sale of Bob's material raised just over $220,000 for our digitization efforts.

I agree with the comment about Vince King's exhibit. The online scans are lovely, but seeing it in person is remarkable.

As we consider the stamp show of the future, I am reminded of conventions of the past. I researched the 1911 APS Silver Jubilee in Chicago. The exhibits were housed at a local art museum so the members and public could enjoy looking at them. There were meetings and talks during the day and social events planned for the evening. Each attendee received an activity booklet with tickets to join the lake cruise one evening, a fair and carnival plus food tickets, and one night, they arranged for a 40-mile drive of the "scenic highways and byways of Chicago," complete with a dinner at a local restaurant in the middle. Asking folks to take a 40-mile cruise around Chicago today would be a nightmare, but for 1911 that was probably a big deal. That said, I do think we've got to think about how the other events surrounding the show would attract as much attention as the bourse.

We'd certainly appreciate the comments if there are thoughts or specific comments about what we did well or where we could improve.

Scott

Recession? What recession?

All I managed to do was make Schuyler more money as I was 2nd high bidder on 4 of the 5 lots I bid on (I lost the 5th by 2 increments). Sigh.

That is how it works!

My find of the show was a US 1341, $1 Airlift on a package to Vietnam. Have been chasing that for at least three decades during which time I lost out on two auctions. That alone made the show for me.

Posted in wrong topic.

Sorry didn't have my coffee ,I will repost it to the right place .

Those with the most discretionary income are the least impacted by the economy and current inflationary spike (I'll refrain from calling it "hyperinflation" as I don't think we're there... yet). The runup in gasoline prices over the last 2 years, and the resulting increases in foodstuffs and other staple goods, as a result of the Covid moneyprinting press and other governmental policies in the last 2.5 years, has had an incredibly regressive impact. Those in the middle- and lower economic strata have been decimated by not only these expenses, but also increases in rent, utilities, insurance, etc. I just received my 6-month auto insurance renewal... a 24% increase over my last payment with no change in driving record, usage, etc.

If you were affluent and/or had significant discretionary income before 2020 you likely still are unless you were highly leveraged. You may be slightly inconvenienced, but it's likely not causing tumultuous quality-of-life changes. Not so for those living paycheck to paycheck. Luckily I'm single and don't have a family to support; some former co-workers of mine with larger families to support are in full-blown panic.