Aripex Stamp Show February 17-19, 2023, Mesa, AZ

ARIPEX Stamp Show

http://www.aripex.org/

The Arizona Federation of Stamp Clubs will present the 64th Aripex stamp show Feb. 17-19 at the Mesa Convention Center, 263 N. Center St., in Mesa, Ariz.

Show hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $8 and covers all three days. Parking is free.

ARIPEX will include a bourse (sales area) with 47 tables. The United States Postal Service will have a booth at the show.

Any show reports from those in attendance?

I went on Friday - not many people there, although a few tables had seats full. No exhibits due to APS suspension, no meetings other than one society and presentation by PSE. Maybe a quarter of the tables empty, I assume due to dealer no-shows. Hopefully Saturday was better. I plan on going again today.

Just got back - show is pretty dead. Supposed to be 40+ dealers/auction houses/ societies; maybe a little more than half of the tables were occupied. Looks like Kelleher and the USPS were no-shows among other firms. As noted in another thread, the APS pulled their imprimatur for the exhibits due to security concerns; apparently a single person pretty much runs the show. Five years ago, on my first visit to Aripex, the parking lot was full and I had to park elsewhere, the tables were full with dealers and customers, there was a separate room just for exhibits which were numerous and impressive, etc., etc. Maybe it's a one time downturn, but if this year is a foreshadowing of things to come, this show is on life support at this stage.

I last attend Aripex in 2015 and it was a vibrant show with a FD of Issue of a US stamp. That said, no large show can be run by just one man alone. I too hope it can bounce back.

From reports of other major shows of the last few months, things have been pretty weak on that front. These have been shows that had waiting lists for dealer tables. Major club-based shows selling dealer tables translates to paying for the venue and any projects. And popular venues have to be signed up for immediately after the last show if you want to get your choice of dates/the same "traditional" show date.

So, where did everybody go, both dealers and collectors? Did the world tap out for Christmas?

Well, the Aripex show has been slowly contracting over the last five years. This year I don't think I saw anyone there under my age (going on 70), no beginner's tables, no Boy Scouts. One of the dealers had going out of business signs on his table and most of the other tables were bereft of customers. The APS suspension for this year's show really put a further damper on it. Unless they get their act together, I would assume it will lose the APS imprimatur permanently and wither away.