Great American Stamp Show - Anybody Attend?

I was intending to attend GASS, but my trip was pre-empted by health problems. Just curious about the experiences and impressions of folks who were able to attend. Thanks.

I'm not sure but it seems few who bothered to go posted an impression. I also had health issues that kept me near home. I'd love to see a few pics from others who did go.

The show was well attended and most dealers I spoke with said they were very busy. The dealer I worked for had a great show, possibly his best APS show ever. I barely had time to look for anything for myself. It was also very nice to meet up with long time friends and to meet some new ones as well.

I didn't go, but I saw this on youtube -

Watching the YouTube video one thing that stands out is the age of the attendees. Vintage shall we say. There are other observations, but I shall pass on mentioning them for fear of igniting a firestorm. Good crowd though!

GASS was competing with another show (five day) held at the same time. Demographics there were a bit different as well:

TAIPEI 2023 - 39th Asian International Stamp Exhibition Grand Opening in Taipei World Trade Center Hall 1 on 8/11. Closes 8/15/2023.

There were a modest number of the under 20 set there over the 4 days. And a modest number of the under 50 crowd as well. But shows do tend to bring out an older crowd. They are the ones who can afford to travel to them. Local attendance is never going to be huge at a show.

https://stamps.org/news/c/news/cat/...s-and-honors

Awards list.

A large gold, handbooks:

The Uses of U.S. Postage Due Stamps and Their Substitutes, 1879-2023

Anthony S. Wawrukiewicz (AKA Tony W. and Rate Book Tony)

also APS Research Medal

For more information: https://goscf.com/t/84684

I was at the National sports card show in Chicago 2 weeks ago and almost half the attendees were under 20, and vast majority under 50. Lots and lots of father/son pairs (alas not as many mothers/daughters but that's largely a reflection of pro sports). Kids have the summers off. Not really buying that they can't afford to go to shows. Admission was $25/day vs GASS which is free. The kids were all carrying around fancy metal briefcases loaded with expensive, professionally graded and slabbed cards. Many of them were wheeling and dealing with each other as well as established dealers. Excitement about paper based collectibles seems very strong among kids. Low youth turnout at GASS seems like a stamp specific issue.

I was on the jury for GASS so on and off the floor all 4 four days. It looked well attended; on the slower side Sunday as typical (perhaps further impacted by a local concert that jacked the daytime parking on a Sunday to $20). Dealers that I spoke to seemed pleased with the show. There are always some logistics issues with convention-center based shows given walking distances, parking, food quality & expense, hotel.

The APS show has always actually drawn in a broader demographic than most stamp shows, and I don't think this one was an exception (I agree that the demographics still skew strongly towards older and male).
The show itself was a good one, the exhibits were great, and I was certainly glad to have the APS summer show back in my home town for the first time in 24 years. Ohio has long been a well-regarded state for the summer shows and APS has been to Columbus several times in between the 1999 and 2023 Cleveland shows.

Did anyone attend the Kewriga auction and if so, what are your thoughts?

I did not attend, but Matt said he was pleased by the results.

You can't actually be trying to compare a sports themed show with stamps???? Sports is ubiquitous daily on TV, radio, the internet, and newspapers and magazines. It's inescapable whether one likes it or not. Stamps are hardly even used today compared with 50 or 60 years ago. Stamp collecting requires effort as well as interest.

The show attendance demographics comports with APS surveys when it comes to age. The question always returns to how the hobby survives without the interest of younger generations. Of course, we could assume that the younger generations will wait until they are in their 50's to enter the hobby like some sci-fi sleeper cells. There does seem to be more interest in a Honus Wagner card than a C3a.

There is a reason the USPS issued many baseball and baseball stadiums issues. Canada did do a nice example as well: