Boston 2026 - Any Reports?

[qThe show was great for the philatelic Whales , could of match them in a few areas but found out they are not my kind of people to talk to ]

The nail has been hit on the head by Chris.

My wife used to do pet product shows in Boston, NY and Chicago and the unions always were the thing that blew the budget to pieces and restricted what one could do. You could show up with a box of pencils and need to reserve a dock space and wait for union labor to move them for you.

I was there on opening weekend. There was material available for all budgets. There were some dealers I spent $2000 at and some I spent $3.00. So where is the issue? There definitely was a millionaires row, but there was also something for everyone. Lots of red boxes to rummage through.

I mean, for the mid-range collector, practically any show that you have to travel to isn't really worth the cost. With fuel costs as high as they are, and Boston hotels as expensive as they are, it wasn't a cheap show.

But there was plenty of low and mid-range material. When I wasn't working a booth, I had fun browsing red boxes. And besides, most are going for either the social aspect of the hobby, or the ability to see an amazing array of philatelic material on display. Or both, in my case.

With all of the pros and cons people are posting I wish I would have been able to go. I went to the shows in Chicago and Washington DC. and had a great time. This sounds like it would have been equally fun. Lots of great displays and dealers with items for every budget. What more could you ask for in a stamp show? Not counting the cost of travel, hotels, and food.

[q][ And besides, most are going for either the social aspect of the hobby, or the ability to see an amazing array of philatelic material on display. Or both, in my case.
/q]

Both in my case as well. And if you were working a booth, I must have walked past you or spoke to you, probably several times.

As with any show, the planners and others should look at what worked and what needed improvement.

Yes - I think all things considered, they still did a great job in the face of political headwinds and the usual pressure on costs (being in an expensive location didn't help). Some lessons learned for the next show, but overall things went quite smoothly.

I was pleased to see the Boston 2026 Palmares posted on the show website. There are great listings of the medal awards by Medal, by Country, and by Class.

However, I do not see any listing of the show major/special awards -- C of C, Grand Prix, Special Awards, Literature, GASS, etc. As such, the Palmares doesn't really provide any information that wasn't originally available (prior to the Palmares being posted).

What am I missing here?

If I lived within driving distance, I likely would have gone for at least 1 day just to take it all in and see the exhibits, but given (1) the travel expenses and (2) none of the major U.S. revenue dealers were in attendance, there was no reason to go out of my way to attend.

With any luck, I'll be around for the next one... well hopefully the next two.

Call me a clown all you want, but I've spoken with the guys who were working on the tariff 'situation' and let me tell you, they had their hands full for a while there. It worked out well in the end, but a lot of hard work went into getting some exhibits and dealers to show.

I suspect that everyone who was there is pretty happy about it. With the possible exception of a few exhibitors.

Waiting for the daily attendance numbers for the show each day ,hope they don't include all the school buses that brought the children in their totals .

It should take 90 days before a clear financial report can be posted also . Hope no surprises and those who posted earnest money ,get their money back .

I don't really grok all this "it was expensive" talk.

It was known since NY2016 that 2026 would take place in an expensive place. Ten years to set aside a few bucks a month to cover the "more expensive" bit in the equation.
May most expensive buy was the Scott Specialized, almost all my booklet finds were in face value grab boxes. Flying in from Europe for a week for the show, this would make a ridiculous price paid per item value. But I knew that right from the start so why think about it at all? Meeting all the friendly people and seeing all the stuff I'll never own was worth it.

Why did they hide all the exhibits behind walled panel cubicles? Certainly doesn't help with security if no one can see what happens at the frames...

That generic and local food in Boston is (sometimes a lot) more expensive than in Switzerland was an unexpected surprise so I bailed on the $89 lobster at Faneuil Hall or $129 at a local restaurant near the hotel..