The Stamp Collecting Report
A radio feature by Lloyd de Vries

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Not dying: EVOLVING.

The Stamp Collecting Report, I’m Lloyd de Vries.

Recent news in the philatelic world has the pessimists wringing their hands, saying “The End Is Near!” These include the cancellation of the only top-level stamp collecting show in the New York City area, NOJEX, and the number of pages in a recent issue of Linn’s Stamp News, the leading philatelic periodical.

There are several factors involved in the stamp show problem: One is the high rents for venues in major cities. Most shows are now held in the suburbs: ten, twenty, thirty miles from downtown. Even those with an address in a big city are really on the outskirts.

The other problem for stamp shows is age: The committee members are old, having failed to bring in new, younger members. The “model” for their shows is old, too: Provide tables for dealers, space to exhibit collections, and maybe a few meetings.

Many of today’s dealers and collectors buy and sell on the Internet. Give them a reason to come to your stamp show, maybe special guests or rarities.

Linn’s — the weekly stamp newspaper — recently cut the number of printed issues. The others are available online. Where are today’s collectors and dealers? I just said: On the Internet. Mainstream news media are facing the same problem, competing with free news sources on the web. Linn’s needs to provide solid, accurate news and insight, and so far, it is.

Stamp Collecting isn’t dying: The old ways of doing it are. It’s not the same hobby it was in 1923 and it won’t be the same hobby in 21-23.

And those are my thoughts on stamp collecting. I’m Lloyd de Vries of The Virtual Stamp Club. For more on stamps and stamp collecting, visit virtual-stamp-club-dot-com.

The Stamp Collecting Report began in 1997 as a 60-second weekly feature distributed to CBS Radio Network stations by CBS News as part of its Weekend Feature Package. Eventually, longer versions were recorded for this website and a Christian evangelical shortwave service. The Report ended its CBS run in 2017 with only six repeats in some 1,040 weeks. It is now produced solely for The Virtual Stamp Club on an occasional basis.

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