Postage Stamp Chat Board & Stamp Bulletin Board Forum
 

The Spring Philatex is at the Royal Horticultural Halls in a couple of weeks.

I'll be in town from Thursday 19th until the morning of Saturday 21st April.

The Pom is likely to be around from Friday morning until Saturday.

If anyone's planning attending and fancies meeting up either during the day or in the evening for a pint and a bite in Central London, please post below and let us know.

I'll be there being beastly to the dealers on the 19th.

I much prefer Stampex, it's always been better for my activities but I live in hope...

As I haven't spent much of my budget this month I intend to go wedged-up and looking for a good haggle.

Cheers,


Mike (Not Bruce)

_________________
Looking for revenues and unusual stamps?
Weekly auctions on eBay with over 300 curious new lots every week ... Website: http://www.ibredguy.co.uk/main.php

Will be there with bells on as they say. It will be 15 months since my last warm beer in London with fellow dealers Ian Perry and Steve Irwin (and Torsten Weller), really looking forward to the show again. Will also be nice to be in the UK when it is warm for a change (hope it is).

_________________
Michael Eastick & Associates P/L
Suite 20-79 Mahoneys Road, Forest Hill, Vic 3131, Australia. 03 9894 8561
http://www.michaeleastick.com

When it's warm you missed it as that was two weeks ago.Still a water shortage in south east so stick with the warm beers

_________________
Long interest in stamps from Great Britain. Avid collector always after good pre 1930 lots

Make the most of this April's Philatex as it is the last. The hall has been sold and the new owners will be refurbishing it etc so not available for Philatex. The organisers have tried finding a new venue but without luck.

Stampex will be the only game in town from September onwards. I suspect there will be a number of Philatex dealers joining the Stampex crowd so it looks like the future STAMPEX is going to be even bigger and better than before, so even more reason to visit in future.

That's a shame, it's close to where I work so I could nip out in the lunch hour.

They'll have to be "sympathetic" to the original style - I'd imagine they're VERY limited to the changes they can make as most of this is "original" Art Deco.

I was privileged to be given a "guided tour" by one of the concierges when I was down for Philatex a couple of years ago and it really is a classic building.

Great pix Gav .. hope we see some of this final years' event and hopefully some socialising!

I gave Eastick 100 quid cash to buy members a few rounds of warm weak beer - do not believe a word if he denies getting it.

Glen

Every time I've asked him before, the bugger pretends to have a get-together with some of the other dealers to avoid buying me a pint, so probably not the wisest investment you've ever made

If anyone wants to meet up for a pint, I'd suggest the Chandos as a suitable venue.

We've used it before and it's central with good cheap beer. Also only a 5 minute walk from Chinatown with loads of places to eat if anyone's interested.

I can make both Thursday and Friday. Chris is down Friday as well, so let's see if we can get a few more together.

And if anyone can't make the evening but wants to meet at the venue during the day (Friday), that's OK too.

Update...

List of dealers attending:

Richard Allan
Willard S. Allman (USA)
ALLWORLDPH.COM
Apex Philatelic Auctions
Argyll Etkin Ltd
Liz Ashfield & Andy Faulkner
John Auld
Avery Stamps
BB Stamps Ltd
BBFILA.com (Netherlands)
Bill Barrell Ltd
James Bendon (Cyprus)
Benstamps
Alan Berman
Derek Bolton
Border Stamp Centre
Bridger & Kay Ltd
Tristan Brittain
British Society for Japanese Philately
Cambridgeshire Philatelic Auctions
Candlish McCleery Ltd.
Michael Chipperfield
Colonial Stamp Co. (USA)
Cover Love
Cover Story Ltd
John Curtin Ltd
Robert Danzig
Gary duBro (USA)
Michael Eastick (Australia)
Robin Edwards
Essex Stamp Auctions
David Feldman (Switzerland)
Derek Fulluck
Ze'ev Galibov
Judith Grant - Ephemera
Stewart Harris
Howard Hatton
Steve Irwin
Japan Philatelic Group Ltd
Paul Keeble
Kniffka Philatelie (Germany)
Li-Briefmarken (Germany)
David Loffstadt
Martin Lynes
The Magpie
David Millership (Tom Green)
Peter Mollett
David Morrison
Murray Payne Ltd
The National Philatelic Society
Paper Heritage
John Perriman
Ian Perry
Philasearch (Germany)
Pilatte Philatelie (France)
Gerald Prins (France)
Brian Purcell
PZH 1840 (Netherlands)
Chris Rainey
Richardson & Copp
Ross Shiells Ltd.
Rushstamps (Retail) Ltd
Samwells
Stephen J. Sayer
Scotia Philately Ltd
Stephen T. Taylor
Thames Themes
ThematiX
Antonio Torres
Robert Uden
Andrew Vaughan Philatelics Ltd.
Rolf Weggler (Switzerland)
Torsten Weller (Australia)
Mike White
Ian Wick
World Poster Stamps
David Wrigley
Yorkshire Cover Auctions
Steven G. Zirinsky (USA)

I'm boycotting the event due to the absence of Norvic Philatelics on the list of dealers

_________________
"Life is a tough Teacher, it gives you the test first and the lesson later"
Anonymous

Maybe he'll be on the list of customers

How kind!

I have never attended a commercial fair as a seller. I have, twice I think, had a 'members' table at our club fair. Imagine, if I took along stuff that was in my online shop I would have to note everything that I sold so that I could adjust the online stock quantity. And people might have 'bought' the online stock while I was selling it at a fair.

No, internet and fairs do not mix for small dealers. And I won't be there was a buyer either. I still haven't started stamping the club's M-Z of the UK FDCs yet, due to my collision with the playground at the last fair I went to

_________________
Ian Billings - Norvic Philatelics GB stamps info: http://www.norphil.co.uk - also /catalog for our ecommerce site, blog.norphil.co.uk, shop.norphil.co.uk and Ian_norvic on twitter

Well have a pint for us Gavin with any stampboarders who are about.

I was surprised to see how few NON British dealers there to be honest.

Glen

Glen - yes about 15 out of 80 is fairly low non-GB turnout.

Of course, that includes fellow-Stampboarders Michael Eastick and Torsten Weller: always good to see those guys

And I see Kniffka Philatelie from Germany are there - they usually have a decent selection of "Russians in Germany" for me, but last time I was there, I seem to recall they'd not brought stock from that area.

I've got trains and hotel booked up, so all ready to go.

I make it 19 or maybe one or two more are overseas based dealers, so quite a good overseas contingent, and therefore a good selection of new material to be seen (I hope).

Gavin I'll be there all three days, but several specialist society meetings on Saturday and already have a Thai meal arranged for Friday evening. Perhaps a Friday lunchtime Drink, it would certainly be great to put some faces to names!

If you want I can arrange for a "Stampboards" message (A4 size) to be on display on one of the stands so you can say who will be meeting where for other Stampboarders guidance. Let me know if its of interest.

Sark

Hi Sark,

Yes, Friday lunchtime sounds good - or Thursday after the show is OK for me as well.

Good idea about putting a message up, maybe with a "meet here at xx o'clock" - happy to leave arrangement of that up to you.

Less than a week to go, so I suggest that anyone who's interested in meeting turns up at The Chandos pub near Trafalgar Square/National Gallery on Friday 20 April between 5:30pm and 7:00pm.

Address:

The Chandos,
29 St Martin's Lane,
Nr Leicester Square,
London WC2N 4ER.

Also, if anyone wants to meet up the evening before (Thursday 19th), please post below or contact me by email.

And there will be a few Stampboarders at Philatex on all three days, no doubt. See Sark's post above for details of a suggested meet at the show.

Any takers, anyone?

So far, we've got Chris (the Pom) and I meeting on Friday night at the Chandos.

Sark is around all three days, and suggested maybe Friday lunchtime. There's a pub called the Strutton Arms round the corner from the Horticultural Halls in Strutton Ground so that may be an option.

Also, if anyone wants to meet up Thursday evening, I'm free, so let me know...

Gavin .. hope a few more members get wind of this chance of a get-together there.

I just laughed as that Shaftesbury hotel we stayed when in London to catch up with you and a few other members, just sent me an email with their latest deals!

Can't recall giving them my email address but must have.

Glen

http://newsletters.contentplus.co.uk/t/ViewEmail/r/6A7C8A277EDB4E39/76887427CC25CB2C1A01488700E2614F

Ha!

Yes, Glen, I got the same email earlier.

All the ones round Paddington were booked up solid, but I got a good deal about one from the same group at Earls Court - Chris is booked into the same one for Friday night.

Michael will be delighted to learn that the forecast is heavy showers, top temp 10-14°c.

_________________
Always on the lookout for Australian pre decimal First Day Covers.

Gavin Hi

I will put up a blank A4 sheet on stand Number 13 upon which any Stampboarder can add a message as to where they would like to meet during the three days.

Friday lunchtime drink sounds great but I would recommend the Barley Mow in Horseferry Road which has real ale & pub food and most importantly ,if its raining, its closer than the Strutton Arms.

Sark

Stamps, grog and food. Sounds like a typical Stampboards get together to me. Have fun people.

Norm

_________________
Geelong, VFA Premiers 1878, 1879, 1800, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1886, AFL Premiers 1925, 1931, 1937, 1951, 1952, 1963, 2007, 2009, 2011, .

He'll be fine - that is much like a warm Summer's day down in Melbourne.

They are 700 miles closer to Antarctica that the rest of Australia, few realise.

I feel all nostalgic for the time we all met up in London, Gavin!
Wish we were there to raise a glass (or two).

Maybe next year??

Just leaving the hotel now to head for the show.

Looking forward to meeting Sark and the others later.

Stand 13, here I come....

It was good to meet up with Sark at lunchtime yesterday. Sadly, a low turnout, just the three of us (Sark, The Pom and me) at the Barley Mow in spite of great work by Sark in getting publicity posters up at several stands around the hall.

And just 2 of us made the Chandos, but what we lacked in quantity we made up for in quality

No photos because you know what two of us look like, and Sark had ticked the box marked "no publicity"

As a show I was disappointed with Philatex, although did manage to pick up a couple of decent buys. A few empty stands and not many customers compared to previous years.

But, good to catch up again with The Pom, good to meet Sark, and also to see Michael Eastick and Torsten Weller again.

So you didn't get thrown out of any venues this time, Gavin?

He dragged me into a few.....

Echoing Gavin's comments, Philatex was pretty dead. Very few people there on the Friday, many stands completely devoid of browsing collectors, dealers nodding off, not encouraging. Much dealer talk was around the future, with this probably being the last Philatex. The general feel was that an increased sized Stampex might generate more interest than the two smaller events.

That said, a lot of decidedly average & overpriced stock on show. The material on offer seems to fall into 3 categories:
1. Top end premium individual items priced at full retail - not the kind of thing a typical show buyer tends to be after - if you wanted a £1000 stamp, you'd have approached the dealer already.
2. General dealer counter stock books full of individually priced run of the mill mint & used, sorted by country & arranged by date. You might fill the odd gap, but there's not much there to excite you.
3. Piles of random album leaves/covers/collections. Generally a painful wallow in a mudpool of overpriced mediocrity.

Question: If the pool of collectors is reducing, as the old guard pass on, and few new collectors come into the hobby, why is decent "general" material apparently so thin on the ground?

_________________
Always on the lookout for Australian pre decimal First Day Covers.

Chris, that sort of material from what I've seen is now going to online sales more and more.

On the subject of the reduced number of people at shows such as the one you went to, the same thing is happening here. The last large stamp show I attended was in Canberra and while the Friday was busy, the Saturday and Sunday weren't. That event is held every 2 years with a few International dealers present so you'd expect it to be busier.

On the other hand, we have a large stamp dealer only event in Sydney each month and it is getting busier each year.

I've noticed that while the over 70 year age group collectors are reducing in numbers, the number of "baby boomer" collectors is increasing rapidly.

Are you seeing that in the UK as well

_________________
Tony

I do think mainstream GB dealers are having problems coping with reality - and more than a few are in denial.

The market in the UK is shrinking, true there are a few new collectors who are under 70 but I doubt if there are many under 30 (or 40).

As the old boys get older, they're asking their computer savvy grandchildren to help them buy on-line, no hassles getting to a show, or having to spend hours routing through overpriced rubbish (as stated above), they can find exactly what they want at a price they want to pay.

I have a very large (almost unlimited) budget for material that I'm retained to find for collectors, but I know I'm not popular with some mainstream dealers as they see me as some sort of stamp spiv who isn't playing by their antiquated rules...

I know one company who have some great material that they won't sell to me as "we don't know what it's worth and because you do, we're not selling it to you"

This sort of arrogant attitude will come back and bite them on the bum with any luck - and I'm willing to bide my time

_________________
Looking for revenues and unusual stamps?
Weekly auctions on eBay with over 300 curious new lots every week ... Website: http://www.ibredguy.co.uk/main.php

I thought Philatex was excellent as usual. It was packed on Thursday when I went. Lots to look at from the cheap (and certainly underpriced-- 1/2d Tasmanian Tiger unsealed cover for a £1 being an example) to the high priced. I spent four hours there, and even then I didn't see it all. No complaints whatsoever; people of all ages were there.

I have received that response from a well-known dealer in India States et al, who shall remain nameless. But in that case I scored a major acquisition because they didn't know the rarity of what they were selling.

As they say in Russia ... "Tough sh-tski".

Well luckily I had my undercover spies on the case ..............

.

.

.


.


.

.

Nice one Glen. I remember that photo. The four of us took a vote and decided that the ugliest one should take the photo!!!

Back to the show. It was great to meet Gavin & "The Pom", just a shame a few more GB Stampboarders couldn't make the meeting.

I found the show well attended but as Pom mentioned the numbers were down a little.

Stampex I think will benefit from the demise of Philatex, but I will let you know what it was like after the first enlarged event in September.

Sark

Trevor Pateman's take on 'The Last Philatex' - http://www.armeniazemstvo.com/2012/04/f ... latex.html

_________________
Ian Billings - Norvic Philatelics GB stamps info: http://www.norphil.co.uk - also /catalog for our ecommerce site, blog.norphil.co.uk, shop.norphil.co.uk and Ian_norvic on twitter