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General Philatelic/Gen. Discussion : Stamp Clubs: The Groucho Marx Approach

 

Author
Postings
FItzjamesHorse

Collecting Ireland

09 Oct 2016
06:45:44am
Apart from a period of about five years in the 1980s, I have never been a member of any "local" or "specialist" stamp club or society. As a general rule, I take the Groucho Marx approach...Id never join a club that would have me as a member.
There are many stamp collectors who are very social and clubbable people. Others prefer to collect under the radar. For some, stamp collecting is essentially something "personal".
But as Stamp Collecting is sadly dying out, it seems that staying "solo" is a luxury I cant afford. It is increasingly desirable that all stakeholders (collectors, dealers, postal authorities) play a part in maintaining and promoting Stamp Collecting.
To be honest, membership of a club/society is not something I think about on a daily basis. It is really only a consideration at this time of the year...as the Irish National Exhibition takes place next weekend. The event exists thru the work of the "clubbable" and the solo players like me seem to derive all the benefit.
Increasingly I feel a little guilty passing the volunteers from the Irish Philatelic Circle and Éire Philatelic Association as they try and recruit new members.
I dont suppose one is "better" than the other. But my general impression has always been that the IPC is orientated towards Ireland and Britain while the EPA is orientated towards Ireland and North America.

Any thoughts?
Is being a "solo" collector a sustainable approach as the hobby seems to die?
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irishknight1952.wordpress.com
dani20
Members Picture


09 Oct 2016
07:55:39am
re: Stamp Clubs: The Groucho Marx Approach

Dear FItzjamesHorse,
When you write: "Is being a "solo" collector a sustainable approach as the hobby seems to die?" it seems to me that you are posing the wrong question. To me, this is a gathering place for like-minded individuals to share a common passion and to connect to a friendly social community. More like a neighborhood pub and meeting new friends place.

For your broader concern about the hobby as a whole surviving-certainly a philosophical question worthy of pondering but if history is any predictor of the future, the hobby has continued for a relatively long time and seems to be able to change with the times. Values, tastes, preferences of course come and go- the economics of any particular area of collection may see major shifts, but the overall 'hunt' and potential 'treasure find' thrill speaks to the human spirit. Or so it seems to me.
Thoughts?

Best,
Dan C.

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ikeyPikey
Members Picture


09 Oct 2016
08:15:43am
re: Stamp Clubs: The Groucho Marx Approach

"Taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society."

Our hobby has institutions, and I think that we should support them.

Look at what you spend on stamps, and join both.

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

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"I collect stamps today precisely the way I collected stamps when I was ten years old."
musicman
Members Picture


APS #213005

09 Oct 2016
09:07:28am
re: Stamp Clubs: The Groucho Marx Approach

I guess I was just the opposite -

when I dove back into stamp-collecting/postal history quite a while back, I found that I DIDN'T like doing this all by myself....so, I STARTED a stamp club in my area.

That being said, I certainly don't think the club atmosphere is for everyone.
We have invited more than one local collector around here to join - more than once - that seem to just prefer to go it alone.
They might go to a show once in a while, but for the most part they seem to be of the mind that stamp collecting is to be savored in their own private solitude.

So be it! We should have no problem with that. We often say, "Collect WHAT you want, HOW you want, however it may please YOU" and this 'lone wolf' way is perfectly acceptable for those that prefer to do so and should be included in that description.

As far as the hobby surviving, we are in the second-oldest hobby on the planet; I agree with our resident philosopher Dan here - stamp collecting has morphed its way from 1840 all the way to the present in one form or another and will continue to do so long after we , and future generations, have left this earth (or until God says time is up!)


Do you want to go to shows? Please do!

Do you want to join a club? Please do!

Do you want to volunteer? Please do!

Do you want to enjoy your collecting in solitude? Please do!


These are all things that make our hobby great - they all work!!






Happy Stampin',

Randy

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BenFranklin1902
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Tom in Exton, PA

09 Oct 2016
09:52:32am
re: Stamp Clubs: The Groucho Marx Approach

There are people who are "Joiners" and those who are not. Today we have two degrees of involvement, that of the traditional joining of a physical club, and now we have involvement in online boards or clubs. Personally, I've always been a joiner. I like to know kindred souls and be able to share information. I like to ask advise and share my triumphs.

Hobbies are all pretty much the same. There are two model car clubs I belong to in NJ. The first club is the Tri-State Scale Model Car Club, which has been around for 35 years. We have around 35 members. Our average meetings are a dozen or so people. This club meets on a Saturday afternoon. We are fairly serious builders, and host the big show every year. One of our rules is that everyone must help run the show.

The second club is the Jersey Shore Model Car Club. I helped found this one 25 years ago. This is more laid back. They meet on a Friday evening, they hold no events so there is little responsibility involved with being a member there. As a bonus a local dealer sells model kits at a steep discount, which is the major draw. Membership is around 75. They will get 35-50 people, mostly local to attend these meetings. Many of these guys haven't built a model in years.

Soooo... we at Tri-State have a mailing list of over 1,000 modelers that live within an hours drive of our area. These are people who have attended our show over the years. How is it that out of 1,000 people less than 100 belong to local clubs and attend club meetings?

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sheepshanks
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09 Oct 2016
10:06:56am
re: Stamp Clubs: The Groucho Marx Approach

The only stamp club I ever belonged to was 55 years ago in school. Now living in Manitoba the nearest club is an hours drive away and meets on 2nd. Monday each month September to May. I have no idea of what time of day or where and there is no website to check, merely a 'phone number. The next nearest is two and a half hours drive away in Winnipeg.
These might sound reasonable driving distances but in winter the roads get closed and become snowbound very quickly, we all carry emergency kits in our vehicles from November to May.
I personally am not really interested in going to meetings and prefer to do my sorting, soaking, sticking in the comfort of home.
While it is no substitute for personal interaction the internet has made so much information available at the press of a few buttons.
Interestingly only last night I read an article in Gibbons monthly magazine where the following appeared.
"Maybe the experience of German philatelic agent Hermann Sieger bears upon the Americans' desertion of our hobby. His firm is active on the Net, but he admits "That it doesn't pay" because active collectors don't spend the evening playing with their computers-they like to receive, through the traditional postal service, old fashioned catalogues and price lists."
The article continued by saying most net users are youngsters not interested in stamp collecting. Fewer collectors are placing standing orders but instead are buying what they want to own. Perforations, watermarks and shades are less popular. People are collecting thematically and that there are more woman collectors.
This article was only written in October 2003, I think things have changed somewhat over the intervening years.
Now maybe I should stop being a fuddy duddy stop at home and make a 'phone call, who knows what I am missing.

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BenFranklin1902
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Tom in Exton, PA

09 Oct 2016
10:44:54am
re: Stamp Clubs: The Groucho Marx Approach

Vic, I'd say that the German dealer's opinion may still be true for Europe, but I think people in the USA have migrated, some kicking and screaming, onto the Internet in the past 10 years.

True, the demographics of this hobby are in the older age groups, the most resistant to computers. Vince invited me to his club meeting to hear the Executive Director of the APS speak. He admitted that their most active age group was over 60. He also said that over 150,000 people bought stamps on eBay last year. Consider that the APS membership is around 5000 there are a lot of potential members out there!

With my model car show, we stopped printing and mailing out a detailed prospectus about ten years ago. We had all the information on our website for several years at that point. We saw other clubs sending PDFs of their newsletter via email, so we decided the time was right to cut the costs. We started sending out a nice postcard which directs folks to our website for more information.

The first few years we got an outcry from people who refused to computerize. They demanded we send them the traditional mailer. We created a printed copy of our website text to mail to those. We'd get people calling me to ask for step by step directions to the hall. These were people who had no computer, and no GPS.

That has completely gone away in the past five years.

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Snick1946
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APS Life Member

09 Oct 2016
12:17:56pm
re: Stamp Clubs: The Groucho Marx Approach

I belong to my local club, it's a nice group, meeting in a church basement with 20-30 people most meetings.

I have found myself not attending much the past year or so. I'd say 80-90% of the members collect US and little else. I do as well but have for the past fifty years and already have most of what I am going to be able to afford. I have been concentrating on mostly European areas. They have a monthly auction with almost never anything I collect in it. I should get out and support them more I suppose.

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Philatarium
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APS #187980

09 Oct 2016
12:21:21pm
re: Stamp Clubs: The Groucho Marx Approach

I'm not disagreeing with what anyone has said, but the APS membership number of 5000 seemed low to me (or perhaps I misunderstood the comment?), so I just went and checked. According to their website, the membership is about ("nearly") 32,000.

http://stamps.org/Our-Mission

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cdj1122
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Silence in the face of adversity is the father of complicity and collusion, the first cousins of conspiracy..

09 Oct 2016
12:22:12pm
re: Stamp Clubs: The Groucho Marx Approach

".... How is it that out of 1,000 people less than 100 belong to local clubs and attend club meetings? ...."

That is almost exactly what a local pastor said to me a short time ago.

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".... You may think you understood what you thought I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you think you heard is not what I thought I meant. .... "
FItzjamesHorse

Collecting Ireland

09 Oct 2016
12:46:45pm
re: Stamp Clubs: The Groucho Marx Approach

Interesting responses....thank you all.
I think there is a massive difference between "physical" clubs and internet clubs.
The latter facilitates members to have a personalised under the radar approach. When I have joined physical non-stamp clubs (eg a military modelling or military history), there is an element of buying into a group-think.

The Internet is perhaps the best of both worlds ....contact....but controlled contact.
On the broader point, my own experience ...collecting from 1970 to 2000 and resuming in 2012....is a hobby in decline. I am wondering if perhaps I should "give something back" to the hobby and overcome my reluctance to be a "joiner".

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irishknight1952.wordpress.com
smauggie
Members Picture


10 Oct 2016
09:25:03am
re: Stamp Clubs: The Groucho Marx Approach

It is amazing to me that there are a great number of stamp clubs and societies here in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota. I have attended many of their meetings and have met many wonderful people (including our Stamporama wizard).

Health concerns have been limiting my outings to these events of late much to my chagrin. Have I brought more people to the hobby? Unlikely. Have I helped other collectors enjoy the hobby more? Definitely. And visa versa.


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canalzonepostalhistory.wordpress.com
Brechinite

10 Oct 2016
03:14:15pm
re: Stamp Clubs: The Groucho Marx Approach

I do not belong to any "club" other than this one.

Many years ago I plucked up the courage and joined my local society, at the first meeting the President displayed a small part of his collection of Penny Blacks & Twopenny Blues (I almost decided to give up my stamps and take up golf instead), but I was welcomed and enjoyed the experience. Even when I moved 30 miles away I still attended their meetings. When I moved house again it was too far to travel.

Nowadays I go to a couple of stamp auctions based in Edinburgh, a round trip of 160 miles each time. I have been doing that for a few years now and "know" a few of the regulars. Some of whom are still members of that society I first went to. We even bid against one another, have a few laughs, and occaisionally talk about stamps after we have "put the world to rights".

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Al
Collector, Moderator

11 Oct 2016
07:58:23am
re: Stamp Clubs: The Groucho Marx Approach

There are a lot of collectors who are not near a stamp club. I had attended one many years ago when I lived in Raleigh but stopped going due to lack of interest. Some like the social interaction; some do not need it.

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whitebuffalo
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11 Oct 2016
08:46:07am
re: Stamp Clubs: The Groucho Marx Approach

I'm among the group that has no clubs or societies within driving distance. From what I can tell, the closest one is in Springfield and that is a 2 hour drive, one way. I used to hang out with an elderly gentlemen here in the area, who had been collecting since the early 30's, but he passed away in 2005 and I pretty much gave up collecting until about a year ago. I honestly wonder if I would have stuck with it for very long this time, had I not found SOR to hang out at. I think even if you're a lone gun, eventually you need some interaction with fellow collectors, it helps to keep things in perspective.

I've only been to one stamp show and that was back when I was about 10 or 12 years old. It was interesting, but I ended up buying the same thing I had always bought. Mixed bags of 1000 WW stamps. Soaked, they were $.50 and on paper, they were $.25 each. Back then, everything was pre-1970's. I'd probably still buy those, but I can imagine most are filled with modern stamps and I wouldn't find them nearly as interesting and they seem to have gone up in price just a bit.


WB

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Ningpo
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11 Oct 2016
09:27:09am
re: Stamp Clubs: The Groucho Marx Approach

"I think even if you're a lone gun, eventually you need some interaction with fellow collectors, it helps to keep things in perspective."



I think you're right on the button!

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Author/Postings
FItzjamesHorse

Collecting Ireland

09 Oct 2016
06:45:44am

Apart from a period of about five years in the 1980s, I have never been a member of any "local" or "specialist" stamp club or society. As a general rule, I take the Groucho Marx approach...Id never join a club that would have me as a member.
There are many stamp collectors who are very social and clubbable people. Others prefer to collect under the radar. For some, stamp collecting is essentially something "personal".
But as Stamp Collecting is sadly dying out, it seems that staying "solo" is a luxury I cant afford. It is increasingly desirable that all stakeholders (collectors, dealers, postal authorities) play a part in maintaining and promoting Stamp Collecting.
To be honest, membership of a club/society is not something I think about on a daily basis. It is really only a consideration at this time of the year...as the Irish National Exhibition takes place next weekend. The event exists thru the work of the "clubbable" and the solo players like me seem to derive all the benefit.
Increasingly I feel a little guilty passing the volunteers from the Irish Philatelic Circle and Éire Philatelic Association as they try and recruit new members.
I dont suppose one is "better" than the other. But my general impression has always been that the IPC is orientated towards Ireland and Britain while the EPA is orientated towards Ireland and North America.

Any thoughts?
Is being a "solo" collector a sustainable approach as the hobby seems to die?

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irishknight1952.word ...
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dani20

09 Oct 2016
07:55:39am

re: Stamp Clubs: The Groucho Marx Approach

Dear FItzjamesHorse,
When you write: "Is being a "solo" collector a sustainable approach as the hobby seems to die?" it seems to me that you are posing the wrong question. To me, this is a gathering place for like-minded individuals to share a common passion and to connect to a friendly social community. More like a neighborhood pub and meeting new friends place.

For your broader concern about the hobby as a whole surviving-certainly a philosophical question worthy of pondering but if history is any predictor of the future, the hobby has continued for a relatively long time and seems to be able to change with the times. Values, tastes, preferences of course come and go- the economics of any particular area of collection may see major shifts, but the overall 'hunt' and potential 'treasure find' thrill speaks to the human spirit. Or so it seems to me.
Thoughts?

Best,
Dan C.

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ikeyPikey

09 Oct 2016
08:15:43am

re: Stamp Clubs: The Groucho Marx Approach

"Taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society."

Our hobby has institutions, and I think that we should support them.

Look at what you spend on stamps, and join both.

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

Like 
1 Member
likes this post.
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"I collect stamps today precisely the way I collected stamps when I was ten years old."
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musicman

APS #213005
09 Oct 2016
09:07:28am

re: Stamp Clubs: The Groucho Marx Approach

I guess I was just the opposite -

when I dove back into stamp-collecting/postal history quite a while back, I found that I DIDN'T like doing this all by myself....so, I STARTED a stamp club in my area.

That being said, I certainly don't think the club atmosphere is for everyone.
We have invited more than one local collector around here to join - more than once - that seem to just prefer to go it alone.
They might go to a show once in a while, but for the most part they seem to be of the mind that stamp collecting is to be savored in their own private solitude.

So be it! We should have no problem with that. We often say, "Collect WHAT you want, HOW you want, however it may please YOU" and this 'lone wolf' way is perfectly acceptable for those that prefer to do so and should be included in that description.

As far as the hobby surviving, we are in the second-oldest hobby on the planet; I agree with our resident philosopher Dan here - stamp collecting has morphed its way from 1840 all the way to the present in one form or another and will continue to do so long after we , and future generations, have left this earth (or until God says time is up!)


Do you want to go to shows? Please do!

Do you want to join a club? Please do!

Do you want to volunteer? Please do!

Do you want to enjoy your collecting in solitude? Please do!


These are all things that make our hobby great - they all work!!






Happy Stampin',

Randy

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BenFranklin1902

Tom in Exton, PA
09 Oct 2016
09:52:32am

re: Stamp Clubs: The Groucho Marx Approach

There are people who are "Joiners" and those who are not. Today we have two degrees of involvement, that of the traditional joining of a physical club, and now we have involvement in online boards or clubs. Personally, I've always been a joiner. I like to know kindred souls and be able to share information. I like to ask advise and share my triumphs.

Hobbies are all pretty much the same. There are two model car clubs I belong to in NJ. The first club is the Tri-State Scale Model Car Club, which has been around for 35 years. We have around 35 members. Our average meetings are a dozen or so people. This club meets on a Saturday afternoon. We are fairly serious builders, and host the big show every year. One of our rules is that everyone must help run the show.

The second club is the Jersey Shore Model Car Club. I helped found this one 25 years ago. This is more laid back. They meet on a Friday evening, they hold no events so there is little responsibility involved with being a member there. As a bonus a local dealer sells model kits at a steep discount, which is the major draw. Membership is around 75. They will get 35-50 people, mostly local to attend these meetings. Many of these guys haven't built a model in years.

Soooo... we at Tri-State have a mailing list of over 1,000 modelers that live within an hours drive of our area. These are people who have attended our show over the years. How is it that out of 1,000 people less than 100 belong to local clubs and attend club meetings?

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sheepshanks

09 Oct 2016
10:06:56am

re: Stamp Clubs: The Groucho Marx Approach

The only stamp club I ever belonged to was 55 years ago in school. Now living in Manitoba the nearest club is an hours drive away and meets on 2nd. Monday each month September to May. I have no idea of what time of day or where and there is no website to check, merely a 'phone number. The next nearest is two and a half hours drive away in Winnipeg.
These might sound reasonable driving distances but in winter the roads get closed and become snowbound very quickly, we all carry emergency kits in our vehicles from November to May.
I personally am not really interested in going to meetings and prefer to do my sorting, soaking, sticking in the comfort of home.
While it is no substitute for personal interaction the internet has made so much information available at the press of a few buttons.
Interestingly only last night I read an article in Gibbons monthly magazine where the following appeared.
"Maybe the experience of German philatelic agent Hermann Sieger bears upon the Americans' desertion of our hobby. His firm is active on the Net, but he admits "That it doesn't pay" because active collectors don't spend the evening playing with their computers-they like to receive, through the traditional postal service, old fashioned catalogues and price lists."
The article continued by saying most net users are youngsters not interested in stamp collecting. Fewer collectors are placing standing orders but instead are buying what they want to own. Perforations, watermarks and shades are less popular. People are collecting thematically and that there are more woman collectors.
This article was only written in October 2003, I think things have changed somewhat over the intervening years.
Now maybe I should stop being a fuddy duddy stop at home and make a 'phone call, who knows what I am missing.

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BenFranklin1902

Tom in Exton, PA
09 Oct 2016
10:44:54am

re: Stamp Clubs: The Groucho Marx Approach

Vic, I'd say that the German dealer's opinion may still be true for Europe, but I think people in the USA have migrated, some kicking and screaming, onto the Internet in the past 10 years.

True, the demographics of this hobby are in the older age groups, the most resistant to computers. Vince invited me to his club meeting to hear the Executive Director of the APS speak. He admitted that their most active age group was over 60. He also said that over 150,000 people bought stamps on eBay last year. Consider that the APS membership is around 5000 there are a lot of potential members out there!

With my model car show, we stopped printing and mailing out a detailed prospectus about ten years ago. We had all the information on our website for several years at that point. We saw other clubs sending PDFs of their newsletter via email, so we decided the time was right to cut the costs. We started sending out a nice postcard which directs folks to our website for more information.

The first few years we got an outcry from people who refused to computerize. They demanded we send them the traditional mailer. We created a printed copy of our website text to mail to those. We'd get people calling me to ask for step by step directions to the hall. These were people who had no computer, and no GPS.

That has completely gone away in the past five years.

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Snick1946

APS Life Member
09 Oct 2016
12:17:56pm

re: Stamp Clubs: The Groucho Marx Approach

I belong to my local club, it's a nice group, meeting in a church basement with 20-30 people most meetings.

I have found myself not attending much the past year or so. I'd say 80-90% of the members collect US and little else. I do as well but have for the past fifty years and already have most of what I am going to be able to afford. I have been concentrating on mostly European areas. They have a monthly auction with almost never anything I collect in it. I should get out and support them more I suppose.

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Philatarium

APS #187980
09 Oct 2016
12:21:21pm

re: Stamp Clubs: The Groucho Marx Approach

I'm not disagreeing with what anyone has said, but the APS membership number of 5000 seemed low to me (or perhaps I misunderstood the comment?), so I just went and checked. According to their website, the membership is about ("nearly") 32,000.

http://stamps.org/Our-Mission

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Silence in the face of adversity is the father of complicity and collusion, the first cousins of conspiracy..
09 Oct 2016
12:22:12pm

re: Stamp Clubs: The Groucho Marx Approach

".... How is it that out of 1,000 people less than 100 belong to local clubs and attend club meetings? ...."

That is almost exactly what a local pastor said to me a short time ago.

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this post

".... You may think you understood what you thought I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you think you heard is not what I thought I meant. .... "
FItzjamesHorse

Collecting Ireland

09 Oct 2016
12:46:45pm

re: Stamp Clubs: The Groucho Marx Approach

Interesting responses....thank you all.
I think there is a massive difference between "physical" clubs and internet clubs.
The latter facilitates members to have a personalised under the radar approach. When I have joined physical non-stamp clubs (eg a military modelling or military history), there is an element of buying into a group-think.

The Internet is perhaps the best of both worlds ....contact....but controlled contact.
On the broader point, my own experience ...collecting from 1970 to 2000 and resuming in 2012....is a hobby in decline. I am wondering if perhaps I should "give something back" to the hobby and overcome my reluctance to be a "joiner".

Like
Login to Like
this post

irishknight1952.word ...
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smauggie

10 Oct 2016
09:25:03am

re: Stamp Clubs: The Groucho Marx Approach

It is amazing to me that there are a great number of stamp clubs and societies here in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota. I have attended many of their meetings and have met many wonderful people (including our Stamporama wizard).

Health concerns have been limiting my outings to these events of late much to my chagrin. Have I brought more people to the hobby? Unlikely. Have I helped other collectors enjoy the hobby more? Definitely. And visa versa.


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canalzonepostalhisto ...
Brechinite

10 Oct 2016
03:14:15pm

re: Stamp Clubs: The Groucho Marx Approach

I do not belong to any "club" other than this one.

Many years ago I plucked up the courage and joined my local society, at the first meeting the President displayed a small part of his collection of Penny Blacks & Twopenny Blues (I almost decided to give up my stamps and take up golf instead), but I was welcomed and enjoyed the experience. Even when I moved 30 miles away I still attended their meetings. When I moved house again it was too far to travel.

Nowadays I go to a couple of stamp auctions based in Edinburgh, a round trip of 160 miles each time. I have been doing that for a few years now and "know" a few of the regulars. Some of whom are still members of that society I first went to. We even bid against one another, have a few laughs, and occaisionally talk about stamps after we have "put the world to rights".

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"Gonnae no dae that!..........Just gonnae no!"
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angore

Al
Collector, Moderator
11 Oct 2016
07:58:23am

re: Stamp Clubs: The Groucho Marx Approach

There are a lot of collectors who are not near a stamp club. I had attended one many years ago when I lived in Raleigh but stopped going due to lack of interest. Some like the social interaction; some do not need it.

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"Stamp Collecting is a many splendored thing"
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whitebuffalo

11 Oct 2016
08:46:07am

re: Stamp Clubs: The Groucho Marx Approach

I'm among the group that has no clubs or societies within driving distance. From what I can tell, the closest one is in Springfield and that is a 2 hour drive, one way. I used to hang out with an elderly gentlemen here in the area, who had been collecting since the early 30's, but he passed away in 2005 and I pretty much gave up collecting until about a year ago. I honestly wonder if I would have stuck with it for very long this time, had I not found SOR to hang out at. I think even if you're a lone gun, eventually you need some interaction with fellow collectors, it helps to keep things in perspective.

I've only been to one stamp show and that was back when I was about 10 or 12 years old. It was interesting, but I ended up buying the same thing I had always bought. Mixed bags of 1000 WW stamps. Soaked, they were $.50 and on paper, they were $.25 each. Back then, everything was pre-1970's. I'd probably still buy those, but I can imagine most are filled with modern stamps and I wouldn't find them nearly as interesting and they seem to have gone up in price just a bit.


WB

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Ningpo

11 Oct 2016
09:27:09am

re: Stamp Clubs: The Groucho Marx Approach

"I think even if you're a lone gun, eventually you need some interaction with fellow collectors, it helps to keep things in perspective."



I think you're right on the button!

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