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Great Western Stamp Show 2007 |
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The Great Western Stamp Show enjoyed a new lease on life last weekend, under the auspices of new organizers John Attrell and Luciano Bassetto, and the Canadian Stamp Dealers' Associations, of which I am the B.C. Director. The three day stamp and postal history show took place in a new venue, Langley, B.C.'s Coast Cascades Hotel and Casino complex, from Friday March 16 to Sunday March 18, 2007. Previous operators David Allen and Andrew Blanchard were also both in attendance, and seemed much more relaxed now that they were not doing double duty operating the show. The Great Western used to be held in Richmond, B.C., around the time of the Asian Lunar New Year, which always seemed to overlap with Valentine's Day somehow, and dismay all the collectors' wives and girlfriends. |
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The new venue was accompanied by a new time, the beginning of Spring Break, and the overlap with St. Patrick's Day did not seem to dismay too many. Another dealer did buy and quickly resell all of our St. Patrick's Day postcards mind you. In fact, for All Nations Stamp and Coin Shop, postcards were definitely a big part of our success at the show, representing nearly a quarter of our sales there. We are perhaps not well known for our postcard inventory, but we have recently reorganized it and always have a few good things to show. There are postcards in most of our weekly auctions as well. |
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We expected more of the general public at the show, and so took Beatles Stamp sets, Saddam Hussein banknotes, and even 2010 Olympic coin sets to display at our corner booth. We sold all our Olympic coin sets, one Hussein note, but no Beatles stamps. Our emphasis on Colonial British Columbia material enabled us to sell a Wellburn book, and several B.C. stamps we bought on the show floor. Nothing is sweeter than placing something you have just bought with another new owner. Stamps and postcards can sometimes be like hot potatoes that way at a show. This is also why it is always worth dropping by All Nations shop or booth, a lot of nice items we buy never make it past our regular clients and onto our new in stock lists. |
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Catalogued auctions took place on Friday and Saturday evenings and added to the success of the new Great Western Stamp Show. |
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| One of the show highlights for me, was meeting a 21 year old postal history dealer from Vancouver Island, Firmin Wyndels, who was taking a break from eBay sales and setting up at the Great Western for the first time. Great to see some new blood. | ||
 Dealers drove from as far away as Thunder Bay, Ontario, to set up at the show. There were collectors on the show floor from as far away as Shanghai, China. At least one dealer left early Saturday to go see the Canucks beat the Red Wings. Some dealers and collectors talked about their casino wins and losses. At least one collector spent his winnings and more on the show floor.
The show and auctions seemed professional and successful. The security was good and |
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| Now we can all look forward to the British Columbia Philatelic Society's Vanpex Stamp Show and Exhibition June 8-10, 2007 at the Richmond Curling Club. | ||
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Newsletter #96 |
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There were certainly collectors looking for thematic, or topical material, notably dragons, at this years Great Western. The postal historians seemed less in evidence than in recent years, although the Victoria contingent were noticeably active on Friday. The collectors remembered their want lists and wallets and many items were crossed off their lists, including a used Seaway Invert, acquired by one lucky collector. The Seaway Invert display, courtesy of John Jamieson, did not seem to garner the attention it deserved. Perhaps it will fare better next week in Edmonton, after which it is being broken up and sold.| Home - Info - Auction - Sales - Appraisal |
 All Nations Stamp & Coin
5630 Dunbar St. at 41st Ave. Phone: 604-684-4613 Fax: 604-266-4515 e-mail: collect@direct.ca |
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