£10 Challenge at Stampex -  

Alan Berman is my dad!! Chuffed to see so many people enjoying the stand 🥰

My vote goes to Oliver for the collection of Danish stamps he bought, including an amazing old stamp. A real bargain, I think, and an excellent addition to his collection. I also choose him, because as a relative beginner collector my heart still lies with stamps themselves rather than postal history. Graham, thanks for this absolutely fun episode. It felt like one minute because it was so engaging. I know it is not my place, and I don't know the reason, but the day you stop to produce videos will be a tragic and sad day, and you will leave a big hole. You by far surpass other stamp channels in quality of presentation and content, and you definitely contribute immensely towards philately! You are an inspiration to many! Oih! Not a good thing. 😥

I'm not even into stamps at all, but randomly finding this video, it fills me with an oddly warm feeling. So many different interests out there in the world that people enjoy doing and sharing with others. Things they take pride in. Kind of like with me and literature huh?~

I was here in the day, Graham. I remember the announcements over the public address system. A fascinating challenge. Great to see a younger crowd of stamp collectors showing their enthusiasm. My vote goes to Luke and the Guernsey bisect.

They were all great purchases, but if I had to choose one that really stands out for me, my choice would be the Guernsey bisect stamp. A real piece of fascinating history from an area that I collect. To be honest, I'm a little envious. I don't usually collect covers (other than FDCs postmarked on 13 March), but this one I'd definitely put in my collection. If I needed to choose a second, it would be the Egyptian cover. The postmark is an interesting part of history and of course it was on the 13 March, so that makes it even more interesting for me.

I vote for Luke. He was very astute in his search. Even took the chance by heading over to the more expensive area. That's what the hunt is all about. Also learning the in and outs of bartering for certain items you want. Hr also seems to know quite a lot about the hobby. That is very good for a young collector. To top it off, I believe he said he got a free tea as well.

I don't know what to say...this was such a great idea and very well done. I hope that societies and clubs, future stamp show organizers were watching, there is a lot to learn here. Oh and I'm with Team Lia :)

Graham this has been one of my favorite episodes ever! You guys are so creative to come up with these fun challenges to showcase Stampex and all it has to offer. It was so cool to see the wide variety of things people were able to get. I'm glad the contestants all seemed to have fun! Thanks for sharing this with us.

Steven Taylor is the most generous dealer I have ever met!

I love this channel, I think I learn something new in every video. I had no idea that there was such thing as uni/college stamps! Nice to see some younger faces too - I feel like such an odd one out at my local group. With regards to the challenge, I found the story behind Hassan’s find the most interesting. However the beat up old stamp that Oliver focused on also got my attention because I recognised it as being similar to one that I recently found in a £1 charity shop bag. Just did some quick googling and it turns out that it’s from 1854-62. Had Oliver not drawn my attention to it, it would have probably sat in that bag for quite some time!

This was so fun to watch,, Graham! I think my favourite was Hassan's Egyptian cover because I found the hotel cancellations quite interesting and something I had not heard of before. Smacks of "local post" almost, right?

What a fantastic challenge! My favourite was the Luxor hotel cover.

All 5 have success , so I say it's a tie. Per rarity factor, the commercial Guernsey bisect cover was the best value for the 10£. Stephen is a friendly dealer, who ventures across the lake regularly.

I am voting for Hassan. I think his old Egyptian stamp is amazing

They're all winners. Great challenge!!! Well done!

🎉 The cutest episode of the season, I died laughing with Laura losing the participants, we need an episode just with behind-the-scenes stories with Laura (I love you Laura), this initiative is really cool, and that must be the spirit of the thing: It is possible to start a collection with any value or as we say here in Brazil: there is something for every budget, thank you Graham for all your dedication to philately. 😊

Wow!! 🥳what a great episode to watch, Graham, all the contestants' items are wonderful. I like the ones picked by Hassan & Luke, it is a great airmail cover with both US and GB postage, and the Egypt & Guernsey Occupation covers with so much history. Really enjoyed. Appreciate your efforts and your editing skills, so much to learn from you. 😊🙌

The bisected was very impressive. But the older stamp collection was truly the deal of a lifetime. Good to know dealers can be so helpful

Woah! This needs to be a regular feature on Stampex - it reminds me of a British antiques "show" called Bargain Hunt (ask Isobel!🤣). It's really difficult to pick a winner because they all are in their own right - but it does demonstrate that anyone going to Stampex, won't go back home empty handed. Great episode!

29:25 Very interesting cover......especially the fact that this hotel apparently had their own delivery service to the P.O. certified with a custom cancelation

9:00 I've got my bet on this young chap.......he's a sharp philatelist with a serious strategy

Love seeing youth involved, bravo!

Great idea!! Like a philatelic Easter Egg hunt. All the participants impressed me in different ways. Five winners in my opinion.

That was indeed fun! the message of finding treasures for less was important ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Well I've always been partial to stampless covers, so I lean toward Dan. But certainly everyone looked like they had fun. What a great challenge! Luke's bisect is also a great find. Well done to all the contestants, and well done you, Graham! Great video as usual. Thanks

This was so fun to watch and I felt like I was able to experience the adventure of finding treasures at Stampex! Well done to all the participants, they all found such unique and interesting items!

This video put a smile on my face just watching the joy from their challenge, exploration, and then the fun of finding a new treasure and it made me smile even more that your participants were young people who were excited with their discoveries. Thank you Graham for the joy you and Laura bring to Philately!

Loved this, Graham. As you said, they were all winners. When you can find something that interests you, which you can add to your collection, that is all that matters. Looking forward to the next challenge.

Fun challenge. I think Luke had the most interesting purchase. I had not seen a bisect before. Like his strategy too!

What a fun idea! Loved seeing how each collector enjoyed what they found. That's what collecting is all about.

phantastic and fun episode. Thank you Graham for the work and effort you put in producing such interesting, creative and fun content.

Great challenge and it was really enjoyable to watch! I also got quite a few postal history items from Alan Berman. Yes, I agree his booth is the best place for the challenge 😂 Every participant got a great item for under £10. But personally, I would like to pick up Luke’s, just because I collecte the Channel Islands😊

Another Wow video, I love the concept. Making it a treasure hunting competition with a time limit. My favorite? The two ladies. All got something nice for their collection and were enthusiastic about their finds, however my vote goes to them because we need more young people and women in the hobby. From a philatelic perspective they all won, but I liked the stampless cover and the Jersey cover the most. But it is not really a competition, is it? It is all about fun we have together.

Hi Graham, all of them were interesting. I liked the idea, to try to get something interesting with a small amount of money. That´s not so difficult, even 1 EURO covers can be very interesting. Especially from Egypt I found some on a stamp fair from the 1920/30s also with nice and clear cancels some years ago. I do not especially look for Egypt, but I like the old stamps. I don´t have a number one for voting, because every item and the collection are nice. The first stamp from Denmark is not too rare (Im not sure, if it is a 1 or a 4. For the 1 in the Michel catalogue you have two varieties and for the second variety three different colors. Not easy), the second 2 skilling blue is very rare (I do not have it). And in the collection from Denmark the sets with the many 4/8 Skilling/Öre can be specialized a lot. If he is lucky he can have a good find when looking through them. I also love the buses, this is a wonderful idea in the mini-sheet. Every participant gets 0,2 votes from me and a nice item from you 😅.

Nice lot of world stamps collection. Blessings

Greetings from California.... well done all!

This is so awesome. The contest is a great idea and I was genuinely excited to see their discoveries. And you found a lovely range of ages and interests in your contestants too. I'd love to be one of the contestants in something like this. Well done! 💖 PS - and as always, your editing and extra information is top notch. You're the acme of philatelic videos!

REALLY FUN to watch and very interesting! Nobody on RU-vid makes this type on content ON PHILATELY! thanks a lot for making PHILATELY FUN!😅 really appreciate your work and EFFORT😁

I like that Egyptian cover and the history behind it. So that’s my election

Another great video Greg. Young content creators like yourself, Kyles stamp, Silk on the web and many others really keep the interest in this hobby alive. Keep up the great work. Just my 2 cents worth.

So much choice and so little time. Well done to everyone involved, there were some great items purchased and fascinating stories told. Also it's pleasing to see that stamp collecting can still appeal to all ages and people from all corners of the world 👍

That was one of the best episodes yet, great stuff! All did well, my vote though goes to Luke, followed by Dan and Hassan.

Hi , I am shams from Pakistan a young Philatelist. I have not seen any such competition in Pakistan so I was enjoying watching it ❤

What a fun idea.

All finds were winners, but if I had to pick out the best in postal history pursuits, Luke's commercially used cover with a bi-sect stamp, well tied to the cover, with contain, from an occupied region, stood out to me as a great 10 pound find. It was a great challenge. You and the people you work with are definitely countering the thought that philately is a fading hobby. You make it alive, modern, and thriving.

I’m not even British or a stamp collector but this video is really cool

Lettre de Bonn (Allemagne )cachet d'entrée par Forbach en rouge

I'm partial to souvenir sheets and young collectors. My vote is for the double decker buses.

Philately is so popular in the netherlands, it is no surprise hearing all the dutch accents.

Really fun episode! And is just like my real philatelic budget 😂

Wow,I would love to join this challenge someday. For a 10 pound, I would buy stamps from the "dead countries" that I don't have yet.

Well done Graham, another excellent episode. As for the winner, they are all winners because they all got something they all enjoy - covers and stamps.

A friend and I used to do this by starting with five dollars and seeing who could end up with stamps with higher catalog value at the end of the day. Swapping with dealers and other collectors was a challenge. This looked like great fun and added another dimension to the show for your participants. I bet they had a great time…and I had a great time watching. Thanks yet again, Graham!

Great episode! I think all the contestants did really well and all their purchases were very interesting. My favourite find was the cover from Guernsey with the half stamp on it and the bill inside. As a runner up I very much like the sheet with the history of double decker buses. Well done to all the contestants and thanks Graham for your entertaining video!

I think Oliver won. But very fun challenge…I didn’t know about the diagonally cut stamps, very interesting. Oliver just got more stamps for his money. ☑️

Wow, this was great, enjoyed watching this a lot. I even felt the sensation as if I were there going from dealer to dealer and hoping to find that one item...a really nice challenge. Now making a decision is really tough, I'd not mind adding all of those items to my collection, however I think in the end the collection of Danish stamps Oliver found would be most fun for me so my vote goes to Oliver. Thanks Graham for this nice episode.

So much to learn in these videos, the stamps and covers are from all over the world! Also glad to see that the event happens in a modern handicapped accessible building. Well done as always! Best to you.

The Guernsey bisect commercially used on cover is rare.

Just an amazing episode ! Everything is interesting and I'd really enjoyed being part of this challenge ! For myself, the Denmark collection is amazing and the Double-decker souvenir sheet is so interesting that I want one for myself. Thank you Graham and your team !

What a fun video. Luke is quite knowledgeable but I really loved seeing our new collector starting out. Love your ballcaps :)

I'm not a cover collector but I vote for the bisected British stamp cover.

What a fun challenge! This really highlighted the fact that you can have so much fun collecting even on a budget!

Brilliant!

Nice episode Graham! Interesting finds, my credits goes for Luke!

Great challenge! All did well! Wonderful hobby where you can buy pages of engravings for under 10!

Great stuff. My favorite one was the Guernsey cover, historic and unique. The great thing is that there is something for everybody.

Great concept. Excellent video. Watched it while sorting my own collection. The winner was definitely that nice Danish collection

Fun watch. I don't have many interesting UK/ overseas items, but a few years ago I watched Mr Selfridge and picked up a Selfridges store receipt with a 2D revenue stamp overprinted SELFRIDGE from 1942. I think it was under £10.

As always I loved this video!! I think a £10 challenge would be fun!!! I’ve got several smaller shows, in my area, over the course of the year; and I’m going to give this a go and see what I can find!! It’s a way to have fun, meet people, but, more importantly, to add stamps to a collection that someone might not have considered, or r thought were out of the budget!! Great idea and keep the videos coming!!!

Great episode. It was interesting that the contestants stayed focused on their favoured collecting area even though they were trying to win. I agree with some of the other viewers who said it was great that most dealers were willing to negotiate to help a collector. All the contestants found great items, but I think Luke's find was my favorite.

Great idea, Graham, and a great video as usual. Good to see the youngsters really getting involved. I wonder if one of them actually found any classic Norway. I used to drive those London Transport buses back in the 1960s. The Danish collection a definite bargain for postmark interest. Well done to all five.

Great fun Graham. The most important and exciting take away from this video for me is that you got 5 young (ish) people to participate. Great for the future of this, our great hobby. I am both sad and excited to hear that you are ending this channel. Sad for it coming to an end, of course, but excited if you are going to change tack a little but still be doing something within philately that we can participate in with you. All the best 👌

Great challenge you can find some good interesting stamps for the money. Graham you always find an interesting topic for your shows 👍👍👍👍. 🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇭🇲😎

Great video! I loved watching all the contestants' purchases. Are you selling those hats? If yes, you are going to have to make a new set for next year, because half the arena will be wearing your hats in next year's show and you will never spot the contestants in amongst all the orange! :)

Excellent idea Graham..this 10£ challenge..👍... My favorite is the bisect from Guernesey (a true time value and really well negociated by the way..😉)

Great episode! I loved Luke’s bisect!

This is such an interesting activity. Such a great idea! I would be glad to be a participant myself. :) I am glad that PTS is getting you to do some of these videos of Stampex. I didn't know that there are so many dealers over there! The set of Denmark stamps at 10 pounds is such a good deal :)

I think the best one was the Guersney because the buyer was astute enough to purchase a commercial cover - not one created by a philatelist. Second of course would be the Danish collection, a great bargain.

What a wonderful idea!!! I would love to be a participant for something like this :)

Beautiful episode, all are winners 😅... Yet, the Danish collection shows not only an interesting item, but a knowledge on dealing for the best price. So for me, he's the most interesting one.

Love the caps. What a fun idea. We only have one dealer here, not that he sells much at the moment as he is only starting and we don't have a large number of collectors. I think I am the only one that has bought a large number of stamps, but he has also give away so many stamps to different members.

Hey Graham great video! I have to say that if I was there and you walked up to me and ask if I would be interested in taking the challenge I would politely say “ I don’t have time “. Looks like soooo much fun! Thanks man!

Great video as always, Graham! It was a lot of fun.

Really loved this fun video. One of the great things about philately is we can get so much for so little or also something so significant for a price that doesn't reflect its importance. I am interested in buying some gb fdc on the first day of issue. I am not sure if I would receive the cover on the first day of issue and also if royal mail send the cover in an envelope or not?

This was a super cool video.

I think Hassan's item has the best story behind it.

I like Denmark stamps collection as he gets 100 years collection in just 10£

I always reside at the chum bucket tables at a stamp show.

Hi Graham, loved this episode - my vote goes to Luke with the bisect - i have one myself, and the Centenary of the Penny Black commemorative 2d seems to be regarded as the "most genuine" of these bisects. Apparently the Post Office in Guernsey had a lot of them! I've seen some with George V and Edward VIII bisects, but these smack purely of contrived covers.

Great video, good job contestants!

Interesting😮😊

I wish Oliver would have shown us all the pages in the collection of stamps he negotiated down to 10 Pounds....... that may have swung my vote to his purchase.

I am so lucky i found this channel

Luke should have bought a college stamp from St John's College - that's where I am studying for a PhD so I may be biased - however they are only really worth £2 or so, £7.50 is a bit much, but it's BB after all, so that's what you expect haha

You have to give it to the cover sent from Bonn in Germany purely because that is the home of the iconic Post Tower skyscraper belonging to Deutsche Post.

I vote for Luke. Then I hear he got it for free. Oliver was a great find also.

PRETTY GOOD VIDEO....VERY ENTERTAINING...HOW ABOUT RAISING THE BUDGET TO 100 QUIDS ?

Great. But if i were to be one of the contestants i think i would be able to get in the 1st half hour to get an item. Why don't you try next time, Graham.

Tough competion and all contestants picked awesome items. But if pressed, id have to go with Luke's purchase. I have 1 canceled bisect stamp in my collection.....but it's on a modern U.S. FDC.......so not really legit philatelic history.

I appreciate the focus on Stampex and this is a fun video but I hope you take on an entirely different topic in philately -- and hey what about a final mail day??