I was able to get my questions about slabbing answered at the ASDA Mega Event this past November. Randy Schoemaker, founder and president of PSE, was quite happy to chat with me about their product.

Randy told me that a slab is not airtight. If you put it in water the water will work it's way into the slab. Once that question was out of the way he showed me a prototype for a new slab.

One of the consistent complaints that PSE hears has to do with the size of the slab. One dealer commented that if he slabbed his entire stock he would need a 40-foot trailer to haul his stock to a show. Well, PSE is about to solve that problem. Randy had with him a prototype for the next generation slab. It was about the size and thickness of a credit card.

It was extremely attractive and would have a hole at each corner of the stamp to allow the stamp to breathe. Each hole would be no more than a couple of microns in diameter. If you enjoy slabbed stamps this new type of slab should fill your bill.

PSE was accepting stamps at the show for 24-hour turn-around. I submitted several stamps for expertizing and found the results to be right on the money. However, one must remember, with any expertizing service all you are getting is an opinion; hence the need to become your own best expert.

"What makes this Chicago's premier show?"
"It's the venue!"

The show is limited to forty dealers with each one occupying a room on the same floor. We draw dealers from all over the country. For three days in February the third floor of the hotel is turned into Nassau Street, with forty different stamp shops for collectors to browse. Collectors find it to be a very comfortable and intimate setting. It eliminates the hustle, bustle and noise of a show. The venue allows for more one on one give and take between the collector and the dealer. Many of the collectors that I talked to really loved this type of venue for a stamp show.

I have been doing this show for the past 11 years. Only once have we had a "snow day." People who live here are used to bad weather. It rarely keeps them from attending a show. However, for the out of town attendee what can be better than having the show and your accommodations under one roof.

If you are looking for a most enjoyable weekend in the dead of winter plan to attend the ASDA Chicago Philatelic Fair, Friday, February 9th through Sunday, February 11th. If you need room accommodations please call our show director, Jim Bardo at (847) 634-2676.