Linn's Stamp News To Go All Digital.

So, Amos cannot get Linn's printed, nor the Scott Specialized. Aren't they a "publisher"? That is their sole reason for existing? To publish things. IMO the writing may be on the wall for Amos.

I heard a story today from someone with a tenuous connection to the printing industry. I have no actual knowledge of the facts.

It was said that Amos was blindsided by the end of a longtime purchase arrangement with someone who was donating an enormous number of sets to libraries.

Don't know. That could hurt, though.

I am unclear on what this means. Was someone purchasing issues for donation and when they stopped, was Amos was faced with a circulation drop? Did this cause a large cost increase? I assume this applies to catalogs.

Amos has outsourced actual printing for years and they never published the catalogs in house.

If the donation story is true that doesn't reflect well on Amos to be in that position in the first place, letting their fate hinge on one customer's actions. It also speaks volumes (no pun intended) about how few units they sell.

I have for a long time now thought that the Scott catalog line should be scaled back. Have the single volume Specialized's be the primary products and maybe expand every Country's coverage through the 1950's (or not). The modern and current material IMO has a lessor audience. You may have to find a more economical way of dealing with it than publishing twelve heavy books. They should also print the informational front end one time in a separate product that comes with the modern volumes. The cost of adding those pages twelve times is ridiculous for what they add. People that own a more than one volume or own a set do not need that info twelve times.

There are so many things that could be changed. Amos is another legacy company stuck in the past that won't survive if the do not change and adapt.

Given that most collectors seem to buy it every few years, perhaps they should only publish the complete set every 3-5 years and issue supplements in between.

IMHO, they're limited by their decision to organize their WW catalog alphabetically instead of geographically.

I hate to always be a Michel homer in these threads, but they use a geographical arrangement, and it allows them to release updated WW catalogs on a continuous rolling basis, with different update schedules based on the area. The more popular volumes are updated every year, the less popular ones every 2-3 years.

There's lots of rumors, and who knows how many of them are true? The one I heard was that the owner of the printing company that Amos worked with died or retired and the company was sold/taken over by a German company who refused to honor existing "off the record" generous payment/credit terms that the company had allowed Amos for many, many years.

If true, it speaks to the risks of relying upon "word and a handshake" deals that used to be the way of doing business.

Speaking as a collector: Heavens, no! That would be a PITA to keep track of and organize. Rotating publication of geographical region catalogues ala Michel would be the way to go, if Amos were to not publish every volume every year, but they have been loathe to reorganize the catalogues to any great extent.

We've flogged this horse to death, but Amos needs an entirely new and modern perspective from the top down if they are to survive.

I don't see why revenue collector. If they publish a Scott Specialized catalog every 5 years, and sell a cumulative differential supplement every year, the 2 combined, always give you everything you need. Every 5th year, they merge. No need to reprint the bible yearly.

I also think they should stop with the pocket catalogs, errors, and that stuff. Those should just be digital. The other problem is they didnt really make a catalog online, they just made pdf/reader.

I think they are cooked, and someone should just open source the whole concept of the catalog, and be the end of it.

That's been discussed ad nauseam. The problem is that whoever did so would have to develop an entirely new numbering system, since Amos Media owns the intellectual property rights to the Scott numbering system... easier said than done, especially from a user acceptance perspective.

Their claim wouldn't stand if it ever saw the inside of a courtroom.

Scott catalog needs to stop with the yearly issue of a catalog what is it now 10 or 12 volumes now .

Keep the Classic 1840 -1940 ,this volume is always improving ,then have a "Golden age " volume 1941 to 1970 book . That would be updated every two years with the Classic the other year . Everything after 1970 can be on-line for a fee

Most worldwide collections usual end at 1970 or a few years later . .

Not sure. It's slightly more than a list. Why are airmails prefixed "C"? Why is C1 then not the first U.S. airmail?

Another possibility is that Bill Gross buys the numbering system through the bankruptcy and donates it to APS?

(I would say that he should declare it open source, but his accountants will want the tax deduction. He can buy it again when APS folds.)

I don't hate Amos/Scott, as long as they keep the Classic Specialized going, but I have to admit, I'm nervous that the loss of Sergio Sismondo was a bigger hit to the editorial content than I expected.