2025 Scott US Specialized Catalog Still On Back Order - Has Anyone Seen A Copy?

The linked article above was written by Lloyd A. de Vries an author not know for anything but spot on information. Thanks for the link angore.

And, no, I have not received my fully paid for hard copy US Specialized catalog.





I thought the Gideons only distributed christian bibles, to which hotels do they supply Scott bibles?

Edit: This quote is from the first paragraph of the linked article


Amos has "other hobbies" is an interesting comment. They have stamps and coins as their focus. 2016 saw the completion of the sale of their car related publication business ( https://www.amosmedia.com/news/cars...n-media.html ) and Summer 2017, Vol. 42 No. 3 was the last they published their "craft ideas." Is there a hobby area for Amos that I am missing? Even the BBB lists only stamps and coins with a comment, "...potential subscribers should be aware the company has discontinued several issues of its current magazine format. The company has replaced those magazine formats with revised publications"

Edited to remove an errant "d" from a word.

I didn't realize they had divested their other hobby publications. Thanks for pointing that out.

Lloyd had updated the article that SSM has resumed printed (as if he just responding to a specific question) but no mention of anything else.

I don't know if there is anything to infer from the description of the 2025 Classic Specialized, but they typically list specific editorial additions in each new catalogue, and this year, they don't?

I don't necessarily care all that much if it doesn't show up for a month or two, but I sure hope it shows up.

At some arbitrary point it becomes senseless to proceed with a 2025 edition. For the sake of discussion would most people want a 2025 edition if there were 9 months until the 2026 edition? 6 months? 3 months? At some point you are in the position of car dealers clearing the lot for the new models. For me, I would expect a substantial discount once there were only +/- 6 months to go until the new model (Disclaimer: I have a 2020 and not much ever changes). It is a bad business plan if there is a plan.

They really should go to a biennial publication given the static nature of the information in the catalog(s).

"I don't know if there is anything to infer from the description of the 2025 Classic Specialized, but they typically list specific editorial additions in each new catalogue, and this year, they don't?"

They no longer have Sergio Sismondo to provide his input, so perhaps that is part of it.

"At some arbitrary point it becomes senseless to proceed with a 2025 edition. For the sake of discussion would most people want a 2025 edition if there were 9 months until the 2026 edition? 6 months? 3 months? "

There are 2 different buyers, The every year buyer certainly isn't going to want to buy the 2025 edition too close to the 2026 edition being released. The less frequent buyer won't care as much.

"They really should go to a biennial publication given the static nature of the information in the catalog(s)."

The Classic is relatively static (only a few new listings, a few fixes, prices don't change all that fast), but the other catalogs are not as static. Perhaps more importantly, the company is in a weak condition and if they skip 2025, they don't get any income till the 2026 edition is released, but they still have to pay the people woring on the catalogs the whole time.

Linns Scott Stamp
December 2, 2024
Dear Stamp Subscribers and Advertisers,

Earlier this year, a business dispute arose between Amos Media, Linn's and Scott Catalogues parent company, and our contracted printing partner responsible for producing our coin and stamp publications. Despite repeated efforts to resolve the matter swiftly, the situation persisted for several months.

Please know that this was never an attempt to alter the delivery methods of Scott Stamp Monthly or the Scott Catalogues. Throughout this period, our top priority was to restore printing and delivery of the monthly, and USS and Classic catalogues. In the meantime, these products were made available in digital format to ensure uninterrupted access for our subscribers.

We are pleased to announce that the Scott Stamp Monthly December issue will be mailed during the week of December 16th. Furthermore, the Scott Specialized and Classic catalogues will be mailed sometime in January and February 2025. As these production dates approach, we will be in touch with more details on timing. Pre-orders will be honored and filled in the order they were received.

Regarding the unprinted September, October, and November monthly issues:

For Subscribers: we will extend print subscription expiration dates proportionately to account for this disruption.
For Advertisers: we will extend a 30% rate discount for those printed ads in the form of a credit towards future ads to account for this disruption. A 5% rate discount will be credited for Scott Specialized and Classic catalogues.
We deeply regret any inconvenience or loss of trust this situation may have caused. As we prepare to celebrate our 149th anniversary in 2025, we remain committed to providing the trusted information collectors rely on in the ever-evolving field of philately. Thank you for your patience and loyalty as we continue to guide and serve the stamp community into the future.

Sincerely,
The Linn's and Scott Team

Amos Media

From:
Amos Media Company
Publisher of Linn's Stamp News and Scott
PO Box 4129 Sidney, OH 45365-2480

They have annual editions to maximize their revenue and not interested in customer outlay, The same applies to not haveing regional editions instead of the A-Z organization. A British Commonwealth collector has to buy them all. Doing this would reduce annual revenue assuming that the collector all things being equal. The reduction in sales can be attributed to fewer collectors as well those opting out of the annual cycle.

The price of the digital editions (rental only, never own forever) speaks volumes on their mindset.

The specialist societies if inclined could create a more complete product.

Or a BC collector just buys the SG BC catalogue.

Yes, like I did. I like the 1840-1970 edition. I have a set of 2016-2017 Scotts and see no need for a new one.

Replying to Dale: "I do wonder how significant the loss of revenue was to Amos when the eBay seller who sold country page sets from cut up catalogues closed up shop after the fire..."

We are one of the largest sellers of philatelic supplies on ebay and also sell on our own website. Beginning in 2025, we began selling country page sets from the Scott catalog and have sold many hundreds. I know the circulation numbers and Richard's (and our own) purchases of the catalog were not a significant number compared to Amos' total sales of the catalog. The biggest purchaser of the catalog is libraries.

I believe dealers also make up a significant share of consistent catalog purchasers. My local county library got rid of the reference section so no Scott catalogs. They do have computers for the digital references but not sure if Scott catalogs are available.

Anyone have an update? At this point, I think many collectors will just skip the 2025 catalog.