Stampshow Melbourne 02 was held from Friday 4th to Sunday 6th October 2002, at the Melbourne Function Centre, Melbourne Park.  The venue is part of the Melbourne Parks Sports Precinct with excellent parking facilities plus a tram route passing the door.  The main exhibition hall housed Australia Post, the 39 dealers and the 724 frames of exhibits.

These were expanded by part of Australia Post's archival holdings of 1901/02 Victoria Edward VII £1 and £2 stamps, plus 1955 Cobb & Co issues [both being the theme of the exhibition].  Unusual items from the collection of Arthur Gray supplemented the latter.  In an adjacent room the opening ceremony was held.  The Governor of Victoria, John Landy, A.C., M.B.E, opened the exhibition.  This room was then divided up into several smaller rooms which allowed meetings and youth activities to be held.

The exhibition was a full National with all FIP classes plus Polar; Social; First Day Covers and the inaugural Australia Post Cup.  The Jury, chaired by Ray Kelly consisted of 24 members including 4 apprentices.  Included in the jury was our APF Accord guests, John Sussex (UK), John McEntyre (Canada), Jeff Long (New Zealand) and Hsiao Shih-Cheng (ROC).  A Judges' Critique was held on the Sunday morning, with all judges in attendance to answer exhibitors' questions.  The critique session was followed by a well patronised, individual "in front of the frames" feedback sessions.  The overall standard of the exhibits was particularly high and included 57 awards of Large Vermeil, or higher, 25 special prizes, plus three Grand Award presentations were provided.

The Palmares was held on the Saturday night at Churchers on Richmond Hill Restaurant, where 130 attended to enjoy a well presented and delightful dinner.  It was an excellent opportunity to congratulate the award winners and for exhibitors to receive their medals which were especially designed for the show.

The Grand Award went to Roland Geitenbeek with The 'Woodblocks' of the Colony of Victoria 1854-1880.  The Grand Award International was presented to Paul Kornan for his India Postal History 1854-1859. The First Issue on Cover - Classic Period.  The Grand Award National was won by Michael Blake's South Australia, Recess Printed Stamps.

Pictured:  Roland Geitenbeek (left) accepts the Grand Award from Amber McDougall (Australia Post)

During the exhibition there were meetings held by: the British West Indies Study Circle; the China Philatelic Society; the Pacific Islands Study Circle; the Cinderella Club of Australia; the Traditional Philatelic Group; the Australian Cover Society; the Postal History Group; the Literature Group; the Rhodesian Study Circle; the international Association of Philatelic Exhibitors; the Perfin Club; the Postal Stationery Society of Australia together with a Royal Philatelic Society of London Luncheon and the Victorian Philatelic Council's 49th Congress.

Attendances at the show were very satisfactory, with around 1,600 paying visitors coming to the show over the three days, in addition to the hundreds of exhibitors, judges, commissioners, RPSV members & volunteers who were given free entry.  Dealers reported strong and steady business for the whole three days, and declared themselves well satisfied with the show.  The show was widely advertised to the public in daily newspapers, local papers, tourist publications, on radio and on banners around the venue, as well as through a flyer in the Australia Post Bulletin.  The show organising committee allocated around 50% of the cost of the dealer booths to advertising & publicity, and worked closely together with the Australasian Philatelic Traders Association (APTA) to plan an effective marketing campaign, resulting in many visitors coming to a National for the first time and a successful show for dealers.  Many collectors and exhibitors commented favourably on the venue in terms of space and lighting and the overall atmosphere of the show.  The organising committee are to be commended on a job well done.

Replica Card No. 41: 3½d & 2/- Cobb & Co Coach