08/12/2008                                                                    Contact: Dana Guyer
Also available in pdf format

Jury Finalized and Exhibits Invited for APS
AmeriStamp Expo/Texpex 2009 in Arlington, Texas

The jury has been finalized and the prospectus and entry forms are now available for the Open Philatelic Exhibition at the combined AmeriStamp Expo/TEXPEX 2009. The three-day exhibition and bourse — the annual winter meeting of the American Philatelic Society — will take place February 20-22 at the Arlington Convention Center at 1200 Ballpark Way, in Arlington, Texas.

Chaired by Stephen Reinhard of New York, the philatelic exhibit jury will include Mark Banchik of New York, Tim Bartshe of Colorado, Darrell Ertzberger of Virginia, Joe Frasch of Ohio, Colin Fraser of New York, Alfredo Frolich and Jim Mazepa of Florida, and David McNamee of California.

The deadline for the receipt of completed entry forms and fees is November 1. However, the AmeriStamp Expo 2009 exhibition is almost always oversubscribed, so prompt submission of entries is highly recommended to avoid disappointment.

The exhibition at AmeriStamp Expo 2009 will consist of approximately 400 frames. Of these, 100 will be reserved for multiframe exhibits of Mexico in conjunction with the annual convention of the Mexico-Elmhurst Philatelic Society International (MEPSI) at the show, and an additional 35 frames will be reserved for the annual Single Frame Championship. The remaining 265 frames will be broken down roughly as follows: Single Frame — 65, Most Popular Championship — 45, Cinderella — 25, Display — 40, Illustrated — 40, Postcard — 25, and Youth — 25. Noncompetitive exhibits will be accepted by invitation only. The multiframe Grand Award winner at this World Series of Philately-qualifying show will qualify to compete in the Champion of CChampions competition at StampShow 2009 next August 6-9 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

To compete in the Single Frame Championship, an exhibit must have received 95 points using the American Association of Philatelic Exhibitors (AAPE) single frame criteria, or have received a single frame grand award at a World Series of Philately-qualifying show within the last three years (2006-2008). The best exhibit in this class will be crowned the Single Frame Champion of Champions.

AmeriStamp Expo 2009 will again feature a single-frame team competition. Each exhibitor in the five-member teams displays a single-frame exhibit, three of which must not have been shown previously at any national or international show. In addition, each one of the five frames shown by a team must be of a different type than those submitted by the other team members.

Types include traditional, postal history, postal stationary, thematic, display, revenue, aerophilately, astrophilately, illustrated mail, Cinderella/poster/promotional, special studies, and picture postcard exhibits. Complete team rules for this special competition are available online at www.aape.org/ofe_team_rules.asp. A registration form for this competition is also available in pdf form from the AAPE website at http://tinyurl.com/6d99en

Exhibitors may obtain the AmeriStamp Expo/Texpex 2009 prospectus and entry form by writing to the American Philatelic Society, 100 Match Factory Place, Bellefonte, PA 16823-1367, calling 814-933-3803 extension 207, sending a fax to 814-933-6128, by e-mail message or the website.

The combined AmeriStamp Expo/Texpex 2009 is sponsored by the American Philatelic Society in cooperation with Texpex — the Collectors Club of Dallas, the Dallas-Park Cities Philatelic Society, the Mid-Cities Stamp Club, the American First Day Cover Society Chapter 56, and the Wineburgh Philatelic Research Library at the University of Texas at Dallas — and the American Association of Philatelic Exhibitors.

-- 30 --