Picture Postcard Show 2008 - BIPEX Review

[postcard.co.uk]

Despite the doom and gloom over the current financial climate collectors turned out in large numbers for the annual BIPEX (2008 Picture Postcard Show), which boasted it's largest attendance for many years and according to most of the dealers the collectors had money to spend! Trading was very brisk on the first day and attendance was better on all three days than for many years. Collectors also, were generally very pleased with the cards on offer, the upbeat atmosphere at the show and the extra effort that had been made this year on the display exhibits on the '1908' theme.

The 2008 Desmond Chamberlain Cup for postcard research also had a record number of entries. The judges were split over who should win and so for the first time ever the cup was awarded jointly to Bob Wilcock and Bill Tonkin.

The show attracted some excellent publicity for the postcard collecting hobby, a crew from Sky TV news spent several hours filming on the first day and the show prompted features on postcards and mentions on Radio 5 live and Radio 4 amongst others.

More pictures from the show are featured on the http://www.postcard.co.uk/show.php of the main postcard.co.uk website, these mostly feature the Friday and Saturday (we were far too busy to take photos on the first day!) if you have any photos of the event we'd be glad to hear from you.

Any rumours that this was the last 'BIPEX' event are finally quashed as the Postcard Traders Association have now announced dates for a 2009 Show at the London Horticultural Halls Venue. This has already received a positive response from the trade with several new faces already promised, plus returning standholders from previous years..