| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
James Catmur
Site Admin
Joined: 14 Sep 2006
Posts: 1451
Location: Cambridge
|
 Posted: Feb 24, 2025 12:27 Post subject: Re: It's Tucson Time Again - 2025 |
|
|
| Sadly my final two Ambasaguas (I think the locality name is one word, not two, but I see others think otherwise) pyrites have given in to pyrite rot. But I did love them |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
Jordi Fabre
Overall coordinator of the Forum
Joined: 07 Aug 2006
Posts: 4991
Location: Barcelona
|
| Posted: Feb 24, 2025 17:39 Post subject: Re: It's Tucson Time Again - 2025 |
|
|
| James Catmur wrote: | | ...I think the locality name is one word, not two, ... |
The name of the nearest village is Ambas Aguas, but the deposit and its different areas use Ambasaguas as a single word:
Ambasaguas deposit
outcrop Ambasaguas 2
outcrop Elena
outcrop Patricia
and so on.....
Therefore, while the village is called Ambas Aguas, the mining sites are referred to as Ambasaguas. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Jordi Fabre
Overall coordinator of the Forum
Joined: 07 Aug 2006
Posts: 4991
Location: Barcelona
|
| Posted: Feb 24, 2025 17:46 Post subject: Re: It's Tucson Time Again - 2025 |
|
|
| bob kerr wrote: | | ...but it seems there's less interest this year - maybe because there's so many others doing video reports on Facebook?.... |
A multitude of ideas on the subject come to mind.
Let me express them more clearly this weekend, without rushing. I believe it's a very interesting topic.
Thank you so much for your indefatigable efforts! |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Carles Millan
Site Admin
Joined: 05 May 2007
Posts: 1523
Location: Catalonia
|
| Posted: Feb 24, 2025 17:47 Post subject: Re: It's Tucson Time Again - 2025 |
|
|
| James Catmur wrote: | | Sadly my final two Ambasaguas (I think the locality name is one word, not two, but I see others think otherwise) pyrites have given in to pyrite rot. But I did love them |
Some specimens decay and others do not. I own both 😔 |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Jordi Fabre
Overall coordinator of the Forum
Joined: 07 Aug 2006
Posts: 4991
Location: Barcelona
|
| Posted: Mar 16, 2025 13:28 Post subject: A point of view - It's Tucson Time Again - 2025 |
|
|
| Jordi Fabre wrote: | | bob kerr wrote: |
...but it seems there's less interest this year - maybe because there's so many others doing video reports on Facebook?.... |
A multitude of ideas on the subject come to mind.
Let me express them more clearly this weekend, without rushing. I believe it's a very interesting topic...
|
Many things have changed in recent years regarding minerals. Perhaps what started over 28 years ago, in the distant summer of 1996, when me, John Veevaert and Rob Lavinsky began selling minerals with images on the Internet, has evolved to such an extent that today, mineral shows are increasingly becoming social events rather than places where the real business happens. One only has to look at the incredible activity on pages like those of Dan Weinrich, Rob Lavinsky, and many others to see how the 'reference point' that mineral shows once were is no longer as essential today.
Nothing can replace holding a mineral in your hand to decide whether to buy it or the direct interaction with the seller and their live explanations. However, the world moves at a dizzying speed, and a vast amount of resources are now at our disposal to compare qualities, prices, localities, and all kinds of information. The necessity of attending mineral shows is no longer as critical as it once was. The current frenzy of our lives and the inconvenience of long-distance travel have led many people to withdraw from purchasing minerals only at shows.
Bob, I don’t think people are less interested in your fascinating show reports (23,477 views at this moment), but we are no longer in the time when my reports and those of Gail Spann easily reached over 200,000 views (see https://www.mineral-forum.com/message-board/viewforum.php?f=13 ) . The way minerals are viewed through the Internet has been enormously democratized, and nowadays, no one relies on just a single report. Instead, since they have the opportunity, they read multiple reports and chronicles across various platforms where everyone creates their own personal account.
Thus, to start a kind of 'brainstorming' on this topic, I would suggest that it is not just the multitude of reports available online that has led to a decline in the number of views of your chronicles. Rather, the entire mineral world has been shifting towards a sort of new universal knowledge, thanks to the many years of online learning that have been taking place. Collectors no longer depend as much on highly experienced leaders because now everyone has learned, and people generally know much more than before.
Beginners still can make significant mistakes and can sometimes fall victim to unscrupulous dealers; however, they are not as defenseless as they might have been in the past. Today, they have many tools at their disposal to learn effectively, and it may be more due to laziness or a lack of desire to study 😉 that they can be easily cheated...
I will continue to participate if this topic generates different opinions – I’ll do so gladly – and if not, this is just my perspective, one among the myriad of opinions into which the once monolithic views on 'how a mineral collection should be' have now evolved 😉 |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
bob kerr
Joined: 13 Nov 2011
Posts: 638
Location: Monroeville PA
|
| Posted: Mar 17, 2025 12:54 Post subject: Re: It's Tucson Time Again - 2025 |
|
|
Quoting Jordi - "mineral shows are increasingly becoming social events rather than places where the real business happens"
"no one relies on just a single report. Instead, they read multiple reports and chronicles across various platforms."
First, some data from past FMF Tucson reports-number of views for each report:
Before Covid:
2017 - 266K
2018 - 295K
2019 - 268K
2020 - 201K
Post Covid:
2022 - 117K
2023 - 77K
2024 - 55K
2025 - 23K
Clearly - the number of views fell off after Covid and the decline continues to this day.
The combination of Covid with the multitude of internet sites and other postings are the main causes - but I think there's others also:
1 - As I have lamented before, there are fewer and fewer international dealers at the Tucson shows - the shows have become nothing more than a socialization of US Retail Dealers. This may be an offshoot of Covid but it is also due to item 2
2 - Many of the "big-league" dealers are posting people all around the world to buy at the mine mouth. This not only negates the need for international dealers to get themselves and their specimens to Tucson but also REALLY drives the prices up.
3 - add to the above that today it's a rare event when a truly new and large enough find comes to the market - Milpillas is probably the most recent - and hopefully not the last - but there's been a lack of new finds for years. We've lived through the "Golden Age of Mineral Collecting", but I am convinced it is over.
4 - the business model of many dealers is to rent or buy housing that they use to sell and store their specimens and display cases. This has really impacted the TGMS "Main" Show
Historically I've been happy to initiate and post photos to these FMF reports - but it requires LOTS of time and organization. I plan to continue but at a reduced level.
Thanks,
bob |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
FAQ 
Register
Log in
Forgotten your password?
