Stamp collector for 50 years, dealer brings duck stamps to Portland show

Michael Jaffe has millions of postage stamps in his Vancouver shop, which serves collectors around the world.

His own stamp collection, however, had its roots in a downtown sporting goods store.

Jaffe will participate in the dual roles of dealer and exhibitor in the American Philatelic Society’s annual stamp show, which starts its four-day run today in Portland. Jaffe will have three sales booths in the Oregon Convention Center.

His own prize-winning collection will be among about 150 exhibits in 16 groupings. Jaffe’s exhibit in the revenue division is listed as “A Philatelic Survey of U.S. Waterfowl Hunting Jurisdictions,” … popularly known as duck stamps.

The pursuit is reflected in his personalized licensed plate: QUACKX2. That’s “Quack Times 2,” explained Jaffe, who then offered his preferred interpretation: “Quack! Quack!”

“I’ve had people ask if I’m a doctor,” he said.

And, with a nod to the home of the Oregon Ducks, he added: “I get a lot of smiles in Eugene, Ore.”

Jaffe started collecting stamps about 50 years ago, when he found a stamp from India on his classroom floor at Marshall Elementary School. With the support of his great-aunt, Jaffe turned that stamp into a hobby.

It became a business in 1975, about a year after he graduated from Fort Vancouver High School. He had been helping another dealer sell stamps when Jaffe decided it was something he could do on his own.

It was a sideline since his family had another business operation. His father, Ralph, had purchased Shields Sporting Goods from longtime Vancouver High School coach Dutch Shields.

And that’s where Jaffe’s stamp operation and the family’s business made an interesting intersection. The store sold hunting licenses, and some of the hunters left their old licenses behind.

Some of them had duck stamps, which sportsmen need to hunt migratory waterfowl. While many postage stamps can be viewed as tiny pieces of art, duck stamps actually are artworks. Each year’s design is chosen through a U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service art contest — the only juried art competition sponsored by the federal government.

“Eventually, I got interested,” Jaffe said.

It really took off when a customer put in a big order for duck stamps.

“I went to shows, dealers, auctions, and bought every duck (stamp) I could,” Jaffe said. “I had a huge stock of my own.”

In addition to the federal stamps, duck stamps now are issued by many states as well as some Indian reservations.

His business, Michael Jaffe Stamps, has been based in a retail plaza at 6300 N.E. St. James Road for about 20 years.

“With the brick-and-mortar store, I don’t do as many trade shows as I used to,” he said.

Jaffe did go to the international stamp show in New York City a couple of months ago; this week’s event is definitely easier.

“It cost me over $1,000 one-way to ship the collections,” to New York, he said.

Mail-order and online transactions also are big parts of the business.

Stamp collecting can be a lifelong hobby — Jaffe still has that stamp he found in 1966 — but even that span has its limits. And that’s one of the things Jaffe is seeing when people come in to sell their stamps.

“A lot of collections I see today, people started them when Franklin Roosevelt was president. I hear all the time, ‘My grandkids aren’t interested.’ ”

Jaffe said he encourages the elderly collectors to stay with their hobby. He suggests writing the name of his business or another shop on a note that can be tucked into the collection.

“Then they can enjoy it until it’s time for their heirs to get rid of it,” he said.