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For broadcast on CBS Radio Network stations February 12-13, 2005:

High-Speed Stamp Collecting.

The Stamp Collecting Report, I'm Lloyd de Vries. 

Within ninety minutes of the Ronald Reagan stamp going on sale in his town, a collector was 
offering on eBay a postmarked souvenir envelope he'd made.

Soon after, another collector posted a scan on the Internet showing a printing shift in the 
new stamp.

It's not just the Internet that's fast, either. If a collector attending a stamp ceremony 
discovers some bit of news or information, he's likely to grab his cell phone and relay it 
to another collector on the way home.

So, within hours of the Reagan event in Simi Valley, California, a friend called and told me 
that Nancy Reagan hadn't attended -- nor was she listed on the program. 

Similarly, collectors will exchange information about something special for sale at a local 
post office.

Stamp collectors once had to wait weeks or even months for such information, or be on the 
scene themselves. Now, it's just a matter of minutes until they get the news.

The only thing as fast is, well, RADIO.

And that's Stamp Collecting this week. 

I'm Lloyd de Vries, CBS News. 

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