Yessir, stamp collecting has come a long way since Henry "Mickey" Smith was a lad, growing up in Ann Arbor, Mich.

Back then, stamp collecting was a cheap hobby for a kid. Mom and dad would hand you an envelope, you could soak it in water to free the stamp from the envelope, then use a hinge that could be licked to hold the stamp on the appropriate page in an album. The whole world could be yours for the collecting.

"In the era I grew up in, collecting was the mainstay - stamps, seashells, Popsicle Pete sticks ... collecting things that were free. That doesn't happen anymore," Smith said.

Mickey Smith has binders jampacked with his collections of stamps and cachets. (photo by Gary Herron)

Nowadays, stamp collecting can become quite costly, especially with all the commemorative stamps the U.S. government is cranking out.

What hurts young hobbyists even more, though, is the fact that people just don't mail letters as they once did. An innovation that followed Smith's birth by nearly six decades, e-mail, caused that to happen.

Still, Smith has a nice collection of mint (unused) stamps from all over the world in his Northwest Albuquerque home, plus an ungodly amount of binders containing his passion of the day, "first-day" cachet covers.

He was commissioned to produce some special first-day covers for the NewMexPex 2007, which takes place next weekend at Meadowlark Senior Center. Three of his covers have an alien theme; the fourth depicts Gov. Bill Richardson and his spaceport project. Smith said the alien cachets cost $3 apiece; buy all three and the spaceport cachet is free.

Don't confuse it with Lee Trevino, the famous golfer dubbed "Tex Mex."

The NewMexPex 2007 Stamp Show is just that, a stamp show, with a few exceptions, but all related to the philatelic hobby.

The first 'NewMexPex was such a success that its successor will be held in the same place: Meadowlark Senior Center, 4330 Meadowlark Lane in Rio Rancho. It'll take place from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and 9-4 on Sunday.

The Albuquerque Philatelic Society and the Rio Rancho Stamp Club are this year's sponsors.

There will be 12 dealers and 35 exhibit frames this year, with plans for meetings of the Women Exhibitors (WE), American Association of Philatelic Exhibitors (AAPE) and the New Mexico Philatelic Foundation (NMPF). (The exact dates and times for these

meetings will be listed in the show program.)

The focus of NewMexPex is again on stamps and stamp-related

items, such as cachets, although Smith won't be seated behind a table, understanding there'll be limited interest in his gems.

Smith, a former graphic designer and editor for the University of Michigan, has been designing first-day cachets since the mid-90s. Binders in his home office are filled with such categories as Betty Boop, Elvis, Native Americans, Bugs Bunny, Marilyn Monroe and Disney, which provided inspiration in his youth and even now.

"It's a hobby," he said. "I wanted to be a cartoonist, but I didn't have the aptitude."

Basically, he designs cachets that dealers purchase and then sell on eBay He's one of some 300-400 cachet designers in the country and, as far as he knows, the only one in New Mexico.

"Anybody that collects stamps as an investment is foolish," Smith cautioned. "You might as well leave the money in the bank."

Of course, if it's for enjoyment only, like he does, it's OK.

"As a rule of thumb with collecting anything, if it's common today it will never be rare."

There is no charge for either admission or parking at the show.

We will also have door prize drawings, a youth table, a USPS station with current issue stamps for sale, and Smith's four show covers with a special alien theme.

A special show cancel is available at the show as well, which may then be used to cancel

postcards or postal cards if proper postage is applied, etc.