The first Stampman video I came across was one covering pictorial cancellations in the U.S. From the production style, level of research and the host’s on-camera charisma, I figured he’d been around for years. Imagine my surprise to find that the channel had only been in existence since late July. Stampman — Brian Amos of Wichita, Kansas — has uploaded seven videos to date. One of those is a two and a half-minute introduction to the channel and the remainder are all rather short as well, ranging from just under six minutes to a bit under eleven minutes. Amazingly, that is the perfect amount of time and the amount of information provided within is simply shocking.

The focus here is on stamps of the United States of America because, “everyone lives here, especially the Americans” as Brian says in one video. Not only is he knowledgeable about his subject matter but is quite witty as well. Practically every video caused me to laugh out loud at some point. He has a sarcasm that is refreshing to hear and all too rare in philately. Although I have spent about 45 years collecting U.S. stamps, I stopped paying attention to the nation’s new issues sometime in the mid-1990s and only resumed within the last two or three years. Thus, I learned something new (and saw stamps I had never seen before) in almost every episode. I had never even heard of the Stampers Savers Cards program — subject of Brian’s fourth episode — despite having attended the Pacific ’97 exhibition in San Francisco where the Bugs Bunny stamp made its debut.

Brian’s videos are a balanced mix of talking head commentary and illustrations of the stamps in discussion. If they are of interest, both sides of the stamps are shown as is the selvedge and formats. Occasional on-screen text points to additional details. A running theme for each episode is a different Cinderella stamp picturing Benjamin Franklin (the channel’s “mascot” of sorts) in a guise or background relating to the topic at hand. His parting comments are worth listening for as well as his humor is palpable. At the present, Stampman has 151 subscribers and has received 1,545 views. The channel deserves much, much more. He’s also on Twitter — @StampmanVideos.