We recently attended the Airliners International 2009 convention in Orlando, FL this past summer. It was a fantastic time to catch up with fellow collectors while meeting new ones. There was ample ammunition for the airline enthusiast to fortify their respective collections. Tables overflowing with models, slides, timetables, books, magazines, kiddy wings, safety cards, playing cards, and more were scattered throughout the convention hall surrounded by the buzzing and shuffling of airline collectible hunters shifting from table to table - some in an overly hurried pace, others as though they could spend days with one vendor and rarely left their goods except for those pesky biological breaks. But, for all, it had seemed that the outside world was put on hold and the world we live in our "other lives" had reached the pinnacle of its existence. If it was longed for, it was likely here. And there's nothing like vindication when you see so many others spending their hard earned cash on "stuff" non-believers see as a waste of time and money. So, for the airline postcard collector, this was, without doubt, an equal experience. But we couldn't help noticing that there are still two camps out there. The ones that shutter at the thought of a publisher card infecting their purist collections, the ones that are airline issue oriented only - and the rest of us, who could not care less. So what's this all about anyway?

OK, so, there are probably thousands and thousands of publisher cards to each airline issued one. We appreciate that. And, in many cases, the airline issued cards are spectacular. They are usually air-to-air shots with meticulous detail and practically shine in all their glossy goodness. But wait, many, many publisher cards are highly detailed too, they use the best technology and developing processes, and they do indeed carry a decent line of air-to-air shots. So, on that note, this can't be the canyon that separates these two cliques of collectors. So we dig deeper. What we found was this: what a publisher offers, the airlines typically can’t, or usually don't, or simply won't.

Publisher cards offer so many more choices than the airlines could ever. It is practically impossible to find an airline issued hybrid scheme card. For some folks, hybrids are "too cool for school" and they simply wouldn't satisfy that hybrid hunger without publisher cards. Others collectors are driven by ramp and gate shots. These captured moments in time were proof positive a bygone airline was viable, sustainable, and worthy of a flurry of activity around one of its trusty planes. Or even a weather event playing out in the background; menacing storm clouds in Miami, a snowy landscape in Stockholm, or a rain slick runway at Narita. So many variables it’s easy to see where publishers pack a powerful punch when depicting the “realness” of airline operations.

And, of course, a purist with no publisher components to their collections may have overlooked some key factors the diversity and robustness a publisher enhanced collection has to offer.

This one we call the "People Express Factor". People Express (for those of you that are too old to remember or too young to have ever heard about) was a revolutionary airline that sprouted up in the dawn of deregulation. Perhaps it was as much an experiment as an enterprise. From such humbled beginnings, a powerhouse in the industry was born. It changed forever how airlines viewed their customers and more importantly, how they viewed their competition. People Express's heyday was short and it's rise and fall in the early ‘80's now a mere blink of an eye in the annals of aviation history. But the impact the carrier had on the industry, remains today. So, for that reason, any airline postcard collection should have People Express representation. Unfortunately for the purist, this will be difficult. Why? People Express, in its near religious effort to keep costs down – a cultural foundation of the low-cost carrier manifesto, did very little in the field of public relations. Sure they did a marvelous job of marketing - and they always printed timetables - but no postcards. Not a one. We've never seen one. We’ve never even heard of one. That's why we have publisher cards in our collection.

Another one, we call the "Serving the City Factor". We happen to love the independent commuter airlines. Where would the industry be without them? And, more importantly, what a fascinating slice of aviation history they provided. For many of these commuters and even air taxi services, they had a single route, a single plane, and perhaps even a single pilot who commanded the cockpit as well as the company. From dusty enclaves in the American Southwest where farm equipment eclipsed farmers to tropical jungle-filled islands where tribal leaders were more likely to worship a Cessna than fly in one, it seemed the world was that much closer when that place no one had ever heard of was now connected to those places everyone had. A razor-thin profit margin with pencil and paper accounting practices could hardly afford one a marketing department in these penny-pinching conditions. Enter the publisher with their postcards. A plethora of examples are available, too many to mention here. That’s why we have publisher cards in our collection.

What we were left with, in the end, was the "Logo Factor". That stylized graphic on the back of the card. It's official alright. It surely signifies that the airline, with its all of its marketing prowess, set aside monies to cover the cost of putting their big planes on thickly bonded paper. But, if the logo is the driving factor for the purist, why not just collect airline stationary? We don't mean to be patronizing, it just seems like such an odd reason to eliminate so many great cards from what could create an even greater collection. We think airline logos are super, but airline stationary is sterile. That’s why we have publisher cards in our collection.

In advance, we want to apologize to the community of airline issued only purist collectors. We know that the vast majority of you appreciate publisher cards but simply choose not to collect them. This is aimed at the elitists in the bunch; the ones that don't look at the inclusion of publisher cards as a choice, as much as they do a contamination. So, in your minds, you may be looking down your collective noses at us common collectors, but in the end, if you look down just a little bit further, you might spot a collection that perhaps is just a little bit closer to complete than yours.