Few people write letters any more, with mail's decline impacting the postal service, but there's another group ruing its demise —stamp collectors.
Once as popular at school as social media, 'stamp collecting' is in danger of dying out.
But there's a staunch defender in New Plymouth, fighting to keep the hobby alive.
Alphin Pieters is a lifelong stamp enthusiast, collecting more than 55,000 individual stamps.
The hobby, called philately, has kept Pieters enthralled for the last 65 years.
He started when he was eight while growing up in South Africa.
"It was very popular at school," he said.
"I got pen friends that I swapped stamps with overseas, Spain, Tahiti, New Zealand.
"I'm a very nerdy type of person. I didn't really need to be with other people."
Stamp collecting used to be one of the world's most popular hobbies.
As postal services increased, so too did the fascination with the small but mighty seal required to send something.
Countries clamoured to send a piece of their identity across the seas, and soon, stamps had their own style, themes, and eventually mistakes.
"Like when the paper gets folded going through, that's very sort after."
Some enthusiasts gather by subject and Pieters said these can range from birds or stamps sold at a specific post office. Others aspire to collect history.
"People collect letters flown by a plane and the plane crashes.
"They've saved something from burning or being lost at sea... something they've found, recovered."
Pieters' collection is huge, with him estimating around 550,000 individual stamps.
On any given day, you'll find him admiring them and brandishing his tweezers.
It's a pastime that's even moved him to tears.
"Once I've accidentally torn it."
But it also brings him a lot of gratitude.
"I found a stamp on the envelope where the picture and die cut were upside down, upside down!
"Joys and pleasure finding that! Shed some tears."
For him, the tiny painted pictures bring a lot of wonder, keeping him busy.
"It has fulfilled me, kept me occupied, with no boredom, no downs.
"If I feel down, I just open a stamp book or sort out some stamps again."
He likes to wonder what the kids of today will be doing as hobbies when they're older.
"I was standing in the shower and thinking, what are the kids of today going to do when they get old? We have hobbies.
"I suppose they could collect different iPhones."
He hopes they might instead get some pleasure from postage because it could do with a few more fans.
"The hobby is dying, there is declining numbers.
"On the low days, when it's raining, you're by the log fire with your stamps.
"That's very nice," he said.
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