The strength of the Rhode Island market has come to a grinding halt. This is due to the changes in the way collectors find their entry into collecting postal history. Up until recently new collectors came from the stamp publications and stamp shows. The bias there is for competition. Rhode Island is a small state.
Completion seems within reach.
Lately more collectors have come from the internet. Their interest focuses on their home state. That state is or likely to be big. The demand for Rhode Island has stopped growing.