philatelia
Member
Captain Jack - my best kiloware find ever!
Posts: 3,408
What I collect: Ireland, Japan, Scandy, USA, Venezuela, Vatican, Bermuda, Austria
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Post by philatelia on Oct 25, 2023 20:41:30 GMT
I remember back in the 90s that Australia stamps were very popular. It was easy to find fellow collectors with whom to trade and talk Aussie stamps. Nowadays I can’t seem to even give them away. It’s really weird! I know why I quit collecting Australia - an unpleasant interaction on a forum down under soured me on the collection, but what about all those other avid collectors? Where are they hiding? If you look at posts on the forum here, there are very few posts about Australian stamps other than peter ‘s excellent historical and slogan cancel posts. Did that “Sheriff” gun down all the Oz collectors or run ‘em out of town? LoL There are trends though - remember when China was über hot? Probably still is, but not talked about so much. Revenues seem popular right now and all the classics never go out of style. So - What do YOU think? What’s really hot? What’s not?
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djcmh
Member
Posts: 773
What I collect: Worldwide
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Post by djcmh on Oct 25, 2023 21:34:16 GMT
I think Australia remains overall quite popular as a colletor focus,though these days might be wiser to say certain segments are hotter than others. Postal history seems to be really gaining interest, and Plate Flaws have strong collector bases.
USA remains quite vibrant though I think the focus on graded examples at the high end of the market is distorting things and depressing values of perfectly beautiful stamps simply because they only score an 85 rather that in the 90s, and I think I the future that is going to bite the USA market in the butt.
As for China, the economic instability over the last three years have cooled the market down, but one could say it had become rather overheated so perhaps a bit of a correction was due. But given the huge potential collector base and limited supply, China will remain popular for the decades to come.
Only region I would say has turned quite cold is Continental Western Europe. Long gone are the days where Switzerland's 1945 Pax set or West Germany's 1949 Post horns were considered philatelic bluechip items. With Europe's changing demographics, there really is now a glut of early post-war material, as the collectors who drove the growth in the1970s and 1980s are now with selling their collections or the are coming to market via estate sales.
In the end though, I think all countries have a following and these "hot" areas come and go. I think looking forward one should look at demography and where economic growth will be as a guide to where bubbles might come Take a look at values for India (both Raj and the Nehru era) compared to where they were 20 Years ago. Same for Southeast Asia.
I just collect the world though, so I just want everything.
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vikingeck
Member
Posts: 3,269
What I collect: Samoa, Tobacco theme, Mail in Wartime, anything odd and unusual!
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Post by vikingeck on Oct 25, 2023 22:21:13 GMT
I just had a bunch of China 1976-1979 MNH to sell on eBay for a neighbour I priced to sell at about 1/3 what other sellers were charging on the internet and ended substantially better, double and upto 4 times my estimate . That period of China remains hot. I agree about Australia. Modern stuff is sticky ( literally with s/a) and it has definitely gone off the boil.
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Post by Statesman Stamper on Oct 25, 2023 23:59:09 GMT
I happily collect Australia. From the states to modern.
The only hurdle for me in acquiring new stamps is the backlog of collections waiting to be worked. If only there were a few more hours in a day, days in a weekend, weekends in a year.
Though as a whole world collector, it’s usually the stuff that isn’t hot that draws my attention. Hot usually costs more than I’m willing to spend.
Dale
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hdm1950
Member
Posts: 1,608
What I collect: I collect world wide up to 1965 with several specialty albums added due to volume of material I have acquired. At this point I am focused on Canada and British America. I am always on the lookout for stamps and covers with postmarks from communities in Queens County, Nova Scotia. I do list various goods including stamps occasionally on eBay as hdm50
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Post by hdm1950 on Oct 26, 2023 1:41:19 GMT
I rarely search out Australia and States anymore although I have a sizeable collection. I cut off around 1970. Anything that I want, like high value Roos, tend to go high and any duplicates I try to sell go low or not at all. Same for New Zealand.
I have no idea what is hot these days because I am so limited about what I am looking for. Falklands could be considered hot and has been for years. Generally I see very few surprises in individual stamps but covers can still exceed expectations. I was blown away about 15 years ago with what I sold 1970's era FDC's from the middle east for. Many will recall the scramble for Hong Kong stamps in the late 1990's as it was reverting back to China. That was also when eBay was just beginning. That was a real heyday for those that went to online selling early before the market got flooded.
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Catweazle
Member
Posts: 62
What I collect: Chatham Islands (NZ), Molokai (US), Lord Howe Island (AU), Greenland, GB, some Australian Pre-decimals for good measure et hoc genus omne.
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Post by Catweazle on Jan 31, 2024 14:03:19 GMT
My guess is that there is less stamped mail these days by common folk, and the little there is from non-philatelic folk might end up in the bin, being perhaps a less common hobby these days for the younger generations, what with the growth of social media etc, so getting your hands on post-2010 or so material isn't the easiest thing to do. Do they still print stamps in the same numbers as they did back in the 1980s or even the 1990s, I wonder? Not sure, as I haven't looked up those statistics. Add to that the fact that Australia Post issues all kinds of additional, limited edition items every year – I think there'd be few if any collectors who aim to collect one each of every such limited edition issue these days. The annual cost would be astronomical which is why Stanley Gibbons and the like don't list all that stuff, however nice it looks to the eye of the beholder.
Some dealers describe post-2010 stuff or even post-2019 stuff as "liquid gold" thus. I've heard that phrase be tossed around here or there. In light of this, modern used decimals on full covers, used in period, are sought after especially of the international stamps because you have to chase them back again from overseas (hah!)
Quality pre-decimals – and by that I mean quality – are not always readily available. Some might even describe them as scarce. Most have frumpy perfs, are toned, creased, hinged e.t.c. so you can see how the values of, say, genuine beautifully kept mint unhinged (MUH) kangaroos have been steadily increasing over the years. Check out the latest ACSC values, for example.
What do you folks think?
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philatelia
Member
Captain Jack - my best kiloware find ever!
Posts: 3,408
What I collect: Ireland, Japan, Scandy, USA, Venezuela, Vatican, Bermuda, Austria
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Post by philatelia on Jan 31, 2024 15:12:16 GMT
I wrote a response, went to click send and a message came in and my response disappeared. Omg that is incredibly frustrating! Arrrrrgggghhhhh. I know rod222 had the same thing happen to him a few weeks ago. That’s why I publish partial posts for the mystery stamps - so I don’t lose the progress. Anyways, what I wrote was about how hot cultural trends spillover and affect philately. Examples I noted were Crocodile Dundee and Australia, Riverdance and Irish stamps, Lady Di and commonwealth issues, New Zealand and Lord of the rings, etc. After the balloon market collapses, I think the regular market can be negatively impacted by the flood of confections being dumped. I think Australia suffered a bit from that. Old line, advanced philatelists are probably more immune to the market whims. Its the general public buying souvenirs that create these boom/bust events. Also I think that all the negative feelings about a certain down under stamp group has spilled over and is partly responsible for souring the enthusiasm for Australian philately. You can’t generate that much antipathy and unhappiness among a group without there being some ripple effects.
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Ryan
Member
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Posts: 2,721
What I collect: If I have a catalogue for it, I collect it. And I have many catalogues ....
Member is Online
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Post by Ryan on Jan 31, 2024 18:46:03 GMT
I don't know what the newest catalogue values look like - my hard copy of the Scott catalogue is dated 2016, and I only have Linn's updates up to 2019 (and they're tucked away on another disk right now). But in snooping through my catalogue recently, I was surprised to find that the Scott editors really seem to dislike modern Australian stamps. The recent self-adhesive commemoratives are all valued at the minimum catalogue value, 25 cents (the lick-and-stick stamps are priced higher, but it seems to me that those are so uncommon that they should maybe be higher yet). If I just jump ahead a few pages, modern commemoratives at the domestic letter rate from Austria are valued at $1.75.
I can understand that USA modern commemoratives are sometimes seen listed at the catalogue minimum - they have a huge population, 12 times or so that of Australia, and it stands to reason that the print quantities and consumer usage of these stamps will also be higher. Are Australian commemoratives really that unloved? Send them to me if you hate them so much! ha ha
Ryan
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Post by nick2302 on Jan 31, 2024 19:37:56 GMT
As far as Australia goes it is a pain trying to collect modern. For several years I subscribed to the new service. My issue was they would only send 4 of each and every stamp. As A result I have a ton of duplicates I have been trying to sell on Stamps2Go. They created so many booklets that the binders that hold Australia is into 4 very thick and heavy volumes. I cannot say I am crazy about them. Some are very nice but some just carry a theme waaaaayyyy to far. Nick
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Catweazle
Member
Posts: 62
What I collect: Chatham Islands (NZ), Molokai (US), Lord Howe Island (AU), Greenland, GB, some Australian Pre-decimals for good measure et hoc genus omne.
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Post by Catweazle on Feb 11, 2024 4:19:29 GMT
True, Australia Post issues a lot of random modern issues like Pokemon etc trying to keep up with the latest trends. Then there are the Impressions ranges that get more and more varied each and every year. However, Rod Perry would have certainly made a case for modern decimal uses on cover – solo I should add – especially in this day of age when not everyone still uses stamps. Not necessarily EVERY stamp used solo on cover is going to be hot, but you know what I mean. Guess it's all about supply and demand. I've seen a few recent modern covers get AUD$100+ at Phoenix Auctions simply because they are a bit odd – COVID19 mail for instance, that was returned to the sender because AusPost weren't sending to that country at the time of postage, modern bisects e.t.c.
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philatelia
Member
Captain Jack - my best kiloware find ever!
Posts: 3,408
What I collect: Ireland, Japan, Scandy, USA, Venezuela, Vatican, Bermuda, Austria
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Post by philatelia on Feb 11, 2024 12:43:33 GMT
True, Australia Post issues a lot of random modern issues like Pokemon etc trying to keep up with the latest trends. Then there are the Impressions ranges that get more and more varied each and every year. However, Rod Perry would have certainly made a case for modern decimal uses on cover – solo I should add – especially in this day of age when not everyone still uses stamps. Not necessarily EVERY stamp used solo on cover is going to be hot, but you know what I mean. Guess it's all about supply and demand. I've seen a few recent modern covers get AUD$100+ at Phoenix Auctions simply because they are a bit odd – COVID19 mail for instance, that was returned to the sender because AusPost weren't sending to that country at the time of postage, modern bisects e.t.c. Please kindly identify your destination if you are linking to off site websites. I’d like to know where a link goes as I’d very strongly prefer to avoid supporting or visiting certain types of websites. Thank you.
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Catweazle
Member
Posts: 62
What I collect: Chatham Islands (NZ), Molokai (US), Lord Howe Island (AU), Greenland, GB, some Australian Pre-decimals for good measure et hoc genus omne.
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Post by Catweazle on Feb 12, 2024 8:54:07 GMT
True, Australia Post issues a lot of random modern issues like Pokemon etc trying to keep up with the latest trends. Then there are the Impressions ranges that get more and more varied each and every year. However, Rod Perry would have certainly made a case for modern decimal uses on cover – solo I should add – especially in this day of age when not everyone still uses stamps. Not necessarily EVERY stamp used solo on cover is going to be hot, but you know what I mean. Guess it's all about supply and demand. I've seen a few recent modern covers get AUD$100+ at Phoenix Auctions simply because they are a bit odd – COVID19 mail for instance, that was returned to the sender because AusPost weren't sending to that country at the time of postage, modern bisects e.t.c. Please kindly identify your destination if you are linking to off site websites. I’d like to know where a link goes as I’d very strongly prefer to avoid supporting or visiting certain types of websites. Thank you. Sorry, yes good point, especially given the nature of the scammy internet these days! The Rod Perry link was to an 'archive' of many of his Stamp News articles, copied onto a thread on another stamp forum. Thought it may be of interest, given the context of my comment about covers. The link to the modern decimal uses on cover was to that same website, which shows some examples of decimals used solo that might be of interest. Although many are pre-decimal, there are lots of decimal examples too.
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vikingeck
Member
Posts: 3,269
What I collect: Samoa, Tobacco theme, Mail in Wartime, anything odd and unusual!
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Post by vikingeck on Feb 12, 2024 15:01:22 GMT
Catweazle that “other Forum” has a goodly number of refugees here who have been bruised or insulted and left with a sour taste!
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