daveg28
Member 
Posts: 1,062 
What I collect: U.S., Canada, Great Britain & Commonwealth, France (esp. 1950-80), DDR, USSR
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Post by daveg28 on Oct 7, 2019 15:01:40 GMT
I've been working on my worldwide collection lately, and I've been starting to change my thinking about it. My 45 years of collecting has been mainly focused on U.S. stamps. About 15 years ago, I started a Canada collection, and in the past 5 years, I created albums for Great Britain. These have been fun to create. But then I go to work on my worldwide stamps, and I'm not so happy with them. I have a lot, and many of them I've had since I started collecting back in the early 70's and obtained through approvals. As I've pursued my main interests, I've continued to accumulate items from other countries, mainly when someone I know has traveled and brought me something interesting. And then there's the older collections I've obtained and started to adding stamps from those collections to my own. Now it all seems overwhelming. I have late 19th and early 20th century stamps, stamps from the 60's and 70's, and many random items from more recent years. It's all becoming too much to keep track of.
But I've developed a new interest lately. I think I want to make smaller albums from particular countries from particular eras that interest me. I think the older collections I've come into have opened my eyes to the possibilities. For instance, my newest interest has become France. I love the stamps I have from there from the 60's and 70's. I've posted on the French board about that topic. I also have a burgeoning interest in USSR/Soviet era stamps. So that's a possibility. Some South American countries are sparking my interest. Or maybe I'll go topical. I have a list of topics I give people when they travel and offer to pick up stamps for me (space, architecture, cars, aircraft, sports, JFK...in case you wondered).
Are my collecting interests finally maturing? if so, it took a while. lol If you made it this far, thanks for reading. I'm on an island as a collector...no one in my family or circle of friends collects, so while they are usually happy to bring me something for my collection, no one around me really wants to talk stamps with me. This forum is my outlet. Is anyone else in that same situation?
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angore
Member
Posts: 5,700
What I collect: WW, focus on British Empire
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Post by angore on Oct 7, 2019 15:18:25 GMT
You may be on an island but there are lot of us on other islands.
Most people evolve. I was a mostly US collector because I did not like the price of stamps so went to collecting British empire. The identifying (not a a lot of flyspecking) and associated learning appeals to me.
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jpotx113
Member
Posts: 460
What I collect: USA, Germany, Croatia, Slovenia, Machins, misc. WW
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Post by jpotx113 on Oct 7, 2019 17:12:05 GMT
I stated collecting WW, then focused on USA and a handful of other countries. However, I do enjoy filling in some holes in my WW albums; I just bought and sorted approximately 20,000 stamps, of which many will not be needed. Do I start collecting a new topic, new countries? Like you, I was overwhelmed once, but I really like to sort and identify stamps and discover stamps that are needed to fill in gaps. Who knows, I might make a rare discovery (which in modern terms is a young person that wants to collect stamps) and make a donation.
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daveg28
Member
Posts: 1,062
What I collect: U.S., Canada, Great Britain & Commonwealth, France (esp. 1950-80), DDR, USSR
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Post by daveg28 on Oct 7, 2019 18:51:05 GMT
Wow. Been doing a little recon of the USSR's stamps issued during the 50's thru the 70s. They weren't shy about issuing anything, were they? Maybe I'll stick to leaving the USSR among my space and sports topicals.
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kostia84
Member
Posts: 192
What I collect: Pharmaceutics (thematic), WWII (thematic), Israel (chronologically)
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Post by kostia84 on Oct 7, 2019 19:42:31 GMT
Same here with the "island" and "outlet" things, daveg28 |
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Post by terrynak on Oct 11, 2019 4:18:24 GMT
I was out of collecting for about 23 yrs - before that I was a WW collector. Ironically, I was doing extensive WW traveling (1-2 countries per year), but not actually collecting. Although I was collecting old stamped postcards of the countries I was visiting.
For the past 4 yrs., I've been getting back into WW collecting, purchasing mostly country packets. First in dealers' stores, in whichever city I was in (e.g. Bruges, Oslo, Copenhagen). I bought a bunch of country mixtures when I was in Melbourne (they have a huge stamp store). Now I purchase primarily online.
I'm also a member of the local philately club, so I have a social outlet (besides this forum, which I just joined). |
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tobben63
Member
Stamp eat sleep repeat
Posts: 1,874
What I collect: I collect to much, world wide!
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Post by tobben63 on Oct 11, 2019 8:29:28 GMT
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daveg28
Member
Posts: 1,062
What I collect: U.S., Canada, Great Britain & Commonwealth, France (esp. 1950-80), DDR, USSR
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Post by daveg28 on Oct 11, 2019 12:14:26 GMT
I have read that thread. I'm so OCD that I'm constantly thinking of different ways to organize my collection. Then, after a while, I decide I don't like it and go back to what I had before. I'm still trying to settle on how to assemble my own WW album(s). It's always in a state of flux. It keeps me out of trouble, as my wife says. |
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Post by nbstamper on Mar 28, 2020 21:26:34 GMT
Some days, I miss the old days of WW collecting; every stamp was of interest and it was fun trying to learn about it and find a place for it. Now, with a focus on a limited number of countries, most stamps I obtain from other countries go into a filing system and most of them will never see the light of day again unless (i) someone happens to come looking for a particular specimen or (ii) I do a give-away or (iii) my collection passes into other hands and the new owner finds something useful for them.
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renden
Member
Posts: 9,162
What I collect: Canada-USA-France-Lithuania-Austria--Germany-Mauritius-French Colonies in Africa
Member is Online
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Post by renden on Mar 28, 2020 21:55:03 GMT
Some days, I miss the old days of WW collecting; every stamp was of interest and it was fun trying to learn about it and find a place for it. Now, with a focus on a limited number of countries, most stamps I obtain from other countries go into a filing system and most of them will never see the light of day again unless (i) someone happens to come looking for a particular specimen or (ii) I do a give-away or (iii) my collection passes into other hands and the new owner finds something useful for them. Do as I do and that is for the last 2-3 years........ Giveaways of Countries/Stamps you do not keep in your collection - a great service to our members Thanks !! René |
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coastwatcher
Departed
Rest in Peace
Kentucky, USA
Posts: 506
What I collect: Currently focusing on US and possessions
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Post by coastwatcher on Mar 29, 2020 2:17:59 GMT
Although I have several areas that I primarily focus on, I’m a worldwide collector at heart, especially when it comes to adding stamps to my Scott International Part 1. Because of my ADD, I get bored easily and frequently cycle through the countries that I primarily focus on. Whenever I get bored with all of them, I have the world to fall back on and, rather than getting bored with stamps in general, have always been able to find something to hold my attention. When my attention begins to wane, I simply move on to another country or area.
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angore
Member
Posts: 5,700
What I collect: WW, focus on British Empire
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Post by angore on Mar 29, 2020 10:23:00 GMT
coastwatcherI think many of us are like that. The hobby is diverse so always something to work on.
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Post by stamphinger on Mar 29, 2020 12:09:51 GMT
Single country collecting usually comes to a point where there are few affordable stamps left to collect. I need to be adding items to my collection to maintain interest. World-wide collecting has always provided something new to add to my albums.
Don StampHinger
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Post by nbstamper on Mar 29, 2020 19:18:27 GMT
Some days, I miss the old days of WW collecting; every stamp was of interest and it was fun trying to learn about it and find a place for it. Now, with a focus on a limited number of countries, most stamps I obtain from other countries go into a filing system and most of them will never see the light of day again unless (i) someone happens to come looking for a particular specimen or (ii) I do a give-away or (iii) my collection passes into other hands and the new owner finds something useful for them. Do as I do and that is for the last 2-3 years........ Giveaways of Countries/Stamps you do not keep in your collection - a great service to our members Thanks !! René Was doing that a lot on another Board; probably gave away 250 or so stamps every month for quite a while. Will likely start here some time soon. Have also been putting aside stamps for a very young beginning collector. Don't know the young guy, but he and his dad come into Fundy Coins downtown every once in a while and the guys at the store (and me) give him a pack of stamps which I'm told he really appreciates. Wish there were a lot more like him. |
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renden
Member
Posts: 9,162
What I collect: Canada-USA-France-Lithuania-Austria--Germany-Mauritius-French Colonies in Africa
Member is Online
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Post by renden on Mar 29, 2020 20:03:07 GMT
One of our member, nbstamper , Xavier hrdoktorx ...... has 3 boys and they collect stamps - He lives in Provence, France (see his address in our list) - Met with him and Chris Beryllium Guy last June in AIX-en-Provence - He is though a "super stamper" - you will see his many threads and stamps René The very nice treesom of stampers in AIX !! June 2019  |
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Post by spain1850 on Jun 1, 2020 1:08:11 GMT
I am a former single country specialist. Many years ago I decided I wanted to collect Spain as a specialized area, until I ran out of steam and interesting items were no longer presenting themselves to me, at least that I could afford. I expanded to include Sweden and Denmark. Then a strange thing happened. I ran into a local selling a large, unsorted worldwide collection. I took a chance, even though I didn't collect worldwide. I soon made the decision to go all in, and I mean ALL IN, as in every country, every era. Complete worldwide. Been steadily working my through the unsorted hoard and I haven't looked back and have no regrets. I'm loving co0llecting again, much as I did in my early years. Everything seems new and fresh again.
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darkormex
Member
Swinging through Switzerland and getting tied up in Thailand
Posts: 2,197
What I collect: The World...just printing and mounting as I go...call me crazy!
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Post by darkormex on Jun 1, 2020 1:19:46 GMT
spain1850, I totally understand you. My ability to move onto whatever I want to and find something interesting about it is what keeps me up late at night, working on my stamps. Last week I was working on France, this week, Japan cancellations and mounting stamps in my old album.
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Post by spain1850 on Jun 1, 2020 1:42:59 GMT
That's exactly me....
Some countries are huge to deal with, so I can just stop at any point and move on to another country or project. I can go back and revisit established albums and update as needed or just chill and do some sorting in front of the TV. Always something to explore, research or play with. I've got about a half dozen countries, right now, that I am bouncing back and forth on. When I get stumped, I can set it aside and do something else.
One BIG advantage for me is that I can find ways of incorporating all those duplicates that pile up, like cancel and postmark studies.
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