Are there any series you avoid or don’t like? Any favorites?

I do like the Machins, but I don’t get carried away. Colors, values, and different regions. That’s all I look for.

I do agree with you in the Washington-Franklins. They are very daunting. I’ve been collecting for 45 years, and I’ve avoided them for the most part. I’m just getting into really identifying them.



I always liked this 'Cup of Tea' series.

Rene, I’m in agreement with you. Asian countries’ stamps have never interested me. And I’ve tried to get into South and Central American countries, but to no avail. Other than a few stamps here and there that have appealing topics, I’m usually not interested. Same with African and Middle East countries. No interest, unless it’s a really striking stamp or a topical I like, I’ll pass.

I like the Machins and, in fact, have a pretty good collection and have a copy of Deegam's Handbook on disc, but I have not kept up with it recently except to hang onto whatever comes my way whether on mail, in mixes or in albums. Like most other things, I will get back to it eventually.

I sometimes get pleasantly lost in the complexity of various stamps issues and I tend to prefer definitives over commemoratives regardless of country. I have to admit, though, I don't like trying to sort out the Washington-Franklins. I have glassines and stock pages with many and I will sometimes put them in front of me and start to try to identify what I have but quickly get frustrated and move onto something else.

I love Asian stamps, but, I lived in Korea for almost 7 years and speak Korean at an intermediate level and have a basic familiarity with how Chinese characters work and can find the information I need to if necessary. My primary collection from Asia is Korea but I also have collections of PRC, Republic of China (before 1949) and Taiwan.

Is there anything I don't like? Probably not...I find as I have gone from a budding 10 year old collector to my current age of 56 that my tastes have changed over time and several years ago I stopped trying to control what I collect or try to specialize in something and just collect whatever I want. Sometimes I will go deeper into an area like I did with Romania and will probably go back to that because I found it so interesting. I like to do this but after a while, I get a little bored and will set the country aside for a while, like I did with Greece tonight. Sometimes I just like to push the reset button.

I like Mexico's Exporta series. I have been on the fence though about collecting machins even though I already have a couple thousand accumulated.

Oh, and I've always like the U.S.'s Transportation series. Annoys me that there's still a half dozen or so that I haven't got my hands on yet.

I love definitives as well. They are usually long lived with many varieties. Present day definitives are not the same as days gone by though.

The one series I absolutely abhor was that scandal from the 80's "Leaders of the World"! I was collecting Tuvalu at the time with a standing order account. When they sent me those, I sent them back, only to have them returned. Since I had indicated I wanted everything they issued, I would get EVERYTHING they issued! I complained to deaf ears, so I cancelled my account. The balance included, you guessed it - more LOTW garbage!

I had kept them in a stockbook ever since, but looking at them two years ago, I decided enough was enough - shred them. So into the shredder the lot of them went!

That's the only one I didn't like. Everything else is fair game!

Same here with the Argentinian stamps. I have a pile that I just avoid at all costs. Machins don't phase me; I just don't worry about the phosphor bands.