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Post by katie333 on May 20, 2020 21:30:17 GMT
Hi all,
I live in Canada and the ATA seems to have locked up the topical association market as I can only find the British Thematic Society as an alternate. I am also aware of a stamp show in the fall (that hopefully still happens!) near-ish my home that will have an ATA booth. I'm hemming and hawing about the benefits of joining as I am not into a lot of topicals (owls, holograms and books on stamps) but I am particularly interested in their checklists - which come at an additional cost once you initiate a membership. Anyone else a member that would care to share their opinion?
Thanks!
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Ryan
Moderator 
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Posts: 2,749 
What I collect: If I have a catalogue for it, I collect it. And I have many catalogues ....
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Post by Ryan on May 21, 2020 4:59:36 GMT
Sometimes a search on the internet for your specific interest can turn up things - there are excellent sites online with huge amounts of info for some topics, like birds or dinosaurs, while other topics haven't yet been written up by anybody. There are some specialized catalogues for a few topics (especially the line of DOMFIL catalogues) but they'll be pretty expensive and an ATA checklist will certainly be a lot cheaper. Of course, an ATA checklist is intended to compile the info you want in a concise manner and you might find you like that better than trawling through tons of pages on an internet site. For birds specifically, there are two excellent sites (at least) with a lot of info online. Take a quick look at the following: bird-stamps.org - Barn Owls and Other Owlsbirdtheme.org - Barn Owls and Other OwlsI didn't search in great detail for your other topics, but it will probably be worth your while to do so. There will be commercial sites which list their stamps according to topic - PostBeeld is one of the biggest and they have a listing for hologram stamps. You'll probably find other sites that have info for you. Dan's Topical Stamps is a site specific to a collector's personal interests and he has lots of listings for primarily religious manuscripts. And you might find some interest in a couple of fiction collections I found on a quick search for "fiction on stamps" - Steve Trussel's Detective Fiction on Stamps and James Hutchisson's Books and Authors on Postage Stamps. If you're looking for a handy list to carry with you to stamp shows, I think you'll probably find the ATA checklists to be better. If you're just looking to find lots of pictures of nice stamps to covet, then there's a ton of stuff to uncover on the internet. Ryan |
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stanley64
Member 
Posts: 1,985
What I collect: Canada, USA, Netherlands, Portugal & Colonies, Antarctic Territories and anything that catches my eye...
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Post by stanley64 on May 21, 2020 7:11:55 GMT
Hopefully you will be able to attend the show this coming autumn katie333 and drop in on the ATA booth; sounds like fun and I would look forward to hearing or reading about your experience! I have to agree with Ryan , the Internet has plenty of resources available and there are many great sites out there for the topical collecting. In addition to some of those pages already shared, I am a member of the ATA and several of the study groups including the Penguins on Stamps Study Unit (POSSU). The study groups like POSSU provide the focus on a specific topic and do maintain their own checklists which does have its benefits and comes in handy from time-to-time. Each group is also likely to publish its own newsletter and is another resource for questions, publishing your own writings or simply reading articles about a particular topic you find interesting. A search of the ATA study groups either here on TSF or the world-wide web should turn up something... Happy collecting! |
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angore
Member
Posts: 5,699
What I collect: WW, focus on British Empire
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Post by angore on May 21, 2020 15:52:31 GMT
I am a member of ATA but interestingly enough I do not have a real topical specialty yet. I looked at the study groups and there is book related study group www.graphics-stamps.org.
owl checklist Birds of Prey -Owls 1,254 listings Checklist pricing Emailed (Excel file, or .pdf file if requested): Two cents per listing. A checklist with 200 stamp items costs $4. Mini-topics (checklists with less than 150 items) cost $3. Maxi-topics (checklists with more than 3,750 items) cost $75. Mailed: Add ten cents per page for printing (~50 items per page), plus actual postage to mail. Contact ATA Office for assistance. Checklist Updates: ATA members purchase a checklist from the new dATAbase (since 1 May 2014) are entitled to free updates once/year as long as ATA membership is maintained. |
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brightonpete
Departed
Rest in Peace
On a hike at Goodrich-Loomis
Posts: 5,110
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Post by brightonpete on May 21, 2020 15:59:24 GMT
$75 for a checklist? What about a pdf online? That would be more sensible, at least in my mind!
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angore
Member
Posts: 5,699
What I collect: WW, focus on British Empire
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Post by angore on May 21, 2020 16:37:43 GMT
As I understand it you pay by the content and no savings for digital. I assume you are paying for their work and value and the revenue keeps dues lower
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Post by katie333 on May 21, 2020 23:42:29 GMT
Thank you all! Ryan I've been in deep googling before and I even found a site from a couple that collects books and owls - it hadn't been updated for quite a while but it was a good resource. I do like looking at these sites and I'm just in debate around spending the money to save the considerable effort of pulling together my own list, even with the benefit of these resources. stanley64 I think that may be the end decision, to go to the show (if it still happens) and check out the booth. I'm struggling with the price point and they might even have a deal on the membership. brightonpete That's exactly my concern - it seems like a lot to pay for a checklist considering I could buy a catalogue for that price. Still, it's $75 or my time which could be worth that much depending on how long it takes me.  |
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angore
Member
Posts: 5,699
What I collect: WW, focus on British Empire
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Post by angore on May 22, 2020 10:19:49 GMT
The owl checklist should be $25.08 (not $75) since there are 1254 listings at 2 cents each. You first need to join. The monthly magazine is called the Topical Time. Printed version is extra.
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Post by Jeff Hayward on May 29, 2020 21:07:27 GMT
Hi Kate and all, As a life member and an officer and of ATA, I am a bit biased.  Two of the membership benefits used most by members of the ATA are of course the bi-monthly magazine and the checklists. Our checklists supply a bit more detail than catalogs and we get feedback from members if they feel a stamp might me missing or should be removed. The time it takes to create a checklist is the reason many members purchase the checklist from the ATA and keep their membership for the updates each year. Yes, some checklists are quite large and can be expensive, but so are many catalogs and again the time to create and keep checklists updated. While I may not collect everything I read about in the magazine Topical Time there are a lot of interesting articles. Sometimes something I read about sparks either a new topical collection or a way I can have fun with one of my existing collections. I have been asked by some why they should join the ATA if they only collect one particular thing. My answer is to see what and how others collect in the hobby. It is really no different than how some collectors specialize in one particular area of U.S. stamps, say prexies, pre-cancels, postal history, first day covers yet are members to support the hobby as a whole. The same is true for topical collectors that join the ATA to support the hobby as topical philatelists. I do hope you are able to get to a show soon Kate that has an ATA booth and has ATA activities. We try to organize social events outside the show as well and to get to know each other and how we all enjoy the hobby. Met many great people and have many great friends as a result. Sorry if I rambled on! Jeff |
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Post by katie333 on May 30, 2020 11:42:13 GMT
Jeff Hayward Thank for your reply - this is the context I was hoping for. I'm still hurting a bit at the cost (now I feel I am being cheap, but after all, money spent on ATA and lists is less money spent on actual stamps!). My topical collections are one of my many side-endeavors but even though there are some excellent online resources, the checklist sample I saw on the website just can't be beat for ease of use, completeness and to aid in completion of a collection. I do long for the return of the stamp show (of course we always miss what we cannot have) and will definitely check out ATA. I was somewhat surprised to see their presence advertised at a medium sized show here in Canada. Wishful thinking but it would be great if there was some type of bonus program - new memberships get one free list, up to a certain value perhaps. That would seal the deal for me!
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Post by Jeff Hayward on May 30, 2020 21:31:05 GMT
I hear you katie333 about spending money on memberships and other collecting expenses that could be spent on stamps. Heck, I did not regularly start attending stamp shows and staying at hotels for the entire show until I went to the ATA show in Lancaster PA in 2012. Keep in mind that at that point in my life, I had been collecting stamps for 33 years. Until then, I felt the money I would spend on things like hotel and travel were better spent on stamps for my collection. I was wrong. Since then I have attended every ATA show annually and any other show I could afford to attend. I now have many friends that I only wish I could have met long ago so that I could have enjoyed their friendship longer. Attending stamp shows and actually meeting other people has given me as much joy and happiness as collecting the actual stamps. If you think about it, that is what the function of stamps and the postal service has been all about, allowing us to all stay in touch with one another, along with paying bills and business correspondence. Stamp collecting and organized philately does the same. Jeff
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Two of the membership benefits used most by members of the ATA are of course the bi-monthly magazine and the checklists.