Do we need a new Scott Catalog every year?

I agree that Scott doesn't need to release a complete set of catalogs every year. But I am biased because I don't buy a complete set of catalogs every year.

That being said...

The way they have the catalogs arranged, they don't have much choice right now. They would have to do some major re-arrangement, and they haven't been willing to do that since 1998 when they moved British Commonwealth from Volume 1 into the rest of the volumes in alphabetical order -- thereby forcing BC collectors to buy the entire WW set, or reduce the frequency of catalog purchases. Instead of working toward creating logical collecting volumes, Scott tends toward consolidation into the standard alphabetical WW set.

-- Scott doesn't update prices for every country every year, only the most active/popular countries (prices for several countries remain un-updated or partially updated for several years at a stretch)

-- Scott continues to have Germany in their catalog, probably for the same reason SG and Michel continue to include US in their catalogs (if you want to be the primary source, sometimes you have to include inferior products just to be the "one-stop" source; it only has to be "good enough" for the general collector)

-- If Scott focused on Canada, they would likely lose out to Unitrade (a significantly better product). Scott might end up only being able to take a cut from the licensing of Scott catalog numbers. In the early 1980s, before Scott colorized their WW catalog in 2006, Scott actually produced a color specialized catalog for Canada (I still have it). The product didn't last very long, and they didn't even have Unitrade to compete with them back then.

Amos can either 1) stay the same and go the way of the buggy whip, 2) cut & run to downsize, 3) make a better product, 4) innovate and make different products... They tried #4 several times with sparse success so far (Classic catalog was one of the better ideas... while most of their new products over the years failed within a few years). They've made occasional progress on #3 (colorization received more positive than negative response...). Are they really to the point of #2? Supplies/albums, I can understand; but the catalogs? One things for sure, #1 is not a good choice.

To me, having an inferior product does not necessarily mean one has to cut and run/downsize. Sometimes, competition is a good thing -- especially if it motivates you to try harder to produce a better product. But can Amos produce better & innovative catalog products?

Just my personal thoughts...

Well, I know I don't need one every year. In fact I haven't bought any NEW Scott catalogs since 1982.

If more countries start going the way of Iceland, and stop issuing new stamps then there wont be a need for them to print one every year. They could probably go every other year.

I would be happy with a yearly download of some sort, and do away with the printed versions all together. Sure would take up less desk space.

As far as US deales using Scott...I haven't seen a dealer at a show, that didnt use Scott, except for some of the specialist dealers. General worldwide dealers, in my experience, rely on Scott.

They do think about it.  They just won't pull the trigger.  They seem dead set on trying to preserve standard WW set sales.  As mentioned before, when they make a change, it is to consolidate (e.g., British Commonwealth volume combine with rest of WW volumes) rather than to separate into further logical volumes.

I don't think I've ever personally met a collector who bought a new Scott WW set every year. No doubt there are; I haven't really met that many collectors. Everyone I've met who did annual Scott catalog purchases were all dealers or libraries.

That would be the sort thing for them to do. But their iOS venture was a dismal failure. I sent them an email with a lot of its shortcoming. They did reply stating they would fix them. But they never did. I ended up getting my money back for the cheesy album I bought.

I wouldn't hold out much hope for anything from them. If they ever do, I'd wait to see what the reviews are first before giving them any of my stamp money!

You became a SENIOR member.......congrats !! (or not LOL)

I bought a set of 2020 Scott catalogs because I was planning on selling about 25% of my collection plus all of the odd countries. This will be my last Scott purchase, but I'll probably pick up single country pages from ChirokMD if they are still selling them.

I wish they would just sell a compilation of all the new issues once a year. A special edition like that would probably sell quite well.

The online offering has gotten better, but it's still not what it should be. The biggest annoyance for me is that fact that there is no offline access. And there no plan to add offline access. I had plans to go to a stamp show and use it offline on my tablet. No such luck.

I do not think prices changes that much for 99% of what is in a catalog and the method to determine prices can be interesting. The whole concept of determining seems suspect.

For visual identification, I prefer Stampworld since many more images than a printed catalog and easy to browse images of lots of issues.

I purchased a complete set of the online version of the 2021 Scotts Vols 1-6 and Classic Specialized this year (thank you stimulus check from last spring). This replaced a set of 2012s Vols 1-6 and a 2015 Classic Specialized hard copy versions that I had. I'd consider selling the Classic Specialized but the binding on it cracked in two places (the 2015 edition has production issues I was told by Scott people when I asked them about it at APS Stampshow 2018 in Columbus) and one page fell out (have to keep it folded in the catalog). Guess I could sell it cheap.

As for needing new each year, I think the best path forward would be to shift focus more to online and have a subscription based model, similar to what Yvert does - you subscribe for Yvert online for 1 year and and new catalogs released during the year's subscription you get access to as the old editions are "replaced".

Or Scott could go to the database-model system Michel uses (I have Michel Online as well) and simply update the database as needed.

Hard copy will pass from the scene with the passing of the Boomer generation, I think. For the under 60s Gen-X and Millenials (like myself) most of our lives have been spent in an increasingly digital environment, and personally I find it more of a hassle to drag catalogs off the shelf, flip to find what I am looking for, then put the catalog back, when instead i can easily open an internet page, flip a few pages or use the search feature to find what I want, and have the catalog still open but not cluttering my desk while I work on my collections.

As far as I know, once bought you have access forever. Same with any of Stanley Gibbons digital products.  Michel and Yvert are on subscription model (Michel also does buy once and have forever digital catalogs available as well).

And at least this year, the digital versions of Scott were US$75 for the regular catalogs, as opposed to something north of US$120 for the hard copy.  Classic Specialized was IIRC US$125 vs hardcover price above US$150.

Hi Andy

Instead of my suggestion of issuing catalogs for geographic areas, a long time ago I had also suggested to Scott to issue up dates.  I suggested an update could be catalog pages for new stamps, an error guide for the original pages,  and a pricing guide for any price changes.  This would be a lot cheaper than 6 volumes a year.  Same response, people want the catalog.  The only people that want the whole shebang in my opinion would be dealers.

Jerry B