Why I Soak !

Many of us who have been around a while realize that we are only custodians of our stamps..we hope that they are enjoyed by someone else in the future...when the envelopes from other collectors stack up on my desk I try to save those in collectible shape..soak em and stack em !

I soak because somewhere from the line of my descendents,
I think I inherited a masochist gene.

I would rather collect everything in mint-never-hinged condition,
but I soak because I've also taken a SOAKING in the stock market

Good, that makes two of us,
but I am still getting stamps sent to me on piece.
Someone out there is shirking their soaking duties.
Hmmmm
(rubbing chin and tapping pencil on desk.....)

Kirk, I am back to where I was in 2000 financially...never saw 11 phantom years like that before...if I lived through times like that before I didnt have anything invested !! So we play with our stamps !

"we hope that they are enjoyed by someone else in the future"
(I'm not sure how to copy someones quote yet)

But I really like that! The bulk of my collection is originally from a postmaster, and I believe he collected around 1920 ~ 1930's. And most of the collection is in pristine condition... And I am certainly enjoying them! :-)

OK, you talked me into it. I started soaking a bunch of duplicates I had no particular use for. Already I'm finding some new uses for them. Found some interesting cancellations and thought about organizing them into sets for donation or trade or eventual enjoyment of future generations.

Bug:

FYI: the Quote tags are [quote ] and [/quote ] (but with no spaces inside the brackets).

Kirk

NICE!

LOL Thanks Kirk! You rock!! (: I'm not familiar with computer talk :)

You'd have to be about 14 years old and then the phrase would be..

U R L33T

as in "You Are" and the 3 is a backwards E -- the word LEET means ELITE. The whole "language," commonly used by juveniles and text messengers, is called L33T SPEAK

oh my gosh... I have to reread that in the morning lol

My bag of stamps to soak was overfilling, so I soaked some this weekend.

I think I have to agree with Rod.

My head - because my wife tells me to.
My stamps - because I want to get what I don't have in my book and what I do have put away. (Part of my compulsive "organize them" disorder.

I don't enjoy soaking because of the problems getting them to come out in a perfect state however if I ever threw out a used stamp on piece in good condition, I would suffer from a guilt complex. I have been saving stamps on piece for quite some time and will have to soak them later this spring given the accumulation but it isn't a rewarding experience because I find many of them curl and I haven't been successful in keeping intact blocks of stamps.

I have thousands to soak - putting it off. The curls, for me, can be placed on the table and put some heavy books on them. If you have thousands, put them in envelopes and then lay very heavy books etc. on them

I have a device for uncurling, but it is for only one or two stamps. It is a small cylindrical bottle which I overlayed with a cylinder of clear plastic sheet. Stamp is inserted curled the opposite way between the plastic sheet and outer surface of the bottle. A day or less in my "Glass Maiden" straightens it out ;)