A Question For You...

Hi

Before I joined SCF I was just starting to get back into stamps after many years of being away. I started going through the stamps I had collected as a child and tried to organize them. To me stamp collecting was finding where a stamp fit in the album and sticking it in the book. If there wasn't a place for it you put it in the back of that country's section of the book.

Since joining SCF I find myself looking for things like precancels and overprints, sorting by subject matter that I find of interest instead of worrying what country they belong to, looking for fancy cancellations, etc.

My question to you is this:

How has joining Stamp Community Forum effected the way you collect, if any, and are there things you have learned here that you wish you learned long ago?

Thanks
Richard

I learn something new here almost every week. I am thankful for the knowledge I acquire here, at any time, and never worry about the past. I am also thankful knowing that an answer is always a question away!

Richard, I've been collecting off and on for nearly 45 years and I still learn something on here every week. This is a great place to hang out for MANY reasons.

I know I learn something new all the time here. Everyone has been great.

I can't begin to tell how much this forum has helped me in learning about the hobby. I never thought there was so much to stamps and collecting them. Before I joined this forum I was like the masses. A stamp collection was just a book with stamps stuck in it. But since I joined I have learned that every stamp has a story behind it wether it's a mint stamp that has gone thru several collections or a used stamp that has traveled several hundreds of miles. This group has given me a whole different outlook on the hobby and I am greatful for the people here that have helped me develope such a love for it.

There is something to be learned everyday in this hobby..and not just from the masters..new collectors come up with great original ideas..i wish more kids in the states would collect..but its not like 20 years ago when the department stores had a small section where you could buy a bag of stamps, hinges, an inexpensive album..without a mentor its very difficult for a kid here to break into the hobby...try going into Barnes and Noble and asking them where the scott catalogs are...you will find books on coins ..

I only got into stamp collecting becasue of this site, before this site, I just put every stamp off a letter in a box and left it there.

I learn something new here every day whether it is a direct answer to one of my questions or by just reading the posts. Everyone has their favorite area of collecting and so many different degrees of expertise. I also wish more children would become interested in the hobby. I am working with my two boys 9 and 11 hey have some interest but at times it is hard they can not just go to a store like I did when I was a kid and there are no clubs near here. But they get excited when they find a stamp they need etc.

I know, kids these days are too 'cool' to get into stamp collecting, I do, I'm 14 :P

Definatly won't try to get my friends into stamp collecting.

I have been collecting gathering stamps for about 40 years, as a loner. Now I have the help and advice of everyone on this forum. I learn something new everyday. It hasn't really changed the way I collect, except there is more of it lately, thanks to the generosity of you kind folk. I also have a couple a friends here to collect with now.

Steve

When in High School, I was running a stamp exchange (catalog value based) and later an approval service. My best friend didn't even know about my interest in stamps!

I don't think the forum has changed the way I collect, but it has helped me interact with more collectors on a almost daily basis. I always learn something new everytime I log on.

My best friends/friends at school will NEVER KNOW