Intermediate Collector

I have been collecting since 1949 and I know what I am an INTERMEDIATE COLLECTOR...thats all I am ever going to be..i will never have a 50 thousand dollar collection and thats ok..i know people that have collections with a monetary value of x times that..i like to look at their stuff when I visit..but I am not envious of anyone elses stamps..because I am realize I am free to spend as much or as little as satisfies me !!

phil

I agree it's my collection I choose to collect used stamps that have gone through the postal system; not mint never hinged stamps. I enjoy the history as much as the stamps. I also enjoy looking at other collections, but like you I'm not envious. They collect what they want I collect what I want. I love my collection and hope to pass it on someday to someone who will also cherish it

Hi Phil....

I agree it's not good to be envious of someone else's collection. To have aspirations is a good thing.....but envy is not.

When I see the million dollar collections I think it would be nice to have, and I'm glad that someone is able to save and protect all that better material, but I know I will never achieve it on my budget but, I also think that on my budget, I've created a decent collection.

I will also never have that "awesome" million dollar collection. But as it has been said before my collection is mine and no one else's. There is only one person I have to impress with it and that is myself. As for other's collection's, I see them as learning tools. They help me to see what else is out there and to see where I can broaden my collection and where I can add to what I may already have.

I love what I love, and I know I will never fill an album. I know people who are obsessed with filling every space of an album. Not me, I love my special collections and I will be an educated stamp collector with the information and guidance I cheerfully soak in from our forum!
Thanks everyone for helping me along the way!

Gussyboy1

Cimmaron You will be surprised what "comes around" in time..stick with it..estate sales,collectors who lose interest in a particular collection and move on..the best is when someone else has somthing that does not mean anything to them and will trade with you for something that does..like in anything else..the more people you communicate with..the more things become available...

Sorta on the same subject area, I wonder what happened to that person who said they found sheets of Zepps ( with photos yet)and other unimaginables behind a drywall job they were doing. That was a HIGH value collection for sure. A 80 yr old friend of mine said that in the 1930s after a local bank went under, he was playing with friends behind the building here in my rural area, and they found bundles of old National Bank Notes that were "no good" anymore, that they played with, and even burned some. An Auction several years ago had 1 of 15 known copies for 25,000.....

You never know, as Phil says!

Jim

I'm wondering what happened to Zepp dude as well. I wonder if he decided to keep them or give them away like he said he was thinking about doing.

I too am a middle of the road collector. I think that you guys have the right attitude about only needing to please yourself. Stamp collecting can be a solitary hobby. I do like to show my collection to the uninterested and uninformed; especially if I have something that pertains to an interest of theirs. Just to see if that spark catches. You never know whom and when someone may want to start a collection.

There are just as many ways to collect as there are people.

When I was a kid..probably one in 4 or 5 kids dabbled in stamps..there are still plenty of kiddie albums around to prove that point...but to have the passion for it..thats a different story..as the old saying goes "many are cold but few are frozen" you either have the passion or you do not...if you have it..the stamp collection actually becomes a part of you or vice versa...

Being new to the stamp collecting I find the stories attached very interesting .
As far as value, someday I hope my grandchild or their child will have a good starter collection of some value and I hope they learn that it all started with a friend saying have a look.
Part of the fun of this I have realised is the discovery side of collecting.
Emma's friend was here today and we found out that her dad use to collect so she has a few to start with.
What we find in a Sunday swap meet may be worth $1.00 today but in a few years??
So the hunt and discovery of each little stamp can be and is the true value of the collection just as the friends you make because of your efforts.

Never heard it stated like that, before!



Sounds like something from a discussion on dating philosophy.

Count me in with the general sentiment. Although I have to admit I do like the MNH stamps if they come my way.

And I'm very much into first day covers, even though I'm very well aware that purchasing current issue FDCs is not a particularly good investment. But that just reinforces the point -- I enjoy thumbing through my FDC album and looking at the neat covers that I chose to put in there. I am selective about which ones I buy, picking just the ones that appeal to me for some reason.

And as far as filling every space in an album ... well again, what really appeals to me (although I have yet to actually put this into implemention) is making my own album, with stamps organized the way I want. Then I can choose to put in placeholders for precisely those stamps that one day I would like to find. So, do I leave a space for that Tre Skilling Banco yellow? Perhaps not.

Unless I hit the lottery I will never have a large or expensive accumulation of philatelic material. Even if I did, though, I would still only be an intermediate collector because I'm not sufficiently interested in the minute details of an issue, postal rates in Germany during April 1945, or other advanced topics like that. I like the collecting more than the studying.

I have noticed that if one is not very careful they could very easily have a collection that isn't worth much and have an empty wallet OR they can have a nice decent collection and still have some cushion in the pocket. Besides who can truly have a "Complete" collection, you are always gonna see something some where that catches your eye and says "Take Me HOME." I may never get into the nit picky bowels of the hobby but I am happy with where I am at and I am happy to have so many friends on here to share my collection with because I know on here even if it's nothing of interest to someone they still appreciate them whole heartedly.