Happy Friday the 13th, everybody! Given I've been a horror movie fan since early childhood, I guess it's a good day to stop lurking and join in the party.
My name is Allan, and I started collecting stamps when one of my best friends in 7th grade started bragging about his US collection in 1977. He was an only child of a divorced pair of professionals who were (IMHO) apparently trying to 'buy' favored parent status, as he was spoiled with funds and anything he wanted as long as I knew him. Started a US Mint NH collection by taking the bus to Downtown Long Beach, California, visiting a stamp shop ran by an elderly German fellow who was always smoking a cigar (to this day, when I smell certain cigars, I think of that place). Being a LA Rams fan, the first stamp I bought was the 1968 College Football commemorative that looked more like the NFL to me. Of course, my spending was along the lines of $5 a day, while my friend was pulling out $20 bills of his pocket in a roll. When I found a 'more real' group of friends who weren't all about 'The Benjamins', my friendship with my stamp collecting buddy - as well as my stamp collecting, was at an end...
Next blip was during my enlistment in the Navy around 1987. The Destroyer I was deployed on, the USS John Rodgers (DD-983), had one Naval Post Office worker, and he twisted his ankle (Official USN story - he twisted it carrying a mailbag down into the ship... Actual story - he fell awkwardly while playing football with a friend's kids on shoreleave). Being (a) in the Ship's Office and (b) able to string 3 coherent words together made me the candidate to take his place till he could work again, so I ran the Ship's Post Office for about 9 months. Working with the stuff (selling books of seashell stamps, putting those blue Official Mail stamps on stuff, and using the Official Rubber stamp on Cover requests from Naval Cover collectors) got me interested again, but there's only so much one can do floating in the middle of the Ocean in the waning days of the Cold War. If anyone reading got a ship seal cancel of a Naval cover from the ship in the late 1987-early 1988 era, it was probably me that stamped it. I apologize in advance if it was sloppy. I did manage to 'appropriate' a few of the USPS posters advertising new commemoratives that we were always shipped but never displayed, which I still have today. But again, life got in the way, and that was it..
The bug bit again in the 1989, and almost entirely died. I can't remember what spurred the interest, but shortly after my Naval enlistment ended in the summer of 1989, I got into stamps again (it was likely getting my stuff out of storage, including my old Harris Liberty album). I had a bit of money saved from my military days (I didn't - and still don't - drink or smoke, so not a lot to spend money on), and ended up moving all my stamps to a Scott National album, and visited two Orange County stamp stores (Steve's Stamps in Anaheim, and Yellowstone Stamps in Orange, I think it was). Bought a LOT of stuff, especially after I got rear-ended by a Pacific Telephone van while resting in my car on my lunch break and ended up with $4000 for my troubles. I didn't get any 'real' great items. Ended up getting some decent stamps, though - all of the 1901 Pan Pacifics in Mint NH (probably regummed, thinking back), the 'Cattle in the Storm' from a few years earlier (another likely regum), and bought a LOT of USPS Year sets to fill in pages in the National and get me up to date. After a few years of that, around 1994, lost my job, and ended up finding nothing but a temp job (that lasted 4.5 years). Lack of funds resulted in a very depressing trek to a dealer who cherry picked all the 'nice' stamps from my album and paid about 30% for them (my lesson in the 'real' value of the stamps I was collecting). I didn't pick the album up again for 10 years...
.. but.. whoever it was that stated that having children changes your life knew what they were talking about. While working 3rd shift in IT wasn't optimal for health or sleeping, it was GREAT for saving on child care with a baby/toddler around. With a lot of time I was (a) at home, and (b) had to stay awake, Stamps made a recovery that stayed..
having learned important lessons in my earlier collector days:
1) Be content on what you can reasonably afford, and don't worry about what 'the other person' has
2) The value is in the knowledge gained and the enjoyment therein - or at least it had better be, because their isn't much in the financial aspect.
I slowly got going again. Some old areas went to the wayside (the US Postal stationery albums and the UN Albums I worked on in the early 90's haven't been touched since), but some were restarted (my old 1-volume National turned into 6 volumes at least counting with all the recent updates, though I admittedly have slacked off the last few years and am only current through 2009), and others were started (the Internet, along with Linns - renewed for the first time since the late 70's in 2005, opened my eyes up to the popularity of collecting 'World Classics', and upon stumbling across the Steiner pages (shout out to my fellow Hoosier!), found an affordable way to do it! My time with stamps has been on/off for the past few years, but currently on an 'on' phase, so we'll see how this goes!
So, after wasting about an hour of company time here, guess it's time to close. After all this, I guess I boil down to:
a) collected as a teen, discovered guitars/girls/advanced calculus and stampes faded away
b) rediscovered as young adult, got disillusioned by the perceived/actual value fluctations, and by life in general as 'reality' removed my rose-colored glasses for good.
c) Getting to a reasonably stable time of life finds the philatelist in my coming back alive, with the added goal of trying to get my 10 year old son interested. Hey, I got him hooked on Baseball (in General), and on my team (the Los Angeles aka California aka Anaheim aka Los Angeles of Anaheim aka Los Angeles (again) Angels), so stamps should be a breeze!
My collection? Spending WAY too much trying to keep up with the USPS and their myriad of 20-stamp sheets with JUST ENOUGH printing in the selvage to make me 'need' them. Collect US in the Scott National, supplementing as I go with both the National general supplement AND the National Small Panes, tossing the pages of panes without enough 'specialness' in the selvage. By the time I get the pages for 2010-2012, I'll likely be about ready for yet another binder.
As for the World, using the Steiner pages and just basically getting my feet wet. Few approvals from the 90's, couple old albums from auctions, few special specific ebay/sales wins/buys. Back in the 90's bought the then-current Scott International 1A,1B pages and binders.. didnt' like the non-completeness and the 'both sides of the page' stuff, so never really used them (likely be selling them, or giving them away soon), so the Steiner pages were a godsend to me. Downloaded everything from the site a few years ago, and will probably re-subscribe when I get to mounting stamps again so I can get any newly updated pages.
I've been reading a lot of the threads here, so I'll start jumping in where appropriate soon.
As far as avatars, I know EXACTLY what pic I'd like to use. Early on (about a week ago, or the start of this message) I mentioned I was a monster movie fan from early youth. I appreciate all the classic engraved stamps and all, but my favorite stamps ever were the 1997 Classic Movie Monsters stamps, and this one in particular
Lon Chaney Jr. was/is my favorite horror movie actor, THE WOLFMAN was my favorite 'monster movie' from the old days (NOT the 'best' .. just 'my favorite').. so this stamp, and that whole sheet, were perfect to me.
Well, that's my story.. off to look over other threads to contribute (in a much less verbose way).
Allan
Posted 09/13/2013 1:15 pm
Welcome Allan
