New Here & Question On How To Start Collecting...?

Hi there..., Jason here, from Flagstaff, AZ.

My daughter will turn 3 in March and, for the last few months, has had a fascination with stamps.

For here birthday, I would like to give her a stamp collection book, with stamps included... And, the stamps that I would like to include, will be stamps that have been issued every month since she was born...

However, I collect, but I have never collected stamps... I'm more of a gun collector, shot glasses and at one time, had a very large collection of match-books... But, never stamps...

Common sense would tell me that she needs a place to store the stamps... So, I assume I would want to get here a stamp collectors book...? Also, to include in this book, stamps that were issued during the last 36 months..., how do I go about doing this? Or, is this even an option? And, when collecting stamps..., do you include complete sheets of stamps..., or single stamps...?

Bear with me on this... I know I am throwing out a lot of questions..., and once I am done posting, I will do some research on my own. 1st thing I wanted to do was register w/a community (forum) of stamp collectors, introduce myself & explain my task at hand...

So..., just to start, any information that any of you could provide would be greatly appreciated...

Thank you;
Jason

Welcome Jason:

You've come to the right place. There are lots of knowledgeable folks here and you'll get many answers to various parts of your questions -- you'll have the tough job of assimilating all the information

I'll start by asking if you're talking about U.S. stamps or those of other countries. Since you're in the US, it might be easier for you to start with those. You can buy other countries from dealers and the Internet, but be careful, you don't want to pay too much. One idea, if you have friends/family in other countries, you might persuade them to visit their local post office and buy stamps for you.

Obviously, you can collect stamps in whatever multiples you want to (it's a very individual hobby). Most collectors think in terms of singles, blocks, and panes. The word sheet sometimes has more than one meaning -- we'll cover that later. But consider a 'Pane of 20' from your local post office. If you're buying the new Vancouver Olympics stamp (44 cents), a pane will cost you $8.80. On the other hand a pane of the new Bixby Creek Bridge Priority Mail stamp ($18.30 each) will cost you $366.00

Personally, I don't collect many of the newer U.S. issues. Once in a while, I see one that strikes my fancy, I buy a pane if they're low value, a block of 4 for medium value, and a single of high value.

I've been speaking of new (or mint) issues, you might also consider collecting used stamps. An inexpensive way would be to get your friends/family to send letters to your daughter. Keep the entire envelope (collectors call them 'covers'). Also, postcards make nice collectibles. However, collecting used stamps might not get you EVERY new stamp -- unless someone needs to send your infant a priority overnight package

I'll stop now and let someone else weigh in on how to organize and store your collection.

KirkS

Jason,
That is awesome that you are helping your child with her interest in stamps. My son, whom is 3 as well, enjoys getting my duplicate stamps and going to the post office. Here he is helping me sort precancel stamps around a year ago.



If you are collectin new issues you may want to get a stock book to keep your stamps in. Also, you could make your own stamp album pages to mount your stamps in. The reason I suggest this is because preprinted album pages normally do not come out until the end of the current year. Also, you can go to the American Philatelic Society website and download & print free stamp album pages. Just click on the APS banner link at the upper left corner of the screen to get there. I suggest seeing if there is a local Stamp Club and stamp dealer in your area. A good place to ask is the local library & the post office.

I also make my own covers on Charlie's birthday and have it postmarked that day. This past year I did 3 different town postmarks for his 3rd birthday.




I also noticed that you are from a Route 66 town. I collect US 66 stuff. Do you have any matchbooks from places along Highway 66 in you collection? I'd love to see pictures.

Hi jnwoodruff,



Stick around and get to 50 posts, and I will send your little girl some nice Disney stamps. She might like those as the characters may be familiar.
Do you have a pic of you both together ?
Nice one of Stamperdude with Charles.

My little girl is now 15 and her Birthday is also in March. She started collecting and has a nice album....but now it is left forgotten while schoolwork and other stuff takes over. One day she may return so it will be there waiting {unless I get to it first, she has some great Cinderellas in it !].

Good luck and happy hunting.

Londonbus1...talks too much

Hello and welcome jnwoodruff!

Neat idea you have for collecting for your little girl.

Just one country to collect? USA?
New from the post office (or dealer) (mint) or
Used from the mails or a dealer?

Those plastic pages in stamperdudes photo are good to use to arrange your stamps and keep them away from prying fingers (mostly). They come in different numbers of pockets per page, fro 1 to 8 I believe, for different sizes of stamps or quantities.

Or sturdy paper pages with plastic mounts for each stamp. Or paper page and little hinges to stick to the stamp and then to the page. Devalues the stamp a bit though if new and allows fingers to touch.

Depends on the amount of money you want to spend on the idea and stamps and supplies.

If collecting US then look at the USPS site maybe. There is lots of other info on the web too.

Thanks so much for all of the great feedback...

I was pretty sure I came to the right spot. Glad I registered & posted this topic.

Anyways, here are a couple of pics... Most of my pics are on my office computer, but I came across a couple...

Here is Haylie & my playing in the SuperStorm from a couple of weeks ago... Not a great pic, I know, but it was her first time in a serious snow storm... We have spent the last two weeks building snowmen, having snowball fights & we built a 300' long sledding run on the south side of our property... Almost straight downhill..., but has a couple of curves in it that we had to build up w/some berms... Tell you what, she loves the snow...


I've played guitar for about 25 years... and her favorite thing to do in the afternoon, when I get home, is to get my guitar & have us sit down in the living room and play/sing lullabies... Well, her favorite color is Purple and her favorite character is TinkerBell... You wouldn't believe that I found a purple, Tinkerbell, kids acoustic guitar on Amazon for $19.99 and was able to get it here for Christmas. Tell you what..., the girl is spoiled & everyone got her a dozen gifts this year..., but she plays that guitar every day...


Ok..., ok..., I'll stop doting!

So, as for the collecting. I have no idea where to begin. I don't even know what "catagories" are collectible... No idea where to start.

I am a regular @ a GunBroker.Com and I searched for "stamps" and actually came across a seller that has lots of 10, 20, 100, 1000, 5000, 10000, etc... and decided to send him a message explaining (much like this post), what I am doing & the assistance that I am seeking.

He came back w/alot of the same questions & suggestions that I have already seen in here..., so, I guess I need to do a little more investigating myself.

I keep seeing the references to "Disney" stamps and I can say, ABSOLUTELY..., she will recognize them..., she is already a Disney fan & has been to Disnelyland (once) and we have already planned a summer vaction this year, back to Disneyland. She love flowers. She loves animals. As a matter of fact..., I am a hunter & I have more than a fair share of trophy's on my wall..., North American game animals as well as Exotic African Safari animals..., and she know each and every species on the wall... So, not only domesticated animals, but wild game animals as well, would be of an interest to her...

I guess my biggest concern right now is deciding on how I want to store them & pick out & acquire a storage folder/book... As well, I should decide on which stamps I would like to start here collection with (I need to fill 36 consecutive months worth of stamps by the time I present this to her on her B-Day - End of March, 2010). Like I said, I want her to collect and add to this monthly..., so I want it to look as if it was started immediately after she was born.

Wow..., I could ramble on & on. Wanted to just get back in touch..., post some pics and say thank you, thank you, thank you... I can tell that I am going to enjoy this as much as she (hopefully) does.

Jason

Welcome Jason,

My Mom lives in Cottonwood, South of Sedona. I always liked Flagstaff myself and wished she lived there instead :)

If you want her collection to be USA stamps, You could get a USA stamp album and revmove the pages before the year of her birth. There are sources on line to get USA stamp album pages that you download and print out yourself. Then you have to decide how you want to put the stamps in the album. There are two main ways: using things called stamp hinges which are small peices of paper that get attached to the back of the stamp then onto the album page. The other main method is using what are called stamp mounts: plastic sleeves that the stamp goes into then the mount is stuck onto the album page. Mounts don't stick to the back of the stamp so the stamp remains in it's original condition. These are just a couple of the many options out there.

Dave N.
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Welcome to the SCF.



These guys have given you some good advise.

Steve

with Steve

G'Day and welcome "" to the forum.