Are You A Former Worldwide Collector Who Now Specializes?

Like TheArtfulHinger I started specialized (US), decided to then collection WW for my birth year (1963), which in turn led me to WW (19th and 20th century).

I don't know that I'll ever be able to stick to a certain specialty because there are just too many WW stamps out there that I like. I'd also run out of affordable material a little too quickly. I'd lose interest if I got to the point where I could only add one or two items a month (or even less) to my collection. With WW collecting, I could add 1000 new stamps a month for the next 30-40 years and still not run out of new stamps to add.

I've pretty much come around to getting rid of a number of countries. Why keep albums of German stamps in which I have no interest? Why risk death from a freak philatelic landslide? Why not spend the time and space on French stamps, in which I am interested? Whether this resolution holds, only time will tell.

I started collecting a few MNH countries. Changed to used stamps and, now, I collect a lot of countries, mainly Scandinavia, Estonia and British Empire & Commonwealth. No WW, but close.

I started out as a world wide collector, and really hit a stride in the 1980s to 2000s period with my Big Blue Scott International Parts I through V (1840-1965) albums. Like GeoffHa, I've gotten tired of WW and made a conscious decision several years ago to specialize. I've gone to a more regional format and stuff that doesn't fit into my regions will eventually get sold off, or given to the Rocky Mountain Philatelic Library for their auctions.

Regions as of now, and still through 1965 only except for Portuguese colonies into the mid-70s: (1) Portugal & Colonies; (2) North America (US, Canada & Provinces, Mexico, Greenland, St. Pierre & Miquelon, UN-NY); (3) select eastern European countries (Baltic States, Bulgaria, Poland, Russia & areas); (4) German speaking countries (Germany et al, Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland); (5) British Commonwealth; (6) Italian area and S.E. Europe; (7) South & Central America.

Yes, that sounds like a large amount of WW. But it doesn't include any French areas; Benelux; Scandinavia; Spanish; or the vastness of Asia except if included in an existing region. So, much of what I now have will go and I will have a more cohesive collection that appeals to me.

I started with US until what I needed got too expensive for the most part. Then I headed north to Canada, then I started printing Steiner pages for GB, Italy, France and Germany. Then I got the idea to try to work on a Big Blue. I had so many albums and lots I picked up while working on those former countries, that I had a great start on the rest of the world.

I now have 12,550 stamps in my Big Blue without pilfering anything from my specialty countries (using all dupes for those)

Taking a break from that for now and converting my Steiner Italy album to a NOS Scott Specialty album I picked up for a decent price.

Also have a nice Germany Specialty album to convert the Steiner pages to at some point.

Where I go after that, nobody knows, not even myself :)

It's been a fun trip

What do we mean by "specializing"? I'm not a WW collector (gave it up many years ago because it was just too daunting) - my interests are mostly Canada, Provinces and New Zealand but I've added some other countries, mainly pre-1970 British Commonwealth and pre-independence French colonials just because I find the stamps attractive. But I don't consider myself a specialist as I haven't the time or resources to chase down all the varieties in the specialized catalogues. I doubt I could find enough material in my albums to put together any kind of interesting exhibit. In a way, I envy the WW collectors because there must never be a boring moment but I really admire the true specialist/philatelist because of the expertise they develop as they pursue their specialties and some of the amazing material they find. That said, I really enjoy the hobby.

NBSTAMPER wrote: "What do we mean by "specializing?" I suspect it means different things to different people. I see it as confining collecting interests to one or more areas that I call "regions."

For me, it also means getting into perf and shade varieties in early Portuguese colonies. In addition, there are occasional plate flaws, printing flaws, and outright errors to consider. I'm now getting more into classic Mexico, with all the District overprints. I think I have plenty of classic Portuguese colonial material to make up a solid exhibit. But exhibiting is not something I care to spend precious time on.

I definitely agree with TheArtfulHinger here.

After several years of going back and forth about specializing or at least focusing in a particular area, I always seem to come back to just collecting worldwide with my Big Blue.

First of all, I have come to the realization that as a WW collector, there is no rule saying that you have to collect EVERY stamp from EVERY country in the world. What's wrong with having a "representative world-wide collection"? If you specialize in a particular country, yes, I would expect you to obtain most every stamp from that country, within your stated timeframe and your budget, of course. But when you are collecting 300-400 different countries?! You quickly realize how daunting (and expensive!) a task this would be if you have ever printed out all the Steiner pages (6500 just for the classic period). Not impossible, of course, just a big undertaking.

Speaking of expense…given the falling stamp market, declining collector population, and all the other doom and gloom regarding the future of stamp collecting, I have no illusions that I'm going to be able to sell my collection and finance my retirement in the south of France. Nor do I think my collection with be passed down to my children or grandchildren and remain in my family for generations to come like the 'Royal Collection.' So why am I going to invest $100s or $1000s into a specialized collection when I can spend a fraction of that 'filling spaces' in my Big Blue and having just as much fun and learning just as much history and geography (of course I reserve the right to change my mind in the future!)

So, for me, my New Year's resolution is to renew my commitment to filling the spaces in my BigBlue and just take joy in the "hunt" for the stamps to fill my album. And if there's specific areas or countries that I want to delve into deeper, adding blank quadrille pages is cheap and easy.

Happy New Year to everyone!
Chris

Yes, specializing a specific country means to me to get beyond what is to be found in general catalogues, even their country's handbooks!

http://www.galeoptix.nl/fila/druktech.htm

I like the way Chris thinks !

I would like to continue collecting the world as I have for almost as long as I can remember, but limitations of time and money force me to focus on fewer and fewer areas if I want to collect in depth, as opposed to breadth.

Very interesting inputs - thank you all !
I started off WW - and it seems I will never be able to specialize in anything. I'm presently in the process of reorganizing from stockbooks into Vario sheets, and I have seriously been considering to cut down some areas or limit myself until 1940/53 as jkj. However I've arrived at the conclusion that I'm unable to let go - simply lot of fun in collecting everything as well as one will never run into financial trouble trying to fill those difficult empty spaces.

Specialize? In my new setup I am intending to use more specialized catalogs and allow space for varieties. I always look for oddities like inverted Wmks, shades, errors etc - but I don't actively cherrypick such stamps when I am shopping, so I guess I'm kind of semi-specializing

Except for France. Cherry-picked several varieties on the classics lately, but only because the sellers didn't realize what they were selling And I am building a specialized collection of GC / PC postmarks. That seems to be an endless collecting area on it's own.

Never a boring day for a WW collector

I do like collecting Germany in depth and I'm still actively trying to complete the German area (at least what I can afford), as listed by Scott, which is a simplified listing of the German area. I have no intention of ever laying that aside. But I like to work on my collection every single day, if possible. When work is done, I don't (ever) turn on the TV or head to the golf course, my thought immediately goes to "what can I do with stamps today?". Most months I manage to cross off a dozen or two German stamps from my want list, but that's still hardly enough to satisfy me. With a world of stamps out there, there's no reason to ever be bored.

Thanks!

I also think it can be beneficial/fun to "dip a toe in each water" and I suspect many of us do this. Meaning that you can have the best of both worlds if you collect WW (as a generalist, say using BigBlue) but also specialize in a specific area or one or two countries that you can delve into deeper.