Are You A Completist?

I don't want to complete my collection because hunting for what your missing is 1/2 the fun of collecting.

floortrader,

re.

" rather stay on the subject that GRAPHIS started here,and that was trying to be a completise with stamps from all the political sub-divisons of a worldwide collection, "

then start a new thread, shouldn't be too much of a problem,

I love to see stamps of Japan Occupation issues,

Pagoda

Floortrader,

if you don't want to show them, say so, you shouldn't have bragged that you had them,

Pagoda

Floortrader has shown some great stuff here - he has the right to brag about them.

In 1959 I became a collector. Several things happened that year that sparked my interest in coins and stamps.
My father gave me a little jar of coins he had saved from WWII, mercury's, steelies and a few Japanese. Some other kids in school were looking for different dated cents. All that made me want to learn more about coins. The Lincoln memorial reverse cent came out that year to add to the fun. Also in 1959 a letter came to our house with a SC# 1128 Arctic Exploration blue-green 4 cent stamp. It was beautiful and I asked to have it. My mother torn the corner off the envelop with the stamp and gave it to me. I still have it. That year I got bitten bad by two big collecting bugs.

My old therapist once told me that before you can make anyone else happy, you must somehow make yourself happy. Collecting things can be a bitter-sweet experience. The fun of the hunt and pleasure of deals well made combined with limited funds, occasionally overpaying and missing golden opportunities all adds up to a rewarding life experience.

Completeness is a very relative term, however, it is a fundamental driver of all collectors. To cope with the realization that I will never have all that I desire, I have found that great satisfaction can be achieved by breaking huge things into small components that are reasonably obtainable. Completing a set or subset of coins or stamps is why we collect. The beauty is that it goes on and on, over and over for as long as we choose. There is always something new and interesting to learn with collecting. I've recently jumped into the ocean of US precancels and it feels like learning to swim all over again. There is so much new stuff to learn.

I'm sorry for ambling on so much, but I've become sort of philosophical in my old age....

Hey Everyone,

I'm new to the forum and new to the hobby, but I'm absolutely loving it already! I have stuff to sort for what feels like the next year!

I would say that I'm a completist, that falls far more on the side of ridiculous dreamer, haha. So, I've decided to collect a bit of everything and if I manage to complete a section awesome, but if I don't it's the thrill of the hunt after all isn't it?

I find that keeping my collection broad, keeps the hobby exciting and makes every batch of kiloware or auction lot that much more exciting and full of new additions for the collection every time.

So, we'll see where this madness goes. And you'll be sure to hear if I manage to complete a section of my collection of everything!

Keep stamping,
ISimplyCollectEverything

I must admit that I struggle with the "completist" mentality. Sometimes I thin, "I should just sell that collection, as I will never come close to completing it (Australia was the latest collection where I thought this)." Then I think, "Well, I really enjoy collecting Aussie stamps, and so what if I won't have a complete collection of Roos or Postage Dues, it's my collection and I can enjoy it as is."

And so it goes.

Well, I know I'll never complete my Scotts Big Blue part 1 or even part 2, nor my Scotts USA National parts 1-3. BUT, I really get a kick out of completing a series of stamps, which I've done a number of times.

Like I've said before, "getting there" is a major part of the enjoyment.

G

No. I only collect stamps that appeal to me and which fulfill certain criteria:

They must be well designed and have artistic merit.
There must be a significant reason for the issue.
They must be well printed.

Terry

I'm only a completist as far as I can afford to be, financially.

I used to try to fill spaces but once I caught myself bidding on a set that I thought was ugly. I started thinking about why I would want to spend money on and dedicate space to things I don't even like!

I am a completist at heart, but realize that is an impossible goal. I am working just to come as close as possible to fill a Scott 1901-1920 brown international. I'm at about 26%, but have only one country complete (a single stamp issued). Completetion odds, 0% as the album has spaces for the US Pan American inverts and other real rarities.

I would love to be a completist, but in reality I am more like a hoarder.

As much as I would like to be a completist, I am a realist. I realize that as much as I want to complete a country, it is unlikely to happen for various reasons (money, time, availablility, etc).

I keep promising to myself that by the time I die I'll have at least 1 used stamps from at least 80% of the stamp issuing territories of the world (as determined by the Scott Catalogue 6 volume set), but I've yet to set out to complete that promise to myself.