This Chatboard Is Getting Boring , Needs New Focus .

Seems we all been on here for a few years and this place is starting to loose a few of the more experience posters and some of the group that has interesting postings and has material to show .This board is seeing more repeat questions and new people asking the same questions that where on here last month. I am sure others are getting tired of it and want more information about what you found that is interesting and what you purchased lately .Reader here want to see what others are doing with their collection ,not how much snow is on your driveway .What makes for a interesting posting is to see something you found or discovered that's not listed in a regular catalog .I am not saying we need to show expensive material or high price material, on another board one poster was showing modern Singapore stamps that are found in Kiloware mixtures but he found various printing flaws and layed them out on a scanner for all to see and it was interesting to match them up to what I had in a few duplicate packs I had in a box of cheap duplicates .So my thinking is that more people will stick around and post if more stuff is shown and discussed here that is about your collection .

Can you guess were this German expertizer never looked before he issued his opinion on this Rare Essay-----[URL=http://s463.photobucket.com/user/stamp12345/media/Zepplinshowcard1971.jpg.html"][/URL] [URL=http://s463.photobucket.com/user/stamp12345/media/rareessaywithcert_NEW.jpg.html"][URL=http://s463.photobucket.com/user/stamp12345/media/rareessaywithcert_NEW.jpg.html"][/URL]

Oops!

I am putting together my thoughts and I'll respond later but it is a good thread which I think we all need to discuss and give the moderators a different direction to go in if that is the majority of the group.

floortrader: I feel your frustration but let me say this; I am a relative 'newbie' to the SCF and have enjoyed the visits, posting and mostly, enjoy the camaraderie (on the whole) of the group. I have probably been 'guilty' of asking an FAQ or two (because I fail to do a 'subject search'). Although I have been a collector nigh on 50+ years, I am continually amazed at the depth of information (example wt1) that participants have and their willingness to share with the less informed. I do want to know the possible value, (although the collection is not an investment vehicle), I do enjoy the back story (history) of certain issues, and I find that the collecting of the collection is the force that keeps me going. So if a 'newbie' falls into the FAQ trap repetitively and an honored member recognizes this, maybe a push into the thread (or search suggestion) would help and the 'newbie' could review past posted threads (and newly post in that thread if the question is not clearly answered)?). It took me some time to post pictures (yes we all like pictures) and it took me a little longer to figure out how to crop & enlarge for cleared views. 'Newbies' need a learning curve and must feel comfortable in this forum arena. I am getting comfortable, I am learning (I am an old dog), I am enjoying. (PS: Is the zeppelin post really for this thread or US Classic Heading????)

I'm unable to post pics/scans at present as most of my earthly belongings are on a boat somewhere in the pacific. Once I'm set up in a more stable residence and with my personal effects, then I can upload pics. I'm tired of living at in-laws' home; they're super nice but I need my own space.

As to the FAQ's issue, there is a sense of frustration when searching the forums. I started a search for info on the recent Medal Of Honor stamps yesterday and I got lots of hits with barely any relevance to my inquiry. I can see how this would limit a newbie's ability to find what they're after.

Key threads need to be locked in place, such as inquiries about hinge brands and tools of the trade. Maybe even threads dedicated to specific stamps should be locked in place (I think it's called stickied?) so the particular collectors of said stamp have an immediate go-to spot.

Not sure how to respond.....Have there been alot of previous post's about the U.S 834(a) blocks?
Sorry my, turned cover from the 1920's, thread didn't interest you.
Sigh....I always seem to arrive when people are talking about the good ole days....

Nothing is ever perfect, but what other stamp group can come anywhere close to this one. There will always be new posters unfamiliar with how the site works, and the lazy posters who could put a wee bit of effort in and googlesearch first. But where could I have got the staggering amount of detailed information about my Japanese silk seals that the Honourable Unechan provided, complete with exquisite drawings*. (Thank you once again Unechan).

Terry
Ps. *Anyone interested should look up the replies I received. Good practice for searching the site, too.

As a relative newb to this forum, I'm still having a great time on here... lots of great discussions, learning new things and haggling about stamp values. The only thing that surprises me on here in terms of a "lack" is how little you guys sell to each other, the buy and sell area seems extremely quiet and everyone just uses ebay. Seems to me you guys would save a ton on fees by just selling directly on here. Either way, have met some really great people and continue to meet new folks, all while learning new stuff and adding to my growing hoard :D

Deleted

*fistbump*

From what I can tell based on scrounging around the net, it appears almost every other country out there is more passionate about the hobby than america, and I suspect (again based on what I've seen) that it has a lot to do with the ridiculous self adhesives we use here in the states.

Whats even more amusing is how the USPS seems to ignore the concerns at the storefront level, advertising all of their special series for collectors but offered in the self-adhesive formula.

In my own little world here this doesn't bother me too much as the modern american stamps I look for come on sheets which make for nice whole page displays. But I certainly wouldn't fork over a load of cash for a sheet of the apple, liberty bell or other mundane stamps we're currently producing. I'd be more willing to buy them individually, but only if they were on water-activated gum paper.

Perhaps in the future the USPS will issue special collector-aimed series on the old gum adhesives. That would be a nice tip of the hat to us. And I believe with that injection of acknowledgement into the hobby you'd see a ton of renewed interest and a lot of new faces, leading to an even more active message board.

I'd be surprised if they went back to the gum stamps. I think we need to keep in mind that stamps are made to be put on letters, bills etc and they're mailed. The self adhesive is a big plus for them as well as the booklets. Gone are the days of having to go to the post office to get stamps; you can go the mall or your local Walmart and buy a book of flag stamps. If the USPS felt that there was money to be made I think they would do it.
Tom

Floortrader - you often have interesting comments, posts and points, though I have to admit I don't have a clue as to your point on the Zep posting above.

Which actually may go the point.

I really have no interest in proofs, essays, etc. - though I know some collectors do. So I would have no criticism at all of anyone posting a thread about them. Who knows, maybe I will learn something.

The point being that the hobby is so vast ... so deep .. so full of areas of studies and interests and information that none of us can expect all of the postings to be relevant to our own interests.

That said, repeating topics is not a bad thing. I learned long ago (from being in the newspaper business) that there was nothing wrong with repeating a story every year or two because we would always have new readers who would find the topic interesting; or perhaps older readers who might not have been interested when the story ran the first time.

One of the problems here - as first stated by a couple of earlier posters - that it is sometimes difficult to search for answers here in the forum. Not because the info isn't there, but because, like the entire Internet, there is SO MUCH info ...

I, too, have never been able to post any photos here because I did not have a proper scanner. I now have a new one and hope to make use of it. Though, my initial attempts have not worked. First, I have no decent graphics program on my comp. to properly crop the image; secondly, I apparently did not know how to download a pic onto this site - will try again.

So, as others have said - please be patient. This is a very well-done forum with a lot of good people here.

Sdtom, don't rain on my idealistic wishes and whims with logic and reality! Haha, yeah I know. I don't expect they would, but it would be very nice if they did.

While I'm not exactly a collector of modern stamps, I feel bad for those that are trying to maintain such a collection. Seems they're getting the short end of the stick comparative to other countries.

Apparently france uses them too now, though. I had a series of red stamps featuring a woman's face from the 90s on paper. They came off snappy enough in water. Then I ran across some identical stamps recently but with a different perforation pattern, and these appear to be self-adhesive and do almost everything BUT come off the paper when in water. I know they're fairly common, but considering the save/loss ratio of them (I've had one come off clean with 4 others torn) it's sad to see them go like that. So I've just tossed them into an envelope to be dealt with later.

I think Floortrader has asked a great question and we should all give it some serious thought. I'm inclined to agree with him; the Board could be a lot more interesting. I'm one of the lazy collectors which doesn't delve too deeply into the detail of the material I'm accumulating. But I think you can go too far with detail too. If you get into a big discussion about Canadian "Small Queens" for example, you'd quickly leave me behind and, although I'd be interested, I'd have little to contribute. If someone wants to talk about New Zealand "Chalons", now, I would find that really interesting. Although I don't want to give too much credit to the "downunder" Board, they have a really good thread on this topic and it is amazing to see some of the material others have accumulated.

We have a really great section on topical collections and Nethryk, as just one example, posts some amazing stuff the quality of which I don't think you will find anywhere else. We should all spend more time trying to keep his discussions moving.

I'd also like to see a lot more postings with visuals from other members' collections. I confess I am guilty of not displaying more material but will try to fix this. One of the benefits of a Board like this is that it is a virtual stamp club where people can actually see what others are doing and what they are missing. If we knew more about what members' were seeking, we could all probably contribute something to help them along.