Deep Waters - Ww Collecting (Long Post)

Oh boy did I find some deep waters!

I've been actively collecting U.S. stamps for the last 6-8 years, and have enjoyed myself enormously. I've gotten my collection to the point where I occasionally buy packets or kiloware, and make small monthly purchases of specific stamps I need to fill out sets from places like Mystic Stamp co.

Last year I got the itch to try my hand at collecting world wide stamps, bringing back fond memories of my childhood hours spent with a beginner's international collection given me by a neighbor. It's taken me a while to build up my savings to open that door, but this month I was able to purchase the H.E. Harris Statesman Album and a pristine 2010 set of the Scott Catalog, which I picked up for only $60! I also picked up kiloware in the form of 6,200 international stamps on ebay.

After sorting out the stamps by country, I started looking to put them into the Harris album….BUMP!

Wait a minute! How come the Scott Catalog identifies 92 stamps for Abu Dhabi and the Harris album contains entries for eight specific stamps plus five blank spaces. Eeeeek! I didn't expect the Harris to be as comprehensive as my Mystic Stamps American Heirloom albums, but 8 out of 92? OY VEY!!

Okay, I'm over that…..i'll probably end up getting those printable album pages I've seen from StampBooks.com, as they appear offer fairly complete coverage, though probably not as good as those ultra-expensive Scott pages. I think as long as I use a decent printer and some fairly heavy acid-free paper, I should be able to put together some decent country albums.

Getting on with the job now, I'm going through my Australian envelope and putting the stamps into small envelopes marked with their Scott numbers, Scott diagram numbers, and perf where necessary…..BUMP!

I really did expect the Scott Catalog to be as comprehensive as my Scott U.S. Specialized Catalog. Silly me!

Okay, there was a large learning curve when I first got my Scott Specialized. And an equally large learning curve for the Scott International Set, but there's still an awful lot of stamps missing.

So the questions I have now are:

1.Does anyone publish catalogs nations other than the U.S. that are as complete and comprehensive as the Scott Specialized U.S. book?

2. If available, do those catalogs have a numbering system similar to the Scott system?

3. Does anyone have any experience with those StampBooks.com printable pages or any other printables?

4. Can anyone explain to me why decent stamp albums are so very freaking expensive? With stamp collecting becoming a (sadly) slowly disappearing hobby, I would have thought prices for things like catalogs and albums would decrease, at least in an attempt to make stamp collecting more attractive to new collectors.

Now that I've learned how to doggy-paddle in this strange new ocean I've dived into, I'm having an absolute ball! In addition to the fun of stamp collecting, I've always been a history buff, and all the strange faces and events on these stamps are just helping me expand on my knowledge of the world in a very personal way. I'm REALLY glad Google and Wikipedia don't charge…..otherwise I'd have to give up eating!

Iowaplayer

So the questions I have now are:

1.Does anyone publish catalogs nations other than the U.S. that are as complete and comprehensive as the Scott Specialized U.S. book?

Stanley Gibbons has a 6 Vol WW set for about $350: https://www.stanleygibbons.com/prd/...WRHwodxLADGA

Or you might try StampWorld's on-line catalog: http://www.stampworld.com/en_US/

2. If available, do those catalogs have a numbering system similar to the Scott system?

Scott's claims their numbers are proprietary, so the answer is no, not exactly. Everyone has a numbering system of course, it is just that whatever numbers they use for specific stamps cannot match Scotts numbering in any significant pattern.

4. Can anyone explain to me why decent stamp albums are so very freaking expensive?

Supply and Demand. Not enough volume means high prices. Plus worlds stamp issuing agencies have turned to collectors as major source of revenue. Consequently, where agencies use to issue a few stamps a year, they now issue dozens. My 1959 Scotts WW catalog was one volume on standard book size (6x9 inches) pages - maybe 1200+ pages total. The 2014 version is 6 volumes, on 8x11 inch paper with the volumes having about 1100 pages each.

That mean for a comprehensive WW stamp album to be up-to-date, each year a lot of labor ($$) must go into designing or redesigning albums and supplements. All this translates into higher prices for stamp albums publishers.

As you will see in printing your own pages, layout and design just for a specific stamp series is a lot of work.

iowaplayer: some great questions. One immediate solution to your paging problem is to use blank Harris pages. Those will be sized to your album whereas computer generated pages may not be sized right. You'll need to experiment if you go the computer page direction.

My collection is in the Scott's Blue International album, Parts ! through V, which encompasses 1840 to most of 1965. I've used a lot of blank pages, particularly because Part I (1840-1940, now divided into two units (I bought my pages in the early 1980s)), is not comprehensive.

Regarding catalogs from other countries, I use the Afinsa catalog a lot, published in Lisbon, with listings for Portuguese colonies through 1975. It is very comprehensive, and Scott has been in a slow catch-up mode, especially for the 1914-1930 Ceres colonial issues (design is the goddess Ceres). I have not tried to use overseas catalogs for US stamps since Scott is sufficient for my other needs. Afinsa's numbering system for each colony starts out almost like Scott, but quickly deviates because Afinsa lists many more varieties.

Regarding expense, oldguy is right about supply and demand. I recently ordered two empty, regular size, International binders and end pages, for a re-organizing project I'm doing. Even with a discount for being a Linn's (weekly stamp newspaper) subscriber, total cost, including shipping was almost $110. As an aside, Amos Press owns the Scott line, and their prices are about the best for new material.

It's a great hobby and I hope you continue to enjoy it. Steve

You have got two great answers, and maybe I can add a little to that. As far as catalogs go, any worldwide catalog has to take a backseat to local, much more specialized catalogs. But there are two catalogs that seem ( in my opinion at least ) much more comprehensive then Scott. If you speak or read German, the Michel is great. And if you read French, the Yvert & Tellier is also fantastic.
As far as albums, have you considered Steiner pages? They are close to ideal, and you can drop what you want or add to it!

Peter

iowaplayer- congrats on the interest in WW- but you are right, it is Deep Waters indeed.

For "classic era" WW, the Scott Classic Specialized 1840-1940 cata logue(http://www.amosadvantage.com/scotto...category=CLG )works well- it is one volume for the entire world, and is deeper in scope than the generalized Scott catalogue.

For comprehensive WW country pages that has a space for all the major numbers in Scott, consider the printable Steiner pages ( http://www.stampalbums.com/ ).

The "Big Blue" albums are good, but don't have 100% coverage, especially for the 1840-1940 era.

https://www.amosadvantage.com/scott...o=&Tab=stamp

Also, there is plenty of information regarding WW collecting right here on SCF- do a search.

Stamp albums also have an "economy of scale" problem. Publishers have to spend a lot of money upfront to design the album pages and it's not like they sell them by the millions. If they're selling 10 million albums, the developement costs per unit are minimal when spread out over large print runs. If they're selling a few thousand (or fewer) albums, development costs become a pretty significant part of the unit price. Small print runs also equals higher per-unit printing costs. Scott has largely gone to print-on-demand, which helps them avoid carrying large inventories that may or may not sell, but it doesn't help with the actual costs of printing.

Another option, even if temporarily, is to go with a stockbook. 64-page stockbooks can be purchased on ebay for around $40 or so. You can fit thousands of stamps in one of them and you never have to worry about whether there's a space for your stamp or not, plus you don't have to worry about the cost of mounts or hinges. A stockbook might be a good short-term fix, and you can always mount them in a more permanent home later.

Regardless, good stamp albums are worth it, and whatever you buy, you'll probably have for a good long time. Just remember the old sales adage: the bitterness of low quality remains long after the sweetness of low price has faded. In a year or two, you probably won't remember or care how much you paid for it, but if it's something you're unhappy with, you'll be cursing at it every time you open it up.

thank you all for the great answers. they really helped and I've found there are awesome catalog resources on the internet. amazing.

to add a thought to the subject of catalog cost, I suspect that quite a bit of money could be saved by the catalog publishers by printing full catalogs every ten years or so, and publishing yearbooks annually. the thing that would make this idea work is that these catalogs would not contain prices, which would be contained in a separate publication updated annually, with a cross reference to the numbering scheme in the catalog.

that way, layout costs would be cut to one tenth.

I use 2010 Scott specialized and general catalogs because my collection limit is the year 2000, an arbitrary limit imposed by my realization that stamp issuers became collector item retailers in the late twentieth century. the stamps already issued don't change, so I don't need a more recent catalog.

again, thanks for the awesome answers!

iowaplayer

Albums and pages are overpriced - declining, but relatively affluent market, and, as others have said, ridiculous numbers of new issues, all given album space. But, if you look at auctions (real ones rather than ebay), you can often pick up expensive albums - empty or with some stamps - and unused blank pages for a fraction of the retail price. I picked up half-a-dozen unused Lighthouse binders for less than £50, which wouldn't buy one new one.

I've never seen a Scott catalogue, but, from what I've tead here, my impression is that, for anything other than the US, Gibbons or Michel offer greater detail. Again, worth looking for old editions second-hand.

The main choice of world collectors in the US will inevitably be Big Blues or Steiner pages. The Big Blue has too many holes for my purposes, so I use Gibbons Ideal and Imperial albums for pre-1936 material. But constructing your won, hand-written albums is, whilst time-consuming, more fun and ensures that the album is geared to your interests and your stamps. And the involvement with the collection is far greater than you achieve by filling spaces in a publisher's pre-printed book.

I love collecting worldwide stamps - I'm glad you're doing it.

Geoff

iowaplayer, Greetings:

https://goscf.com/t/43407 ... Specialized Stamp Catalogues (should you need to go deep)

https://goscf.com/t/17127 ... The Albums Thread (goes WW too)

Cheers,

/s/ikeyPikey

@iowaplayer....




Go with Michel and forget the others. Seriously.

Though Michel does not provide a perfect system, it's still eons ahead of others in every metric.

If money is an obstacle, then buy a set of old (say 2001/2002) catalogs (it will likely set you back for 150-200$, but even that is a fraction of the 2,000$ that a set of brand new catalogs will cost).

If you want to get really 'deep waters', then get yourself a set of Scott, Michel, SG and Yvert, and start cross-checking the tidbits. You might be surprised how much the catalogs conflict.




Each catalog has their own numbering scheme which are very much alike, but still slightly different.

-k-

Another alternative is to skip the album pages altogether and use Lighthouse Vario stock pages. When I returned to collecting after a 10-year absence I did just that and I am so far very happy with the results. You can lay pages out as you want, and if you change your mind on how you want pages to look just get the tongs out and move the stamps around. Saves the cost of albums, mounts and hinges. And prices from dealers on Amazon and ebay are very competitive here in the USA for the pages. I can usually get a pack of 25 double-sided pages for under US$15.

Here are a couple pages from my Mauritania collection (I love French colonials) to give you an idea of how I have things set up.





As for catalogues, I use a Scott set from 2012 as my base, with a 2015 Scott Classic Specialized (recenly upgraded from a 2010 copy). I also love specialized catalogs from other nations, and have sets of the Maury (for France and Empire) and recently picked up an Afinsa set for Portugal and Empire). I also have specialized catalogs for Turkey/Ottomans (Isfila) and Argentina (Gulliermo Jalil). There is a great site in the Netherlands that sells philatelic catalogs fairly reasonably - collectura.com - and the owner ships parcels using Dutch stamps on the package.