Please Help With Michel Germany Catalog

I already have "Michel Deutschland-Katalog 2009/2010" - one volume 1085 pages in German.
But apparently this one is sort of "light" version and the real one called "Germany Specialized" (comes in 2 volumes).
There are also version of Germany Specialized catalog in English.
So my questions for experts:
- is English version of Specialized catalog provides exactly the same information as German (just translated)?
- Anybody used USB-Stick version? Michel offers many sub-sets of full catalog on memory sticks. For example, I am mostly interested in SBZ (30 euro) and DDR (40 Euro) for 2015 versions. If somebody has USB version - is PDF file protected or allows editing and commenting? This is very useful feature - replacing pencil marks on actual catalog pages.

The translated English version does not include Bund/DDR and appears to concentrate mainly on pre-1945 issues.

Volume 1: North German Confederation, German Reich, German Post Offices Abroad, German Colonies, Free City of Danzig, Memel Territory.

Volume 2: Bohemia and Moravia, Generalgouvernement, Sudetenland, German Occupation Issues 1939/45, Field Post Stamps, War and Propaganda Forgeries, Germany under Allied Occupation (German Local Issues from 1945, Joint Issues, Berlin and Brandenburg, Soviet Zone, French Zone, American and British Zone).

The English version of Germany Specialized 2009 Part 2 covers stamps from 1939 onwards and seems to be a literal translation for the most part (..."100 years of the MICHEL Catalog - multiply awarded"...)
Valuations are in Euro.

http://wopa-stamps.com/index.php?co...c=MICHEL&p=2

The price seems to be reasonable (around £16 UK)

"stamps from 1939 onwards" to 1949 I should have added.

Yes, it stops at around 1949. Hopefully someday Michel will offer an English version of Bund/DDR stamps.

This has been discussed rather extensively on another board. The difference between the catalogs is significant. Here's two tables that illustrate that:

"- is English version of Specialized catalog provides exactly the same information as German (just translated)?"

While the information on the stamps would be the same, the English edition is a different publication as MICHEL would appear to be doing it on a section basis so that English Part one is not comparable in size or areas covered as Band 1... and likewise Part 2.


English Part One 2007


English Part Two 2009

igopp,

PM me your e-mail address.

igopp,

First of all, welcome to the forum!
I concentrate on SBZ and DDR. IMHO biting the bullet and getting volume 2 of Deutschland-Spezial gives you the most detailed information in these areas.

I, too, am interested in the USB sticks. They don't appear to be available in the US. Since they have a digital watermark, you probably can't do any editing or commenting.

Dsn

Dan,

Shoot me you e-mail address as well.

The Part 2 English Michel catalogue is an amazing book, but with a very narrow time window. As other posters have said, it covers 1939-1949. The book is of a smaller, almost pocket size.

Thanks everybody for help.
After reading all your replies and looking for additional information on Internet, I plan to buy Volume 2 in English. My DDR collection is in much better shape, so I can try to survive with catalogs I already have, but SBZ is a real jungle!
BTW - I have a soft copy of old Lipsia catalog (this is East Germany publication, 1961). I found descriptions of some interesting varieties there.

To PostmasterGS: Unfortunately I cannot send you my e-mail address. I guess I am too new here and private messages are blocked for me, sorry...

igopp,

Before you buy anythung, shoot me your e-mail address at postmaster --/at/-- germanstamps.net.

On another note, Michel did just recently issue new English editions. 2015/16 are the current editions now instead of 2007.

I remember considering this question myself several years ago. At that time, I think the consensus was that, generally speaking, the English versions were more simplified than the German-language ones. And I was also interested in other areas where their catalogs were only published in German.

So I took the plunge and started using the German ones, and have been doing so ever since.

To be fair, I have to say that I had taken one quarter (but just one quarter) of German in college, but that was nearly 40 (I can't believe it) years ago. I didn't really remember anything from it, except that nouns often run together to make a new compound noun, that plurals were more complicated than just adding an "s", and that whether or not something was capitalized could make a difference in meaning. (Nouns versus other parts of speech.)

It was a bit slow-going at first, but with practice, it's very do-able. Two tools that help are:

(1) There is a special English-language booklet published by Michel that's an overview and short glossary of the most commonly-used terms. There are at least 2 editions floating around out there, so be sure to get the newest one off the Michel site. (Free.)

(2) Google Translate. I started out my journey long before that tool came about, and it would have simplified my education enormously had it been around in the beginning. It's now my go-to tool when I can't figure out something in the catalog. (And it has the side benefit of, after looking up the same word so many times, I'm finally beginning to remember them!)

By using the German-language editions, I feel confident that I'm getting the latest and greatest information from Michel. Were I using the English-language editions (which are slower to be published anyway), I would always wonder if the German version had provided some updated (or corrected) information. So I feel more comfortable going with the German editions.

That's my saga with the Michel catalogs, and wanted to provide encouragement to others who may be considering it.

I've never used an English version of Michel, but I do know the English version doesn't contain Altdeutschland (German States) issues, as well as some other areas. I'm not sure how the listings themselves compare, if all the specialized information is the same, etc.