Just A Recap Of My Collecting Progress......

Hi!
I posted earlier this morning and saw that it was my post #999 - which makes this post #1,000! I thought about it and decided to make it a short summary of my collection progress....

- got back into the hobby 5 years ago, going for USA stamps from 1840 thru 2000 using the Scott National albums.

- I got so enthused I decided to go worldwide and began collecting from 1840 thru 1960 - using Scott International albums.

- Eventually I decided to go from the older Scott album pages to the newer ones, and did a massive move which took over a year.

- Stamps are sourced from mostly auctions, starting with album collections, and gradually moving to buying stock books and country collections. Of course I pick through them and then resell as I can. Recently, I've gotten involved with the APS Circuits, and really look forward to their arrival.

- Today I've got eight International binders filled with the WW collection and three National albums with the USA collection.

- If I had to do it over, I would have stopped the USA collection at 1960 (rather than 2000) and stopped the WW at 1950 (versus 1960). I also would have bought the newer Scott International albums first, rather than buy older versions and then going through that conversion.

- The hobby has brought me great joy and relaxation and filled a void in my life. And frankly, this forum has helped make that all possible.

Thanks all !!

Welcome to the 1K Club

Nice yarn !

We want another report after your 2000th.

mobilman44, I remember when you first started posting because I'm interested in all things related to the Scott International album. I'm glad you are finding the journey rewarding.

mobilman44: congratulations on your progress. As one who has never gone away from collecting; even during college and then working years; I do admire those come back to the hobby and can make it happen.

I'm newly returned back to stamps myself. I'm just looking, haven't activated my deactivated Paypal yet, someday soon.

Congratulations. 1000 posts. That's a lot. This is only my 56th post in 2 years. At my current rate I will hit 1000 posts on August 8th, 2048. lol

Mobilman- enjoyed the recap of your journey. I agree that working with fresh albums at the beginning saves a lot of time later.

Although I have been focused on WW 1840-1940, recently I've been slowly expanding the collection through the 1960s, so interested in your comment on stopping at 1950. I might return also to 1950 if it becomes too much.

Hi, and thanks for the wonderful comments!

To clarify...
- I wish I had stopped the USA collection at 1960 (vs. 2000) as a lot of money was spent filling in the 1961-2000 spaces with mint stamps - money "better spent" on say the Zeppelin airmail 3 stamp series, etc.

- I wish I had stopped the WW at 1950 (vs. 1960) as (IMO) so many of the stamps in the '50s appear to have been put out "for the collector market", making it seem like one is collecting stickers as opposed to meaningful country representative postage.

That said, don't misunderstand, I still enjoy the heck out of those "extra years" I collect.

ENJOY!

mobilman44,

Glad you are enjoying the journey! I think I had a similar experience. I returned to WW collecting around 2008 or 2009 after stumbing on Bob's 'Filling Spaces' blog. I was lucky enough to have purchased one of the 2-volume Scott International I (1840-1940) back in the mid-1980s, which had nice thick pages and nice clear illustrations. I recently expanded this to 3 large Scott International binders and may some day buy the next volume to go up through 1949.

Chris

Lot of progress. The journey is important!

Mobilman, your journey sounds somewhat similar to mine. I also started back up about 5 years ago, tried to limit myself for awhile and then expanded again to collect the entire world to date*. Looking back 5 years I had my childhood Harris Traveler Album and a CWS World Phoenix album from an aborted attempt to start up a few years prior. I had a desire to collect in earnest but I wasn't sure how to proceed. 5 years later my collection now encompasses close to 100 total volumes including Steiner pages and various stockbooks and parts housed on Vario pages. Stamp collecting is now a central part of my life and I have no intention of ever changing that. If I had just one do-over it would have been to house most of my WW collection on Vario pages from the start. There are certain areas I collect more in depth that I house on Steiner pages and I probably wouldn't want to change that, but I think I'd be closer to where I want to be in terms of organization had I used Vario pages from the get-go.

*By "collecting the world to date" I merely mean I don't exclude anything. I'll keep at least one copy of any stamp I come across, but I'm not aiming for completion. There are huge swaths of the catalog I never intend on acquiring intentionally, but if they happen to turn up in some lot I buy, I'll save them nonetheless. However, I'll also buy any stamp from any country of any era if I happen to like it.

Kudos on your endeavors. Sounds similar to mine, except that I use Steiner for my WW and have been using ISWSC swap circuits and kiloware to enlarge my collection. Any tips on going the auction route for acquisitions and selling off your remainders?