Scott Classic Specialized Catalogue

Hello,

I have the US specialized catalogue, but wonder for some time now if the Scott Classic specialized would be interesting. I saw some thread here about it but still don't know really, so I ask.

- is the US part for the classic era more or less the same in the Classic specialized and in the US specialized?

- is the Canada part for the classic era also similar between the Classic specialized and the Unitrade catalogue?

I read that the Classic specialized is not really a specialized catalog, so I wonder why it has this name.

None of the above. It is not as specialized as either the U.S. Specialized or Unitrade, but for the world to 1940 (1952 for British Commonwealth) it is more specialized than the regular Scott volumes.

IMO it's the best 1-volume catalogue out there for the worldwide classic era collector.

I agree and it is a bound catalog not paper back and mine last several years.

My Unitrade 2019 is already ordered and am sure it will surpass the Scott
René

Agreed. The Classic serves an entirely different purpose so does not go into anywhere near the depth of single country catalogues whether Scott U.S. Specialized or Stanley Gibbons Britain, the French Ceres or Yvert & Tellier, Belgian "Officiel," German Michel, or the others. For a general worldwide collector, though, it does a great job of covering the whole world's stamps from 1840-1940.

No Charge Extra Editorial: I do wish they'd expand this worldwide catalogue beyond 1940 to include the war years (1940-45) and immediate aftermath which seem to me part of the "classic" era of stamps in design and subject matter. I (maybe others) collect worldwide beyond 1940 which has always seemed to me a somewhat "antique" date for a worldwide collection. I collect to 1975, but I wouldn't expect any worldwide catalogue to go that far! But including the war years and immediate postwar years, perhaps even through the decolonization era of the 1950s (the end of the classic era really), makes both historical and design sense to me. Most likely that might make it a two-volume catalogue. Scott could issue a separate Vol 2 Post-Classical era worldwide general catalogue covering 1940 through 1950s or maybe the 1960's (the end of European colonization is the rationale for going this far) or so.

A second volume is most likely the easiest way to do it, creates a new revenue source, and would not compete with their far more inclusive general worldwide catalogue. And you could still buy the first volume covering 1840-1940 if that's all you want. More choices is good. End of editorial.

Yvert offers a world catalogue covering 1840-1940, and a further, two-volume catalogue covering 1940-1960. Its catalogues are also available by digital subscription.

thank you all very much, very helpful. I could have thought into that direction before, but was not sure, as the catalogue title is "specialized", so I thought perhaps the US specialized part is just like copied into the Classic specialized. But of course the revenue part for example can't be there in such a way. Same for Canada. So I will think about buying a Classic specialized just as an additional nice stamp book showing many stamps of the world, but not very specialized.

I see that Yvert is offering its three volumes for €130 at the moment. Depends if your French-reading is better than your American, I suppose.

I've had the same thoughts as DrewM - collect world up to 1959 so a Scott specialized for those 20 years would be great. So the Yvert sounds promising - would be good practice for improving my high-school French!

but does the Yvert not have more or less the same page number for 1840-1940, so the same grade of "specialization"? Of course it's nice that they also have the later years, but still for the classic years Yvert seems not to be more specialized than the Scott Classic.

So has this thread evolved from the Scott Specialized CLASSIC Catalog to the regular Scott Specialized Catalog? It seems to and that could be rather difficult for newbies to understand as there is a profound difference in the two cats, both in detail, years covered, & the cost of the cats themselves. I myself have a full set of the 7 paperback regular 2014 Scott cats which incl's the regular US Specialized, plus I've a 2013 Scott CLASSIC Specialized cat which is hardback. The CLASSIC runs from 1840-1940 as they all do it appears, whereas my regular Specialized runs from 1847 thru Jun 2013. Just tossing out to all some clarification, not hijacking the thread or arguing.

To clarify, it runs to 1940 for most countries, but to 1952 for British Commonwealth, a logical break point.

I like the on cover pricing of many classics in the Classic Specialized.

I for my part always only wrote about the Scott Classic, but it also has the "specialized" in its title, so this is indeed a bit confusing from Scott, especially as it is not really a specialized catalogue for all countries in detail.

Thanks again for all your answers, if I buy one, I know what it will be about. As mentioned at the beginning I was not sure about the Scott Classic and its content. I thought that perhaps not all countries have that many stamps to be shown in a specialized catalogue so that it could be possible to show USA and Canada nearly as specialized as in the Scott US specialized and in the Unitrade. But of course it's not the case, especially if you think about Back of Book.

About the Yvert I don't think it will be a difference concerning specialization as the Yvert Classic has the same page number as the Scott Classic (until 1940).