Narrowing Your Focus

After about a 10 year hiatus, I returned to stamp collecting after retiring about a year ago. My collection was never very extensive and I vowed to build an impressive collection of the areas that I was interested in. These areas included in no particular order:

1) US including Canal Zone and Hawaii until 2000
2) Canada and provinces until 2000
3) Australia and states until 2000
4) Rhodesia 1890-1980
5) Portuguese African colonies until independence
6) South Africa and predecessor states until 1994
7) German Third Reich, inflation issues, and colonies
8) Scandinavia until 2000
9) South West Africa/Namibia until 2000
10) FrenchPolynesia until 2000
11) British Virgin Islands until present
12) British Solomon Islands until 1978
13) Stamps on Stamps topicals
14) Coral Reef topicals
15) Captain James Cook topicals
16) Military Uniforms topicals

Over the last several weeks, I have started to believe that I have bitten off more than I can chew. I have found that trying to specialize in so many areas is detrimental to establishing a good collection in any one area. Although I am still extremely interested in all of these areas, I have decided to cut the list down to only a few countries so that I can devote the time and resources needed to build a strong collection. Even so, if something really good comes along in one of the areas in my first list, I'll probably try to get it if it's a good deal. That being said, here's the new, pared down list of my primary collecting areas:

1) US including Canal Zone and Hawaii until 2000
2) Rhodesia 1890-1980
3) British Virgin Islands until present
4) British Solomon Islands until 1978
5) French Polynesia until 2000
6) Iceland until 2000

This list may still be too long...I guess that time will tell. Have any of you reached an epiphany and decided that your collecting goals might be more than you could handle?

I know how you feel, I too have return to collecting and I started with a few different areas which I thought would be easy to add to. Within the past couple of months I started getting the US album and pages from White Ace (a little too late as they went out of business). Just my luck to really like the product that is not being made anymore.

I too like the Hawaii issues (the pre territory) and I will never be able to finish (I don't have access to the US Mint). but the album is coming together and I want to at least reference everything that produced in the 19th Century. I need to change my focus and return to this project.

Some of the other topicals areas that I enjoy are
- Both foreign and US stamps
Captain James Cook
Scouts
Norman Rockwell (some of these may end up in the album for the Scouts)
Attack on Pearl Harbor
- US Stamps only
American Bicentennial
1938 Presidential Series
Americana Series

But I am thinking that I need to consider selling the US stuff and focus on my topicals only.

Of course the fun part of collecting so many different is you can change your focus from time to time to keep it fresh.

One thing is you don't have to tackle everything on the list at the same time. You can also concentrate on certain issues for each of the countries chosen while keeping up on the overall country more casually. You can take US beyond just major and minor Scott numbers and collect shades, plate varieties, errors, etc. And will you want to collect British commonwealth by Scott, Gibbons or something even more specialized? And then, just stamps or postal history, too?

Many times !!

I often remember fondly the different areas that I have collected, but seldom regret having let them go. It's these experiences that help you narrow down your choices. You will find that you keep coming back to a particular area for further investigation. I have found much more satisfaction in specializing in an area that just collecting.

If I were at your shoes, I would tackle the dilemma by focusing on single question: how serious are you about completion? And how deeply you want to specialize? And what are you seeking from collecting?

If completion/specialization matters to you a lot, then you need to narrow down HUGELY. Just start out with single series or country, and start digging in. It will be more than enough to keep you busy for life. Do acknowledge that completion is (and will be) nothing more than illusion - it has no ends, and there is always more.

But if you're one of those for whom journey matters more than destination (like me), then why bother yourself with 'artificial' limitations. Collect wide & large, collect simple and collect specialized. This way you'll become jack of all trades as years go by. Above all you get a chance to enjoy whatever the stamp gods may throw under your nose (and it will happen far more often than with very specialized approach).

No matter which way you'll go, you'll still find it rewarding.

-k-

i collect only danish/danish west indies bicoloured and even that is way too much...

The question is if the need to focus is based upon economics? I have a general collection but I will not likely spend the big money to get the earlier material. There is plenty in the post 1900 era to collect.

The OP mentioned a "strong" collection so that usually involves specialization and therefore money.

Similar revived interest retirement story that started a few years ago. My only focus is with my camera. Now having a ball collecting and selling anything stamps. Some of my kids and grand children are now showing interest also, so that just adds to the fun. Go crazy or focus. To each his own.

'NARROW YOUR FOCUS" I do that all the time , every year . One year China and the next Greece and so on and so on . After 60 years got all kinds of collections .

I had your "problem" last year upon inheriting the large family collection. Based on what I had received, I decided then to focus on Canada to 1999, Germany up to postwar and Berlin, and worldwide classic to 1960. I thought that was narrowing it down, but as I quickly found out, that was still far too broad!

So I've narrowed the original "narrowing" to Canada, Germany pre-war/Berlin, and for classic, French African colonies and Yugoslavia area - where the inherited material was pretty strong. That has helped a lot, although it's still pretty broad. Now I'm trying to complete (for non-expensive stamps) Canada and a French African colony at a time. I like that feeling of completion, feels better than trying to collect it "all" at the same time.

One advantage of having a few collecting areas on the go at once - beyond variety - is cost - now at the point where remaining Canada/Newfoundland gaps are relatively expensive to fill, but still lots of cheap French African colony to obtain, so I mix it up, depending on budget/interests that month.

But of course whatever works for you is best. I'd never say no to a stamp, even if it falls outside my areas of current interest. Who knows, it could be my next interest...

I went narrow but stayed broad enough to avoid material drought. I can usually find something affordable to add to my collection at any given time, and this collecting strategy has worked well for me over the last 20 years.

Try this.
Concentrate on one or two of your interests for a pre-defined period --a month? a year? a decade? whatever you choose? At the end of that period put it/them aside and then go into your next choices for your next period...and so on.

I've mentioned I only collect U.S. before, but do it "in-depth". This means I collect virtually everything U.S.

I'll work on mint for a while and if I tire of that, it's onto precancels.

Perhaps I'll spend some time working with revenues or postal history.

There's always airmails, postage dues, and other back-of-the-book to look forward to at some point.

Did I mention First Day Covers? How about plate blocks?

Maybe I'll work on some card or india proofs for a while.

The bottom line is that I'm never bored with my collection nor am I likely to ever have a material shortage.

Happy collecting!

Some very good suggestions from other collectors (the benefit of being able to communicate with other collectors). I especially like the suggestion on working on one or two areas for a pre-defined timeframe. So I will plan on finishing the research and album for Hawaii (pre-terrioity) and then complete two of my other topical this year.

I enjoy the researching of topicals so I will do that when I can't find my missing stamps.

Thank you everyone,

I just bought a brown Scott International album (Part I). Although I've been primarily collecting older US and British Colonial issues for quite awhile, I plan on putting those on the shelf for a few months while I work on the A - Z countries. I'm kind of excited about it and think changing ones focus once in a while keeps things interesting.

I collect a variety of areas and having too many does not bother me. When doing a specific area you often need a break and change to something else. You can come back to it weeks or months later. The only reason I see to dispose of anything is to free up funds but have not had that need but then I am not specializing to any degree that involves a lot of sunk cash.

For me my progression advances as I pick up collections so it varies. I tend to wait for them rather than aggressively search for specific material.