Returning To The Hobby - Boston

Hello,

I have recently returned to the Hobby after being an avid amateur collector when I was younger and lived in India after I inherited my grandathers collection. I now live in the US and have realized that I am fascinated by Japanese stamps and for that remains the focus of my collection (for now).

I have never been a serious collector, and too often my criteria for adding a stamp to my collection is "its so beautiful" . I have much to learn, and recently went to a local stamp show and felt overwhelmed and left . I'm hoping to learn more about the hobby and how it works through StampCommunity.

Welcome.
Don

Welcome!!

welcome

welcome Fellow Bostonian

Welcome!

Dale

Welcome from the Berkshires!

Hi Philatrist,

It's well worth your time to head over to YouTube. Search on "Stamp Collecting." One enterprising young fellow has posted a whole bunch of videos. For example:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk...UPIGb5rPOGyA

Have fun with it; it's much better that way

Thanks everyone! If anyone in the Boston area is looking for a mentee, I would love to get a lot of advise/wisdom =)

BFRomeos - thanks for that link, will definitely look through that!

Philatrist-Welcome to the forum .My story is similiar to you.. collected as a school kid back in India. Now rediscovered the hobby in an effort to introduce my 7 yr old into stamps..But the truth is I am hooked back into it.. Lookout for local stamp clubs. That is a good way to learn more , socialize with experts and acquire new stamps through auctions or trading.Here is a link for local stamp clubs in your area

http://www.stampparaphernalia.com/m...mp_clubs.htm

Welcome! Like you, collected when I was a young pup and moved on for some 30 years until starting over, so welcome back.

Sure there are probably experts on any subject here, but one thing I've found is that if you ask for help, you'll generally find a lot of people love to tell you everything they know...and sometimes a lot more!

There are a number of active stamp clubs in the Boston area and multiple shows per month. It's a great place to be a stamp collector. The Waltham Stamp club meets 1st and 3rd Tuesday at Regis College Cardinal Spellman Philatelic Museum at 8pm. They sponsor a yearly show. If you do a google search there is a whole list of other clubs on the Linn's website. There is a Dedham Stamp Show the 1st Sunday of the month and one in Nashua the 3rd Sunday of the month. In addition there is at least one stamp store in the area--Kappy's in Norwood.

I went to the Westpex show in my area and felt the same way, I left after only a couple of hours, I wasn't able to go back. I so regret that. There were a lot of great deals at the show and I should have stayed longer. Next year I'm going to take the day off of work, and hit it hard. There is so much to learn, but when philately gets under your skin, it doesn't let go!