B4 - Strangest Perforation I Have Came Across.

I think that that this is the standard fly-speccer/catalog dilemma, at what point is there too much detail for a general catalog?

While it is important to have specialists in our hobby it is also important to support the less experienced and casual collectors. Many catalog publishers try to support both groups (with a specialized catalog) but some do not.

Another part of this issue is that some catalog publishers are not consistent or transparent in their inclusion criteria, some times a variety might be included and at other times they are not.

In my opinion folks who promote including more varieties in a general catalog should keep in mind that they are impacting a lot of people. Great Britain Machins are a good example; casual collectors of GB often do not want to collect countless Machin varieties nor do they want to invest the $$$ or shelf space to catalogs or album pages which call them out.
Don

Hi Don...You are partially correct...As you said GENERAL CATALOGUES....But jogil and myself are referring to SPECIALIZED CATALOGUES.



Isn't that why the stampcommunity forum was created...To bring collector's together to help new and experts in a way to provide accurate stamp information, whether it is colour, size, re-entries, varieties, perforation accuracy. etc.

I might be too anal for some people out there, but with age, that is the way I think...If that offends some one on this great forum...I apologize.

Robert

Robert,
I do not think it is about offending anyone, and yes driving the hobby forward by expanding the knowledgebase is desirable.

Everyone collects in their own way but many collectors are somewhat dependent upon catalogs. So rather than 'offending' it is more a question of driving up the costs for other folks. While some may desire to learn more, some may desire to become notable, some may be working towards making an exhibit, many others are only casual collectors.

Overwhelming collectors is sometimes not a good thing. I recall a previous post of yours where you acknowledged that US Washington/Franklins series is a bit overwhelming so I am sure that you understand.

Venues like this forum, websites, and publishing specialized books remain as good ways to communicate fly-specced varieties. The point I am making is to explain possible readership criteria that a catalog publisher might use when considering adding a variety. Unitrade might say 'specialized' on the cover but I bet they consider the number of casual collectors who also buy and use their catalog.
Don