Just Finished Filling 31,000 Spaces - A 27 Year Journey!

Just the other day I completed a wonderful journey – filling EVERY spot (over 31,000 of them) in a 1958 Minkus Comprehensive Stamp Album. 704 pages worth. I started this project back in 1995 or so when my US and Canada collections started to get expensive. It has been great fun! Buying box lots and sorting through, auctions, stamp shows, on line, and a couple trades. It became a quest – and as many others have pointed out on this forum, the hardest ones to find are usually the cheapest. A lot of patience and late nights scouring DelCampe, HipStamp, APS Stamp Store, Stamps2Go, and of course ebay.

These was a little cheating along the way … a few stamps that I just couldn't justify spending the cash to get the stamp actually pictured (Japan #154 comes to mind), but there's always something around the period that would fit. I've put some pictures here showing some of the full pages.

The concept of "album bulge" was apparent early on. What started as one 2.5" binder ended up taking four 3" binder to house. Used hinges on everything that cataloged under $1 (Dennison when I could find them). Used hingeless mounts for stamps for those >$1 catalog.

As a side note, the last stamp to find was Puerto Rice #13. Very, very elusive – ended up finding a dealer in Spain that had one.

Now what to do?????

Very nice and congratulations.

I think I've had that same album in times past.
Gave up on Big Blue part A/B,(too many blank spaces). So went to Vario pages.

(Now what to do?????)
So many choices. Find your niche, and approach with the same enthusiasm as before.

I'm enjoying post cards, postal stationary, oddments (endless field), and cancellations.

Best wishes,
pat

Very well done canyoneer, what a staggering achievement

If there is one trait stamp collectors have it's patience. If they don't, they acquire it quick smart or find another activity.

I had to look up which stamp Japan #154 was and it was the one I thought it was going to be.

I'm surprised there was a space in the album for such an expensive stamp!

Congrats - that must be very satisfying!

Once I'd "completed" my U.S. singles collection, I moved on to something more challenging, 19th century pairs, multiples, and blocks. I'll never achieve the level of completeness of my U.S. singles collection, but the challenge and expense makes it even more exciting when you find an elusive one and/or get a bargain. Happy collecting!!!

Congratulations ,well done ,set a goal and reached it .

brilliant!

WOW - now that's impressive!

Impressive and the stamps so nicely chosen and mounted.

Out of curiosity, I checked my 1971 Minkus catalog to see whether the value of the Japanese stamp was once much lower, but it was $120 used even then.

Thanks everyone. What did cross my mind is getting a Big Blue parts 1&2 and use my current collection as a starter. However, the thought of transferring all those stamps gave me pause. Also, I think of all the "short sets" I bought in the past to fit the Minkus wouldn't be "short" in the Scott Internationals.

I really enjoy reading APS articles about worldwide issues/history then pull out the album and look at what I've got from a new perspective. The World Order shifts from WWI through WWII come alive when one looks at the stamps.

Nice job.
As to moving forward, I agree that transferring all of those to Scott Internationals is not a good idea. Maybe pick a country or two and work on a specialized collection. It would be a different challenge for you.

What an impressive accomplishment - well done! So many people have 100% completion as a goal, but so few ultimately attain it.

Agree that transferring them to a Big Blue would be quite the endeavor, and one probably not worth undertaking, unless you're interested in completing the shorter sets. But if you're still interested in the worldwide collecting realm and are looking for a continuation of the project, it might be a good time. And you already have a very significant start.

And I suppose you could always sell the material, either in one go or piecemeal, by country. I'm guessing the latter option, despite being more work, would probably net you more cash. Minkus does make it somewhat difficult as the pages are double-sided, but I'm sure there are some sellers out there who have figured out how best to address that issue. This could be the way to go if you want to 'double down' on a handful of countries and release the rest of the material back into the wild to fund further purchases.

...But once again, well done! As a worldwide collector myself, I'm always pleased to see someone completely fill an album. Keep us posted about your next steps!

If I were at that stage, I'd start going at it one country at a time, trying to complete each country before moving to the next. Start with countries that are reasonably possible. So not Romania but maybe Belgium...

Amazing accomplishment. To have a goal and keep on track for over 25 years is what I find the most impressive. Surely you enjoyed some countries more than others? If so that is where I would look for the next project.

Congratulations!
No easy task you accomplished.

I would not take it apart.......it is a joy and a achievement you can be proud of . Move on to something else but keep it as is .