Pushing 330,000 All Different Worldwide Stamps In One Collection .

SNOPES --- True ! Most worldwide collection seems to have a cut off . Mine is around 1970 .

That doesn't mean all albums have that cut off ,if I purchase a collection and it goes up to a later date . Then I will keep whats in it ,but I don't actively try to add anything or spend money to add to those pages in my albums .

The reason as you stated ,it is harder to find this more recent material ,plus a collector will double the size of his albums book shelve space just printing all those pages for each country and the amount of blank album pages double .

Some how all this modern wallpaper just is overload to a worldwide collector .

I wonder whether viewing more recent issues as "modern wallpaper" has the unintended consequence of being bad for the health of the hobby.

Many new stamp and coin collectors are initially attracted to the hobby by coins or stamps they find in the real world, for free. If established collectors are disinterested in these recent issues, one typical avenue for new entrants into the hobby is made less attractive.

For my own personal tastes, I have been unable to stick with any cutoff date. I collect right up to the present.

Snopes ---Every generation makes a new path .

When I was collecting Post-1940 ,the old timers at the stamp club also called me out as trying to collecting too large of a goal . They were Classic collectors as they remembered stamp collecting as youngsters . My goal was a waste of effort .
Now I break the world of stamps into 1840 to 1940 as Classic Age and 1941 to 1970 to the Golden Age . To me like those fellow members . Look at 1970's and up as Wallpaper what they were doing with everything after 1940's .Each to what they understand .

Well I must admit I am one of the counters and I just want to know because it just seems that when I did stop counting for awhile that I was missing something but that's just me. I realize that for someone with such a collection as Floortrader, the sheer thought of trying to count would be a daunting proposition. My collection is rather small at 24,510 at the moment. I think I'm a bit (a lot for some people) anal about the process. I use an Excel spreadsheet that I update as soon as I put a stamp or set/part set in an album. I have set myself a goal to increase my collection by 5,000 stamps in 2025. I am presently at 2,083 for the year.

I will keep any stamp that come my way but have somewhat set a limit at 2015 for a lot of countries but usually only print pages up to let's say 2002 if I don't have any stamps for a certain country after that date. I must admit that collecting modern issues is getting more and more complicated because it seems that a lot of of people do not use snail mail anymore and the issuance of permanent stamps diminishes the chances of getting different stamps for your collection.

Another problem is that a lot of countries are now issuing well over 300 stamps a year with a lot of large sets or stamp sheets and some countries issue a lot of se-tenant pairs, blocks and souvenir sheets. Some countries I may only have a few stamps and will probably only print the pages I need.

I went to the NAPEX show in McLean, Virginia today. Partly out of curiosity, I asked several dealers if they had 21st century postally used material. Every single one said "no," and a couple said that kind stuff is very hard to find.

Maybe the new rarities are hiding in plain sight.

Yeah, one doesn't see much of that at shows, really. Kiloware is still king for used 21st century. One big source is also 21st century first day covers... cut and soak those, but kinda feels like cheating somehow. ;)

LANDOQUAKES ------- I laughed after reading your post about getting stamps off F.D.C. 's

Here is my story ---- We had a stamp show in the Chicago area ,on the last day of the show a dealer who was selling Worldwide F.D.C. for 25 cents each ,marked them down to 10 for a dollar. Lots of nice covers many with complete sets on the covers with First Day Cancels .
I was making a huge pile at the end of his table . Lots of duplicate but the catalog value was good ,so at 10 cents it wasn't a issue .He didn't even want to count them ,he just filled a few small shoe box size boxes . Then looked at me and said "how about $60.00" I said sounds like a good deal for me .
Took me a year before I had them all soaked and in written up 102 cards . A fun time after working 10 hour day's with a crew of guys .

I'm okay with FDC's, at least they've seen the inside of a post office.

Unfortunately, for the great majority of countries, 21st century kiloware is extremely difficult to find. You'll find kiloware from western Europe, US, Canada, Australia, Japan, and a few others. But good luck in finding 21st century kiloware from somewhere like Colombia or Morocco.

I don't normally collect this far .up to the 1990's but I purchased a French Colonies lot and these came with it ,so just added them to my album .

I'll buy from ebay sellers internationally on occasion, and it's always nice when they send envelopes franked with recent commemoratives. I collect up until 1940... and now after 2020. They are quite hard to find!

Stamp collecting is a journey ,it is not a race . Because in a race there are many who are faster and have much more money than you .

Your goal should be to always move forward and enjoy the steady progress at your own speed .

Beautiful set, floortrader. I'm curious, when you have a nicely completed album page - except for a single missing stamp - are you interested in seeking out the last stamp (assuming it's reasonably affordable) to fill it? Or would you rather let it remain empty and wait for it to maybe come along in one of your other acquisitions?

GVOL 21 ---- Yes I am interested but do not search for the missing stamp on websites . I go from projects to projects and have everything spread out on a desk . Looking at single stamps to buy is a waste of time for me . Some collectors look for completion ,I work more on expansion if that makes sense to you .