My Journey Back Into The Hobby - Good & Not So Good Decisions

There may be parallels between denouncing the Columbians and looking at modern issue with a jaundiced eye but the stamps themselves could not be more different. One was issued in small quantities and had undeniable beauty in depicting historic tableaus and showcasing the engravers art while the others are generally simplistic in nature featuring cartoonish subject matter or flags/hearts, issued in large quantities and have no real skill involved such as hand engraving.

Not judging anyone for collecting the latter but we need to be realistic about the actual stamps. They are not "apples and apples".

PS: I love some modern stamps such as the Transcontinental Railroad issue which ironically harkens back to the subject matter and style of long-ago postage stamps.

Fellow collectors,

May I offer my sincere apology for the inappropriate use of the word "stickers". It was not my attempt to belittle anyone's interests or values - that just isn't me. Hindsight is terrific, and I should have said that I just wasn't interested in post 1950 or 1960 stamps.

I'm sorry for the distraction this caused, and I will do my best to not to stoke any more fires in the future.

Noooo, Moibleman. I think this is a good thread and I thank you for starting it.

There are numerous stories about the Society for the Suppression of Speculative Stamps in the newspapers of the day. It is easy to gather a ton of information by using newspapers.com. And as I mentioned, the badly biased mis-information was fairly wide-spread at that time. For example, in the Stanley Gibbons Monthly Journal they called the US Trans-Mississippi issue "labels" and described them as a "picture gallery". Ditto for the Canada's 1897 Queen Victoria Diamond Jubilee issue of 16 values, from a half-cent to $5 denomination. The SG Journal said they were a "despicable issue."

Don

Edit: I should say that my own collecting interests tend to stop at 1975. I stopped largely due to the cost, shelf space, and time required.

Hi Roger,
I welcome your opinion...

I take your opinion in the same way that I take my neighbor's opinion when he tells me that his kids are smart, and his wife is beautiful.

Don


Edit: So take those two stamps, put them on a table with some young (6 -11) kids, and see which one they gravitate towards.

"The value of the stamps on your desk is not important, it is the mental health and enjoyment of those stamps that carries you thru life "----- Floortrader

I would not presuppose that kids will gravitate towards the cartoonish. That being said the USPS lost a TON of money on the Simpson stamps (it made National headlines) for some reason. I wonder what that was? They sold out of the Transcontinental Railroad issue.

But of course, to each their own and so on.....

Peace

The Colombus one might have been better titled "Isabella expelling her Jews", given her anti-Semitism. The railway stamps resemble the wallpaper issued by ex-French colonies in the 1970s and 1980s. So it's still Marge for me.

Hi Roger,
In my opinion, the 2009 Simpson stamps print quantities (and subsequent $$$ loss) are not a good design criteria.

I do not think that you can blame the stamp design on bumbling mis-management of the USPS. Whomever made the decision to print 1 BILLION of the Simpson stamps should have been held wholly accountable. This print quantity was unusual for 2009 commemoratives.

The USPS sold 318 million of the Simpson stamps (which was typical for many of the other 2009 commemoratives).
Don

Great journey, mobilman44 !!

Don - fair enough.

Geoff - I never figured you for a Marge man. I cannot comment on the Queen's antisemitism but word on the street is that Homer is not inclusive enough.

Roger,

The Marge image you posted looks like the doubled lower neck and doubled necklace variety. If so, it could be very valuable.

At least, Barney from my local flyspecker group thinks so...



John

John - I am sending it to the PF right now!!!

Ferdinand and Isabella began the Spanish Inquisition.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Inquisition

Cancel them!!!