Thinking About Starting Again

Hello All

As a kid in the 70s, I was a keen collector, specializing in Australian stamps. My father collected his whole lif and when he passed away I bought his substantial collection from my mom, and it has sat in my cupboard ever since. I will retire partially next year, and I am thinking it would be a good time to re-engage with the hobby, but just trying to think of an angle that would really get me excited and hooked again. I will browse through the forum and hopefully will get some good ideas. I do have a big collection and reasonably well ordered collection to start with which has some good items, but am also open to anything different

What countries or topics do you have in the current collection that tickle your fancy and have room for growth? And, welcome to the forum!

I would guess you have a good number of Australian state stamps. I have found these state issues very interesting and mostly within a reasonable price range. Some lovely Chalon heads. Might look to these for a start?

I don't actually have much Australian state stamps, so that is a possibility. There is a very good south West african collection, Good South africa,,Nyasaland quite a lot of GB early QE2and commonwealth, some good Germany and a whole bunch of albums with all sorts. At the time he passed away in 2005 he thought it had a catalogue value of around 50000 pounds and a real value of around 10000. That's not particularly important to me at this stage, more likely to buy more than sell. I think collecting around some historical aspect is what will most likely grab me .

almostretired,

Collecting for the enjoyment of collecting, whatever that might be, is the name of the game. Don't hesitate to ask questions especially if you need basic information and especially more advanced sources of information for any possible topic. You should be able to find folks on this board a little further along on their collecting journey glad to share experiences.

My personal bias is a used stamp loses the story of its journey in the postal service when it is removed from the cover it transported to its destination. Collecting postal history adds a whole new aspect to your journey in our hobby.

Wishing you many enjoyable future days in our hobby. Russ

Welcome to forum almostretired! I too restarted a few years before finishing work, thinking I would have plenty of time for the hobby when the time came. Ends up that I don't get as much time as I would like with my stamps! Life still gets in the way sometimes!
Best regards
DavidR

I am in the same boat! Though I have been regularly collecting (again) for a while now, I thought I would have more time for my stamps when I retired. As you said, life is still getting in the way!

Thanks for all the replies. I have checked the free page spots on the internet, but I was hoping for some illustrations to go along with the marked squares.
I have several countries that I collect. I collect both Mint and used for each country.
I have an almost complete Danzig collection. My USA collection is in 18 Albums. I have a Switzerland collection I would like to sell. I have not valued it yet. Also, Australia, Iceland, Sweden, Russia (early) though I am not real pleased with that situation right now.
Anyway, thanks again for your replies.

Bob