Ww Collector, Happy To Have Found A Stamp Community!

I feel like I'm always so awkward in introductions but here goes nothing >.<

Hi! I'm Levi! I've only somewhat recently started my stamp collection though I had an interest in stamps for several years before I ever bought a single one. Unlike most stamp collectors I didn't start collecting as a kid but I definitely had a fascination and a deep interest in stamps even as a child. When I first decided to jump in and start my collection during the pandemic I started with a really beautiful set of 8 stamps: a complete set of Japan 1940 Kirishima National Park stamps, and 2 stamps from two other Japanese mid-1940s National Park stamp sets. Since then I've been completely hooked on stamp collecting!!

I collect a mix of stamps from all over the world now and I have stamps from every continent except Antarctica. My particular areas of focus when it comes to countries are Japan, China, Korea (including the DPRK), the USSR, and Russia. I also collect a lot of stamps that I just find visually interesting or whose subject matter appeals to me. Additionally I love when I can find stamps that have readable cancels for social awareness of different topics such as the recent Dog Bite Awareness cancels or the TB cancels and "Hire Disabled Workers, it's good business" cancels of the past. I do suppose that my collection is a bit eclectic haha. But I absolutely love that I can collect stamps from so many different places because a huge part of what I love about stamp collecting is seeing what different cultures value and how they portray their culture. I'm not exactly sure why I'm so drawn to East Asian stamps but I find so many of them to be particularly fascinating! I started to become interested in Russian stamps because of my heritage as well and of course this ended up extending out into USSR stamps. This isn't to say I don't love and appreciate US stamps, as I do have many of them too especially commemoratives, but it's just not the primary interest of my collection.

Well anyway I'm super excited to be able to discuss stamps on this forum and I'm more than willing to give more information about my collection if anyone is interested! I've just never had an opportunity to talk about my stamps with people who also care about this hobby so I'm so excited! OuO

Levi,

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 and best of luck .. hope you find lots to enjoy. Plenty of knowledgeable folks here if you have questions.

Welcome to the forum Levi, there's lots of experts on here that are a wealth of information...