Are You A Space Filler Or A Hoarder?

100% Space filler. . .I do not have much material I did not specifically look for, but I don't limit myself to anyone else's idea of what spaces should be filled, and I'm constantly going deeper in areas that interest me. I resist going wider and collecting in completely new areas.

Sacefiller....then I get a neat EFO. Or this one is clearly a different shade. Or I can't decide which cancel is more interesting. Then I started finding counterfeit stamps in the stamp mixtures people give me.

Space filler, but if there isn't a space, I add pages.

I like filling spaces in my album, so I am a Space Filler? It sounds so derogatory. Does that mean I am damaged?

Like alub said, maybe I am a hoarder for cancellations, especially US banknotes, as long as they are different and interesting. I don't want 100 copies of the same boring target cancel, so I am not a true hoarder in that sense, but there is no "album" of fancy cancels to "fill the spaces" of, so I keep adding them to a stock book.

In my albums I guess space filler. Then on the other hand I buy a lot of United States stamps to put in my stock. I entend to organize them in stock books and have a lot. Then they are more I have not touched yet. So I guess a little of both.

I've enjoyed reading the comments on this topic and I think the really cool thing is that everyone is different...we have different ways and different methods and different reasons...yet, we all share a common thread in that this is something we ENJOY doing! Regardless of HOW we do it. It's just nice to know that I am not in this journey alone...and neither are you. Keep up the good work my philatelic brothers!!

I am a little OCD and do not like clutter, so I am definitely in the "space filler" camp. I have a US Specialty album, a single 1840-1940 Scott International album, and a thin stock album whos content gets sold off whenever it fills up with duplicates from my two albums. But, my OCD is personal and I love seeing what others do with their collections.

For individual stamps I am a space filler but it seems my postal history is reaching the hoarder category.

I consider myself a worldwide stamp collector and print Steiner pages for filling the spaces. But I have a lot of other material and go down specialist rabbit-holes occasionally, like Machins, pre-cancels, perfins, railroad postcards and covers, and different station cancels on Belgium's Parcel Post and Railway stamps. That said, I have boxes of stuff still to go through. The International Society of Worldwide Stamp Collectors is helping me get rid of true duplicates with their swap circuits. Don't ask my wife this question about me.

I am definitely a space filler, where the spaces are defined by my catalogue of choice (SG SotW 2023). If it's listed, I'll happily add it to my collection if the opportunity arises.

I'm not sure I'd consider the boxes, bins, albums, and envelopes with stamps a hoard. I'm sure my roommate does.

Dale

I started out as a space filler but necessity turned me into a hoarder. Like amccleaf1 I find it has been useful to keep duplicates around to branch out into different areas of collecting. When I decided to collect perfins and pre-cancels I had boxes of US and worldwide stamps at the ready to get me going. As I also print my own pages for worldwide having the extra stamps to look for booklet singles, watermark differences, or those pesky Berlin stamps in that pile of German definitives is handy. That being said I will sell off some duplicates every now and then as I can't keep everything. Now, I just need to find the time to look thru a couple thousand Wildings for those inverted watermarks.......

both a hoarder and space filler. I love filling spaces in pre-printed abums. stampdragons might also be an evil investor. I also have "boxes" to sort.

Part of me wants to fill up an HE Harris WW album. Future project I suppose.

Both, haven't seen a stamp I'd turn away--at least until issues after about 1950ish., although I've mostly U.S., not that much W.W.

Unfortunately I'm both lol. I typically am a perfectionist but I'm a WW collector. I'm working on a very nice collection everything mounted on steiner pages but other than my nice U.S. collection in albums I have a massive hoard. A lot of it separated into glassines by country but some not. One of my favorite things is to sort bulk amounts of stamps it's kinda my therapy and my escape from life and the stresses of running my lawncare business. I hope one day to not have an accumulation and sell off my dupes but I keep ruining that goal by going to shows like I did this past Sunday and buying boxes and bags full of many stamps. I just bought a box with 20k half on paper and half off paper stamps going thru it now. I also have trouble discarding any even if I have 200 of the same sc# however I am proud of myself for throwing away so far about 100 damaged stamps from this recent accumulation.