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

Impressive number Floortrader! Lots of fun in a pleasant activity.

I think I have about 200,000 different. I've counted through use of spreadsheets 130,000 to date but I'm only 65% complete in my counting. Several countries have not been counted at all so 70,000 is a guess as to number not counted. My collection goes to about 1960s but a few countries go to 1970s and very few countries (ex. Canada, Hong Kong) go to 1985 and US goes to 2011 for regular issues. I don't actually pursue post 1965 non-US, but the stamps are usually cheap so they kind-of come along for the ride. That is until I get too much bulk, when I will sell off some.

30 years ago, when I decided to go worldwide in addition to just US, I never dreamed I would get so many or nor go as far as I have. Back then 10,000 was a dreamed of goal.

I do expand beyond the Specialty pages to get Scott listed perfs, types, etc. and some non Scott listed shades.

Shown are 2 rows of Scott Specialty binders out of 8+rows and a few pages.

I met the owners of Bel-aire ,it was a father and son team ,when they first started out . They both were at a Greg Manning Auction in New Jersey at the winter auction around 1999 .

THINKSTAMPS ------You got a nice collection . Agree about the fun part .

You understand better than most how easy it is to have a huge number of different stamp if you go beyond the the 1970's ,it is fun but doesn't add much value or worth to the earlier stuff .

Love the photos Thinkstamp! I always liked specialty pages, even they have limitations too it seems. Floortrader. The son from Bel Aire (Greg) now works for Golden Valley Stamps. I just got back from a stamp Show (Snowpex) and there was a collection in Harris Binders... About 10,000 stamps a binder and collectors could pick through them for ten cents a stamp. $200 or the whole binder. They've been picked over for months, but I still found 200 I could use in short time. Looks like the collector had about 130K in 13 binders. They were done very neatly, maybe the best I've seen using Harris pages. There were extra pages for souvenir sheets and the collection went right up to 2000. I would love to know hoe the collector did it, but I know it took time!

Landoquakes ---Sounds like a neat collection to go thru ,even at 10 cents each your still getting only stamps you need or want . That prices is in line with some of those huge worldwide collections you see at the major auctions house where they give a estimated total number of stamps in the lot .

Going back to the discussion of RED DEALER BOXES .

I am sure many of us have visited a lot of dealers and viewed how they are kept ,so it is not possible to use a statement of who got the most stamps because ,much like people's stamp albums ,some albums are a mess so it is safe to say the same with RED BOXES .

I like to bring up the question of neatness and organization which some groups of RED BOXES lack . Many owners stuff a lot of the same stamp on each card to the point were the front plastic is loose and stamps end up all over the dealers table . Some dealers limit each card to one stamp or one set that is the way I like it . Not 3 or 4 sets in the same card ,drives me nuts . Other dealers just use the cards to sell groups of unrelated stamps ,like 10 Nepal stamps and put a price on the card ,means nothing to me .

Another thing about RED BOXES and this isn't always the dealers fault ,it is the cards were in a organise order but with so many people digging thru the cards and removing and replacing those cards , and I seen this even at viewing days at the stamp auction firms when bidders are viewing lots and messing up the order of the cards , I am thinking if I buy that lot I am going to punch that clown during lot pickup ,just making a mess of the order of the cards .

Another issue with RED BOXES is what the owner or dealer has written on the cards , is it truthful to condition ,is it enough information ,like Mint hinged or Mint N.H. ,is the set complete or do I have to find a catalog to determine it is a broken set . Since many of us recycle these dealer cards did he use a pencil or did he kill the card by using a felt marker or a ink pen ,we are now paying over 5 cents for a card to put in a RED BOX that is a factor saving about $50.00 per box in the long term .

yes, some customers can be quite "helpful"

Red boxes: Certainly, the dealers who sell that way often become the go-to guys when you're looking to fill a lot of spaces. But per floortrader's comments, there needs to be some kind of straightening/ordering/correction/culling done at some point, and it is typically not done. The quality of minions working up material varies wildly, so buyers can pick off varieties and such, but buyers will often also have to wade through load of stamps that are misidentified or that everyone already has. Maybe it comes down to how many years of your life you want to spend on front of a wall of red boxes.



That kind of person tends to be way too cheap to win auction lots so you probably would never get the chance. Still, he might be waiting for you outside the front door to try to buy the best items in the lot you just bought for a dollar. But with viewing, there's also shady types trying to hide better items in boxed lots to try to bring down the final price. So always have at least a quick look at 102 cards in the bottom of boxes, stamps hidden behind other stamps combined with empty cards nearby. Maybe bring brass knuckles to both auctions and viewing?

Floortrader earlier said...




I recycle and reuse inked-up 102 cards, 104 cards, and 107 cards myself by using a BIC Wite-Out EZcorrect, shown below, to bring them back to life. This device takes some skill to use it correctly, ( I messed up the first one I tried using) but with practice, you can precisely cover even the worst black marker and ballpoint pen ink. I highly recommend it for every stamp collector.

Linus

John

Johnsim 03 --- Thanks for the tip about the WITE-OUT ,I will try it .

Floortrader,

Thanks, but I believe it was Linus that provided that useful tip. I would like to thank him, too!

John

Glad to be helpful.

Words of advice on using one, from experience. Always keep the BIC lettering side up, press down, move to the RIGHT ONLY, lift up.

Never back up, never try to go to the left, and never try to use it upside down or you will goof up the one-way tape inside it.

Linus

Given that a102 card costs four cents I use either new cards or reuse cards that are easy to clean up. That is if you value your time. For myself my time is better spent cataloging stamps. I only put stamps with a minimum cv of $5 in a 102 card. Minimum cv stamps go on a stocksheet with a pencil notation because the sheet costs me nothing (culled from purchases) or $1 (new). I can fit 60 singles on a stock sheet and that would cost me $2.40 cents in new 102 cards or a lot of time in used 102 cards that I had to clean.

Linus --- thanks for the info on the Wite-Out and the caution on how to apply it .