Stamp Collector Resources...

As a fairly new collector I obviously need a lot of materials to learn from. Books, catalogs, handbooks, and of course websites are all options. Now I have stated before (and will many times in the future) I am not one to spend a ton of cash on this hobby. I am not an investment collector and many of the people I interact with are not either. Rather they collect for the pure joy of the hobby.

There is a lot of joy to be found in this hobby to say the least. Art, History, Personal Stories, Political Change, and relaxation to name a very few of the many opportunities that stamp collecting can bring a person. Another is a sense of community when talking with other collectors and sharing information.

One issue I have however is that more often than not when we look for good information on the web it may have a number of issues.

 Let me list a few of them:

Free but incomplete
Free but the images are of poor quality
and my least favorite for internet and hard copy is really high cost!!

Now don't get me wrong there are some good resources out there, just not a lot, and the more specific the topic the hard it is to find quality guides.

So some of our great Members at Stamp Bears have started creating a number of great quality resources for free and readily available.

Philatelic Resources, Articles,& Stamp Collecting News Discussions is a great area on our forum that has not only a number of links to other sites with a ton of good information but we have a specific thread dedicated to the hard work that our members put into resources that are free for everyone to use.  Stamp Bears Member Made resources.. has such items as  The British KGV Downey Head Issue Hand Book.pdf and the German Album 1933 - 1945 complete.pdf listed in another post here on the blog. There are more and more free resources coming all the time!

Hobby Collectors are Not investment collectors but that does not mean that they crave knowledge any less than the investment collector. Both types of collector add to the excitement and information that this remarkable hobby has to offer the world. Stop by and share or learn with us at Stamp Bears.

As Always,
HAPPY STAMPING!!!

Bear