Time is a funny thing. Sometimes we have more than we know what to do with other times we cannot fit everything into the time permitted.
Stamps find a way to fill the time and take over when the hobby gets really exciting. In the case of this blog the forum and various collections (old and new) have taken more time than I ever anticipated.
Our community has grown quite a bit over the last few months. Of course that means we have had some new challenges as well. New members bringing wonderful conversations and showing a lot of stamps from their various collections. There is always the occasional thread that gets a bit side tracked.
As a growing community we are learning together how to improve all the time and so far we have been quite successful in this adventure.
As always we encourage you to stop by and read the threads on and if the mood takes you register (or sign in) and join the conversations. New voices are always welcome and we look forward to hearing from you.
Over the next few weeks we are going to make some more detailed updates to the blog and we hope you will enjoy them..
As Always -
HAPPY STAMPING,
Bear
Friday, October 5, 2012
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Making Stamps Interactive.
At this point most folks know that the members and I at Stamp Bears are HUGE fans of keeping kids engaged, not only in the hobby but in the real world in general (I am not a video game fan). But how does one get (and keep) a child involved? We have written about topical collections, and even told a story through stamps. But sometime you need something a little more..
This can be a challenge, but, when the child already has creativity as a strength all you need to do is play on it. Now I don't like to brag (OK so maybe a little when it comes to my kids and grandchild) but my 7 year old is a wizard at creating games.
One day last week my wife and I were talking about one of the quize games we run on and how a few of our great members were simply winning as if there was no challenge at all. When suddenly from the back seat of the car came my child's voice "Hey, Hey why not mix the letters up in the name of the stamp and then mess with the picture and have them find it?"... I sat in silence for a moment digesting her words and thinking it out. With a flurry of excitement everyone started talking at once, my wife, my teenager, my 7 year old, and I all at once tossing ideas out to hone the plan. In the end no real changes needed to take place at all...
And so Little Monkey Bears Game was born... This thread has captivated our membership and we are considering making this a regular feature on the site. Visit here to see what the game looks like in action.
As Always,
HAPPY STAMPING!!!
Bear
This can be a challenge, but, when the child already has creativity as a strength all you need to do is play on it. Now I don't like to brag (OK so maybe a little when it comes to my kids and grandchild) but my 7 year old is a wizard at creating games.
One day last week my wife and I were talking about one of the quize games we run on and how a few of our great members were simply winning as if there was no challenge at all. When suddenly from the back seat of the car came my child's voice "Hey, Hey why not mix the letters up in the name of the stamp and then mess with the picture and have them find it?"... I sat in silence for a moment digesting her words and thinking it out. With a flurry of excitement everyone started talking at once, my wife, my teenager, my 7 year old, and I all at once tossing ideas out to hone the plan. In the end no real changes needed to take place at all...
And so Little Monkey Bears Game was born... This thread has captivated our membership and we are considering making this a regular feature on the site. Visit here to see what the game looks like in action.
As Always,
HAPPY STAMPING!!!
Bear
Thursday, June 28, 2012
IGATI - I'll Get Around To IT...
One of our valued members RossTO, wrote this wonderful thread in order to provoke the community into thinking about how they approach all those wonderful stamps that don't get mediate attention.
"IGATI. The 'I'll get around to it' pile of stuff we have in our collections. We all have it, usually buried in a corner of our stamp room, desk, where ever we work on our collections. I and the other half have a few of these all over the apartment (we don't have a room yet, but it is a requirement for when we buy the house). Sometimes it is just a cigar box of stuff, other times it is a garbage bag or two (or 10) of the stuff. For John and I it is a mix of all of that. Where does it all come from... well it seems the biggest culprit is kiloware. We have almost all bought it, and we all usually end up with a quantity of stuff we just don't want to deal with right away. Then it just seem to grow like lint balls under the furniture.
What do you do with all of those stamps. Leaving them in bags is definitely not a good idea as over time they can get moisture into them. As for the cigar boxes, they are a little more safe but still over time they are not the best choice for storage. So, why don't you go grab a box/bag of this stuff an haul it over to your workspace.
Usually you have this all off paper at this time. So if some of your IGATI is on paper, we know what you will be doing for the balance of this article.
This article continues in great details and humor to share one of many methods on how to deal with this accumulation HERE. We invite you to read the rest of the article and share your thoughts on this subject that affects all stamp collectors.
Stamp General's Warning: never deal with all your IGATI at the same time. This can lead to eyestrain, back and neck pains, a painful derriere, over caffination, and in extreme cases a overwhelming urge to throw things or find the closest source of matches".....
As Always,
Happy Stamping!!
Bear
Over Run Countries 1944
The Overrun Countries series (known to collectors as the Flag set), was produced as a tribute to the thirteen nations that had been occupied by the Axis Powers. The thirteen stamps present full color images of the national flags of Poland, Czechoslovakia, Norway, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Greece, Yugoslavia, Albania, Austria, Denmark, and Korea, with the names of the respective countries written beneath.
To the left of each flag appears the image of the phoenix, which symbolizes the renewal of life, and to its right appears a kneeling female figure with arms raised, breaking the shackles of servitude. The stamps with flags of European countries were released at intervals from June to December 1943, while the Korea flag stamp was released in November 1944.
Here is a nice scan of the set
Our members have shown that simple collecting the set alone is not enough!! In our thread Over Run Countries Set members explore Mint, Used, Blocks, Covers, and more. While statistics suggest that this set was not as popular at the time of issue as the "Win the War" stamps, over time these have taken a significant roll in the collecting world.
Stop by and read more on these and many other topics at Stamp Bears. Jump right on in to the conversations and share your experiences with our great community, we all look forward to hearing from you.
And as Always,
Happy Stamping!!!
Bear
To the left of each flag appears the image of the phoenix, which symbolizes the renewal of life, and to its right appears a kneeling female figure with arms raised, breaking the shackles of servitude. The stamps with flags of European countries were released at intervals from June to December 1943, while the Korea flag stamp was released in November 1944.
Here is a nice scan of the set
Our members have shown that simple collecting the set alone is not enough!! In our thread Over Run Countries Set members explore Mint, Used, Blocks, Covers, and more. While statistics suggest that this set was not as popular at the time of issue as the "Win the War" stamps, over time these have taken a significant roll in the collecting world.
Stop by and read more on these and many other topics at Stamp Bears. Jump right on in to the conversations and share your experiences with our great community, we all look forward to hearing from you.
And as Always,
Happy Stamping!!!
Bear
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
A philatelic tool box?
Every hobby has the proverbial "tool box".. What is inside varies greatly based on the hobby. For a quick reference one would not collect stamps with a welding torch however a person who collects car parts may use such a tool.
Stamp collecting is no different! every collector has a philatelic tool box even if it is not a formal one. Such a tool box may contain a pair of tongs, a perforation gauge, and a magnifying glass. Others will have more. MUCH more!!
On April 27 2012 Bengalpaws asked the Stamp Bears community what was in there philatelic tool box. and the responses have been wonderful! So many variations, as well how one defines the term in general!
Mine? Its a work in progress but to date i have the following:
2 - pairs of tongs
1 - 20x magnifying glass
1 - perforation gauge
and stock pages near by to put items of interest in to until they find there way to albums, swap piles, or member gifts/prizes...
Well? What's in your? Comment here or better yet stop in Stamp Bears and share with the whole community!! We hope to see you there.
As always,
Happy Stamping!
Bear
Stamp collecting is no different! every collector has a philatelic tool box even if it is not a formal one. Such a tool box may contain a pair of tongs, a perforation gauge, and a magnifying glass. Others will have more. MUCH more!!
On April 27 2012 Bengalpaws asked the Stamp Bears community what was in there philatelic tool box. and the responses have been wonderful! So many variations, as well how one defines the term in general!
Mine? Its a work in progress but to date i have the following:
2 - pairs of tongs
1 - 20x magnifying glass
1 - perforation gauge
and stock pages near by to put items of interest in to until they find there way to albums, swap piles, or member gifts/prizes...
Well? What's in your? Comment here or better yet stop in Stamp Bears and share with the whole community!! We hope to see you there.
As always,
Happy Stamping!
Bear
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
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
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
Monday, June 11, 2012
Collectors with out a club.....
It is surprising how many members have told me that they don't have access to a Stamp Club in their area. Granted it took me a year to find one and they stopped operating for the season the day I found them!
But even before that I found that some form of guidance was needed. Sure books are helpful and the internet is a place of remarkable information. But how does one know where to look? More important when you cannot locate the answer to your question independently how do you figure out what direction to take?
There have been times during my own stamp collecting growth that I was unaware of WHAT I was looking for! Simply put I had not developed my vocabulary enough to pursue an effective search.
In this digital age we, as collectors have options! A lot of them for sure. But, as I am prone to do, I have to speak to Stamp Bears Forum. A recent article by member Skilo54 concerns stamps of Lundy & Herm Island Local Issues . this thread not only has beautiful scans of the stamps in question but opens the way for further conversation on this topic.
This is just one of THOUSANDS of examples of how Forums have added to this great hobby of ours.
Stop by and see if you can contribute or learn from one of our many threads.
As Always HAPPY STAMPING!!
Bear
But even before that I found that some form of guidance was needed. Sure books are helpful and the internet is a place of remarkable information. But how does one know where to look? More important when you cannot locate the answer to your question independently how do you figure out what direction to take?
There have been times during my own stamp collecting growth that I was unaware of WHAT I was looking for! Simply put I had not developed my vocabulary enough to pursue an effective search.
In this digital age we, as collectors have options! A lot of them for sure. But, as I am prone to do, I have to speak to Stamp Bears Forum. A recent article by member Skilo54 concerns stamps of Lundy & Herm Island Local Issues . this thread not only has beautiful scans of the stamps in question but opens the way for further conversation on this topic.
This is just one of THOUSANDS of examples of how Forums have added to this great hobby of ours.
Stop by and see if you can contribute or learn from one of our many threads.
As Always HAPPY STAMPING!!
Bear
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