'Forever stamp exchanger'

I did not photograph the stamps that Linda sent me from South Africa, only the envelope. My excuse is that I must have been too excited. On the day that I received her Polish, German and Japanese stamps (and one from Dominica) - a grand total of 174 - three or four other items arrived in the mail.

Included in the second envelope that Linda sent me (see also 'Mad on Madagascar') was a sheet of paper titled: Forever Stamp Exchanger. It consists of a list of addresses and comprises a type of Ponzi scheme, I guess. 

If you decide to take part, you send 50 stamps to the first uncrossed person on the list, then you cross that name out and add your own to the bottom. Following that, you send it to up to five other people that you know. 

It's potentially a good way to make new friends, it seems to me. I've sent 50 NZ stamps to Jan Erik Nybo from Norway. Let's see what happens. And if you are interested in taking part, let me know.

 

More of the same (but different)

This is the third time I've exchanged with Vaclav from the Czech Republic. Third time lucky, again. I asked for and received some more Japanese stamps from him. I wonder where he gets them all from.

Here are the stamps displayed in a 64-page Davo stock book - a recent purchase. I bought it on Trade Me from a dealer in Dunedin. It came fully stocked, so I have had to make room for my New Zealand collection. If there's room, I'll also use it to store my Japanese stamps too.
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Philately philosophy

Having just been asked. "What are you collecting?" I think it's timely that I try to knock together a philosophy concerning my hobby. Maybe 'philately' is too grand a term. Perhaps 'stamp collecting' is closer to the mark.

I've thought about the subject before, of course. I've taken note of certain people. There is a trader on Trade Me, Papa2toes, whose attitude to stamp dealing I admire; he lists his auctions at a minimum price and doesn't fuss if they sell cheaply. His aim is to keep the stamps turning over. I've also written about Dean Brown's altruistic approach - of how he aims to exchange to gain stamps that his children are interested in. My late uncle, Wim Ottema, would boast about his stamps collection that he had built it up laboriously through exchanging only without spending a single cent - or penny, rather in those days. There's a purity and nobility in that.

 

So, what will my guiding philosophy be?

Because you see, it is high time that I formulate one. 

In the past few months I have accumulated a huge pile of material, more than I can ever hope to catalogue, categorize, mount and study. I'm going to have to get selective. What am I really interested in? What can I persuade myself to release?

I guess that for me my main pleasure is an aesthetic one. There are certain sorts of stamps that I enjoy looking at, showing off, and possessing. And it doesn't depend on their value . . . well, not much. It depends on colour, composition, line and subject matter. That being a good starting point from which to leap, let me draw up a list:

1. New Zealand predecimals. I'll collect these and mount them in a Tasman book similar to the one I had when I was a boy. I won't actively buy these, but I'll remain on the lookout.
2. New Zealand decimals. As above, I'll collect these passively. The main role NZ stamps will take for me are as duplicates that I'l exchange with overseas collectors.
3. I love Japanese stamps. I bought an old pre-printed album that will do nicely to contain stamps before 1970.
4. I am interested in British Commonwealth stamps especially those before Queen Elizabeth II.
5. I like out of the way countries whose stamps for one reason or another have caught me eye: Domincan Republic, Labuan, Newfoundland, the Line Islands.
6. The definitives of certain countries have put me off collecting USA, Canada, Holland, Denmark, India. And yet when I look in the catalogue I can find plenty of attractive stamps in their pages. 

Colonial powers

This is the second time I've received mail - and stamps - from Joao in Portugal. This time he included stamps from previous Portuguese colonies: Angola and Mozambique. To me the stamps all were very thematic. They featured uniforms worn by the colonizing soldiers, raw materials that were extracted from those places, native women, maps of the conquered lands and portraits of the distinguished explorers etc involved.

It's amazing how many countries have been involved in the colonizing process. I'm not going to single any one out. Holland, my parents' country has dabbled. New Zealand, where I was born, was itself a colony. I recommend that you listen to a podcast by Dan Carlin on the topic.

Hup, Holland, hup!

Kees, a Dutchman, asked to exchange some stamps with me. I believe he's about the third so far. I always enjoy using a bit of Dutch, as it's my mother tongue. I spoke nothing else before the age of 5. I used my Dutch middle name to prove that point - otherwise you can't tell - and so Kees's envelope is the first to bear the name of my maternal grandfather, for whom I am named.
I was a little apprehensive . . . in my opinion Dutch stamps include some of the most boring definitives in the world!

I was pleasantly surprised to see this artistic and colorful array of postal art from my parents' homeland. Even though, in the football sweepstake, I got given Brazil as my team, I hope that Holland wins the world cup in 2010 (as I thought they would in '74 and '78).  Yes Kees, they are "naar mijn zin".

Bedankt. 

eBay newbie

Wouldn't it be too expensive to use eBay based in New Zealand? And wouldn't it be cheating to post an online sale on a blog that is supposed to be about exchanging stamps with overseas collectors? Well, I make my own rules.

I've used Trade Me, a New Zealand original, but I knew about eBay too. Just had never used it. Well, there's always a first time, so I went on over, found a trader that had stamps that I wanted and bid. 

It turns out that you can combine postage, so it's a good idea to bid on a bunch of stuff all from the same person. I like it. It worked for me. On trade Me at any one time there are about 10,000 stamps auctions on offer. On eBay at any one time, there are that many Japanese stamps auctions running.

Here's my first auction win: my first 3 eBay stamps (of many). The American Football cards are gratis - anyone want them? Each stamps is separately packaged in a stiff plastic pocket. Very professional.

All in the family

The mother-in-law is now in on the act. I couldn't wish for a better one. She has saved the New Zealand stamps on the envelopes that Mami, my wife, sent the family in Japan (disks with photos of our 8-month-old daughter, Sachi), cut them out, and returned them together with a few colorful Japanese stamps too. Isn't that nice?

Even nicer, look! She has enclosed a couple of recent mini-sheets as well. How thoughtful is that? As always, by comparison I feel like quite a boer. No one does social nicety better than the Japanese.

I'm proud to include my Japanese family in the greater family of stamp collectors. A great bunch, every single one.