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Stamp Blog Review: “The Stamp Echo” By Eurostamper — March 7, 2008
The blog features helpful information about stamp basics - the Penny Black, the Inverted Jenny, as well as occasional news from the postal and philately world. Most interestingly for us, lately they have had some interesting articles about fakes and forgeries, most fascinatingly about Jean de Sperati, an Italian forger whose craftsmanship is legendary, and whose forgeries are sometimes worth more than the genuine issues. The blog is updated by Daniel Arpin about 2-3 times a month on average and dates back only to October 2007, so it isn’t a place to frequent. The posts that are there are interesting though, and like most blogs in our Stamp Blog Review series, The Stamp Echo offers information not collected in quite the same way anywhere else. The blog’s layout is very pleasant - nice dark greys and blues, with easy navigation. It would be nice to see more posts per page, but for a blog with so few posts it is perhaps understandable. Comments are enabled on the blog, and are not as scant as the posting frequency would suggest. For interesting posts about forgeries and stamp design, The Stamp Echo is a knowledgeable, well-written blog. (The blog is in English with a parallel French version, L’Écho du Philatéliste.) Stamp Blog Review: “Southwest Stamps Blog” By Eurostamper — March 6, 2008
Unlike many vendors, the author (gsquared7) doesn’t make all his posts crass attempts at funneling buyers to his auctions. That’s obviously a priority, but his blunt opinionated posts are genuinely helpful, and he doesn’t seem to care whose toes he steps on to make a point. He picks out specific listings that catch his eye, and if necessary warns possible buyers or gives opinions about the stamps for sale. The basic thrust of the blog seems to be, lately at least, that people are selling “junk” stamps on eBay and hyping them as if they were more valuable or interesting than they really are. Given eBay’s safe buying policies, buyers are generally happy with their purchases; the issue is that misleading descriptions can lead to a sort of false sense of buyer happiness. gsquared7 aims to educate. For example, in this post from December 2007, he describes how he bought two stamps from another eBay vendor, but was unhappy with how the language in the original description was somewhat misleading. He asked for and prompty received a refund from the seller, but noticed the stamps re-listed on eBay with the original description intact. The posting frequency of this blog is rather low - about once every 2-3 weeks or more. The layout, too, isn’t much to speak of - eBay’s usual color scheme and a distinct lack of HTML formatting give the blog a very no-nonsense air (note too the complete lack of pictures accompanying the posts). But as a window into the inner workings of stamp buying and selling on eBay.com, it is a great resource. See comments for "Stamp Blog Review: “Southwest Stamps Blog”" Stamp Blog Review: “AK Philately” By Eurostamper — March 5, 2008
Along with high-quality scans of obscure issues and overprints, Keppel (who lives in Scotland) discusses the history of issues, offering historical context and geopolitical perspectives for his stamps. His energy and fascination for stamps jumps off of the screen (in his About Me page he lists his favorite books as “stamp catalogs”!), and the design is customized, not a typical Blogspot layout. Although Keppel concentrates on stamps related to the Netherlands’ Queen Wilhelmina (and occasionally birds), his posts have a wider range, though focus mostly on Europe. Comments are enabled, but one oddity of the blog is its lack of permalinks (the post titles aren’t linked to anything). A categories list on the side lets you find the topic you want easily enough. His posting frequency is generally good, though as of this writing he hasn’t had a new post in a few weeks for some reason. AK Philately is good for getting into the minutiae of certain issues - plates, design, and that sort of thing. It’s a refreshing view of stamps; Adrian Keppel seems to just enjoy the whole idea of stamps, their production and use rather than just their modern-day collection! Stamp Blog Review: “My Philately” By Eurostamper — March 4, 2008
I collect mint stamps from France, China, all stamps issued in 1966, stamps about frogs and toads, about rugby. I’m always interested to exchange mint stamps or nice covers. I’m also looking for covers postmarked on the 9th of May 1966… Eric has consistently averaged a post about every 2 days since June 2006. His posts feature large scans of covers and stamps he has been sent, and has found otherwise. The posts are in English, although the comment labels (and presumably Eric himself) are French. The range of posts is very good, with a large list of categories touching on everything from Japan to Andorra to Georgia to Belarus. Since the posts tend to be about rather narrow niches, the blog is a fascinating trove of information that is quite unique. The blog layout is in a stock Blogspot layout, which means it’s easy to get around but not exactly distinctive, design-wise. Eric, like many stamp bloggers, has an open offer to trade stamps with anyone in the world. If you have something he wants, check out his blog and send it along to him; he seems very kind and will send you what you’re looking for too. Stamp Blog Review: “Aron R. Halberstam Philatelists, Ltd.” By Eurostamper — February 28, 2008
The good news: the blog’s posts are long, detailed and informative, with pictures of interesting stamps and errors that the owners come across. The bad news: the posting frequency is dreadful; since June 2006, there have only been 28 posts. Often months go by without a peep. But that doesn’t change the quality of the posts that are there. Highly specific, they are good for research if your research happens to lead you to those narrow avenues covered by the blog. (For example, one post begins promisingly, “I have wanted to write on the topic of the many shade varieties of the Falkland Islands for several weeks.”) As a blog, it’s difficult to praise it too much since there isn’t much material. But as a series of interesting web pages, it is recommended. I couldn’t find any RSS feed, but it might be worth bookmarking and checking back to every few weeks. The blog seems to be Wordpress or something similar; the layout and design is customized and pretty pleasant. Comments are disabled, unfortunately; so the sense of community is nil. Just enjoy it for the information, which may fill the occasional hole in your research, but obviously will never approach comprehensiveness on any subject. See comments for "Stamp Blog Review: “Aron R. Halberstam Philatelists, Ltd.”" Stamp Blog Review: “The Stamps of Velu” By Eurostamper — February 27, 2008
The Stamps of Velu is similar to blogs such as Blog Timbré De Ma Philatélie in that it consists mostly of large, clear scans of stamps sent to the blog owner, with descriptions and impressions written alongside. Velu has his address printed in the sidebar of every page, encouraging mail from all over the world. Velu seems mostly attracted to the design and art of a stamp, which makes his posts extra interesting since many of the stamps he shows are quite remarkable (for example, these paintings of nude women from Chile, or this dinosaur stamp from Thailand). It is easy to remember the sheer scope and creativity of the world’s stamps when reading this blog. Velu’s archives go back to July 2007, and he averages about 20 posts a month. Not bad for someone who is often found on the high seas! Stamp Blog Review: “Blog Timbré De Ma Philatélie” (bilingual French/English blog) By Eurostamper — February 25, 2008
Eric lives in France, and has an open offer to trade covers with anyone in the world: send him a stamped letter and he’ll return the favor. The envelopes and cards he receives become the subject of the posts on the blog. Each post is witten in French, with an English translation provided in a different colored font. (If you don’t know French you’ll probably pick up some while reading.) Large scans of his international envelopes and postcards are attached to each post, and his indiscriminate love of foreign stamps gives the archives a very wide scope; a list of countries in the side menu reaches from Greenland to Argentina; from Indonesia to Iran; from Canada to Kazakhstan, and most places in between. (As of this post, his most recent article and picture is about an American stamp celebrating the Chinese Year of the Rat.) Easily navigable, and with the extensive archives (about 150 articles reaching back to January 2007), a new post at least every 2-3 days, and endlessly interesting pictures, Blog Timbré De Ma Philatélie is an excellent resource for someone who just wants to look at stamps from around the world without being bogged down by the overwrought humorlessness that plagues too many collectors. Eric Contesse is keeping one of the internet’s better stamp collecting blogs. Check it out. See comments for "Stamp Blog Review: “Blog Timbré De Ma Philatélie” (bilingual French/English blog)" Stamp Blog Review: “Talman Tips” By Eurostamper — February 24, 2008
Talman started out OK, making 7 posts in his first month (wanted-to-buy posts as well as tips, like blowing on stamps to remove gum imperfections), but there are only 12 articles for the entire year of 2007. The pace for 2008 is a little better, but still there are often weeks between posts. The blog is on Blogspot, featuring the typical, easy-to-navigate layout common with such blogs (and comments are enabled, though obviously not common). The blog caught our eye because its most recent post was just a few hours ago (it is about some new Canadian stamps) but, although the blog hasn’t completely dried up, its posts are so few and far between that you will almost certainly forget to check back. You can subscribe to Talman’s RSS feed (the “Posts (Atom)” link at the bottom of the main page); you never know when the next post will come and be something interesting. But don’t worry if you miss something - any big news or special deals will be found on busier blogs. Stamp Blog Review: “Philatelic Tidbits” By Eurostamper — February 23, 2008
While it amuses us to think that there is a lot of stamp collecting “gossip” to be blogged about, Philatelic Tidbits is a somewhat light-hearted, fun look at stamps. The author, Allen Bohart, has been collecting for over 20 years, and the blog has archives back to March 2005. Some of his posts pick out the more interesting, if not exactly mainstream, stories from the stamp world. For example, recent articles talk about fractal art on stamps and “philately and murder” (about a novel whose main character becomes a hit man to pay for his stamp collecting), as well as stories about new issues (with emphasis on Canada and the US). The blog is simple, and nicely designed. It’s light on technical explanation, but various RSS feeds are available, and comments are enabled, though sparse. A major lapse is that the monthly archives menu isn’t on the main page (in fact, we came across it accidentally while reading the “About me” page). If that were on the main menu, it would be easier to look around. As it is, you have to sort through the pages (about 4 posts per page only) one by one or use the extensive tagging links. Aside from such technicalities, Philatelic Tidbits has interesting, easily-read (and short) posts about stories that are interesting but you may have missed. Its worth subscribing to the RSS feed; posting frequency isn’t consistent but it’s likely that the blog’s articles will generally be interesting to any stamp enthusiast. Stamp Blog Review: “Stamp Collectors Corner” By Eurostamper — February 21, 2008
For example, there have recently been articles about the famous “inverted Jenny” stamp, Ronald Reagan commemorative issues, famous people who were stamp collectors (like Freddie Mercury and Franklin Delano Roosevelt), and more. Many of the longer essays are split into two (or more) days, but even reading both days at once is easy since the articles aren’t too long and are very well written and flow nicely. In fact, most of the blog’s articles are advertisements for stamp collections being sold on the main site, but that doesn’t get in the way of simply reading for pleasure. One could spend a lot of time on this blog, reading through the archives (from May 2006) and learning about little slices of philatelic history. The look is pleasing - bland in the typical Blogger.com style - and navigation is clear-cut (though I had trouble finding my way back to the main page once in the archives; I had to go Back on my browser since there was no link to the current month in the menu, and the header isn’t a link). New articles are posted about once every 2-3 days. There is nothing fancy about the blog, since it is intended chiefly to advertise sales on the main site; but despite itself, the Stamp Collectors Corner blog is absorbing and fun. See comments for "Stamp Blog Review: “Stamp Collectors Corner”" Stamp Blog Review: “Stamp Collecting Roundup” By Eurostamper — February 21, 2008
Site owner Don Schilling is a marketing consultant by day and a stamp collector on the net. He is a member of two stamp clubs in California, as well as the American Philatelic Society. The blog’s archives reach all the way back to March 2005; these days there is a post added daily, usually with a relevant picture and efficient, clear writing. Unusually for blogs, Schilling has his email address and a PO Box in the header, so contacting him is very easy. Another benefit of the blog is its big list of stamp-related links. This is on the right sidebar, in the stock uncluttered-to-the-point-of-anodyne Blogspot layout. A major drawback of the blog is that comments are disabled, totally severing any sense of community or reader participation (though there is an RSS feed of course). Despite this lack of warmth, the blog claims to be #5 in a list of the Top 50 stamp blogs as calculated by www.topstamp.co.uk. The Stamp Collecting Roundup is a well-intentioned, well-executed blog for those interested not only in stamp collecting but postal news and philately in general. See comments for "Stamp Blog Review: “Stamp Collecting Roundup”"
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