World's Fastest Stamp Collector

 

Watering the lawn, woodcarving, drinking tea, knitting, and...stamp collecting! The World's Fastest Man, Jamaica's Usain Bolt is featured in this Jardiance commercial, suggesting that living 'slow' is comparable to the drug slowing the progression of Chronic Kidney Disease. 'His' stamp room looks pretty nice. He's got magnifiers, lighting, shelves of albums and a comfortable desk and chair with handy filing system nearby.

Despite the plethora of commercials featuring pickleball-playing, I'm surprised it's not included in this montage of activities perfect for retirees or really anyone who wants to avoid a fast paced lifestyle! 

I give it my stamp of approval!

Topical Breakdown!

I've been getting daily emails from the Mystic Stamp Company. Today's version was all about topicals. (The firm is very ABC. Always Be Collecting, but more importantly Always Be Commercializing. Well, it is a business.) As Mystic puts it,

"Collecting topical postage stamps - stamps grouped by a theme like animals, space, art, or history - is a fun and personal way to enjoy the hobby. Whether you're into trains, birds, lighthouses, or famous inventors, there's a topical collection for it. You’re not bound by countries or eras - you just follow the theme you enjoy. Topical stamp collections are easy to build and can grow at your own pace. Plus, they’re great for display or conversation."

I thought it would be interesting to do a straw-poll; to use the advertising email as a way of showcasing which topics on stamps lend themselves to topical collecting. Here are Mystic's topical offerings, showing the largest pack of each available. Size isn't everything but it does matter - the larger packs show which topicals are the most popular to collectors:

3000:

Animals 

1000:

Olympics

Space 

500:

Disney 

Fish 

Flowers

Paintings 

Ships & Boats 

Transportation

Trains 

300:

Aviation 

Birds 

Butterflies 

Cats 

Horses 

Napoleon Bonaparte

Skiing

Trains

200:

Music 

Skating

Sports 

Triangle-shaped

Winter Sports

100:

Astronauts  (more specific than Space - above)

Autos 

Coat of Arms 

Costumes 

Monkey & Apes 

Movie Stars

Olympics

Princess Diana

Reptiles

Running

Shooting (involves more than Hunting - below)

Stamps on Stamps 

Swimming 

U.S. Presidents (hello, Liberia!)

50:

Aviators

Balloons & Zeppelins

Baseball

Basketball

Bears 

Bees

Bicycles

Boxing

Canoeing & Rowing

Chess 

Elephants 

Hunting

Insects

Maps & Globes

Musical Instruments (more specific than Music - above)

Orchids (more specific than Flowers - above)

Popes 

Prehistoric Animals

Red Cross

Roses

Scouting

Shellfish

Skating

Turtles

Uniforms

Universal Postal Union (this was a surprise)

Water Sports

25:

Architecture 

Camels 

Concorde (the plane) 

Dancing 

Ducks & Geese

Kangaroos

Leopards

Lighthouses

Monkeys & Apes

Sculptures

Unicef

I like the smaller packs. These are very specific and really what topicals are all about. Subspecialty!

Identify USelf!

This looks like a useful site to identify early U.S. - The Swedish Tiger.

Posting here for future reference and use.