Comments on: Damn unsoakable stamps (or if you can’t soak them… )

By: Carol Miller

Carol Miller — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 02:19:41 +0000

Keijo–Thanks for your comments! Canadian self-adhesives do seem to be OK over time, but I notice with some countries (notably Brazil), the stamps either fall off or the glue makes a mess (and falls off). I have one rather pathetic example of this, and am not sure what to do with the stamp (right now, it’s languishing in a little drawer!). The last thing I want is to have the glue seep on to other stamps.
I see no reason why catalogues cannot just have a symbol or something to show a stamp cannot be soaked by conventional means. Surely the editors would be aware of this problem.
I might decide to use up my mint self-adhesives and just keep the nice non-self-adhesives (Canada Post issues a few each year and does make some effort in this regard). But I keep thinking they might be rare one day!

By: Keijo

Keijo — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 12:57:06 +0000

@Carol Miller… I so much agree that a some kind of service to keep track of what is soakable/non-soakable should exist. I know there are few online resources (mainly for US stamps), but they are somewhat incomplete / inaccurate IMHO. I’d definitely love to see the information put into catalogs.

I will not use toxic or foul-smelling chemicals to get paper mess off, because it is ridiculous to be forced to go to those extremes just to get a stamp off the paper.

Spot on!

I also wonder how I should store my mint self-adhesives. I’ll probably end up using hinges and sticking them into an album, since it won’t damage the stamps at all.

I don’t know how Canadian self-adhesives behave on the long run, but the Finnish self-adhesives from 1990s and early 2000 seem to “dry” in about decade (causing stamps to fall, or the glue to turns stiff, or glue eat it’s way through paper).

By: Carol Miller

Carol Miller — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 02:44:44 +0000

I, too, find the unsoakables to be a right pain. I would like to have a list of which recent USA (and other countries which do this) stamps CAN be soaked! I just cut around the stupid things and stick them in as is. I thought the observation that these stamps could become scarce in years to come to be quite insightful. I will not use toxic or foul-smelling chemicals to get paper mess off, because it is ridiculous to be forced to go to those extremes just to get a stamp off the paper.
I believe that the post offices around the world who do this to collectors are simply hammering nails into their own coffins. People re-use stamps by sticking them back on envelopes even with the paper on them. The hobby will become increasingly unpopular.
Another thing I have become disgusted with is the number of countries in which a person cannot even acquire special (commemorative) stamps at local post offices. This inflates the prices of used stamps and ‘forces’ collectors to pay post offices 100% profit to acquire nice stamps because they have to collect mint.
I am glad Canada (my country) has thus far a decent policy and issues only soakable stamps. I hope this continues.
I also wonder how I should store my mint self-adhesives. I’ll probably end up using hinges and sticking them into an album, since it won’t damage the stamps at all. But it’s bulky!

By: Keijo

Keijo — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 20:07:40 +0000

Progress, such as it is, will continue with or without us.

Well put…
But that doesn’t stop me from trying to build a small resistance / rebellion from time to time After all, it’s about as essential part of progress as the progress itself.

By: Ken

Ken — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 17:17:55 +0000

Keijo – First, thank you for this excellent website. I agree with your general “if you don’t enjoy it, don’t collect it” statement.

I am 34 years old and a new collector, having decided to take it back up after recalling the USPS topical collecting kits my mother would bring me from the post office as a kid, and noticing that getting mail with ANY stamps on it was becoming more and more rare. I decided to start collecting BECAUSE I think it is something to preserve, and because I may live to see the end (or a huge reduction) in our postal service as we know it.

I am particularly interested in collecting used stamps, and save all of the incoming covers at my small government office. All of the stamps, of course, are unsoakable.

I have tried the lighter-fluid method with time-consuming success. I have a can of Bestine waiting for some of my free time as well. I enjoy the “forensic collecting” feel of carefully removing the stamps from paper this way.

I suspect I am in a huge minority here, mostly because of my age and experience, but I choose to collect the unsoakables BECAUSE I think they will be rare over time, due to the majority of older collectors deciding NOT to bother collecting them.

I see this same resistance in other hobbies as well. The technology of stamp-making changes. While I’m not interested in collecting QR-coded print-on-demand meter-tapes, I do think that not collecting unsoakables ‘because they’re different’ is shortsighted from a pure-collecting viewpoint. Besides, I think many of the recent unsoakables are simply beautiful, and worth adding to my albums, if only to look at.

That said, I return to Keijo’s general point, and agree. If you don’t like them, don’t collect them. In fact, you can send them to me, a new collector who will make a nice home for them There is no point, however, in maligning them, or trying to fight the already cash-strapped postal authorities of the world. Progress, such as it is, will continue with or without us.