Scott Classic

Next Scott Classic post

A second thread of this blog is the filling of a pair of Scott Classic Albums. As noted in the intro post, I spend most, but not all of my stamp time on first issues. Some of the other pursuits are:

• all affordable stamps 1840-1940
• the French Marianne stamps
• GB definitives
• GB Victorias with my initials
• various thematics

I have been collecting classics for about a decade in an old and tatty one-volume Scott and for Christmas had a nearly virginal two volume set.

I need to build slip cases for them, then gradually transfer my current stocks and develop a strategy for filling them. The strategy I have in mind is twofold:

1. Random additions from the occasional Bexley PhilSoc world boxes, and
2. Concentrate on one country at a time, probably starting with GB, then Egypt.

At some point I will list all the countries in the albums as that will be useful online - some of the smaller entries are tucked into strange places in my 1-vol edition.

A couple of useful links:

• Big Blue - the definitive Scott Classic blog.
• Dead Countries

Progress on displays 11 & 12

[previously in First Issues notes]

Links to: Display 11 / Display 12

I thought I might document the processes involved in building the pages and monitor how long it takes. 
Here's a list of the processes:

1. Write a table of the countries/regions from the Guinness Pages, noting the name, year of issue and category (Indian state, Portuguese colony etc.). 25th Nov - about 2 hours' work
2. Check this against FICC, noting any additions, adjudicating any discrepancies and adding the precise date of issue. check completed 1st Dec, another couple of hours
3. Decide on an order for the entries (roughly country by date, but group the states/provinces together and make any other logical or convenient adjustments). 8 Dec another couple of hours
4. Split the list into two Displays of about eight pages each (that has worked so far). 8 Dec items 4&5 on the first display, 4 hours
5. Build the displays in Word. 9 Dec first draft of D11 complete, another 5 hours. 20 Dec draft of D§2 complete, 8 hours - rather more fiddly and in need of adjustment than D11. Next step, check against First Firsts and add as necessary.
   • The text should include the whereabouts of the country (unless it's obvious, e.g. Canada, France) and its attachments, for example if it is colony or it has colonies or provinces that will be listed separately.
   • Also note any special characteristics of the stamps to be shown, for example: missing any of the basic types; any First Firsts; any particularly expensive stamps that will be replaced by substitutes. 22 Dec - Not much of note, In D11, North Borneo has the fourth stamp using three languages and East Timor has the first stamp with microprinting, but the latter should be mentioned in the 2002 entry. Nothing for D12. 20 mins to complete.
   • Build boxes for the stamps and their descriptions, all the same size initially.
   • Check Scott for any late additions to the list.
   • Print this as a draft [22 Dec - done to here, now a fun part] and gather all the stamps already stocked. [completed 26th Dec, 3 hours]
   • Adjust the box sizes to the actual stamps, taking a guess from the catalogue entry for those not owned [31Dec, actual stamps measured (1 hour)]; [12Jan D11 complete, 2 hours];  13Jan D12 another couple].
   • Remove the box borders and print the word document on exhibition paper [13Jan 15 mins for the boxes and 10 for a quick visual check, then print].
6. Add stamp mounts to the pages and move in the stamps. [25Jan, completed today, about 5 hours to mount both displays and half an hour too scan them.]
7. Create the draft web pages in Dreamweaver to match the Displays. [13Jan skip step 6 for now and make a start on the web pages as that's more fun.]
8. Transfer the contents of the Word document to the web pages, first the entity names and the text, then fiddle with the boxes and the descriptors. [17Jan 4 or 5 hours over the last couple of days creating the pages and pasting in the main text. Now working on the fiddly bit, correcting the box layout and and adding the detail (2 pages take around half-an-hour).]
9. Scan the paper pages and create images of all the stamps then add these to the web pages. [Scanned 25 Jan. 26Jan, first two pages of D11 completed in about an hour, then a couple of hours more to extract the rest of the D11 images. 27Jan 4 hours for the D12 image extracts and 28Jan 3 hours to complete the pages]
10. Add any necessary links between pages. Add the backs of pages. [backs 2nd Feb 15 mins the various links get added over time as I spot them.]
11. Update the index pages. [29 Jan about four hours over two days for D11. This job is surprisingly enjoyable, although the states and provinces entries do get rather fiddly. 30Jan 3 hours for D12.]
12. Update the wants list. [2Feb quite time-consuming, incorporating new and old and getting the prices, but the Dreamweaver Excel to HTML conversion is a joy. 6 hours.]
13. Create the Thumbnails, the Summary pages and update the Scores. [4Feb Start the Thumbnails - a couple of hours to build the composite images and build the four web pages . 7Feb a new plan on the Summary pages - build them online rather than on paper. I'll go back and do this from the beginning. 9Feb I had to rebuild the Scores, having lost the original spreadsheet: about 8 hours.]

9Feb D11 & D12 are about complete, apart from miscellaneous links.

Intro

This is about stamps.
Although most of my collecting is about first issues, I hadn't intended to call the blog that, but, finding it available, did so.
I am currently building my third web site on first issues:

• the first, started around 2002, was abandoned in favour of 
• a new format, based on the list in Mackay's Guinness Book of Stamps. This listing was started in May 2003, completed in June 2004 then gradually updated as the stamps were found. I eventually ran out of steam on that, but
• started again in 2013 with a new, more narrative listing which currently covers 1840-1880, the format being based on a series of 8-page displays.

I have been running a notes page alongside the build which will probably be replaced by this blog.

Apart from first issues, I collect a few themes and all sensibly-priced stamps from 1840-1940, those covered by the Scott Classic catalogue. This blog is mostly prompted by the arrival today of a new(ish) 2-volume Scott album, this year's Christmas present. I intend to keep some notes here on progress with the albums.

The first task (when I get them in a couple of weeks) will be to build slip covers as they came without and they cost a fortune.