Topical stamp collecting: topical
stamps tell a story

The Internet is a wonderful starting point to begin your topical stamp collecting hobby. You can report unusual topical collections here.

Visit some sites of collectors around the world and you'll find collections with birds on stamps, ship-themed stamps, famous people on stamps, flags on topical stamps, and so on. Or get involved with some online discussion groups about postal stamp collecting and get to know other topical collectors around the world, learn from them and help one another.

What is topical or thematic collecting?

Topical collecting is hot these days. More and more people are collecting stamps that are relating to a particular subject or theme, from windmills to animal stamps, cars, religion, or famous personalities. People find topical collecting fun and educational.

You can create your own topical albums on a computer. The scope of your topical collection is totally up to you. You can collect topical stamps purely for your own pleasure and you can classify the stamps as you want. It's vital that you select a topic or theme that fascinates you and that you're passionate about.

When you talk to topical collectors you'll learn that's important to pick a clearly defined niche of collecting. You need to think about how wide or small your topic will be. A very broad field of collecting like animals or famous people can be made more unique by dividing into several specialized topics. So don't collect the entire field, but narrow it down and bring in some focus.

Your topical stamps tell a story

Topical stamp collections tell a narrative when displayed in a creative way. Whether it are global stamps, picture stamps, vintage stamps, foreign stamps, disney stamps, or fish-themed stamps, think about how you present your stamps to tell your story, you can add new items easily, and present it to other collectors in an attractive way. So be creative!

Want to get some ideas? Read an online stamp catalogue, ask your fellow topical collectors at Yahoo Answers or other community sites and discussion groups. The American Topical Association has an excellent website as well with a lot of information. And stamp dealers often show and present their stamps listed by topic on their websites. Google on “topical stamps” and you'll find them.

Do you know unusual topical collections?
Share them here!

Every now and then the topical collectors community reports about odd themes that have been selected as subjects on which to base a topical stamp collection. A dentist, for example, collected stamps depicting teeth (skeletons and people smiling). Or a sailor who collected stamps of ships sailing westward.

Do you know about some unusual topical collections?

Report them here. Fine topical collections have been formed on themes like the ones mentioned above and others including lighthouses, police services, transport, tourism, artists, christmas themes, bridges, architecture, dancing, poetry, science, just to name a few. Please, c'mon in and share your examples of unusual topical collections.

Have a great example of an odd thematic collection?

Do you have a great example of an unusual topical or thematic collection? Share it!

Your unusual topical collections

Click on the links below to read other visitors' unusual topical collections.