To page or not to page...

That is the question. Whether tis nobler to make ones own pages, or to use a pre-printed album? So, my Shakespeare may not be the greatest (I was never a fan), but the question is serious. I use the White Ace album for my tab collection, but just recently I found out that Lindner makes a Minisheet album, as well as an album for the Klussendorf stamps. Both of these are rather pricey. Does anyone use them? How complete is the Klussendorf album? Right now, I am using a SuperSafe sheet album to hold my mini-sheets, is there any reason to switch to the Lindner minisheet album?

April new issues are going to get expensive

Judging by the new lots appearing on E-bay this week, Israel released a bunch of new items. First, there is a second printing of the Fruits of Israel booklet, as well as the 30ag Menorah self adhesive sheet. This is followed by the SEVENTH printing of The Israeli booklet. There is also a new SIMA label, a continuation of the Birds of Israel series. There is also a set of 3 sheets for Innovations in Israel. These sheets were issued for a show in China, and have 2 labels in the middle of the sheet, which means I will likely need the full sheets for my collection. Next is a joint issue of Canada-Israel friendship. Since the Canada side of this issue is a booklet of 6, I imagine the joint FDC's will be a bit on the pricey side. Then comes an issue for the 150th anniversary of the birth of Herzl. It looks like there is a souvenir sheet for this, as well as a special generic sheet that was issued in a very small quantity (10,000). In addition, there are several normal issues, such as Memorial Day and a September 11th memorial stamp. I am not looking forward to the invoice on my new issues.

Weekend recap

Julie and I attended the Easter Seals stamp show in Sacramento on Sunday. The day started with Julie waking up at 7am and asking if it was time to leave yet. I managed to get her to wait until 9am, but she was raring to go. We got to the show about 15 minutes before the doors opened, another delay that Julie did not appreciate. But, we made it through that and into the show. We spent the next four hours going from table to table, looking at all the stamps, and filling up 2 pint buckets with Julies finds. And in another repeat of last year, Julie would not even think of leaving the show to grab lunch, she insisted on having a hot dog at the show.

Since I was unable to find anything for me at the show, I spent a few minutes going through the latest APS stamp circuit that had arrived on Saturday. I found a copy of the Mizpe Ramon self adhesive booklet with a different phosphor variety then the one that was in my collection. This sent me digging through my Bale catalog trying to figure out if this was a new variety. Turns out that the phosphor varieties are described, but not in the booklet section. The details are in the definitive specialized section. I now have both a 3 line and an 8 line phosphor booklets. The notes for this issue also mention a copy with a barcode. Neither of the copies I have include this barcode. Anyone have a spare?

In the same circuit book, there was a Hyacinth booklet. The catalog indicates 2 separate prints for this booklet as well, one with phosphor all over, and one with 2 phosphor lines. Neither the booklet in my collection, nor the one in the circuit book, showed any indication of phosphor under my UV light. Are there any other differences in the booklets?

Still here...

I am still here. Just have not had anything interesting to say about my collection recently. No major purchases, and very few minor purchases. I don't even have a lot of interesting items on my watch list on E-bay. I will be attending the Easter Seals show in Sacramento next weekend (Julie got a postcard about it, and is ready to go!). Westpex is at the end of the month, but it doesn't look like I will be going. I took a look at the dealer list, and it doesn't look like there will be any dealers there that are worth the two and a half hour drive (each way), $5 in admission, $5 in parking, and $8 in tolls.

Definitive Plate Block update

Back in this post from June 2008, I listed a summary of the completeness of my plate block date collection. I figure it is time for an update:

1. Provisionals-7 needed of 42
2. Zodiac - 22 needed of 124
3. Town Emblems - 45 needed of 161
4. Landscapes - 6 needed of 169
5. Town Airmails - 4 needed of 22
6. Bird Airmails - 7 needed of 18
7. Olive branch - 8 needed of 27
8. Herzl - 31 needed of 47
9. Archaeology - 16 needed of 37
10. Sunflower - 5 needed of 6
11. Good Wishes - 24 needed of 41
12. Architecture - 3 needed of 14
13. Anemone - 22 needed of 23
14. Songbirds - 8 needed of 34
15. Sports - 14 needed of 37
16. Shrulik - 1 needed of 9
17. Hyacinth - 3 needed of 11
18. Historic Buildings - 1 needed of 15
19. Greetings - 9 needed of 10
20. Gagea Commutate - 1 needed of 9

As you can see, the list grew quite a bit. I have been able to fill in many of the earlier plate blocks that I needed, but the later plate blocks are still pretty sparse. I do have lots of duplicates to trade if anyone else is in the same situation.

List of special cancels needed

Here is the complete list of what I need:

1 First Day of Doar Ivri Stamps
5/16/1948
Haifa and Tel Aviv
2 First Day of Festival Stamps
9/26/1948
Haifa and Tel Aviv
3 10th Congress of the Maccabi World Organizatiom
12/27/48 Tel Aviv
12/28/48 Tel Aviv
12/30/48 Tel Aviv
12/31/48 Tel Aviv
4 Welcome to the Released from Cyprus
1/28/49 Jerusalem
5 The Constituent Assembly of the State of Israel
2/16/1949
Jerusalem and Tel Aviv
7 Tabul First National Stamp Exhibition
5/1/49 Tel Aviv
5/3/49 Tel Aviv
9 The Zionist Executive Council
5/5/49 Jerusalem
10 Israel Becomes a Member of the UNO
5/13/49
Jerusalem and Tel Aviv
12 70th Anniversary of Petah Tiqwa
8/10/1949 Petah Tiqva
13 Foundation Conference of the Mizrahi World League
8/14/1949 Jerusalem
14 18th World Conference of the Mizrahi
8/14/49 Jerusalem
8/15/49 Jerusalem
8/16/49 Jerusalem
8/17/49 Jerusalem
8/18/49 Jerusalem
8/19/49 Jerusalem
15 Arrival of the Remains of Dr. Herzl in Israel
8/17/1949 Jerusalem
16 Inauguration of the Israel Railways
8/21/1949
Jerusalem and Haifa
20 Centennial of the Birth of Dr. Nordau
11/7/1949 Jerusalem
22 Jewish Child's Day
2/19/1950 Jerusalem
26 Maiden Flight Lydda-NY
6/25/1950 Lydda Aerodrome
27 Israel Touring Club - Error in Hebrew Date
8/24/1950 Ramat Gan
28 60th Anniversary of Rehovot
9/28/1950 Rehovot
38 Navy Day
5/29/1951 Haifa
38 Navy Day - Arabic crossed out
5/29/1951 Haifa
39 Anniversary of the Death of Herzl
7/24/1951 Haifa
47 National Stamp Exhibition
4/15/52 Haifa
4/16/52 Haifa
216 Rememberence Day for the Holocaust and Heroism
5/5/1959 Tel Aviv
313 UNO Day
10/24/1962 Tel Aviv
419 Christmas, Noel
12/24/1966 Nazareth
431 Hebrew Book Week
5/8/1966 Tel Aviv
434 Tel Aviv Fair
6/21/1968 Tel Aviv
898 Israqua 78 Exhibition and International Convention on Water Systems and Applications
6/5/1978 Tel Aviv
899 Israel Technology and Metal Industry Week
6/5/1978 Jerusalem
1011 Post Office Opening in Qatsrin
3/11/1982 Qatsrin
1068 Tel Aviv 83
9/29/1983 Tel Aviv
1195 50th Anniversary of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra
12/18/1986 Tel Aviv
1383 120th Anniversary of Nahalat Shivah
9/12/1989 Yerushalayim
1384 70th Anniversary of the Chamber of Commerce
9/13/1989 Tel Aviv
1385 30th Anniversary of the Employment Service
9/24/1989 Caesarea
1386 60th Anniversary of Netanya
9/27/1989 Netanya
1387 40th Anniversary of Haifa Symphony Orchestra
10/3/1989 Haifa
1388 National Stamp Exhibition for Youth Philately
10/12/1989 Tel Aviv
1389 Religious Services Week
10/15/1989 Yerushalayim
1393 Philatelic Day
10/17/1989 Yerushalayim
1394 Archaeology in Jerusalem
10/17/1989 Yerushalayim
1638 Blich Alumni Convention
6/3/1993 Ramat Gan
1672 Special Pictorial Cancellation for the Christian Holiday Season
11/16/1993 Nazareth
1707 The Hebrew Book Week
6/8/1994
Yerushalayim , Ramat Gan, Afula, Ashqelon, Tel Aviv, Haifa
1788 Hebrew Book Week
6/7/1995
Ashqelon, Tel Aviv, Yerushalayim, Afula, Haifa, Ramat Gan
1849 Hebrew Book Week
6/5/1996
Ashqelon, Ramat Gan, Yerushalayim, Haifa, Beer Sheva, Afula
1850 Stamp a Story Stamp Exhibition
6/9/1996 Bat Yam
1851 Capex 96 - Greetings from Israels Philatelists
6/9/1996 Tel Aviv
1870 Beer Sheva Philatelic Club Stamp Exhibition
9/29/1996 Beer Sheva
1873 Hanukkah
10/22/1996 Jerusalem
1875 Hashiloah Periodical
12/5/1996 Jerusalem
1876 Coexistence: Man & Animals
12/5/1996 Tel Aviv
1877 Equal Opportunities for the Disabled
12/5/1996 Tel Aviv
1878 Philately Day Space Research in Israel
12/5/1996 Haifa
1893 Ceremony of the Inaugural Flight
1/6/1997 Haifa
1913 Sport Abseiling
4/30/1997 Yam Hamelah
1923 Hebrew Book Week
6/12/1997
Ramat Gan, Tel Aviv, Haifa, Jerusalem, Beer Sheva
1958 Bat Ami Fair for Voluntary National Service
1/20/1998 Jerusalem
1979 Israeli Air Force Museum
5/13/1998 Hatserim
1983 World Stamp Exhibition - Mosaic
5/13/1998 Tel Aviv
1984 World Stamp Exhibition
5/13/1998 Tel Aviv
5/14/1998 Tel Aviv
5/15/1998 Tel Aviv
5/16/1998 Tel Aviv
5/17/1998 Tel Aviv
5/18/1998 Tel Aviv
5/19/1998 Tel Aviv
5/20/1998 Tel Aviv
5/21/1998 Tel Aviv
1987 Postal and Philatelic Museum
5/13/1998 Tel Aviv
1995 Israel 98 - Computer Day
5/19/1998 Tel Aviv
2000 Jordan Valley 30 years
6/3/1998 Arvot Hayarden
2001 Hamilton 98
5/31/1998 Hamilton
2023 World Philatelic Exhibition Italia 98
10/23/1998 Milano
2025 Jewish Contribution to World Culture in the Modern Era
12/1/1998 Rehovot
2026 Continuity of Jewish Life in Eretz Israel
12/1/1998 Zefat
2027 Hanukka
12/1/1998 Modiin
2028 Philately Day 1
12/1/1998 Tel Aviv
2055 Preservation of Historic Sites
4/18/1999 Binyamina
2091 Christmas Noel 2000
12/24/1999 Nazareth
2103 Globus Millenium
1/1/2000 Jerusalem
2155 Science Fiction - Rocket to the Moon
12/5/2000 Tel Aviv
2185 Greetings from Israels Philatelists to Belgica 01
6/10/2001 Tel Aviv
2192 Ohilanippon World Stamp Exhibition - Children Paint Dreams
7/17/2001 Jerusalem
2325 Greetings from Israel's Philatelists to Espnana 2004
5/23/2004 Tel Aviv
2352 18th Philatelic Conference
12/14/2004 Tel Aviv
2454 Qiryat Tivon
1/7/2007 Qiryat Tivon
2462 Centenary of world Scouting, the emblem of the movement
4/17/2007 Tel Aviv

Postmark Pursuit

For the last few years, I have been collecting Israel cancels. I have been focusing on the Special Event cancels. Between the Israel Post catalog and the IPF website, I have developed a list of more than 2600 special event cancels. Of these, I have over 2500, and my want list is down to only 122 items. Of these 122, 28 are from 1948-1949. I actually have several of these 28 cancels in my FDC collection, but I need another copy to put in my cancel collection. I am near complete for the 1950's, missing only 10 cancels for the decade, 3 of which are actually listed as cancels with errors that were replaced with fixed versions. I am even better in the 1960's and 1970's, missing a mere 4 cancels for the1960's and 2 for the 1970's. I am missing an even dozen from the 1980's, 9 of which are from 1989. I am not sure why I am missing so many from 1989, I just haven't seen them for sale yet I guess. Then come the 1990's. I am missing 58 from the 1990's, 23 of these are from Hebrew Book week (94, 95, and 97). The cancel was used in multiple cities each year, and apparently was not sent to subscribers as part of the standing orders. I am also missing 11 cancels from the Israel 98 show. To round out the want list, I am missing 8 from the 2000's.

I do also have a ton of duplicates, so if anyone wants to trade, let me know.