For broadcast on CBS Radio Network stations 
November 13-14, 1999:

Be selective.

The Stamp Collecting Report, I'm Lloyd de Vries.

One of the new U-S issues planned for next year will cost 
almost forty dollars: It's a large sheet of space stamps, 
covering everything from letters to Express Mail.

It's re-opened an old debate: How can U-S collectors 
maintain complete collections with all the stamps that are 
being issued, some of them high values? Isn't the Postal 
Service being greedy, extracting its pound of flesh from 
stamp collectors? And doesn't all this discourage kids 
from collecting stamps?

The simple answer is, don't strive for completeness. If some 
stamps bust your budget, don't collect them. Re-define your 
collection. Some collectors draw the line at an arbitrary 
year -- often 1940, the centennial of the postage stamp, and 
only collect issues before that year. Or you could collect 
only letter-rate stamps, or -- as in my case -- "stamps that 
I like."

Being complete really doesn't make your collection more 
valuable, so if countries are issuing too many stamps or 
stamps that are too expensive....don't buy 'em.

And that's stamp collecting this week. 

I'm Lloyd de Vries, CBS News.

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