Being a prolific and eclectic reader, not having access to the library during the pandemic is killing me! Typically I would go every 2 weeks and take out 5-6 books and a different Scott Catalogue.
Our library has been closed for a month now so I can’t get a stamp catalogue when I’ve finally got time to sort through and sell stamps. (Fortunately I took out 2 just before the shutdown and they are not requiring returns).
I’m thinking this may be time to start moving away from hard copies.
My questions:
1) Does anyone have a subscription to - or have purchased - the online version of the Scott catalogues. If so, thoughts?
2) Does a one live in a district where your local library has the e-versions of the catalogues available for lending? Thoughts? I have asked our library before and was rebuffed, but I’m thinking of going at it again when they reopen.
3) Does anyone know a site or resource where I could get access to the e-catalogues on an ad hoc basis? Does Scott do renting or just selling. I’m thinking of taking a selected country or small group of stamps at a time to get catalogue numbers and values - and think that paying for access on an hourly basis might be worthwhile.
2012 does seem that "ancient" but I don't think any of my family's 6 computers even have CD drives anymore! I wonder if they have gone fully to a monthly subscription cost model like so many other software providers.
Scott stopped selling the CD version but pirated copies (why they stopped) continue to be available.
Based upon a review I saw, the e-edition is just image version of the printed version. There had been complaints about searching. The price near the printed version (likely less the cost of a printed book) as I did check on that. That is, no deals on e-edition. They do offer smaller sections for a reduced price.
What I do not know if it is a purchase where you can continue to see the year you bought forever like a printed book. But it is setup as an annual subscription for latest version.
Dialysis, damned if you do...dead if you don't 13 Apr 2020 10:46:57am
re: Scott Catalogues On-Line
You can always use this http://stampsmarter.com/1847usa/SSLookUpAll.html
This resource has everything you would find in a catalog PLUS additional info like plate numbers, tagging info, and certification info for every US stamp. And it is free.
Don
I tried the online version of Scott's catalogue. They are a pain in the butt to use. You can't save them to your computer, so you have to log in whenever you want to use them. That was my biggest problem with them.
I guess they technically weren't difficult to use, but they weren't the easiest either. After buying the first one about 2 years ago, I called and complained. They let me keep it for a week to see if I would change my mind. I didn't like it, so I called back and they gave me my money back. |
I wanted them to be on my laptop so when I went to a show I could look up information easily if needed. I couldn't do that unless there was access to wifi. Which most places don't have.
They do have good quality pictures though. And it helps that you can enlarge them and the print. But I found they were not for me. I like my catalogues beside me so that I can go from one to another when I need to without fiddling on the computer. Especially if I don't want to sit at the computer while I am working on my stamps.
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"Stamp collectors don't go crazy, they just become unhinged."
A few years ago their catalogues were offered up in an iOS app. Having an iPad, I thought this would be great.
It was downright awful!
I sent them an email with its myriad problems, and they quickly got back to me stating they will look into fixing the app. They never did. Such a shame. Fortunately, Apple refunded the $40 I paid for a catalogue or two. I never bothered with their online offerings as I figured they'd be just as bad.
I have a 2009 set of pdf's, which is fine by me, although I still need to go to stampworld to see what I can't see in Scott's.
the older digital Scott catalogues were wonderful, in terms of practicality at least (the content is Scott, so flawed, unlogical and incomplete). They were fully searchable, which I still find their main asset. Not very long ago, someone gave me a 2017 version, but it turned out to be image based, turning it into a slow loading beast that does not have any extras apart from a listing of the most recent years. In order to make it useable, I extracted the countries I needed with Acrobat Pro, turning them into single files per country and that makes it sort of okay.
If you received a digital 2017 PDF I doubt it came from Scott directly. They stopped issuing PDF versions.
It is my understanding the online versions cannot be saved to your local system except like as a screen print. This is why I would never consider purchasing them along with other user complaints.
I have a 2009 digital Scott Catalogue which is in PDF format. Came on CD and I paid a reasonable price for it. Pretty easy to search for stamps as it has a handy table of contents/Go-To feature for each volume.
President - West Essex Philatelic Society www.wepsonline.org 18 Apr 2020 12:40:41pm
re: Scott Catalogues On-Line
I use them exclusively. I admit that they are a bit clunky especially starting with the 2020 version. I love that I can use them on my phone, on my tablet and on my computer (use most). The search option is not great at all. If a catalog number is less than 1000 and the country is at the end of the book, it is almost impossible to search for the number because you only get about 20 records back in the search results. I sometimes use https://colnect.com/en/stamps to identify the stamps and then go to the catalog number in the catalog to get the value of the stamp.
Versions prior to 2020 allowed you to copy text but not anymore. Also in the prior versions you could "tag" certain stamps and use them as a way to navigate. For example, I used to tag the first U.S. stamps in the catalog for rate changes. This way if I had a 33 cent stamp I was trying to identify, I could just click on the 33 cent tag I created. Can't do that anymore either. I have complained but was told there is nothing that they can do. They had to change vendors because the old one went out of business. Usually products get better when they "upgrade" (which is how they originally sold it). But they definitely went backwards.
That being said, I have been able to figure out how to get around all the negatives and have had a positive experience using them. I just wish they would break out more individual countries Not sure how hard that would be.
Silence in the face of adversity is the father of complicity and collusion, the first cousins of conspiracy.. 19 Apr 2020 09:07:51am
re: Scott Catalogues On-Line
" .... a used set of printed catalogs if you collect worldwide. ...."
That is the way to go, but be cautious about
the shipping cost. A set weighs a short ton.
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".... You may think you understood what you thought I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you think you heard is not what I thought I meant. .... "
A few years ago, a member of the International Society for Japanese Philately (www.isjp.org) self-published a very nice book documenting every prefecture issue.
"Japanese Furusato Stamp Program 1989- 2007 by Cecil H. Uyehara."
"What I would like to find is a catalogue of the Japanese Prefectures with every stamp illustrated"
The "Sakura" catalogue of Japanese stamps does a pretty good job of this, with one noteworthy shortcoming. On sheets where there are, say, 10 different designs, the illustrations aren't large enough to really make out the designs very well.
The Sakura catalogue does have the advantage of breaking out the prefecture issues into a separate section, so they're easier to look through. And for those individual stamps that are part of a sheet of different designs, it might be a helpful strategy to look on StampWorld or Colnet to get a better look at the stamp images themselves. Just a thought, anyway.
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"You gotta put down the duckie if you wanna play the saxophone. (Hoots the Owl -- Sesame Street)"
parkinlot:- Thanks for the info. The trouble I have with Colnect and others is that they do not list the Prefecture stamps by the Prefecture they list them by date issued,
Gibbons list them by individual prefecture but do not show sufficient illustrations.
I thought I found the answer, someone was selling a cd with the prefecture stamps illustrated but again it was by date issued not by prefecture. I may well have to buy it and produce my own catalogue listing by prefecture.
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Thanks Musicman, I did not click on any links but seem to recall somewhere that it was a work in progress.
I have just tried the links but as you say they go nowhere but neither did they trigger my antivirus software.
I'm seeing no details on the Contact, etc. pages either and tested it with three different browsers to no avail. The main page does work just none of the further information type pages.
Sheepshanks:- Yes it would but I had tracked down another company who was selling a cd for $9.00 with the same info. But being a bit lazy and mean with the bawbees I'm still looking for "What I Want, What I Really Really Want. (To quote the Spice Girls)
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"StayAlert.......Control The Virus.......Save Lives."