CTO overload? Unboxing and examining my World Stamp Album Purchase. [Ep22]

[@KylesStamps]

That's a nice little album! That is a lot of really nice animal stamps that would bolster a topical collection for sure. You do well editing these videos, I know very well just how much time it actually takes to put all those little snippets on the video. I try to limit that stuff because I don't want to spend all of my time editing, especially since my videos can be so long. I could kill most of a day trying to edit all that stuff in. It does add a nice touch and I appreciate the effort you make to do so. Keep up the good work :)

[@GreatStampAdventure]

Thank you, Kyle! Yes, I don't think the album is a total lost in any way. I will most probably use the African and wild life thematical stamps. I certainly spend far too much time on editing! More than I should. I think it is my style - I lean towards doing that. I also want to "teach" people. In my nature. But, not just the work and the time therein, but I am also afraid I am killing the spontaneity of the video. However, I am not a natural speaker and I really find I need to twist and tweak the videos. Yes, you will spend all your time editing if you try to add so much stuff to your videos.😆 🙂 I don't think it will fit your relaxed style anyway. It is if one is going through the stamps with you, not looking from the outside. Anyway, I am rambling on. To be honest, I don't know how to do it differently. 🙃🙂

[@ostevoostevo1592]

I enjoy watching your videos too Kyle!

[@peterhugo2078]

Please don’t change your style of presenting these videos. I find it both charming and engaging the way you edit in interesting context pictures and videos into the finished video. I appreciate all the hard work you must do in order to give us such an entertaining reaction video. The album is good value for money in my opinion. The stamps are mainly cheap and common with the odd interesting stamp here and there but you did not pay a lot for it so it was still a good buy I feel. I could easily pick a few hundred stamps from it that I would like to keep even though they would not be especially valuable. So well done for getting such a nice album of stamps at a very modest price and for creating such an enjoyable video for us to watch. Thank you 🙏.

[@jeffsstamps]

Hi Charnie A what a great find !! Love love these stamps and so interesting to see these stamps from different countries and regions !!! I love the Sth Africa, Africa and Zambia stamps - so colourful !!!!

[@GreatStampAdventure]

Hello Jeff! I liked to browse through this album. There were lovely stamps on almost every page. I was just taken aback a bit by the huge amount of CTOs. The African stamps have luckily very few CTOs, at least in this album. Stamps from African countries, and especially those with fauna and flora on them remain some of my most favourite stamps. Thanks for watching!!!!!!!

[@sylvaindore3190]

Very nice findings! Great stamps you got there. You can learn so much from them. Thank you for sharing.

[@GreatStampAdventure]

Hi Sylva! Thanks for watching and for your comment. It means a tremendous lot for the channel and to me! One can truly learn a tremendous lot about history and even a country's soul from stamps!!! I wish I had time to concentrate on each country and appreciate the stamps and all the new knowledge. There is just so much! Thanks again for watching! 🙂

[@danielste-marie779]

Charnie, For what you paid I think you got a good deal, even with all those CTOs. I really like the chimp on the bike.

[@GreatStampAdventure]

Hi Dan! Thanks for watching and commenting! I hope you are doing excellently! I was not sure if it was a good deal, but I am certainly going to definitely use some of the stamps, and since I am essentially just starting out, I especially have very few stamps from Africa, and most of the African stamps I will not have. I immediately like the chimp on the bike as well - so cheerful. 🙂 Take care!

[@ThreeStunStamps]

I can always feel your excitement with the way you describe your new collections! Another great video and great album as well! ❤❤❤

[@GreatStampAdventure]

Hi ThreeStunStamps! I am actually really getting excited about the stamps! I am truly hooked and enjoy them very much. Thanks for watching and for your kind comment about the video!!! ❤🙂

[@happybunny1329]

Such a beautiful collection of stamps! I love the botanical gardens stamps from Romania and the bats from Zambia. Try not to pay any attention to the CTO snobs - they are missing out on so much. I enjoy stamps for the beauty of the design and aesthetics, and I don't care whether they are used, mint or CTO - they are all the same beautiful stamp! Thanks for such an enjoyable video. :)

[@GreatStampAdventure]

Hello Happybunny! You are like a friend visiting again. :) Thank you again for watching and commenting. It means a lot to me! I also thought many of the stamps are lovely!!! And in general the collection was very clean and neat. I really liked the botanical gardens and bats as well. You are right, stamps are beautiful, and a special beautiful stamp is that, doesn't matter in what format. CTO snobs ... :))))) It doesn't feel to me as if I should regard CTO stamps as real stamps, but there are very nice and attractive stamps among them! I think in a thematic collection they will definitely make a contribution. I really appreciate it that you enjoyed the video! I am never certain whether I should even post a video. Special wishes to you!

[@happybunny1329]

@@GreatStampAdventure It's always fun to visit you. :) You're right, the CTOs lend themselves perfectly to thematic collections. I guess that's sort of how I collect them, though I hadn't thought about it like that. My collection is currently a bit disorganised as I can't afford a lot of stockbooks, so there's only some stamps in books and albums, and the rest in envelopes. I'm sort of trying to solve this problem by buying used stockbooks with stamps in them, but of course, this has its limitations as I still have to find somewhere to put the stamps from the stockbook! Have a nice day. I'm off to sleep soon here in UK. :)

[@GreatStampAdventure]

Thanks for your reply. :) I am more or less in the same situation with stockbooks as you. I also still have to sort most of the stamps I bought over the last year. Sometimes it feels a bit overwhelmingly, but I also enjoy sorting and the potential of many more sorting waiting. :) @@happybunny1329

[@peterhugo2078]

I really liked the British Commonwealth African stamps particularly Zambia and it’s beautiful wildlife stamps. They are all genuinely used and some of them do have value particularly the higher denomination stamps. They are the highlight to me and make the collection very worthwhile.

[@GreatStampAdventure]

Hallo again, Peter. Thanks for the comment about the Zambian stamps. I also love the African countries' wildlife stamps. They are a pure joy to look at. Thanks about your comment about the value of the stamps, both in monetary value and otherwise. I still know so little about stamps in general and about their value. I am pretty much still a beginner collector. I love to gain new knowledge!

[@TengriWorldwideCollectib-rj2fm]

Dear Charnie!!! Some great stamps in this huge album!!! Congrats to a great purchase!!!!

[@GreatStampAdventure]

Thank you again tremendously for watching and commenting, Nikolai / Roman. I was very glad about the African and fauna and flora stamps in this album. 🙂

[@10camiel]

Nice to see your exploring the world of stamps and video editing. In both you made great steps. Thx for your enthusiasm!

[@GreatStampAdventure]

Thanks so much for watching @10camiel , and thanks for your kind comment! I am truly enjoying the stamps, and making the videos as well. The latter is a bit of a challenge, though.

[@send2georgie_S2G]

Wow that’s quite the haul there Charnie. I do like how the albums are organized. Thanks for sharing and happy collecting 😊✌🏻

[@GreatStampAdventure]

Thanks, S2G, for watching and for commenting and the happy wishes! 🙂 I also like the almost more thematic organisation of this album. Happy collecting and happy traveling to you!

[@serga76.bodrov]

Good evening Shani a great purchase good material for the collection watched your video with pleasure

[@GreatStampAdventure]

Hallo Sergey, really thank you again for watching and commenting! Yes, I will be able to use quite a lot of the stamps especially for my wildlife thematic collection. I wish you a wonderful festive season!

[@ConiferElements]

There are so many beautiful stamps in this collection. Thank you for showing it on your channel.

[@GreatStampAdventure]

It is a huge pleasure! I really liked many of the stamps as well. Thanks for watching!!!

[@FunAtHomeCollectibles]

Great looking Album Charnie - some really nice stamps in there. Another really informative and interesting video. Hope you've had a great start to the new year !! Have an awesome day!! From Fun At Home (Hot Wheels, Lego, Cards, Stamps & collectables)

[@GreatStampAdventure]

Thank you so, so, so much for watching and commenting!!!!! I am glad you liked the video. You must have a wonderful weekend! 🙂

[@FunAtHomeCollectibles]

@@GreatStampAdventure I have done - cheers Charnie.

[@thatdadguy1974]

Congrats on another great find. I particularly like the Newfoundland stamps.

[@GreatStampAdventure]

Thanks, Rob, and thanks so much for watching! And to think I did not even know about Newfoundland until collecting stamps!

[@schuey089]

Hey Charnie good to see you back again, nice album of stamps, plenty of thematics! I think you paid about right for the album! Take care of yourself!

[@GreatStampAdventure]

Hi Schuey!!!!! I think the number of thematic stamps and stamps from African countries largely sort of saved the album to be a total dud. 🙂 I am glad you don't think I paid much too much for the album. It was a bit on the expensive side for me. I also bought only the one item from the dealer, and therefore paid postage for one item. I try to avoid that. Thanks so much for watching and commenting again!

[@jerrystamps]

Some beautiful stamps in the album, you do get a lot of cto's in some albums, I know I have done in the past, the Mongolian stamps are nice too.

[@GreatStampAdventure]

Hello Jerry. Nice to see you here! I must still work through all the albums I bought. This was the album with the most CTOs I saw so far. But for me the African stamps (much less CTOs among them) and the wild life stamps made up for the CTOs. I am still very unsure about how to regard CTOs - with utter disdain, or see some worth in them. I also like the Mongolian stamps. Interesting images and beautiful colours. Special good wishes to you! 🙂

[@jerrystamps]

@@GreatStampAdventure hello, I myself am not very keen on cto's but unfortunately some countries produce a lot to gain more revenue, some are quite nice but some are terrible and poor quality. Best wishes to you also.

[@dawidswart123]

I agree with you, that you got some nice stamps in this album. Thank for another nice post.

[@GreatStampAdventure]

Thank you for watching and for your comment, Dawid. I appreciate it so much. Yes, I will definitely be able to use some of the stamps in the collections I plan to focus on. 🙂

[@MarkDyck]

Great video, Charnie! I wouldn't worry too much about CTOs. If you're going to buy large lots of mid-20th century stamps for low prices, you're going to get lots and lots of them. Those are the stamps that made the packet trade viable and created the beginner worldwide collections back then, and those packets / collections fill ebay etc. today. You seem to like the big colourful stamps, and 99% of them are found in CTO form. So feel good about what you enjoy! 💖 PS - if I'm reading this incorrectly and you do want to form postally used collections, you might need to look for specific country collections formed by serious collectors, collect more postal history, and avoid those CTO heavy countries / time periods. They'll cost more per lot but you can expect more detail around what is included in the lot.

[@GreatStampAdventure]

Hi Mark, thank you for your excellent comment, as always! About what I like: I think I am still all over the place. I like fine detail and good art, thus I think my very favourite, especially when studying a stamp, are the classic engraved stamps. I do like the larger versions, though, because the art is then so apparent, like those mountain stamps in the album. I do like bling and large as well, and with bright, or muted colours, but colourful with good choice of colours. . .... I think I like almost all stamps, except possibly the stamps with photos and obviously money making stamps, like some of the art pieces stamps. I largely bought this album for the African stamps, but did not know beforehand it will have so many CTOs and generic stamps. I do look recent, new stamps as well up to the most recent issues. See, all over the place. 😄 I do have an uneasy feeling about CTO stamps. Up to now I did not mind too much about what I bought. Anything that had some sort of appeal for me or has stamps that I so far decided to focus on, like African countries stamps, and where I could get LOTS of stamps. I also realized from now on I need to carefully plan and decide about the road ahead, and that I must especially sort through all the large amounts of stamps I already have to try and pin point what I really want. ... You gave me EXCELLENT advise to keep in mind from now on. Thanks so much!!!!!! I really long for and gobble up each bit of advise I can get from more knowledgeable philatelists like you. Thanks for watching and commenting as well!!!!!!! 🙂

[@MarkDyck]

@@GreatStampAdventure No worries! Although I wouldn't say I'm more knowledgeable. I've just made lots and lots of "mistakes", like buying stamp lot after stamp lot and receiving pretty much the same stamps every time. If there are a million stamps issued, why do I always get the same 2000 or so no matter how much I buy? 🤣

[@GreatStampAdventure]

@@MarkDyck 😂That is a good question! 🤣 I wonder what I am going to find in my lots of lot mixes!!!! Some are New Zealand, though, and being locally, I think those might probably vary. Hopefully!🙂

[@deanwalker2351]

Great video and beautiful stamps. You can never have too many stamps.

[@GreatStampAdventure]

Hi Dean! I agree with you - one cannot have too many stamps, especially when you start out. Thanks for watching and commenting and your kind comment about the video. I appreciate it SO much! Kind regards!

[@Zimchick66]

Another great video - you got some great stamps there. My favourite- all the African stamps 😊

[@GreatStampAdventure]

I wonder why the African stamps are your favourite. 😉🙂 The African stamps are my favourite too, especially the fauna stamps. Just love the biodiversity of Africa!!!! Thanks so much as always for watching! Your New Zealand African friend. 🙂

[@ostevoostevo1592]

Hi! That album looks like a very good deal. I've heard CTOs mentioned quite a few times in philatelic videos recently. I wonder just how one can tell what is a CTO and what isn't. I actually worked for the Post Office as a postal officer on the front counter serving the public for a few years in London in the late 70s. I cancelled (or franked) 1000s of stamps in my time, mainly for registered mail, first day covers and parcels. Generally I canceled the stamps carefully most of the time , being a collector myself. I didn't want to obliterate the stamps in case the sender or receiver were collectors too! So a large proportion of the stamps I canceled looked like what some people are calling CTOs. I mainly stamped on one corner. Of course I was often so busy that I was less careful about the canceling, except the FDCs. On the first days of issue we had hundreds of philatelists coming in and buying the new stamps and FDCs.Some would want blocks of 4 from the corners of the stamp sheets. Others wanted the margins with traffic lights. By coincidence I was born in NZ but lived in South Africa, in the 60s and part of the 70s and 80s. Jo'burg, P.E and Grahamstown. Durbs for a few months too! I really enjoy watching your videos. Keep up the great job!

[@GreatStampAdventure]

Good for you to have cancelled the stamps neatly!!! Yes, it can sometimes be difficult to distinguish between neatly cancelled stamps and CTOs (Cancelled to Order stamps). One way to recognize CTO stamps is that CTOs usually still have the original gum on the back, which shows they have not been postally used. But even this is not always the case. Sometimes CTOs were produced without the gum to save money. As you probably know, CTOs were usually cancelled on the corner, in quite a specific way, but this is also not always the case. One also finds that one can expect many CTO stamps from some countries. If you get the stamps still attached to the cover, naturally one will recognize that it is not a CTO, except in the case of FDC cancellations. I am not sure if the latter is considered to be a CTO! Just in case you wanted to watch: I made a video where I discussed CTOs with ChatGPT, an AI bot. It was interesting to hear what collectors came to buy the most. As a collector you were very privileged to have worked in a Post Office. Wow, what coincidence that we almost have the same life histories in what places we lived, just reciprocal. I lived and worked in Pretoria my whole life. I guess you are now staying in New Zealand? Thank you so very much for watching and your interesting comment!!!! It also let me realize one should not decide on the surface and quickly that a stamp is indeed a CTO. I am glad we "met". 🙂

[@ostevoostevo1592]

@@GreatStampAdventureMany thanks for your reply. I don't live in NZ.I have been living in Taiwan for the past 33 years! Alles van die beste, Charlene!

[@GreatStampAdventure]

Wow, you are a citizen of the world! Thanks again for commenting and our short discussion! Beste wense vir jou ook! 🙂@@ostevoostevo1592

[@eprohoda]

wow!you created professional unboxing,

[@GreatStampAdventure]

Thank you for watching, and thanks very much for your kind comment! I am still struggling so much with making videos!

[@СергейЛевченков-в1й]

Thanks for another beautiful video!!!

[@GreatStampAdventure]

Thank you for watching and for your kind comment, again!!! It means a lot to me. 🙂

[@bernardogrobeisenweingersz9768]

Nice album , very common stamps and CTO. Anyhow you had enjoyment and fun with it, that's the most important part. Regarding Mexican stamps ( I am from México ) you had stamps from a permanent series ( SERIE PERMANENTE: ARQUITECTURA Y ARQUEOLOGÍA 1950-1976 ) , in mint state is VERY interesting with different papers , fluorescence and luminescence , types of gums. Here some collectors have great pieces of this series. Best regards and keep the awesome videos

[@GreatStampAdventure]

Hi Bernardo, thank you for the information about the Mexican stamps!!! That makes the stamps even more interesting, and I will store it in my brain for the next time I see Mexican stamps, and I will look out for more of the series. ... Yes, as a beginner stamp collector I still buy random, relatively cheap, world collections in which I cannot expect more than common stamps, but as you said, I still enjoy them so much, and it is worth my while. ... THANK YOU TREMENDOUSLY for watching and commenting! Have a merry Christmas and happy New Year!

[@bernardogrobeisenweingersz9768]

@@GreatStampAdventure Merry Christmas to you and your family , send me your address I will send you some Mexican stamps

[@GreatStampAdventure]

Thank you, Bernardo! To get some Mexican stamps from you will be wonderful and very kind and generous of you! My address is a street address, and if you don't mind, I would not like to give it in a comment. Please email me at [e-mail] and I will send it via email to you. I cannot reciprocate with stamps at the moment, but I will explain when you write to me. Kind regards!@@bernardogrobeisenweingersz9768

[@raulgongora2077]

Nice collection my dear Blessings

[@GreatStampAdventure]

Thanks, Raul. Thank you also for watching and commenting!

[@peterhugo2078]

CTO stamps come in 3 categories. The ones you showed us were nearly all in the first category where many thousands of mint sheets of genuine postage stamps were cancelled by machine before they ever left the printing works. A sheet of stamps may only cost a few pennies to make but the face value might be £50 as mint stamps sold at the post office. So lots of mint sheets not CTO cancelled were sold at post offices for postage but postal authorities realised that if they printed many thousands of sheets surplus to postal needs and cancelled them with CTO cancels they could sell them to dealers for a few pence per sheet and still make a large profit over the cost of printing them. Dealers would split up the stamps and put them into cheap world stamp mixes and became a common sight in collections afterwards. Communist countries did this a lot such as Bulgaria, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Rumania and Russia plus African countries post independence and they earned a lot of revenue for the governments at the time. The second category were fake stamps that were very pretty and colourful from often tiny islands with very few people which never saw either a post office nor their supposed country of origin. They were printed thousands of miles away and sold to dealers by the sheet very cheaply. St. Thome and Principe is one example of this. The government got a percentage of the revenue from these sales without ever spending any money on production of the stamps themselves. The third category is actually not CTO but is related. They are stamps produced in the same way as the previous category and never sold for postal use but were supplied very cheaply to dealers in a mint state. The face value was irrelevant as couldn’t e used for postage anyway as you couldn’t buy them from any post office. This was often the practice in Paraguay and Panama and the stamps are very large and colourful and often depict wildlife to try and entice thematic collectors to buy them by fooling them into thinking they were genuine postage stamps. You can find these stamps listed in an appendix at the end of each country in a stamp catalogue such as Stanley Gibbons Stamps of the World which I use. It is expensive to buy though as it has every stamp in the world listed which is a lot of stamps. It runs to 6 volumes and typically has more than a thousand pages per volume so is good value despite the high initial purchase price. Provided one understands the status of these three categories😊 of stamps and realises that they are of little or no value, then you can still enjoy owning them and putting them in your collection whilst also ensuring you don’t overpay when buying them. Happy 😊 collecting!

[@GreatStampAdventure]

Peter, I have been trying for a while now to really know what CTO stamps are, apart from their "normal" definition. I wanted to know what their "origin" are as well as whether they are "real stamps" which have just been cancelled on demand. You now gave me an excellent, excellent explanation of what they are!!!!!!! I appreciate this information you gave me more than you probably realize! I want to make a video about CTO stamps and give the information, like yours, since I had such a hard time to get this information. I am amazed at your knowledge. Should I make a video, I will acknowledge your contribution. Thank you!!!!!!! I didn't know CTOs were listed in any catalogue. I cannot afford Stanley Gibbons catalogues at this stage, but I must try hard to get hold of them some time. I became aware how important good, comprehensive catalogues are in the study of stamps. Thanks again for the information!!!!!! 🙂 I hope we can stay in contact.

[@peterhugo2078]

I enjoyed this so much I subscribed today and look forward to your future videos. I will enjoy looking back on your previous videos too. I have been collecting stamps for 60 years and have a vast number now as I have sold very few but collected thousands in mixed collections over the years. I have a fondness for bird stamps and have amassed a large collection of them now which I still enjoy looking at. I am happy to send you a present of a few of them if you like as you really seemed to like bird stamps. I think you mentioned an email address to contact you with, in a comment under this reaction, to discuss something like this with you. Please let me know if it is still the same or if you have changed it.

[@GreatStampAdventure]

Hi Peter! Welcome to my channel and thank you so, so, so much for watching, commenting and subscribing. It means a tremendous lot to me!!! I know how much time it takes to watch YT videos, and I don't take another's time for granted. Wow, 60 years' of collecting! You truly must have an impressive stamp collection! I wish I could see it. I indeed love bird stamps. I started with a thematic collection of bird stamps, but it is just at the beginning. I am very humble and thankful that you want to send me a gift! It is a really generous thought. I would love to get such a gift, but please keep in mind I am not in a position yet (I don't have duplicates prepared and ready and no money at the moment to buy new stamps) to reciprocally return something to you for a gift. I wish I could already do that! However, you are so welcome to communicate with me via email. The address is still the same. Really, really thanks so much for your visiting here!!!!!!!! Kind regards!

[@peterhugo2078]

@@GreatStampAdventure It will be my pleasure to send you stamps that you might like. Maybe they will even feature in a future video. Haha 😛. I expect nothing in return so do not worry that you cannot reciprocate. It is enough to know that you might be happy when you open up the letter and see the pretty stamps enclosed. Sorry in advance if some may be CTO but it is inevitable for some countries and they often have the nicest bird stamps anyway. I am happy to have them in my collection as they don’t bother me too much.

[@GreatStampAdventure]

@@peterhugo2078 THANK YOU SO MUCH! I look forward to get a stamp gift. I am already excited!!! 🤗I will definitely "unbox" your gift on camera! Gifts are such a joy I want to share them. I am terribly behind with showing my gifts, though. You will please have to be patient for the video. I am also glad that I know that I have your permission to show your gift. CTOs are fine. The more I get to know about them, the more they become acceptable to me, especially since some of them are "real" stamps that are also being sold in post offices. 🙂Take care!

[@waynesmith5748]

The Newfoundland stamps are very nice 🇨🇦

[@GreatStampAdventure]

Hi Wayne, thank you for watching and commenting! I also like the Newfoundland stamps, and I have heard of more than one person that collect Newfoundland stamps.

[@waynesmith5748]

@@GreatStampAdventure Hello thank you so much for your comment, I live in Canada 🇨🇦, so the Newfoundland stamps are important, i also collect other stamps and coins from the commonwealth countries. I enjoy your videos very much

[@GreatStampAdventure]

@@waynesmith5748 I love to get to know you and where you live and your collecting interests. It is wonderful to hear that you enjoy my videos. It is difficult to know what is the best way to do the videos, and do it not for yourself but for people that will view them. Thank you very, very much again for watching and commenting! 🙂

[@bo-rale584]

People are too harsh on CTOs. They’re legitimate stamps registered with the UPU as valid postage. Some (not all) collectors hate them because you can’t classify them as ‘mint’ and you can’t classify them as ‘used’. I’m not a fan, but my collecting interests don’t lie in the countries which used them like money presses. I’m more concerned with the Cinderellas (stamps not valid for postage anywhere outside their own region) because they’re not registered with the UPU and they’re just a money making sham. Unfortunately I saw several in that collection (Ajman / Manama, Fujeirah, Dubai) that you won’t find in the Scott or Stanley Gibbons catalogues (Michel puts anything and everything in which is a disservice to some collectors).

[@GreatStampAdventure]

Thank you for your very interesting and informative comment, @bo-rale584. It is a new viewpoint for me. I thought all the stamps from Ajman etc. in the collection were mostly CTOs, but you call them Cinderellas? Do the Cinderellas in those instances look similar than CTOs. I learned from someone else that some CTOs have the same stamps that were Cancelled to Order also in the form of "normal" stamps that were used for postage. Are it these CTOs you say were registered with the UPU? Then there are also CTOs without postally used versions. Will these be registered with the Universal Postal Union, or do you call these CTOs cinderellas? I guess it will be difficult to know if a CTO has a postally used version if one does not consult the catalogues. Wow, it gets a bit complicated and also interesting. I will start to think more carefully about CTOs. Thanks again!!!!! And also thanks for watching!

[@bo-rale584]

@@GreatStampAdventureI sent you an email response. I hope you got it!

[@GreatStampAdventure]

Hi Bo-ra (I hope I am right that your first name is 'Bo-ra'! Otherwise, please forgive me for the wrong assumption!). Thank you so much. I had to rescue your email from the Spam folder. Could not see why it ended up in there. Thank you for the extra information about CTOs and Cinderella stamps! I am really learning some new things about them, which I haven't seen on www so far. Now I must work out how to know whether a stamp is a cinderella or CTO if I do not have a catalogue to consult! Thanks so much again for your email!@@bo-rale584

[@basilsylvesterpinto10]

whoa .... that a lotttt !!!

[@GreatStampAdventure]

😆I am drowning a bit in all the stamps, Basil. It is exciting and enjoyable, but also a bit overwhelmingly!! I hope you are very fine and happy there in Goa! 🙂

[@basilsylvesterpinto10]

@@GreatStampAdventure aha ...am doing well ...gradually been decorating our home since the start of the month with the Christmas tree. also brought in the Yuletide vibe with a new series for this month "Christmas Stamp a Day' on insta and other social media. Will soon have my Day 5 post up. Warm regards.

[@GreatStampAdventure]

Hard to believe Christmas is already here! I must really try harder to spread my wings to other social media!@@basilsylvesterpinto10

[@basilsylvesterpinto10]

@@GreatStampAdventure time flies dear 😊 you should spread your wings elsewhere too 🙌 many of our friends here are there as well and promote their channels too. Your channel would have wider reach then. 🤗

[@GreatStampAdventure]

I had a glitch with instagram. I am personally on instagram and wanted to open a new account with greatstampadventure and Instagram closed the account because they said I am using more than one identity! I think it is because I wanted to use my greatstampadventure email address which is different from my personal one. They said they will come back to me, but it is a few months now. I will try again. :) @@basilsylvesterpinto10

[@midnightstory6739]

Great collection mam, from which website to buy

[@GreatStampAdventure]

Hi Midnightstory, thanks for watching and commenting, and I saw you also subscribed to my channel. Thank you so much! I buy from a local New Zealand trading online website with the name "TradeMe". I don't think one can buy from there if you are not in New Zealand or Australia. Best wishes to you! 🙂

[@midnightstory6739]

@@GreatStampAdventure Thank you mam, I live in Bangladesh, I have many hobbies of postage stamps, but they are not available in our country

[@GreatStampAdventure]

Midnightstory, you must try to find a stamp club near you, or search for stamp collectors from Bangladesh active on social media. I am sure they will help you to find places in Bangladesh where you can buy stamps. You can also buy stamps on international online platforms like E-Bay, Etsy, Hipstamp and others. I hope you will be able to find stamps to continue your stamp collecting!@@midnightstory6739

[@TV-us3xs]

💜🍎your video is amazing very good I want to be with you ❤❤❤

[@GreatStampAdventure]

Thank for watching! 🙂

[@TV-us3xs]

Thank you for coming my friend 🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡

[@lucygarces3855]

Quiero seguir coleccionando donde puedo comprar?? Son de Uruguay 🇺🇾

[@GreatStampAdventure]

Hola Lucy, no sé dónde será mejor para ti comprar sellos. Hay diferentes lugares. ¿Tiene distribuidores, ferias de sellos, ventas de propiedades y clubes de sellos cerca de usted? Estos pueden ser muy buenos lugares para comprar. De lo contrario, en Internet encontrará mercados de sellos como eBay y HipStamp, pero también tendrá que pagar los gastos de envío. Todavía soy nuevo en el coleccionismo y no tengo tan buen conocimiento de dónde comprar y vender, ni dónde conseguir las mejores ofertas. ¡Muchos mejores deseos para ustedes desde Nueva Zelanda!

[@GreatStampAdventure]

I did Google translate to answer you. :) Please forgive if I wrote something "funny" without knowing it. :) :) :)

[@CaldonianDude]

What's a CTO and why does it matter?

[@GreatStampAdventure]

Hi! First of all, thanks for watching and commenting!! CTO stamps are "cancel to order" stamps. I am still learning the detail of them, but just in short: CTO stamps are stamps that have been cancelled by usually postal authorities, but the stamps were NOT used postally. Thus the stamp was not used to send mail and have not in the process been cancelled. CTO-stamps usually still have undisturbed gum on the back, and the cancel is usually clearly too neat and usually in the corner. CTO-stamps were produced to sell them to stamp sellers and stamp collectors purely to "make money". Tolerance of CTO-stamps varies between collectors. Some even regard them as mere "stickers" and will not tolerate them in their collections. They were not postally used, or meant to be postally used (like mint stamps), and thus are not "proper" stamps. Some, however, regard them as "additional" stamps, because CTO stamps were printed like stamps are printed, and some CTO stamps even have counterparts which were postally used. Some CTOs, though, have never be meant to be postally used. I hope I answered clearly enough! 🙂

[@CaldonianDude]

@@GreatStampAdventure thanks for the detailed reply. I'm new to stamps (obviously) - to me a CTO looks the same as a stamp that's been through the post with a post mark (cancel) on it - in other words, they both appear to have cancels. I'll get the hang of it at some point... :)

[@GreatStampAdventure]

You are right. It is sometimes very difficult to distinguish between a CTO and a "proper" cancellation or postmark. Some CTOs are easy to identify though, the mark is usually on the corner of the stamp and is distinctively perfectly done, and may look similar or exactly the same in a set of stamps. If there is still undisturbed gum on the back of the stamp and it is cancelled, it is pretty sure it is a CTO cancellation. It will also help to recognize them, if you search CTO stamp on Google, and you look at the images (make sure it is an image of a CTO stamp). 🙂👍Congratulations with starting to collect stamps. It is a very interesting and wonderful hobby. I am sure you are going to enjoy it!!!!!!@@CaldonianDude