It’s already been 5 months! Time flies, and it keeps getting faster. I’ve been busy with life in general, but I’ve also been busy with my stamps. I’ll round out the highlights below. Worldwide Material Probably the biggest accomplishment over the last several months was finallyCHARPEX was this weekend! I enjoyed roaming around and visiting the dealers, several of which I bought from. All but one were exceptionally nice and helpful (more on that below), and it’s always fun to view material in person as opposed to on a computer screen. I will, ofHideaki Nakano is (was? — keep reading to see why that’s a question) a cachet cover artist that has done some really interesting and different covers. I’ve been struggling to find more detailed information on him via a few cursory searches, but I will continue to search…I’veI received some unexpected advertising and an order form from the folks at Active Intermedia (the folks who publish the wonderful Austria Netto Katalog) and it arrived on the below cover — which is puzzling. On the back, there is some more information in three languages: But back to the front.There are 4 distinct shades of the Map imperfs — lavender, grey, pale blue and deep blue; 600 pairs are thought to exist. The so-called muddy water variety is a colour changeling caused by oxidation and is NOT a printing variety. This is a note in the Unitrade Canada specialized catalogThe more I deal with catalogs (especially specialized catalogs) from other countries, the more I get frustrated with the Scott Catalog. I think my biggest source of frustration are the pictures, or lack thereof. I understand that there’s not room to print a picture of every single type ofMy Experience with the Stanley Gibbons Spectrum Watermark Detector For someone who isn’t a big fan of dealing with watermarks, this detector — while imperfect — is a nice tool to have on hand. I got this about a year ago, and it is my go-to when I’m dealing withThese are some of my favorite pieces. These vary in date, but display several stamps from late in the Franz Joseph reign. All three are to Istanbul, but it is curious that some of them have both “Istanbul” and “Constantinople” written on them. I’m not sure exactly when theSo I have a ton of work on my hands. I’ve been scooping up material that I find interesting as well as bulk items that I feel like I’m getting a good deal on… I should really set a moratorium on new purchases until everything I have isI never knew my grandfather was a stamp collector. Ok, so maybe that isn’t totally accurate. I vaguely remember him giving me a bunch of stamps and some tongs as a young kid…but I had no interest. I was too busy playing DOOM and playing around with Windows 