Collecting "Scouts-On-Stamps" the same as any hobby, requires both time and money.  How much time?  How much money?  Just about as much of each as the individual collector decides to give.

Most collectors have more of the first than the last.  Should this restrict the fun that he can have with his collection?  Not really...in fact, some of the most interesting collectors that we meet are those whose collections have been made attractive because of their real interest in the hobby.

Occasionally we find a collector whose main purpose in collecting is to possess a "complete" collection.  He, poor soul, is a prime target of those who would sell anything and everything even remotely connected with the hobby.  This collector must also, he thinks, mount his collection in the finest (usually most expensive) manner to be certain that his collection is "top."  Often the accessory cost exceeds the relative monetary value of his collection.  He probably feels that he has real fun with his Scout stamps.

The real fun, however, comes from keeping the collection simple, at least in the beginning or if finances dictate, and interesting.  Researching all of the Scouts-On-Stamps issues can be the greatest of fun.  Many interesting hours can be spent this way.  With as much information as one can find about his collection, it can be followed by producing his own mounting system and album.  [This task is made much easier today with use of a computer and laser printer.]  The completeness of data about his collection can have more real value to the collector and his stamp collecting friends than its market value.

The real fun is also found in the many new and wonderful acquaintances that the collector makes by correspondence and in person because of his hobby.  Many would say that stamp collecting is an introverted hobby...not so!  The real fun collector makes many lasting friendships in philately.

SOSSI JOURNAL Volume 21, Number 2, February 1972.
Updates by Keith Larson