Post by RossTO on Aug 8, 2013 18:12:16 GMT -5
IGATI. The 'I'll get around to it' pile of stuff we have in our collections. We all have it, usually buried in a corner of our stamp room, desk, where ever we work on our collections. I and the other half have a few of these all over the apartment (we don't have a room yet, but it is a requirement for when we buy the house). Sometimes it is just a cigar box of stuff, other times it is a garbage bag or two (or 10) of the stuff. For John and I it is a mix of all of that. Where does it all come from... well it seems the biggest culprit is kiloware. We have almost all bought it, and we all usually end up with a quantity of stuff we just don't want to deal with right away. Then it just seem to grow like lint balls under the furniture.
What do you do with all of those stamps. Leaving them in bags is definitely not a good idea as over time they can get moisture into them. As for the cigar boxes, they are a little more safe but still over time they are not the best choice for storage. So, why don't you go grab a box/bag of this stuff an haul it over to your workspace.
Usually you have this all off paper at this time. So if some of your IGATI is on paper, we know what you will be doing for the balance of this article Wink.
Stamp General's Warning: never deal with all your IGATI at the same time. This can lead to eyestrain, back and neck pains, a painful derriere, over caffination, and in extreme cases a overwhelming urge to throw things or find the closest source of matches
Do this in manageable lots. Set aside some time every so often and go through bits of this. Also do not expect to get to a final sort right away. Get this down in chunks. I will explain this shortly. Once you have grabbed a pile of your IGATI place it on the table/workstation. What do you want to do with this?
For the most part it is to organize it into country/themes. If it is themes you can usually get through this a lot faster as one usually only has a theme or two so your piles will be the general pile, and different piles for your themes. Mind you, that general pile will most likely have to be gone through sometime in the near future. I did warn you IGATI breeds like those furballs every pet owner finds all over the house that leave enough fur around to outfit a whole other animal. Wink. If it is a country sort, well you will definitely need a fair bit of time going through it all, so again do it in chunks of time, see the warning above.
The first thing you are going to need is SPACE!!! Lots of space. So clear off that table you work on as you are going to need all of it (most likely). Further a trip to your local dollar store may be in order. For those of you who do not know what a dollar store is, well it is a store that sells stuff cheap, usually for around a dollar. They are all the rage up here in the Great White North, and I am sure in the US as well. For those of you in other countries I can't be sure. But I do recommend going to some sort of cheap store for some of these supplies as the prices do add up over time, and after all we would all rather spend our money on stamps.
So at that visit to the dollar store you may want to wander around it for a bit. Look at items that can hold other stuff. I find plastic containers with lids are of great use, also various sizes of envelopes are also useful. And strangely enough, small fishing tackle kits are also great for storage of this stuff after you are all done as the small storage spaces in it that are designed for lures are almost always perfect for stamps. Make sure to get different sizes of storage containers as you will frequently have some things that are in greater quantity than others. The envelopes are the same thing. Grab some number 10's as well as medium (9x5) and large (8x10) envelopes for final storage and maybe even other sizes as well.
Once you have all of this head back home and place those plastic containers out on your table. I am going to be going through kiloware here so a country sort is usually the first order of business. But you don't have 150+ plastic bins do you (if you do I seriously doubt you have the table space to put them all out Wink ). Go grab some scrap paper and write grouping of letters on them. A-C, D-F, G-K, etc. I think you get the idea. You do not have to group them as I just stated, but do group them up so that you can just quickly look at a stamp and place it into a bin. Also have an Unk bin. Unk = Unknown. We all have them, and right now the best thing to do is bin them as jumping up and down to do research isn't the best use of our time at this juncture.
Place the paper in the bins so that you can see what you are sorting into where. I usually use marker to write on the paper so that is easily seen and also in large letters. Now, go put a pot of coffee on, you may need it, mind you please heed the warning above Wink. Start sorting. Like I said, do this all in manageable lots. Set aside up to 3 hours or so to deal with this. After all, going further starts making this a chore and we all enjoy this hobby and want to do so for many years.
So start sorting. IGATI is a repetitive process. After you get through this sort, you will probably have other piles of the stuff unsorted and will need to deal with them shortly, but after three hours of sorting you should take a break from this. Take what you have sorted and start using those envelopes I got yo to buy earlier. Make sure to write on the outside of the envelope what is inside it, further, I also recommend using pencil so that you can later on erase what is written and reuse the envelope for further sorting/storage. Place everything you sorted during this sitting into the envelopes and store with your other IAGTI for further sorting. I mentioned earlier that this was a repetitive process. You will go through this over and over again. Get through each layer of your sort completely before going to the next layer. So, go through all those boxes and bags of stuff and get them into those grouped envelopes before you start going though the envelopes to get them even further down into countries. Each layer you get through gets you closer to being able to organize and store them, or to put them into lots for use for trade/sales.
So once you got this done and put away I recommend a break. At this time I recommend a bare minimum of 1 week before you start again and a visit to your local stamp dealer's... just no buying kiloware Wink.
What do you do with all of those stamps. Leaving them in bags is definitely not a good idea as over time they can get moisture into them. As for the cigar boxes, they are a little more safe but still over time they are not the best choice for storage. So, why don't you go grab a box/bag of this stuff an haul it over to your workspace.
Usually you have this all off paper at this time. So if some of your IGATI is on paper, we know what you will be doing for the balance of this article Wink.
Stamp General's Warning: never deal with all your IGATI at the same time. This can lead to eyestrain, back and neck pains, a painful derriere, over caffination, and in extreme cases a overwhelming urge to throw things or find the closest source of matches
Do this in manageable lots. Set aside some time every so often and go through bits of this. Also do not expect to get to a final sort right away. Get this down in chunks. I will explain this shortly. Once you have grabbed a pile of your IGATI place it on the table/workstation. What do you want to do with this?
For the most part it is to organize it into country/themes. If it is themes you can usually get through this a lot faster as one usually only has a theme or two so your piles will be the general pile, and different piles for your themes. Mind you, that general pile will most likely have to be gone through sometime in the near future. I did warn you IGATI breeds like those furballs every pet owner finds all over the house that leave enough fur around to outfit a whole other animal. Wink. If it is a country sort, well you will definitely need a fair bit of time going through it all, so again do it in chunks of time, see the warning above.
The first thing you are going to need is SPACE!!! Lots of space. So clear off that table you work on as you are going to need all of it (most likely). Further a trip to your local dollar store may be in order. For those of you who do not know what a dollar store is, well it is a store that sells stuff cheap, usually for around a dollar. They are all the rage up here in the Great White North, and I am sure in the US as well. For those of you in other countries I can't be sure. But I do recommend going to some sort of cheap store for some of these supplies as the prices do add up over time, and after all we would all rather spend our money on stamps.
So at that visit to the dollar store you may want to wander around it for a bit. Look at items that can hold other stuff. I find plastic containers with lids are of great use, also various sizes of envelopes are also useful. And strangely enough, small fishing tackle kits are also great for storage of this stuff after you are all done as the small storage spaces in it that are designed for lures are almost always perfect for stamps. Make sure to get different sizes of storage containers as you will frequently have some things that are in greater quantity than others. The envelopes are the same thing. Grab some number 10's as well as medium (9x5) and large (8x10) envelopes for final storage and maybe even other sizes as well.
Once you have all of this head back home and place those plastic containers out on your table. I am going to be going through kiloware here so a country sort is usually the first order of business. But you don't have 150+ plastic bins do you (if you do I seriously doubt you have the table space to put them all out Wink ). Go grab some scrap paper and write grouping of letters on them. A-C, D-F, G-K, etc. I think you get the idea. You do not have to group them as I just stated, but do group them up so that you can just quickly look at a stamp and place it into a bin. Also have an Unk bin. Unk = Unknown. We all have them, and right now the best thing to do is bin them as jumping up and down to do research isn't the best use of our time at this juncture.
Place the paper in the bins so that you can see what you are sorting into where. I usually use marker to write on the paper so that is easily seen and also in large letters. Now, go put a pot of coffee on, you may need it, mind you please heed the warning above Wink. Start sorting. Like I said, do this all in manageable lots. Set aside up to 3 hours or so to deal with this. After all, going further starts making this a chore and we all enjoy this hobby and want to do so for many years.
So start sorting. IGATI is a repetitive process. After you get through this sort, you will probably have other piles of the stuff unsorted and will need to deal with them shortly, but after three hours of sorting you should take a break from this. Take what you have sorted and start using those envelopes I got yo to buy earlier. Make sure to write on the outside of the envelope what is inside it, further, I also recommend using pencil so that you can later on erase what is written and reuse the envelope for further sorting/storage. Place everything you sorted during this sitting into the envelopes and store with your other IAGTI for further sorting. I mentioned earlier that this was a repetitive process. You will go through this over and over again. Get through each layer of your sort completely before going to the next layer. So, go through all those boxes and bags of stuff and get them into those grouped envelopes before you start going though the envelopes to get them even further down into countries. Each layer you get through gets you closer to being able to organize and store them, or to put them into lots for use for trade/sales.
So once you got this done and put away I recommend a break. At this time I recommend a bare minimum of 1 week before you start again and a visit to your local stamp dealer's... just no buying kiloware Wink.