Stamp collecting. Help?

[~Xandria]

Hi guys! I've just recently got into stamp collecting and I had a few questions. I mainly want to collect stamps for the avatars, but I also just like collecting them period. :3 I'm curious to hear from anyone who has any of the stamp collector avatars. I want to know how much I should 'expect' to spend on completeing one of the sets, and which would be the cheapest one to complete first?

 

Thank you for any help/insight you can provide!

[hrtbrk]

Stamps is an investment that you should really think about before getting into because it will take all your neopoints and have you waiting for what could be ever before it's completed.

 

If you're doing it for the avatars, you should have billions of Neopoints on hand (or be in the business of making Neopoints like no other), and be aware that some of the stamps haven't even been seen around Neopia in years.

 

AFAIK, none of the avatar stamp pages can be completed without spending a minimum of 250,000,000 nps.

[Rebecca~]

Last I heard, the most expensive stamps in each of the sets was valued at something like 100million +. For one stamp. Most of them are retired, or were given out as prizes for different events (Lenny Conundrums, etc), and are really hard to come by.

I don't want to discourage you, hun, but none of them are cheap. They require a tonne of NP, and effort to try and find the rare ones of the sets.

 

All of the Stamp Collector avatars are highly sought after. I don't think that any one page is cheaper than any other- at least not by much (though I think I remember someone saying that the Lost Desert and Terror Mountain pages were the most expensive. I don't know how accurate that still is).

[The Bandit]

My advice, for what it's worth - don't bother.

 

The Stamp Collector avvies are the ones to aim for when you've got pretty much all the others :(

[~Xandria]

Oh, wow. I had no clue! That is a CRAZY amount of NP's. D: No wonder I've never really seen anyone with those avatars. That sucks, because the avatars are so nice looking. :( Thanks for answering my questions though everyone. 100 million for one stamp! I don't see how anyone could afford that. If I played neopets for two lifetimes I'd probably never be able to complete it. LOL.

[Rebecca~]

Oh, wow. I had no clue! That is a CRAZY amount of NP's. D: No wonder I've never really seen anyone with those avatars. That sucks, because the avatars are so nice looking. :( Thanks for answering my questions though everyone. 100 million for one stamp! I don't see how anyone could afford that. If I played neopets for two lifetimes I'd probably never be able to complete it. LOL.

Yeah, they're suuuuper expensive. One member here, Ninth, has the Battledome SC avatar, but they are the only person I have seen with one of them. The Virtupets avatar is one I would kill to have, but I expect I'll never get it.

 

But keep on collecting stamps anyway- if you enjoy it, it's worth it. :D

[Finn the Human]

I would like to say you should first start to get a nice amount of NP then get the R-101's and 180's. Then go for the rest.

[Mouseykins]

One page you can start with is the Sea Shell page. I know for a fact that all of them except for one can be easily obtained. The last shell on that page is about 7 million right now but the other's are fairly reasonable.

[gingerew]

Thanks for asking about this Xandria, because I was thinking about going for stamps myself for the avatars. After finding out how expensive it is I think I'll be putting that one off for quite a while haha :P

[Ashbash]

I've pretty much given up hope on getting the stamp avatars but I do still enjoy stamp collecting. An avatar would be a great bonus but I think it's still fun to try to get the one's you can get.

[passiflora]

Yikes! I knew the stamp avvies were expensive but I didn't realize it was as bad as people are saying. I'm glad this topic was asked though - now I can set my sights on other things, because as nice as the stamp avatars are, they just aren't attainable at all right now!

[Emily]

The Battledome page isn't *too* bad. I think the most expensive on that page are the Dark Battle Duck and Battle Slices Stamps and the last time I saw them, they were selling at around 20 mil each (though I think the Battle Slices stamp has inflated since then). Compared to the hundreds of millions for other stamps (I believe during the trillion auctions ONE of the retired HW stamps went for something like 174 mil), it's not that bad.

 

I've been casually collecting for a couple years and have most of the buyable ones and have started venturing to the TP and Auctions. Like Linds said, some of them, even with me searching every couple days-week haven't been seen anywhere in the market for years. Either tied up in albums, or are on purged/inactive accounts or in galleries. Since I'm running out of active avatars to collect, I've REALLY gotten into stamps the last few months. I submitted an Editorial question a few days ago asking if TNT would ever consider making these stamps buyable, whether through more auctions, in the Hidden Tower, AAA, or SOMEWHERE, because they just don't exist to purchase.

 

Personally, I think having them in the HT for hefty prices would be a compromise. The resellers/autobuyers wouldn't snipe them all in the auction (inflating the prices further and preventing real collectors from getting them), TNT could regulate the price AND it would be an NP sink. Making them no trade would also curb deflation. I hope they answer the question, as I'll be pretty bummed if I never get to complete my album because the items simply don't exist in the market.

[Zephyr]

Like everyone else has said, stamps are an expensive business. I've seen albums with the pricey stamps & yet the page isn't completed (maybe they're still working on it). Or in a more positive light, they're great items to RS (restock, ???, profit! hurrr)

[SidtheSnail]

Just for refference, the most expensive Tyrannian stamp was last valued at 400 million. that is the Monocerous stamp.

[~Xandria]

The Battledome page isn't *too* bad. I think the most expensive on that page are the Dark Battle Duck and Battle Slices Stamps and the last time I saw them, they were selling at around 20 mil each (though I think the Battle Slices stamp has inflated since then). Compared to the hundreds of millions for other stamps (I believe during the trillion auctions ONE of the retired HW stamps went for something like 174 mil), it's not that bad.

 

I've been casually collecting for a couple years and have most of the buyable ones and have started venturing to the TP and Auctions. Like Linds said, some of them, even with me searching every couple days-week haven't been seen anywhere in the market for years. Either tied up in albums, or are on purged/inactive accounts or in galleries. Since I'm running out of active avatars to collect, I've REALLY gotten into stamps the last few months. I submitted an Editorial question a few days ago asking if TNT would ever consider making these stamps buyable, whether through more auctions, in the Hidden Tower, AAA, or SOMEWHERE, because they just don't exist to purchase.

 

Personally, I think having them in the HT for hefty prices would be a compromise. The resellers/autobuyers wouldn't snipe them all in the auction (inflating the prices further and preventing real collectors from getting them), TNT could regulate the price AND it would be an NP sink. Making them no trade would also curb deflation. I hope they answer the question, as I'll be pretty bummed if I never get to complete my album because the items simply don't exist in the market.

Thank you so much for your answer Emily. This was very informative. It's good to know that the BD ones aren't so bad.. well, compared to the others anyways. 20 mil is still an awful lot for one stamp, but that at least sounds doable. :) I'm glad you went ahead and submitted your question. I think I'll do the same thing actually, if you don't end up getting a response. Maybe if more people are asking about it they will answer. Could you perhaps provide me with a link either here or inbox it to me? I'm not quite sure where you go to submit editorial questions. Having them in the HT sounds like a smart idea for sure!

 

Just for refference, the most expensive Tyrannian stamp was last valued at 400 million. that is the Monocerous stamp.

Sid, you made my head explode with that number. :P Eeeeek. That is insane! I'd be playing for 3 lifetimes to be able to afford that! Something tells me that if I ever did manage to save up 400 million, the last thing I'd want to spend all of it on is one stamp.

[Rebecca~]

TNT does release some of the retired stamps in auction, under the guise of Dr. Sloth. But they start in the hundred million range, I believe. I agree that the HT would be a great idea! I would love to actually be able to finish those pages one of these days.

 

Here is a screencap of one of the auctioned retired stamps- I found it on the sniping guide. http://www.neopets.com/~Bonrui

So on occasion, pretty rarely I imagine, they do go up for sale.

 

 

I never realised that the BD page was so cheap! I may go for that page first, even though it's probably my least favourite of the stamp collector avatars.

[Lamppost]

I've been aiming for these avatars for a long time. Stamp collecting is one of the things I do on Neopets. I've since learned, though, as someone else said, that it's best to go for the expensive stamps first, and then get the cheaper ones.

 

I finished the shell page in the summer because I was determined to complete a full page. That one is doable, but there isn't an avatar for it. Battledome is probably the easiest page, as others have said, but it's still pretty tough.

 

The Battledome page isn't *too* bad. I think the most expensive on that page are the Dark Battle Duck and Battle Slices Stamps and the last time I saw them, they were selling at around 20 mil each (though I think the Battle Slices stamp has inflated since then). Compared to the hundreds of millions for other stamps (I believe during the trillion auctions ONE of the retired HW stamps went for something like 174 mil), it's not that bad.

 

I've been casually collecting for a couple years and have most of the buyable ones and have started venturing to the TP and Auctions. Like Linds said, some of them, even with me searching every couple days-week haven't been seen anywhere in the market for years. Either tied up in albums, or are on purged/inactive accounts or in galleries. Since I'm running out of active avatars to collect, I've REALLY gotten into stamps the last few months. I submitted an Editorial question a few days ago asking if TNT would ever consider making these stamps buyable, whether through more auctions, in the Hidden Tower, AAA, or SOMEWHERE, because they just don't exist to purchase.

 

Personally, I think having them in the HT for hefty prices would be a compromise. The resellers/autobuyers wouldn't snipe them all in the auction (inflating the prices further and preventing real collectors from getting them), TNT could regulate the price AND it would be an NP sink. Making them no trade would also curb deflation. I hope they answer the question, as I'll be pretty bummed if I never get to complete my album because the items simply don't exist in the market.

 

I REALLY hope they take your idea, Emily! That would be so awesome. I would love to see them out on the site in other ways. I want them to still be hard to get, but I want it to be possible!