Early Additions to my collection

Here are two US Year of the Dragon first day covers by the Great Southern Cover Co. that caught my attention early on and helped build my interest in the topic.



And the second one, which I prefer even more:

Getting Started

Here are two of the stamps that got me started. The first is the US Year of the Dragon issue from 2000 (scott 3370):


It is part of a series of 12 stamps issues by the USPS, all designed by Clarence Lee. The entire set was reissued in 37cent and 39cent versions in 2005 and 2006.

The second is actually a souvenir sheet from the Australian territory Christmas Island, and it also is part of a series. It doesn't scan well because much of the design is a metallic gold - quite striking visually. (And fitting topically - 2000 is the Year of the Golden Dragon.)

Introduction

This will be a blog about topical stamp collecting - specifically dragon themed stamps & covers. I've been collecting stamps off and on for quite a few years. A dozen or so years ago I decided I wanted to collect a topic, but I had a hard time settling on one. I would visit stamp shows and see various things that interested me & I would pick up covers or stamps - dinosaurs, dogs, baseball among others. I found a cover or two with a mythological theme that caught my eye, but didn't have much luck (or time).

Skip a few years - toss in some moves, job layoffs and a few other things that put a damper on hobbies. Sometime in 2000 I noticed some of the stamps released by various countries for the Year of the Dragon. I bought some of the US issue (scott 3370) and ordered some stamps and covers from Australia. After a time I did some searches on ebay and found some first day covers that I thought were quite attractive. Before I knew it, I had my topic to focus on.