One of the more argumentative areas of stamp collecting concerns itself with condition. All stamps of the same type are not equal.
Condition is usually the great value separator.
To most beginning collectors, a stamp is a stamp. If it fills the space, that is all it is supposed to do. If one were to collect only by soaking stamps off the incoming mail, then condition would have no import whatsoever. However, once one comes to the point of buying stamps, then condition rears its ugly head to forever plague the collector. A stamp is made from paper, gum and an inked design printed on the paper.