Finding Material for Your Collection You can easily find everything for your stamp hobby by mail. Stamps, other philatelic material, catalogues, albums, and so on are easy to get by mail order. The philatelic press carries advertising for all of these hobby needs, and stamp shows in your area also will have dealers there. If you are lucky, you also may have a retail stamp store nearby. Taking Care of Your Collection Paper is very fragile and must be handled with care.
Stamp collectors use special tools and materials to protect their collectibles.
Plastic that is not arctically safe has oil-based softeners that can leach out and do much damage to stamps. In recent years philatelic manufacturers have become more careful about their products, and it is easy now to find safe paper and plastic for hobby use. Never use cellophane or other tapes around your stamps. Mounts keep stamps in the condition in which you bought them. Other hobby tools include gauges, for measuring the perforations on stamps, and watermark fluid, which makes the special marks in some stamp papers visible momentarily.