Imagination’s the Limit
It is possible to form an impressive thematic or topical stamp collection around practically any subject, or around the dominant colour.
Collecting stamps is a wonderful hobby no matter how you approach it. Just looking at the neatly arranged miniature works of art in pristine condition gives a collector a deep sense of satisfaction. Most novice collectors start by collecting any type of stamps. They usually organise their treasure by geographical area or by period of time.However, in recent years thematic or topical or stamp collecting has become very popular. This allows people to combine their hobby of collecting stamps with their other interests, for example birds or ships. Such collections are usually organised by a specific theme, regardless of the country of issue.
Today, stamps come with an enormous variety of designs. That gives collectors the opportunity to find stamps for practically every theme. The challenge is that there are so many stamps on some popular themes that completing a collection could be prohibitively costly. On the other hand, if a collector opts for a more specialised theme, he or she may discover that such stamps are difficult to acquire. For example, if you decide to collect stamps that feature weather, you are likely to amass an impressive collection fairly quickly. On the other hand, if you go for stamps that depict only one aspect of weather, the rainbow, you may struggle to fill an album. Luckily, the age of internet and online shopping has made thing a lot easier for philatelists. Thus, Bob Shop has a thriving philatelist’s section where, with a little patience and sufficient budget, a collector can get hold of almost any stamp.
A themed collection may include stamps that are only indirectly connected to the subject matter. For example, a cat collection may have stamps that 
do not portray cats, but can be associated with cats or a story that includes cats. For example, a collector may include the stamp depicting Alice and the Cheshire cat in the cat-themed stamp collection, although this stamp was actually issued to celebrate a literary work, Lewis Carol’s Alice in Wonderland.
Still, it is more common to form thematic collections with the stamps being related to the subject in a direct manner. Among the most popular themes are animals, plants, space, medicine, architecture, arts, transport, and so on.
Think of any subject that has ever appeared on a stamp and someone probably collects it. Exhibits have been put together on such “bizarre” topics as rainbows or outhouses on stamps.
Here are some famous thematic stamp collections:
An impressive collection of stamps depicting classic birds, among them the Western Australia swan, the Guatemalan quetzal, the Colombian condor, the American eagle, and so on, was put together by Dr. Arthur Woo, a prominent philatelist.
Theodore Steinway’s collection of music- themed stamps is still the envy of the stamp collecting world. Theodore Steinway was a head of the famous Steinway & Sons piano manufacturers.
Former world chess champion in Anatoly Karpov has a large collection of chess and Olympics-themed stamps.
The collection named a bunch of violets was put together by Fay Jordan, an American socialite, in 1930s. It is interesting because it was themed around a colour: it did not matter what the stamps depicted, it only mattered that they were purple.
Therein lies the beauty of thematic stamp collecting. You can make it whatever you want it to be. It’s all up to you, the collector.
