Yay, 27,272 Sports Cards!

Dear Colnectors,
Today is a special day, today we are marking 27,272+ Sports Cards on Colnect :)

"#10 Roger Clemens (1992)" (The USA), from the Colnect catalog

Though the category doesn't have that many collectors, it still holds an impressive number of collectibles! 

"#1 Frank Patrick (1910-1911)" (The USA), from the Colnect catalog

The catalog includes several sub-categories for easier search: 2 Regions & 4 Countries, 7 Sports, 10 Leagues, 225+ Teams, 7,340+ Players, 15 Brands, 9 Special Features, 2 Set Types, 70 Seasons and Newly Added (1, 3, 7, 14, 30 days ago).

"10 Parri (2004-2005)" (Spain), from the Colnect catalog

We are saying thank you to the Sports Cards co-coordinators [neweden] and [nzexchange] for all the effort and time devoted to developing Colnect's Sports Cards catalog!

"#24 Denis Marshall (1965)" (Australia), from the Colnect catalog

Thanks to all our contributors and editors, inspiring us to help the community :) Willing to make a change too? Read the Contributor's Guidelines for Sports Cards Catalog.

Happy Colnecting! ;)

66,666 Postcards on Colnect!

Is '666' considered a devilish number in your country? Today we're putting all our stereotypical thinking away to commemorate a nice milestone we've recently reached - 66,666 Postcards!

The Postcards catalog has been present on Colnect for roughly 6 years, so that's a lot of 6-s for one day, which is also the 6th of January of 2016! How crazy is that?

"Tokyo Station", from the Colnect catalog

First off, we are sending a huge thank-you to the category co-coordinators, Vadym Sulimenko [Dravec] and Grzegorz Pająk [quarteris] for working hard on one of the most popular categories on Colnect! :) 

"Niue Island – Polynesia", from the Colnect catalog

Moreover, thank you to the translators that have made the postcards collecting available for 799 collectors from 70+ countries.

Another group of colnectors we are sending our regards to are editors, they have done an impressive work, keeping the category organised. 

"Tallinn. Spire of Town Hall with "Old Thomas" Weathercock", 
from the Colnect catalog

And, of course, the catalog would not be so diverse without the help of each and every one of contributors. Thank you for every postcard added onto Colnect! The Postcards catalog is currently divided into countries, authors, issuers, colorings, orientations, views, years, themes and newly added.  

 "Torshavn", from the Colnect catalog

                         

The catalog currently includes postcards from 250+ countries. Check them out! Do you have a favourite postcard from your country? By the way, the country that the most postcards are from is Soviet Union! Here's an example:  

"Baikal. Lake in Winter", from the Colnect catalog

So, to sum up, we are really thrilled to see the category growing. We encourage you to study the How Can I Contribute? page to add more postcards, to edit information or to add missing photos/data. Note that many contributors on Colnect enjoy having a free Premium Membership simply by helping the community.

"Awaiting the day's catch", from the Colnect catalog 

 Thank you for being a Colnector! Let's make an even  bigger number of postcards!

Surprising Lego Facts

It wouldn’t surprise us if we see a stack of Lego sets at our friends’ places. Lego, the universal game, has become probably the most popular entertainment for children and adults. Various difficulty levels, numerous collections, different theme parks around the world and many more features make this game such a great investment as a collectible.

Spider Monkey, from the Colnect catalog

Today we would like you to get familiar with some of the most impressive facts about Lego that you probably never heard of. Even if have heard those before, come and brush up your memory! :)

Let us know which fact gripped you the most in the comments below.

1. The Lego group got the patent rights for the standard brick in 1958. All 2x4 Lego bricks ever produced have been exactly the same.

2. Statistically, there are ~1140 elements made per second (!). 

 Small Pre-School Basic Set Minitalia, from the Colnect catalog

3. On average, every person has 83 Lego bricks. Crazy, no? 

4. Almost 28 Lego sets are sold each second during the Christmas season.

Three Christmas Decorations - Santa Tree and Snowman, from the Colnect catalog

5. If you lay together all Lego bricks sold in a year, the line would stretch around the Earth 20+ times. 

6. The world's tallest Lego tower is 28.7m high (made from with 465,000 bricks).

 

Sears Tower, from the Colnect catalog

7. Willing to reach the Moon? You'd need a column of around 40 billion Lego bricks!

8. Since the first Lego minifigure was made in 1978, more than 4 billion have been manufactured – making it the largest population group in the world. In addition, every minifigure is exactly 4 bricks tall (without a hat).

 

Day 1 - Minifigure & Drumstick, from the Colnect catalog 

9. The exact number of combinations you can get from connecting 6 eight-stud bricks (2x4) is 915,103,765!

10. Currently there are Lego theme parks in Denmark, The UK, The USA, Germany and Malaysia. The construction work is still ongoing for new Lego theme parks in The UAE (opening 2016), South Korea and Japan.

"LEGOLAND Picture Frame - Billund Edition", from the Colnect catalog

Colnect’s Lego sets catalog currently has more than 6.700 sets. To find out more about the history of the toy and our catalog, have a look at 80th Anniversary for the LEGO name post.

You are also welcome to participate in the Lego poll!

Summing Up 2015

It is 31st of December and we are saying goodbye to 2015. How did it go for you? Colnect had an amazing and eventful year and we would like to share our memories with you.

"2016", from the Colnect catalog

Colnect by the numbers

To begin with, it is important to note that we have reached several important milestones in 2015. For this, we'll let the numbers speak for themselves:

"2016 Year of the Monkey", from the Colnect catalog

Coins - 55,555+, Stamps - 538,538+,  

Bank Cards - 16,160+, Banknotes - 64,640+, 

Beer Coasters - 30,003+, Bottle Caps - 31,310+,  

Casino Cards - 1,180+, Drink Labels - 12,120+, 

Functional Cards - 16,160+, Gift Cards - 97,970+, Hotel Key Cards - 55,555+, Kids Meal Toys - 10,600+, Lego Sets - 6,700+, Lottery Tickets - 15,150+,

Paper Clips - 34,434+, Phonecards - 561,561+,

Pocket Calendars - 21,800+, Postcards - 65,656+,

Sports Cards - 26,626+, Stickers - 54,545+,

Sugar Packets - 35,535+, Tea Bags - 75,750+,

Tea Labels - 3,333+,  Tokens - 5,555+,

Trading Card Games - 52,525+, Transportation Tickets - 31,313+,  Video Games - 3,000+.

This year we also saw around 30.000 collectors joining our community and overall  

1,960,000+ items added to the catalogs, isn't it great?

Highlights of Colnect's life in 2015

This year, as every year, we have worked to make Colnect a better community for collectors, so it was our aim to implement numerous features and new designs. 
One of the biggest improvements was adding a Sales Forum, where you can trade your collectibles.   

"Happy New Year, booklet", from the Colnect catalog

"Happy New Year!", from the Colnect catalog

2015 was about anything from adding ancient coins to the catalog, re-designing category's main page, bettering navigation with a quick year change list, having a new Colnect Map to an opportunity of giving Premium Membership as a gift for the winter holidays. 

This year we have also carried out Colnect Growth Survey, where you commented on your Colnect experience. 

Additionally, we have chosen The New Translation Manager, The New General Forums Manager and Colnect Ambassadors. 

 

"Happy New Year!", from the Colnect catalog

Frognector and Colnect have their own VK pages now, and therefore we are welcoming more collectors from Russian-speaking countries. What is more, we are bringing more life to our Facebook and Twitter pages. 

Join our Social Media pages and be up-to-date with news from our community, as well as other interesting content all about collectibles! Keep an eye for any new changes on our Announcement Forum.

 

 

What to expect next year

Looking forward to 2016? We sure are! Next year you will see new categories adding, such as Holy Cards, Comics, Bookmarks, Admission Tickets and more. Stay tuned to hear about new features being added as the new year unfolds, it will be totally worth it :)

 

"2016", from the Colnect catalog

Finally, Colnect wishes all collectors a fruitful 2016! 

May it be filled with happiness, love, luck 

and unforgettable experiences! 

Thank you for being a part of Colnect's community! 

 Happy New Year and See You in 2016!

"Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year", from the Colnect catalog

Colnect Welcomes the New Tea Labels Category!

We are happy to announce the addition of a new category and catalog to Colnect - Tea Labels

"Pepermunt/Menthe poivrée" - Tea Label from the Netherlands.  From the new Colnect Tea Labels catalog.

The Tea Labels category was initiated and built as sister catalog of the Teabags category by the Teabags coordinator, Carine De Pauw [crookscarine]. The new category will be headed by Carine De Pauw [crookscarine] as well, who will take on this new category, additionally to her responsibilities on the Teabags category.

"Enjoy Me" - UK Tea Label, from the new Colnect Tea Labels catalog. 

The budding catalog now holds 155 labels, but with your help, it can quickly match the size of the Teabags catalog and surpass it. If you are interested in knowing how you can join in and contribute to the new catalog, you are welcome to take a look at our Catalog Contribution Guidelines page.

"Princess" - Lithuanian Tea Lebel, form the new Colnect Tea Labels catalog

The Tea Labels catalog, as mentioned before, was built in relation to the Teabags catalog, and so will include a nifty little feature that will enable collectors to match each Tea Label to it's corresponding Teabag on the Colnect catalog. All you need to do is take a look at the "teabag" field on the item description, and click the corresponding link.

"HAS Qualitee" - German Tea Label, from the  new Colnect Tea Labels catalog

As all Colnect catalogs, the Tea Labels catalog was created at the initiative of collectors, structured and designed as they see fit. You can take a look at the entire building process and discussion on the forum thread. Are you interested in seeing more collectibles on Colnect? Collect Something not yet on on Colnect, and you would like to start anew category? Read more about it on the More Collectibles? page.

"Assam Tea, ˶Każdy krok...˝" - Polish Tea Labels, from the new Colnect Tea Labels catalog

We would like to thank all who helped and participated in the build of this category and wish the best of luck to this new catalog, and its coordinator, Carine De Pauw [crookscarine] :)

Great Britain Collection of Car History Stamps from Jaguar On to the Model T - Colnect Collectibles

Many of the items that collectors collect are in fact associated with certain collections that have corroborated over time. To commemorate these specially themed collections, countries release special issues of these items that depict images and information that are relevant to them.

Through our “Colnect Collectibles” series we will highlight special collections by featuring Collectible items from our Colnect Catalogs that are associated with organized collectibles of related issue.

The 1982 Cars stamp collection in Great Britain featured an astounding array of world renowned British motor car royalty.



The special Cars stamps collection is a popular one on Colnect, and the catalog shows how these were issued with both an antique automobile and a more modern vehicle on each individual stamp.

The first stamp featured has a vintage 1920's SS1 and an emerald green Jaguar XJ6 amidst a lighter green backdrop. Jaguar has been one of England's premier car companies, though Ford has purchased them in recent years. The stamp was a twenty-six penny issue.



Rolls Royce makes a showing with an early twentieth century open air Silver Ghost in white, and the squared off 1980's Silver Spirit in maroon; the contrast between the cars is amazing in this twenty-nine penny stamp, and the its violet background creates a historic allure to the beautiful Car collection of English stamps.



The inventor of all things mechanized automobile and assembly line was Henry Ford, and so the Cars collection proudly showcases the original Model T, and a ruby red 1982 Ford Escort to round out the past and the present of the innovator's company. Unlike the other stamps in the set, this one has a grey background, which brings out the two cars beautifully and it was a nineteen and a half penny issue.



Colnect brings a culmination of various themed stamps and other artifacts together with its many thousands of collectors and their rare collectibles, and more are added incessantly.

Collection of Ireland's Vintage Beer Coasters Shows Best-Selling Brew Guinness's History - Colnect Collectibles

Many of the items that collectors collect are in fact associated with certain collections that have corroborated over time. To commemorate these specially themed collections, countries release special issues of these items that depict images and information that are relevant to them.

Through our “Colnect Collectibles” series we will highlight special collections by featuring Collectible items from our Colnect Catalogs that are associated with organized collectibles of related issue.

Rarely do history and beer coasters go hand in hand, like they do in the gorgeous collection out of Ireland featured here on Colnect. Since its inception over two hundred and fifty years ago by Arthur Guinness of St. James Gate in Dublin, Ireland, innovative, history wielding, and fun beer coasters have accompanied the brew. Above is an Arthur Guinness Son & Co. product explaining how the beer barrels were distributed via river barges for over two hundred years in Ireland.



On others, the lineage of bottled Guinness in "stone stouts" is made clear by beautiful pictures capturing the different ages of bottling techniques and the clear and proud Guinness signature on their own bottle.



Even the early pre-Twentieth century methods for racking the massive wooden kegs of beer are captured in glorious vintage depictions of a man manually rolling the barrel carefully along the racking shed for distribution. The Guinness stout has long been a staple of the world beer market, and will be for quite some time.



The Guinness beer coaster collection out of Ireland is unique and awesome in its recollection of the brew master's fabled past, and the famous caretakers of the brewery have felt it necessary to share their forgotten methods and photos to bring fans of the beer closer together through history. Find many more historic, educational, or exhilarating collectibles on Colnect.