In Loving Memory of Avi Wald 2/Apr/1949 - 27/Sep/2010

Avi Wald has passed away on September 27, 2010 following over two and a half years of battling Glioblastoma Multiform IV (GBM), the most common and violent form of brain cancer. Without him, Colnect would never have existed. While there is a lot that can be written about Avi and his life, this post will focus solely on his connection to Colnect and the world of collecting.

Avi started collecting after fourth and youngest son, Uri, asked him to help his phone card collection. At first he just helped Uri by looking for used phone cards left on public phones but he soon became interested in the phone cards themselves and started collecting together with Uri.

As Avi's collection kept growing and he became a serious collector his second son, Ofer, created Islands Phonecards Database for phone card collectors. Ofer wanted his father to use the Internet more and has thus created a site to allow Avi to manage his phone card collection and easily swap phone cards with collectors the world over. Islands Phonecards Database gained popularity with phone card collectors as it offered them free online catalog of phone cards and means to communicate with each other.

Avi's third son, Amir, later took control over Islands Phonecards Database from Ofer and transformed it into Colnect. The phone card catalog started growing quickly with the help of Colnect's community and Avi spent hours a day in front of Colnect updating his personal collection (with over 25,000 different phone cards from 171 countries marked on Colnect!) and interacting with fellow collectors. He was always honest and generous in dealing with other collectors. Some of them became Avi's friends. Even as Colnect progressed to include more collectible categories, Amir had frequently consulted Avi.





Avi's phone card collection is presented in several videos about Colnect


At the end of February 2008, the whole family was shocked when Avi was diagnosed with GBM. The grim prognosis of GBM meant that half the patients in Avi's condition died within 11.2 months of initial diagnosis. Despite this and other medical issues which soon surfaced, Avi always tried to keep his and his family's spirits up high. He never gave up on his phone card collection and kept in touch with other collectors. Even as his condition worsened, he still tried to attend collector meetings.


Avi died at the age of 61, leaving behind his wife Aliza, his sons Dror, Ofer, Amir and Uri and his grandchildren Raz, Yuval, Almog, Inbar and Zohar. May he rest in peace and may his fantastic character always inspire us.

15,151 Collectors Already?

It has been a fast growth, isn't it? Collectors are now numbering more than 15,151. Last month, we announced 14,141 collectors in Colnect. In just a small amount in time, we're reaching again yet another milestone. As more collectors continue to join Colnect, we're thinking of better and more creative ways to truly inspire each Colnector. We're welcoming more and more people to be a part of our community. If you have friends who happen to collect, tell them about your great experience in Colnect.


15,151 COLLECTORS COLLECT AND CONNECT WITH COLNECT!


Facebook is one of the biggest social networking sites in the world of social media and its integration with Colnect contributed a lot to the growth of our community. We would like to grab this opportunity to welcome our members in Colnect who recently joined. Our deepest gratitude goes to each one of you who continues to support our community and continues to contribute in one way or another. It is a guarantee that we will give the best service possible to each one of you.

Joining Colnect is free. If you are reading this post and you're not yet a member, you are so invited to join Colnect. We have a vast collection of stamps, coins, bank notes, bottle caps, phone cards, hotel key cards, bank cards, gift cards, casino cards, transportation tickets, tea bags and post cards. Let us show you why collecting is easy and fun in Colnect.

Happy collecting! :)

121,121+ Stamps Listed on Colnect's Free Stamp Catalogue

Over 10,000 stamps have been added to Colnect's stamp catalog. With 121,121+ stamps, there is a fast growth in number basing from the previous post in June. This fast growth could be attributed to the non-stop work of our stamp catalog coordinator, Klaus Jochimsen [Lola22]. We would also like to commend immensely our stamp collectors for their support and efforts that aided a lot in the growth of our stamp catalog.


CHOOSE AMONG A VARIETY OF 121,121+ STAMPS

Take your pick among 121,121+ stamps. Be sure to grab what you are missing. Stamps come in different sizes, colors and origins. Make your collections bigger by swapping stamps with other users. Don't miss the chance to trade with a lot of stamp collectors and enthusiasts. Enhance and let your collection grow through Colnect. Help Colnect through your addition of missing stamps in our catalog.

If you happen to be a stamp collector and you haven't joined Colnect yet, now's the perfect time for you to join our big community. Sign up an account in Colnect. You will love it here as we continue to add great features in our website to render the best collecting and connecting service. Colnect is available in 50 languages to make sure that all collectors are conveniently connected worldwide.

Happy collecting! :)

8,008 Hotel Key Cards in the World's Biggest Catalog for Collectors

Colnect is getting big with Hotel Key Cards. We are now displaying over 8,008 Hotel Key Cards in our Hotel Key Card Catalog, the biggest catalog in the world. This huge accomplishment could never be possible without the efforts of our Hotel Key Card Coordinator, Ignacio F López Vico [iflvico].



PLENTY OF HOTEL KEY CARDS TO CHOOSE FROM!

Huge collectibles in our hotel key card catalog enable our hotel key card collectors to choose among a variety. Members get to enjoy swapping hotel key cards coming from their favorite hotels all around the globe. It's a fulfillment for collectors to boast a great number of hotel key cards in their collection originating from every side of the planet.

If you're fond of collecting hotel key cards, then you will surely enjoy our list of collectibles in our catalog. Collections vary from If you haven't "Colnected" yet, you are welcome to join us in Colnect and be a part of our growing collectors community.

18,181 Banknotes in Banknote Catalog

Colnect is jubilantly declaring a sum of 18,181 banknotes in banknote catalog. Banknote collectors can now enjoy this galore of 18,181 banknotes. Our collectors will be spared from the arduous task of accumulating banknotes in collection. Everything is in our banknote catalog now. There is no need to go through the exhausting process of trading your banknotes manually because we've got it all for you.



Colnect would like to commend this extensive quantity of banknotes to our banknote coordinator Vidami Istvan. Banknotes from different countries are available for trading. Pick among our miscellany of banknotes and get the right one for you. There are numerous banknotes in our catalogs just for you.

Tell everyone about this. Are you a banknote collector? Join our community in Colnect and see our banknote catalog. You will certainly like our banknote collection. Our big collections will take your collecting hobby to new heights. Swap with collectors globally. Collect and collect now with Colnect.

Collectors Flock to Colnect - 80,008+ People Visited Colnect in August

We're proud to announce that over 80,008 site visitors have gone through Colnect for the whole month of August. This is about 30% increase of the total number of visitors from last month. This proves that the popularity of Colnect is on a progression. We are hoping and anticipating for more visitors to flock in Colnect. We're irreversibly moving on a positive trail and getting better each month.

This increase could be attributed to Colnect's faster service and more collectibles available in the catalogs. The integration of Colnect with Facebook aided a lot as well for this mark. A number of people connected by social media found their way to Colnect through this conjugation. The huge stride of growth of visitors is a reward and a motivation to all of us.

Our endless gratitude goes to each of you who refers Colnect and spreads the word to your many peers in the collection industry. Through your outstanding support, there's nowhere to course but forward.

Internationalization Snapshot - Collectors from All Around the World Using Colnect in 50 Languages

Colnect is a huge site dedicated to all collectors around the world. With this trend involving many people of different nationalities and origin, Colnect has made an array of national languages spoken and used all throughout the globe readily available to all its collectors. The availability of such feature has given way for non-English speaking collectors to switch to foreign versions of Colnect. This created a tie that binds all people in Colnect who do not have a common language of communication.



The internationalization of the website contributed greatly to the access of a common interface enabling collectors to do transactions smoothly. Through this feature, swapping can be done without the hassle of communication barriers such as language differences. We commend the commitment and dedication of our translations manager Jens Bruno Wittek who has done an exceptional job to this internationalization.

Through a unified goal and purpose, Colnect continuously receives a hand from its people from different countries. Our immense gratitude goes to these volunteers who are contributing non-stop to make Colnect a better place for collectors.

YouTube Machine Transcription or 'What was that?!'

Colnect has recently published new videos on YouTube. These are simple videos explaining about our website for collectors (stamps, coins, banknotes and more) from all around the world. As Colnect is available in 50 languages, it's important to upload subtitles for the different languages. Although we already created the English subtitles, curiosity made us look at what YouTube's automated "Machine Transcription" have produced for our videos. The "Machine Transcription" tries to do an old, yet daunting task of speech-to-text.

How surprising and hilarious were the results revealed. Many words allegedly transcribed had little phonetic resemblance to the audio. Obviously, the "Machine Transcription" is sometimes much worse that actually having no subtitles at all. Here follows an example.

First the video:



And now a screen shot of some of the funniest so-called "Machine Transcription":


Enjoy highlights such as "Number of Clinton's each" which seems to refer to "See the number of items each (collector has for every category they are active in)". Can you guess the original for "what the offer free trade" used to be? This one is easier, it was "What they offer for trade". The last example would be "it's what the up for and what they want". We're still unsure but it might relate to "(View a member's profile with a click) and see what they offer and what they want". Quite similar, isn't it? :)

So, to conclude, be extremely wary when using the machine transcription for anything other than some good laughs. Oh, you're welcomed to joke about the accent in the video ;)

Quarter Million Phone Cards on the World's Biggest Phone Card Catalog

The unceasing growth of phone cards on our phone card catalog has now reached one fourth of a million. It is available in 50 languages, and it is the WORLD'S BIGGEST phone card catalog! Collectors on Colnect use the catalog to manage their own personal collection. There are nearly 20 million items on collector lists on Colnect! The catalog's growth is possible due to the endless efforts of our phone card coordinators. We would like to thank and commend them: Ignacio F López Vico [iflvico], Trudy Hoogenboom [trudyh], Komdej Chulapprawut [komdej], Eyüp Güçmen [kolleksiyon], Jorge Pablo Villegas [Jorgepablo2005]. Colnect is presently and continuously working ways to extend more available resources for your collecting convenience. Check our phone cards catalog today.



250,000 PHONE CARDS TO CHOOSE FROM!

Our phone cards originate from 231 countries around the globe. Our assortment continues to grow as new available phone cards spring up to our catalog. It's nearly 30,000 freshly added phone cards since we last announced 222,222.

Are you a phone card collector with no Colnect account? Colnect is welcoming more phone card collectors to sign up in Colnect. Join the frolic of collecting. You will know why collectors stick with us.

14,141 Collectors Connect and Collect with Colnect

Colnect reached a new milestone - a huge union of collectors now 14,141! Colnect is, with no doubt, an inevitable fever around the planet. Join the craze of collecting and connecting only with Colnect. We announced last July about having 13,131 collectors. We've grown a thousand more collectors in just a month time. Colnect is looking forward to grow a bigger number of collectors. Together, we'll reach higher milestones.



By reaching this mark, swapping and trading your collections are more fun. More collectors joining means more collectibles available. We are certain that we will grow bigger fractions in the months to come. Are you a collector? This is your chance to try and experience Colnect. Know why more and more people join our community.

Not a member? Click here to sign up.

With Colnect's never ending promise to bring you only the best service, we're proud to say that this will not be possible without you, our precious collectors. Tell your friends to collect and connect with us. Only from your best collections' manager, Colnect. :)

1,001 Bank Cards Added to Bank Cards Catalog

Have you ever fancied collecting various bank cards all over the globe? Worry no more! 1,001 bank cards have been added by Colnect to its bank cards catalog. Colnect gathered a roster of bank cards for you to feast on. You can now add more and more and MORE bank cards to your collection! Bank cards are just so fun to look at, aren't they? We know you want these bank cards now it's your chance to have them! This is a great news to all bank card collectors.


HAVE YOUR PICK NOW!
We are certain how important it is to complete your album full of bank cards. Many thanks to Hendy Florez, our bank cards database coordinator, for making this wonderful addition possible. Don't miss the chance to complete your collection. We always have a lot in store for your collection desires. Each bank card comes with a unique appearance that will keep you asking for more. Select from a variety of card colors and origin. You asked for it, now we'll give it.

Colnect's continuous pursuit to help you enrich your collection never stops. Now, you can boast a number of bank cards. Connect with bank card collectors around the world and take your sweetest pick. Tell your friends about this wonderful addition to our catalog. Spread the word. Enjoy collecting!

Collectors Connect to Colnect with Facebook

Facebook is becoming a huge trend in the modern world. So starting today, you can sign up an account in Colnect using your Facebook account. Collectors can now create an account in Colnect fast and hassle-free. Just click on the Facebook login icon then grant permission to access from Facebook when signing up for Colnect. After that, you're good to go. There's no need to fill out a lot of boxes because everything will be done for you.


Do you have buddies in Facebook who are fond of collecting? Invite them to connect into our growing community here in Colnect. It is always a pleasure for us to cater to a growing family of collectors. Together, we can grow our collection faster and easier. Let's all get connected. The more, the merrier!

We are continuously finding ways to make things convenient for everyone. With this new feature, it will be easier to connect your friends to join the collection fever in Colnect. Collecting has never been this easy!

Only in Colnect, your partner in collection.

Collectors Welcomed To Presenting Themselves and Their Collections With Videos

Collectors from all around the world present their collection on Colnect. Now, a short video may easily be added to a collector's profile. In this short video the collector can talk a bit about herself and her collection. The video is available to all using a green PLAY button next to the collector's profile picture. See for example Colnect's founder video here.



This new feature is available through an integration with a cool new start up company named VanityVid. Colnect is one of the first platforms which will be implementing their fine product.

Tea Bag Catalog Displaying Over 6,006 Tea Bags

Colnect's tea bag catalog has doubled in size since we last announced its growth and now features over 6,006 tea bags from 66 countries. Perhaps not yet among Colnect's biggest categories, tea bags have developed a significant community of tea bag collectors on Colnect to connect and swap with. We would like to commend the hard work of the tea bags coordinator, Carine De Pauw, who tirelessly works to make our tea bag catalog the best in the world.



If you are a tea bag collector, feel free to sign up on Colnect and upload items from your collection to the site. The current success and future greatness of Colnect rests on the shoulders of devoted volunteers like Carine and YOU.

2,222 Gift Cards on Our Gift Card Catalog for Collectors

Gift cards is one of the new categories on Colnect, added just a month ago. It has, however, got a great boost and now boasts over 2,222 gift cards cataloged. The list of gift card collectors from all around the world is still relatively small but we hope that as the category grows, more gift card collectors would join in and manage their personal collection on Colnect.

Many thanks Claude Martin [Claude], who has kick-started the gift cards category and is now the coordinator in charge of it.

Collectors Collect and Connect on Colnect - Now With Over 13,131 Members

Collectors from all around the world manage their personal collections and swap with other collectors using Colnect's personal collection management and unique Auto-Matching feature.


Continuing the Colnect tradition of publishing statistics in numbers that are more fun to remember rather than rounded, we're happy to report that there are now more than 13,131 collectors on Colnect. This is nearly a 20% growth during the last three months since we last announced 11,111 collectors on Colnect. We deeply apologize for not announcing when we passed the 12,345 collectors mark but we'll try to do a big one when Colnect surpassed the 123,456 members :)

If you're a collector and haven't yet checked out Colnect, you're most welcomed to join our community and enjoy our unique free services. Happy collecting :)

Free Stamp Catalog Surpassed 111,111 Stamps

Stamp collectors from around the world work together to create and enhance Colnect's free online stamp catalog. Recently, the catalog has been growing much faster than before and it now has over 111,111 stamps listed from 223 countries. During the last 30 days alone, 6545 stamps were added.

Collectors who contributed information to the catalog deserve the credit for the growth but a special credit is due to Klauss [Lola22] who has been helping tirelessly as our new stamps coordinator supervising the contribution and editing of other collectors.

You're welcomed to help Colnect grow bigger and better by adding missing items on our catalog.
We also welcome new categories on Colnect so if you collect baseball cards, airsickness bags, beer mats, lights or anything else mass-produced, don't hesitate to contact us on Colnect and you may become a category coordinator.

Happy collecting :)