Are you a collector of Filofax (or other brands) of organisers?
Back when this Filofax community was only a year or two old someone admitting that they had a large number of organisers would cause people to gasp in surprise.
Much less so these days it seems.
I will admit to having about 76 at the last count. The first one being bought in 1986 so 40 years ago. Or less than 2 per year on average.... Although until about 2010 I only had about 5 organisers!! The acquisition curve is far from being a straight line!
My pathetic reasoning for having so many is mainly down to writing for Philofaxy. I have at least one example in all the sizes from M2 or Mini to A4 at the other end of the scale. Most are A5 or Personal size, these are my two most used sizes as well.
There are some people that just like collecting all of the different models. For instance I have the Holborn in all the different sizes released and also the Malden in all the different sizes released.
One of our readers collected all of the sizes and colours of the Filofax Finchley made/sold, quite an achievement when you realise that one or two of the colours were not released in all of the sizes that other colours were released in.
When you have a large 'collection' sharing photos of it becomes quite an undertaking. I've done it a couple of times, but well over 10 years ago now. It takes a lot of organisation to gather them all together for the group photograph, herding cats might be easier!
I'm sure that we all have our favourites in our 'collections' the ones that get used more than others. There might always be a story behind some of the others, the rare ones, the ones you can still remember buying after tracking them down for many months.
I started back in the 80s buying a Balmoral and Winchester. Have been a fILOFAX personal format user forever. Here’s a pic of my current rotation … The only non fILOFAX is an Omega.
ReplyDeletehttps://imgur.com/a/uBxiPFz.jpg
I would describe myself as a user and collector, inspired mainly by the catalogues from the 1980s, when there was a huge range of high quality products. The durability of these allows them to be enjoyed still today.
ReplyDeleteMy collection currently stands at 21, over half are Maldens. The majority are pocket size. Some I have never used so I suppose that makes me a collector. Trying not to buy any more!
ReplyDeleteI used to have a lot, collected over the years from Ebay, charity shops, and a few bought new.
ReplyDeleteSome I gave to friends, a lot I gave to the local charity shop a few months ago. Now I have only my favourite binders, and I am not planning on buying more. Time to use and enjoy what I have instead.
I have had Filofax in my life for almost my whole life as my father used one everyday. I picked up his love of pen and paper. I am not a hard core collector but I enjoy finding vintage or specific models at thrift stores and some online venues. I try to be quite discerning. I like to ‘rescue’ old used Filofaxes that have obviously been well-loved. I love to imagine their story. I don’t really know how many I have - I might not want to count them. 😉
ReplyDeleteI think that I would describe myself as a Filofax user & enthusiast, instead of a collector. I suppose I'm not really a collector of anything by nature, so that's why I have sold so many over the years as it means I enjoy some variety without owning too many for me personally.
ReplyDeleteMy father, a clergyman, introduced me to filofax in the late 60s - he wasn't near a stockist and I would pick up inserts for him in London. I had a Personal mock-leather Letts (I think) which I used as a true EDC (not called that then). In the early 80s my in-laws gave me a beautiful genuine tan leather Filofax which was indispensable to me for years. Eventually, with the onset of electronic devices, it became little more than an address book kept in a drawer.
ReplyDeleteFast-forward to the lockdown years. I started using notebooks regularly again and acquired a few more binders, including a rather nice red Bloomsbury bought from a charity (thrift) shop for £1.50 (reduced from £2 after haggling - I know, I'm ashamed). This led me to more purchases from second-hand shops and auction sites - before long I had developed a serious habit.
Over the last five years or so I have amassed several hundred Filofax and many other brands. This year has (almost) brought a halt to me buying any Filofax, other than the around fifty models (from around 250 known) that are not represented in my trove. The two main reasons for this (other than my sister no longer regularly attending auction houses) lead me to the advice I would offer to anyone wishing to grow their nascent collection.
Firstly, they take up a lot of room. It would be difficult to accommodate more than, say, 60 or 70 on shelving so you need somewhere with easy access to store bins or boxes. Consideration is needed to ensure storage conditions will not adversely affect the binders.
Secondly, the cost of acquisition is much greater than it was even a year ago while value has not increased to match. In the first few years of my addiction it was unusual for me to spend over £10 for anything, even scarce models, and usually much less. Recently the asking price on eBay has shot up without regard for quality or provenance. All the Saffianos, Dominos and so on dumped last year by Filofax (on TKMaxx, WHSmith as was, and other discount outlets) have flooded the market at inflated prices. Some models, particularly the Ranger, achieve ridiculous prices far beyond their worth. Everything more than a couple of years old is described as 'vintage'.
I would advise limiting any collection to between a few dozen and a hundred at most. Specialise in some aspect that particularly appeals to you - age, colour, configuration, whatever. I wouldn't claim a rerun of the South Sea Bubble is imminent but anything collectable runs in price cycles and I would say this is not a good time to buy, so be very selective.
But Filofax collecting can be very rewarding, particularly with the help from Steve, Kevin, Neil and others who do such sterling work researching, developing and maintaining the archives.
Good luck - there are still some bargains about!
I became a collector slowly, initially buying Filofax on sale in shops and online, the odd one here and there that I thought was lovely. Personal size at first. My first was a cherry classic, then I bought an ivory Deco. Next a slim Osterley in grey. Then a red zip Lockwood. Next was an A5 Malden in Ochre. It went from there and I now have about 75-80. I have Filofax leather bags, folios, A4 binders, Deskfax, as well as Personal and A5, and this year I’ve added my first few pocket sized including an Amazona, a Finsbury and an Adelphi.
ReplyDeleteI’ve branched out into Meeplus and VDS. I also have some unbranded and one called a Tito which is personal but has 35mm rings.
For Christmas I was gifted a pocket sized Gucci organiser in snake imported from Japan which is the most exquisite one I have.
I have the Deco in Ivory, Ebony and Ruby but am hoping to get an Amethyst one to complete the set, the last one I saw on eBay has c£250 so I passed.
I’m definitely a collector, I went through everything last autumn to list them by ‘keep’ and ‘sell’ and I had none in the sell pile at the end. Each one has a story and I am attached to them all.
I think I am the strangest case of gathering ring binders. For my hole spacing data collection, I tried to get at least one ring binder for each of the hole spacings. In most cases, I tried to get the chepeast available binder. For example, I was lucky to get the PVC versions of the 20mm grid based Org-Rat binders, when most of the formats were discontinued and sold out.
ReplyDeleteSometimes I was lucky to get highly discounted variants, or random findings on ebay.
About a year ago, I started to buy special model and color variants, like from the Org Junior series, where some nice colors were added recently. And I got interest in special editions like the Nagasawa joint-ventures.
Because my collection is not limited to planners/organisers, my largest ring binder is about 90cm wide, and can hold A1 paper in clear sleeves. Unfortunately, the mechanics are of such low quality, that they only support the weight of about eight empty sleeves. However, the binder would make a huge philofaxy number, but people on reddit gave me downvotes for mentioning it.
I can't tell where my passion for ring binders began. In the early 80s I had a tiny ring file for keeping a list of my tape recordings from FM radio.
Hans
I am definitely not a collector. I had one (1) Filofax for about 28 years, but as of last year I do have a few more. They were all bought to be used though and not for any sort of reason other than I needed one and liked the look of it.
ReplyDeleteI’ve noticed over in the fountain pen community, that there’s a tendency to call something a ”collection” when in reality it’s just a ”large bunch of pens”, and referring to people as ”collectors” when they are just ”people who buy a slightly unreasonable number of pens”. :)
I am always interested in reading about actual collectors and why they are collecting whatever it is they’re collecting though. It’s often really fascinating.
My collection began in the 1990s with the Franklin Quest/Covey planners. From there I went Techie with the PalmPilot and various other iPhone Apps along the way.
ReplyDeleteThen in 2010, I came across my first Filofax at a Papyrus store at NorthPark Center in Dallas, TX. A personal black Malden — love at first sight! This is where my obsession with Filofax all started.
Like many others in this community, I have managed to collect close to 100 or so organizers which now include the Gillio and VDS brands. Most of what I own are discontinued models and some are considered vintage.
The ones that I was always on the hunt for and own the most of are in the Personal Size with 30mm rings. My favorites being the Cavendish (all colors), Portland Grand, Portland 5/4 and Winchester 5/4 models.
I felt I hit the jackpot when I was finally able to acquire a Balmoral 10CLF (almost new condition) and a Winchester 5/4 in a true bright red as shown in this YouTube video by Joshua LaPorte
https://youtu.be/TmPs0U2EhSw?si=H1RfSA73VCxI-Lxm
Another prized Filofax is the Personal Ostrich (3rd gen, 2000s) in Buttercup.
I can honestly say that I am in my happy place with my organizers and no longer feel the need to add to my collection. Well, maybe just one more…a 1st generation Filofax Ostrich! 😁
Happy hunting everyone!