Michel ENGLISH Germany Catalogue Question

[reichscollector]

Greetings everyone! I have used a Michel Specialized catalogue from the 1990s. It has provided an abundance of information even though I do I not read German. I recently gave the book away to a new well motivated collector. It is time for a more modern edition anyway. My question is a few years ago Michel has now issued the catalogue in English. Have any of you had the chance to use one and if so what are your reviews on the English edition? I know the first few editions had some kinks to work out but I have not heard anything since. This question may be a long shot but I still wanted to ask. Thank you all for your time! Best Regards, Isaac

[SWH]

I have no personal experience with the Michel in English. I did check out their site for you though. They offer a 2015 specialized edition in English which they advertise as the first new edition in 7 years. From what I understand the English 2015 edition is identical to the German 2015 edition. Also in price. It comes in 2 volumes of € 84 each. What is relevant maybe is that they offer the 2014 specialized in German for € 44,50........

[khj]

It's good to read that the 2015 is identical. I will make a note of that. Thanks SWH! Is that the first year that they have made it identical?

I only have 2007 and 2009 English language editions, and they are NOT identical to the German language editions.

[PostmasterGS]

The 2015 English versions will not be identical to the German versions. They'll cover more than the 2007/2009 versions, but they're still only about half the size of the 2015 German editions.

[khj]

Thanks for the clarification, PostmasterGS!

[SWH]

I stand corrected. Thanks PostmasterGS. I concluded that they must be identical from the number of images and listings in volume 1. Michel advertises these to be the same in the English and German versions. Looking into it deeper volume 1 indeed has 1150 pages in the German version and only 544 in the English version. Also, analyzing volume 2 Michel advertises 8500 images and 111200 listings for the German version on 1406 pages and 5300 images and 94000 listings for the English version on only 512 pages. Confusing.  :-S I will ask them what the deal is.

[khj]

What happens in theory/planning, is often not what happens in practice.

Please let us know Michel's reply.

[SWH]

Aug 27, 2015 1:33:04 GMT -5 khj said:

Please let us know Michel's reply.

I will certainly do so. In the past Michel have generally taken a few days to reply though.....

[khj]

That's faster than my average response time!

After whittling down my email backlog to less than 800 earlier this month, now it's back up to 1000+.

Maybe I spend too much time posting on SB?

Not!

[rayb]

volume 1 indeed has 1150 pages in the German version and only 544 in the English version

Are you sure that's not because ALL German words are twice as long as their English equivalent?

Used/gebraucht, proof/druckprobe, maroon/dunkelrotpurpur, charity stamp/wohltatigkeitsmarke.

Yep. Seems to be right....

[PostmasterGS]

If the Michel website is accurate WRT the contents of the upcoming English versions, here's a comparison of what's covered:

German Vol 1 & Vol 2	English Vol 1	English Vol 2
German States
North German Confederation	X
Deutsches Reich	X
1923 Locals
Post Offices Abroad	X
Colonies	X
Ship Post
WWI Occupations
Plebiscites - Allenstein
Plebiscites - Marienwerder
Plebiscites - Upper Silesia
Plebiscites - Saargebeit
Plebiscites - Schleswig
Belgian Military Post in Rhineland
Danzig	X
Memel	X
Bohemia & Moravia		X
Generalgouvernement		X
Sudetenland		X
WWII Occupations		X
Feldpost		X
War & Propaganda Forgeries
Locals after 1945		X
Allied Occupation: Joint Issues		X
Allied Occupation: Berlin & Brandenburg		X
Allied Occupation: Soviet Zone		X
DDR
West Berlin
Saarland
Allied Occupation: French Zone		X
Allied Occupation: Bi-zone		X
BRD

[khj]

Yes, not having DDR and West Berlin would take out a lot of pages.

[SWH]

I have noted the difference too. And have asked Michel what the exact differences are in terms of the areas covered. The strange thing is that this list suggest vast differences whereas the number of listings that Michel advertises for the two versions is quite close. I guess there's bottom line two key questions: 1) are there differences in the areas covered and 2) for the areas covered are the listings the same. Right? I hope the answers Michel provides to my questions will clarify things....

[SWH]

I got a reply from Michel. A clear one I should think. In their email they indicate that the numbers of images and listings on the website were 'very early, rough estimates'. As the publication date of the English version is now getting closer they can provide 'more accurate estimates'. OK, so the areas covered are exactly as in Postmaster GS's table. The numbers are as follows:

And for those that master the language the complete table I got from Michel:

So the conclusion must be that the English version is a subset of the German version. Is it worth it? Everybody's personal judgement I guess. Please note that in the German table the (expected) dates of publication are in the European notation for dates.

[SWH]

As per my suggestion Michel have changed the way they advertise the English versions. I think it's better but I am not sure whether it's now entirely transparent. Any opinions?

[khj]

Thanks for giving them feedback, and following up with us on this matter SWH.

Most people who get the English language edition aren't fluent in German, so the German language table that Michel provides is not useful for us.

To me, the quantitative comparison of pages, images, listings is also not very meaningful by itself. It's like when Scott editors tell me how many value updates there were in this year's edition -- it only matters to me what areas the value changes occurred.

That being said, the Michel table showing what sections ARE included in the English language edition is most useful to me. This table was shown above by PostmasterGS. Once I have that information, then the data comparing number of pages/images/listings becomes a little more useful.

Just my honest opinion.

k

[SWH]

khj, maybe you overlooked that but I did refer to PostmasterGS's table in my earlier post. That evaluation of the collecting areas covered is the key thing and explains the differences in the numbers. I think it's good though to have a confirmation that the table is indeed what Michel covers in the English version and that the numbers now make sense. It's not without a reason that Michel sent me a second email notifying me of the changes they have made to their website.

[reichscollector]

Thank you everyone for the great information. The English versions do cover what I need (Deutsches Reich, Occupations, Feldpost, Danzig and Colonies. With the exception of Saar ) I haven't had the chance to check prices yet but it is still hard to choose.