Hi Tony
welcome to the TPS bulletin board!
Regarding you inquiries:
1) as a beginner, the approach of collecting "anything and everything" is a good idea as you will quickly get an overview of the available material and eventually find a publisher,photographer, theme, locality that you would like to specialise in ..... at this stage though, be careful to not to pay "too much" for any one card ... there are 100s and 100s of cards out there that can be purchased in the $5 to $15 range .... later on, after you have purchased many cards and found perhaps one or two specialty areas you should be much better informed to make more "significant" purchases.
2) the reference materials are rather slim on Tasmanian postcards and in the near future I will post a bibliography on the "resources" section of the Tasmanian Philatelic Society website. "Mike" (who is a member of this BB) has written a number of fine publications on Tasmanian postcards and if you contact him using the personal messages (PM) facility of this forum I am sure he may able to help you. Valuations are tough and as there are no priced catalogs (that are up-to-date) observing "market forces" are the only guide. Prices realised on eBay can be used as a guide for more common cards but this is still recommended as such a guide with considerable reservations!
3) popular areas for collectors include a) real photo cards; b) advertising cards, especially those by F.W. Niven; c) anything to do with the West Coast and/or mining; d) shipping; e) events e.g. parades, agricultural shows, royal visits and suchlike; f) cards produced by the Tasmanian Govt or local tourist operators to promote the state; g) specific regions such as Circular Head, the North East, etc; h) cards by specific publishers and/or photographers such as Ernest Winter in Burnie / A.W. Marshall in Devonport / F. Skinner in Ulverstone / S.Spurling in Launceston / J. Beattie in Hobart; i) streetscapes, etc, etc
4) although this bulletin board is not intended to promote the sale or exchange of cards as one of it's functions, as you are a beginner we will turn a "blind eye" this time
and you may get some offers from other members to help you expand your collection. Hopefully, (and what we hope doesn't occur too often) registered users will stay on task ... the seeking of and exchange of knowledge re Tasmanian postcards.
I hope this information is of assistance and wish you well with your new collecting interest. I hope you will find membership of the TPS Discussion Forum enjoyable and instructive.
Ross Ewington (Tasmanian Postcards category moderator)
