The Case Against The Big Blue Scott Internationals

http://stampauctionnetwork.com/rs/r...--------here is the listing for that lot 2727.Also lot 2728 was part of the same collection and that lot went for $5,000.Both lots were filled with sets that cataloged over $100.00.But more important were the vast amount of complete sets which are rarely found in collection lots .The third lot which is not listed on the link was the --piece-de-ristance or how ever the French say that ,that was the hidden gem .

Floortrader, thanks for posting these auction results. In case anyone has forgotten the Cape Juby (aka Cap Juby and Cabo Jubi) stamps in question, they are Scott #48-49, Edifil #64-65, SG #60-61, and Y&T #63-64. Does anyone know the Michel numbers?

Incidentally, for those who are tackling the Blue International Volume 1, according to Jkjblue's Checklist, you could substitute Scott #50 for #49. Even more expensive though, and presumably no easier to find.

The problem with these kind of stamps, of course, is that Cape Juby is practically never well represented in the Scott Blue International or Minkus Global collections one finds on venues such as eBay.

My first time around collecting I had a full set of Scott Internationals, the vintage brown reprints for 1840-1940 and then the remainder which I got supplements for up to about 2000. Then in the mid-2000s I sold my collection to help support a business venture I was launching. Business ran for several years but closed down and now that I'm back on my feet again I've started collecting worldwide again.

And this time, I've decided to go the stockbook route rather than the printed album one. Good Lighthouse stockbooks with black pages (mainly 8pg or 16 pg ones, the 32pg ones with 64 sides get bulky, though I do use 3 of them for my USA collection), one per country as I work on a country. Fairly easy to space out places for stamps I hope to get in the future, and none of the cost of albums and, more importantly, stamp mounts. I just create an excel file of how I want to space the stamps per page and use that as my guide as to where to put stamps as I acquire them.

ETA :



Sample from my Guadeloupe album (currently working on French colonies, they are such lovely stamps)

They are indeed lovely.

I would be interested in a update on the stockbooks as you continue to add stamps....

To clarify what I meant by excel file



basicall you figure small defins you can get 8 per row, horiz commmems 4 per row, vertical 5 per row but with the row above empty so the lower stamps don't block the view of those above (unless its the top row of the page, which will hold stamps up to about 45 mm tall)

the numbers here refer to the Maury/Dallay catalog which I use. So for Algeria this starts with Parcel Post issues (the CP#s) starting in 1899 before beginning the postage issues of 1924 etc.

Using stockbooks gives me flexibility, and allows me to fairly easily organize the collection by year with semi-postals, airmails, postage dues (the TT#s in this list) with their year of issue rather than separate out at the end. Also lets me integrate material from non-Scott catalogs without too much hassle.

Bump.

Great discussion about housing WW collections- deserves to be put in the front of the queue for awhile.

I finished mounting my (current) WW classical 1840-1940 collection on Steiner pages....44 Binders (1 1/2"), and some 6500 pages. Takes up about 8-9 feet of shelf space.

I must admit obtaining any (Scott major number) stamp during this era, and having a space for it is a nice luxury.

Luckily, in June you will be able to acquire the British Guiana 1c magenta and fill that empty spot... That is quite an accomplishment to not only get all those pages together but to move your stamps in them too! How do you deal with "binder fatigue?" All binders except really old ones that used metal hinges seem to fall apart. This is incudes Big Blue Binders of course! National and specialty binders seem to be made with tougher stuff and Harris binders are dreadful.

To reduce "binder fatigue" reduce your handling and taking them off and putting them back on the selves . One or two thousands times of opening and closing those binders and your reaching maximium life . Over ten years its not hard to do that . Over the years and viewing other collectors collections at various auctions around the country those Blue International Binders mostly are worn ,ragged and falling apart if they have been worked on and filled with stamps. Mine are keep like new because I use a feeder albums {a second set of International}I fill that for two or three years before transferring to my main collection. Its not smart to pull a binder off the selves for one stamp ,over time things get loose and fall apart .

Yes, I've looked at that space in anticipation every day, and linking my chops.



The collection is housed in heavy duty Avery binders, and if wear is an issue down the road, I will replace them.

Big Blue International binders indeed can be a sorry lot after many years of handling.

Hopefully the cause of "binder fatigue" is from getting your album out to look at the stamps. If so, that is a good thing...
I use slipcases on my Scott International jumbo binders, which helps somewhat, but I plan on replacing the binders periodically as the price of enjoying my collection.
Best Regards,
InforaPenny

Interesting thread; good to see that it has been revived. I've been "married" to the Scott blue internationals since I bought the pages about 30 years ago. My world wide collection is primarily in Intl. Parts I through V (1840-1965). A few countries go into the mid-1970s. My main specialty has been Portuguese colonies through the Revolution in Lisbon; and de-colonization; in 1974-75 (for convenience, I also stop Macau collecting here). The Part I pages are totally inadequate for Portuguese colonies. So, I've used blank pages up to the late 1930s, when coverage got better, with glassine interleaving.

Another example of the problem...... Some may have noticed that the Scott catalog editors are now in year 3 of a three year plan to update the listings for the 1914-1930 Ceres listings of Portugal and colonies; mainly to include more paper and perforation varieties. For Angola, my Scott blue pages have spaces for 32 Ceres stamps, the last space of which is blank. The Scott catalog listing went from 41 major varieties to about 73. My Angola Ceres group; with all sorts of paper, perf, and other varieties; runs about 250 individual mint stamps; plus 29 pairs. Plus around 16-17 used Ceres collected for cancelation interest. Blank pages had to be the only answer.

For other countries, I also use a mix of old Scott Specialized pages; a few old Schaubeck pages; and for my "brief" collection of US revenues, old Harris Liberty pages. Some have needed to be trimmed down to fit the International format. But, that's OK. Have no interest in Steiner or other computer pages due to sizing issues. And with some 50,000 - 70,000 stamps hinged and mounted, no desire to start over. I re-mount only as needed.

The collection resides in 13 jumbo and regular sized blue International binders; Port. Colonies in one of the jumbo albums by themselves. One thing I've noted is that the blank International pages produced by Subway Stamps; their G & K brand; are more solid/thicker than the Scott/Amos brand. I have very little binder wear in 30 years of use; but I also handle them very carefully.

I do try to place multiple stamps in my albums when I can to reduce the wear. I agree that slipcases seem to help a bit. Subway had a good sale their repro blue binders a while back and they seem to hold up well. Alas, I have resorted to heavy duty tape for some binders with mixed results!

This was such a interesting thread to go through again. Was one of the motivators for me to start a worldwide collection.

Just seen this discussion again on my computer .I am happy to report that I purchase lot 5887 at the Daniel Kelleher Auction on June 2 2016.This was a Spanish Colonies 1902-55 and contained most of the spots to fill my Blue Internationals for Cape Juby.

Congratulations floortrader! How about some pictures for us new classical collectors to drool upon? I get to see so few cape juby stamps esp the triangles in the BBs that I buy.