The Case Against The Big Blue Scott Internationals

I had an idea this week. Has anyone tried using stock pages to mimic a big blue? BB usually has a max of 6 lines of stamps which should be easy to mimic on stock page. Maybe an empty BB page can be placed alongside or maybe one can use a paper trimmer to cut a BB page line by line, place them in the slots of the stock page and just slide the actual stamps on top. The advantages will be manifold .... easy switching out of stamps, great protection, ample space for extra stamps, not having to worry about hinges/mounts etc and have a picture in place for empty spots and most importantly stay true to the spirit of collecting to the BB. The biggest con that I wonder about is how bulky the entire thing would be and how aesthetic the pages will look. Insights from the forum heavyweights will be greatly appreciated. On a side note I ran out of the old Fold O/ dennison hinges and tried hinging about 250 stamps onto my old 1943 BB using the new FOLDO and Prinz hinges over the weekend. I was absolutely livid today when I saw that 20-25 stamps have already fallen off ...

I don't find it's a good idea , Main interesting feature of the BB is the fact that stamps look good on printed pages, it's also give an organization to fallow. But the BB come with serious flaws, why mimic them?

- Missing stamps (cheap or not )
- Incompletes series.
- Missing series

A good choice for World album in stock books or Vario will be to use the Stanley Gibbons World Simplified Catalogues. Doing so , you will have a sample of each stamps without the need to have different perforations and watermark.

aragorn, I had issues like with stamps falling off when I began my International, but switching to Prinz solved the problem. Perhaps you got a bad batch?

I had initially hoped to use Advantage Stock Sheets as an alternative to blank pages. While these don't come with an International border, they do integrate well into the album. Unfortunately, the sheets are much thicker than a regular page so my feeling is you couldn't use very many.

So I ended up just using stock pages to hold stamps that were in other editions of the Blue than the one I own. Hopefully one days these will make it on to blank pages that I can insert into the printed album.

I apologize for the belated response .I was travelling since I last made my post and just got back in town last night.
Jim
I just ordered couple of new packs of Prinz hinges. Will let you know how that goes.
I get your point regarding stock pages and have decided to shelf
that idea.Good thing that I asked for advice before getting started.

Area66
The main advantage of a BB unlike steiner pages is it is doable to get to a reasonable amount of completion in a lifetime even for collectors who don't not have a Ahab like focus. All your points are valid though therefore I still plan to continue my " primary " collection in my Minkus supreme globals apart from trying to fill a BB.
I did not even know about the Stanley Gibbons simplified Catalogs so have to research that a bit. Thank you for mentioning them. Being in US the Scott catalog is much more prevalent and Scott numbers are a universal language among collectors and dealers. I feel that I will probably continue to use them

Quite true. It offers a "representative" collection that is a challenge to fill, but within the realm of possibility. Page after page of filled stamps is a very nice aesthetic.

For a look at a BB completed collection, take a look at...

Bud's Big Blue - An Introduction and Index
http://bigblue1840-1940.blogspot.co...d-index.html




aagorn- That was actually Bob (1840-1940) of Filling Spaces blog fame....

http://globalstamps.blogspot.com/

Jim
jkjblue

Not sure if you're experienced with them, but they're not too bad if you go really easy on the moisture. Try to use the tiniest of amounts - just enough so it'll stick to the stamp but no more. And moistening just a portion of the hinge works as well as moistening the whole thing. If you fully moisten them they'll become more or less permanently attached to the stamps and/or your album page, risking damage when you try to remove them. If you get the hang of just barely moistening them, they actually detach pretty cleanly.

Oh dear...I apologize Bob.
Jim ...Thanks for pointing it out.

Artfulhinger thanks for the advice. I do have limited experience with them. Now for the million dollar question... Do you lick your hinges?
I find it the best way to control the amount of moisture but it totally grosses the wifey out

Yes --I been licking hinges for 60 years, but I make sure to buy and use unopen packages only . I use FOLD-O-HINGES and never had a problem but as stated above you have to control the moisture .
I purchased a separate hole puncher that have the movable pins and adjusted it to the Scott Big Blue .They work fine for Steiner pages and now found the Hammermill Ivory 24lbs paper {stock #104406} works great ,the page size is slightly smaller but the binders and turning pages is just fine .
Should add that I recycle a lot of black mounts from all the collections I purchase . I don't re-lick those ,I use a roller glue stick on those ,it is the type that has a tape strip on rollers and works fine .

I do lick hinges. "Licking" isn't really the proper term as I try to just barely touch them to the tip of my tounge. If I over-moisten it, I'll either throw the hinge away or dab it on the back of my hand to get rid of some of the excess. It's hard to stress this too much - modern hinges (and they're all the same, regardless of the brand name) really do become nearly impossible to remove completely if they're over-moistened. Some collectors use a sponge or a q-tip or something along those lines to moisten hinges instead of licking them, I just find it easier to control the moisture using my tongue, plus it's more convenient.

thanks you floortrader and artfulhinger. Floortrader do you have a good source for fold o hinges ? There is not much stuff available on ebay lately

Aragon ----You just have to watch EBAY and pay between $6.00 to $10.00 for each unopen package .

I use my index finger as an applicator. As for hinges, it was very good advice to recommend unopened packages. Some seller's replace the contents with inferior hinges. Also, I find I consistently pay more than $10- per pack.

Jack Kelley

Will keep looking. I think I bought 5 packets for 16 dollars each the last time

aragorn, let us know what how your progress is going, I'm glad to hear that this thread has inspired people. For the hinge question, I use hinges myself and I do lick the hinges. I use Dennison or old fold-o-hinges (not the new ones) You can cut them in half to make them go farther.

landoquakes.
I have been trying out different ones lately as I can't get any fold 0 hinges or dennisons on ebay. I think I had a bad pack of prinz and I suspect my last pack of Fold O hinges was not really fold O. I threw away both and decided to give the prinz one more shot by opening another pack since Bob ( from filling spaces fame) said he has had good luck with them .I have been following artfulhinger's advice on how to hinge stamps safely. Who knew such a mundane thing does require a fair amount of finesse. . Will post in a couple of weeks how that goes. I am pleased to report no stamps fell off album pages last 2 nights . I think I also have to try and unhinge a few stamps to see how that goes as well before reaching a conclusion. I also have a pack of Unisafe and G & K hinges each waiting for me in the mail that I ordered from Subway stamps. At 2.99 USd a pack I figured there was no harm in trying them out. Anybody have any experience to share re the G&K and Unisafe?