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What do you mean by "sub standard" if it resists removal?
There is an art to hinging, the amount of moisture one applies, before attaching to the page, is crucial.
A collector new to the hobby, will stick the hinge on his/her tongue, completely dissolve the available gum, and hence weld the stamp to the page.
One of 2 results, the stamp lifts off leaving part of the stamp behind , a "thin"
or, part of the album page comes off with the hinge.
An experience hinger, is cognative of the viscosity of the mucilage, and merely makes the gum "tacky" by whatever means in his/her experience.
It is almost counter intuative, one feels the stamp is not going to fix, but it does, it will still grip the page, but after an hour or so, should be able to be lifted off with tweezers, with low resistance.
Modern German hinges will never be as good as the American Dennison, of course, but can still be useful, if used correctly.
Don't blame the hinge, blame lack of experience, or laziness.
You have no need to believe me, just prove it to yourself, take 2 stamps you no longer want, cheap duplicates, affix one stamp via your tongue, the other, lick the tip of your finger, then just "dab" it lightly on the hinge so you can feel it "tacky" not wet.
Leave for a couple of hours, then remove the hinges...see for yourself.