Suggestions For Hingeless Album

Hi Everyone,
I am brand new at collecting and am looking for suggestions and/or recommendations for a beginner's album without the need of hinges. I am going to try to complete the early 20th century Postal series', as well as full runs of regular postage, as best I can. Thanks very much in advance!
Stephen

I think you'll find there are several options but your biggest roadblock will be the price. Hingeless albums are insanely expensive. Are you sure this is the kind of investment you want to make right off the bat? I'm glad that when I was starting I just bought all kinds of different stuff and didn't choose a single area or arena to spend money on. Now I've got varied interests and have boat loads of fun finding new stuff!

If you get a decent stock-book, you can put the stamps in there as you acquire them, and get a sense of what you want to spend on a standard album. Lots of people use stock-books as their albums too.

Thanks, Oldbold & Geoff. Definitely don't want to drop a fortune, so I'll be seeking alternatives. Now, Geoff, what's a stockbook? Sounds like it might be right up my alley.
Thanks!

You may also want to watch the auctions on sites such as Stamp Auction Network (SAN) if you know what countries you are targeting. Hingeless albums often go for pennies on the dollar at auction and you get stamps along for the ride. It is amazing how many folks spend hundreds and even thousands on high quality albums and then lose interest. We all see country collections go across the block for prices that factor the albums for virtually nothing.

Just a thought. Probably best to first get your toes wet figuring out want you want or like.

Don't forget that if you drop your stamp budget on things to store them in you have nothing for the actual stamps and that will not be a good place to be.

Good tips, Rogdcam. Thank very much.

Here's a UK site with a range of stock-books. You'll be able to find the same thing in the US.

https://www.dauwalders.co.uk/stockbooks-2132-c.asp

I use Springback type binders I can put my own paper leaves, then add hingeless mounts to make up my own pages, less expensive and you don't have gaps for amazingly rare stamps like inverted Jennys that you will never fill. I can decide what the pages look like. Suregaurd and Hawid are two types of hingeless mount. I have one pre printed album but it has gaps I will never fill and no space for relatively common watermark varieties, I collect GB stamps so it's no point me be more specific.

Hingeless albums are expensive. You would better of with an album without mounts (better selection) and purchase mounts.

But, I would suggest starting with stock pages such as Vario. You can add labels to them to organize. Varios are an investment since they can be reused for other purposes.

This way you are not tied down to anything until you get a better feel on what you want to do.

If you want a traditional album with spaces for the stamps, Mystic's hingeless albums are by far the best bang for the buck. There are better, nicer and much more expensive hingeless albums out there but not close to Mystic's price range.

Hi Stephen:

When I started collecting a couple of years ago I asked the same question. I followed angore's advice with the Vario pages and it was been a great investment for me as I figured out what I wanted to focus on and also kept my stamps safe. As I build new pages in my albums, I have space freed up in my Varios to add new stamps and move things around. Good luck! Nora.

Thank you all for this. Since I'm just starting , I'll check out Vario and keep it simple for now. I really appreciate you all helping me out. Great site!

Dorset,
I'm not sure if this has been mentioned/answered or not but do you have catalogues or literature of your areas of interest?

Just Fella,
Not yet. I plan on getting a Scotts older edition as a start. I'd also like to get refernces for Newfoundland, as this is another interest (besides U.S.

Chances are if your truly interested,
It will be a expense…
Ill mention what I think would be a great start
Tongs
Glassine envelopes
Spend the rest on books/literature
The rest will come

I concur with everyone about the obscene expense of hingless albums. Nonetheless, They are the most attractive and secure way to store a colletion. My favorite are Schaubek, and second Lighthouuse. Most of my Schaubek hingeless I picked up around thirty years ago. They were less expensive then and I picked up a lot of them. My plan was to buy the album first, fill then with what stamps I had. As a result I have a few albums still with very few stamps or mostly cancelled I dealt with a Stamp Dealer in Arizona (A to Z Stamp and Coin. He gave me good prices since I was buying a huge volume. (I haVE 75 Schaubek Albums, with sleeves. Maybe I will post a Photo.

I also have about 10 Lighthouse albums (hingless). I got these from collections I bought. I have a few Scott hingless as well, same thing. I will attempt to take a photo of my "Stamp room."

Lighthouse appear to be the most popular now. If you are only collecting older stamps (early 20th Century), a good strategy might be to buy older albums that are not hingless, and buy the hinges separatelly. More work, but you will save a lot of money.