Just Finished Filling 31,000 Spaces - A 27 Year Journey!

An impressive achievement and using mounts on Minkus pages is no small feat! I would leave it as-is too. I have not heard of anyone completing one of those. I'm working with Big Blue and a Minkus Supreme Global and I understand the temptation to cannibalize one for the other. I'd have a better chance filling (well kind of close to filling) the Big Blue but the Minkus is more fun and has more stamps to find. Interesting that a one volume Comprehensive needs to become 4 volumes to hold 31,000 stamps. My suggestion would be to find a 1959 supplement that would cover mid-58 to mid 59 (assuming that your album ends in mid-58. Or a 1960 Supplement....

About 6 months ago, as I knew I was getting near the end of this phase, I did buy a Scott Specialized album for France (goes to 1958) and started working on that (transferring from the Minkus and then filling in other holes). Have always loved French stamp design and engraving.

Another country I may focus on next is Mexico. I find their designs interesting. Other countries I enjoy are Australia and New Zealand.

I'll keep this intact for now. I still spend lots of time leafing through it with a magnifier marveling at the engravings and subjects. It really does take me back to my days when I first started collecting about 50 years ago. The nostalgia factor for me is pretty high.

Canyoneer, WOW!
Congratulations! I've been in the process of breaking down one of these from a box lot, and although the Global and Supreme Global may be better known, this was still a nice, comprehensive album, and such a great accomplishment to complete it!

Nice pictures also-- Great Job!
Ray

Since the album ends in 1958, perhaps pick up Scott international volume 4 that covers 1960-1965 IiRc. Add some blank pages to fill gap between 1958 and 1960. That way can continue the chase without spending a huge fortune (most issues of that era fairly inexpensive)

Be aware that both Mexico and New Zealand are going to be a bit of a challenge... Some will be much more difficult to find than the one you were missing from the other album. Australia only has a couple of really tough ones and France is similar. You will find on both of those the sticking point will likely be cost, not availability.

What an amazing accomplishment - congratulations!

I guess the first thing I would do (before doing anything else) is make sure I have a nice image of every single page of the album...

I would then probably want to slowly expand it to subsequent years.

John

Congratulation! The most important thing is that you enjoy looking at it... after all, what good are stamps if you don't enjoy looking at them.

If you're trying to figure out what to do next, you might consider adding facing pages for a few favorite countries where you can mount some blocks, items of piece, etc. For an example, look at the thread "Collecting the World" (scroll down to the 2nd page below).

Best Regards,

InforaPenny

Stupendous truly. If you ever get the time, maybe could you post more pictures of the filled pages?

Incredible accomplishment.

Congratulations!

I would like to see more filled pages too :) which page was the most difficult?

I thought someone else would of wrote about this accomplisement ,but didn't .

It is not about mounting 31,000 all different stamps in a worldwide album ,that you can find at any of the major auctions,matter of fact ,I got 2 or 3 Scott Internationals sets in storage that have more stamp . The thing that impress me and others is three fold here .

First reaching his goal that he set out to do .

second ,is his organization and lay out which is better than most collectors .

Third , is the searching and finding then buying the needed stamps ,that is what takes a lot of time .It is not easy on lower value stamps because no dealers cares to carry them .

I wish I had that kind of discipline.. I get distracted too easily!

A kindred spirit. I get extreme satisfaction by filling every page in an album and I completely understand the inclination to do so. Great job!