Palo Hingeless Album

Does anyone here use Palo Hingeless Albums?

I'm curious about the mounts -- are they top loading or center-cut?

Also, what is your overall impression of the album?

KirkS

I saw one a few years ago, and if I remember correctly, it was open-top mounts. But my memory is getting...

You can call Palo at 800-572-5967 and find out for sure. Back then, a number of collectors told me they had excellent customer service and they liked the albums.

I do know they've been "colorizing" their pages the past couple of years. Usually when that happens, the manufacturer will close out the older B&W or non-illustrated pages. Can't hurt to ask. However, you should also verify the page specs on the older pages.

I do not own one. I'm not a big fan of pages with the stamp illustrations in color. Two main reasons:

1. I like to be able to spot immediately which stamps are missing in my collection. Makes completing the page a little more exciting.

2. I hate it when the stamp illustration looks better than the stamp I'm putting in!

Thanks for mention these.... I've been looking at buying SCHAUBEK: United States Scott Hingless, I didn't know the Palo Hingeless Albums existed!

something new to look into and price out, as the Schaubek are expensive and I'm not a huge fan of the padded blue covers.

EDIT: KHJ, I was reading Their site, and it states album pages are available in Black & White upon request. (you don't have to order color)

Edwin -- unfortunately, ALL the hingeless are are expensive

Schaubek, Palo, and Davo all have individual mounts for each stamp.

Also look at Lindner and SAFE -- a slightly different approach where there is a larger plastic strip/mount that will hold multiple stamps. I'm not explaining it properly, but when you look at them, it will make more sense. I've never seen/used an album of this type, so I can't judge.

Finally, one frustration I've had when searching and researching albums -- some stores advertise "hingeless albums" at great prices, but you will find it's really just a stock book.

Good Luck,
Kirk

Yes, I've noticed that, too. I don't know who started it, but it is rather misleading.

There are also other hingeless pages known as hingeless album "systems", and are often made by the same manufacturers, which adds to the confusion. Then some supplies dealers either call them hingeless pages or they assume you already know. When they sell them by the page, or by packs of 5 or 10, then they are pages for hingeless album systems, not the hingeless country albums.

A couple of things to keep in mind, Kirk, as I use both hingeless country albums and conventional albums from several different manufacturers.

1. The primary advantage of hingeless albums is the TIME savings. Other than that, you are pretty much at the mercy of the manufacturer even for some basic issues such as the mount type you asked about. For example, Davo hingeless uses open-top mounts, but on the large full size panes and the self-adhesive panes, they use the split-back mounts or they will employ a two-page system of clear stockpage overlaying the normal album page.

2. Hingeless albums are practical if you are interested in a general collection of the all the "major catalog number" stamps. Any sort of sub-specialty or "interesting" variety being put onto the album page tends to distract considerably from the overall appearance of a hingeless album, even if you use the identical mounts or use the manufacturer supplies add-on hingeless pages. In my hingeless albums, any add-on specialty items I tend to put in an entirely different album. I've thumbed through many album collections over the years, and for some reason (for me anyway), I find add-on stamps in hingeless albums very distracting even when they are artfully/skillfully done; oddly, on normal pages with user placed mounts, I don't find them distracting. It may not matter to you, but something to think about. You may have to make a decision on whether I want to complete the album or complete my collection; the two sometimes are not the same. Many collectors don't like the album dictating what they collect and how they arrange it. That's part of the price you pay for using a hingeless album.

I own a few Lindner hingless albums and I've seen a number of SAFE hingeless albums. There are a variety of SAFE hingeless album layouts and foil pages, some of them are really bad layouts (looks like grid-style layouts and foils for coins or baseball cards), others are like the traditional hingeless layouts. Make sure which one you are getting before you buy a SAFE hingeless album. I personally make it a point of skipping over any listing for SAFE hingeless album collections.

The Lindner album pages are well done. However, if I had a preference, I would chose the conventional mounts on page, such as Schaubek, Lighthouse, Davo, Palo... for the following reasons:

1. The album is MUCH thicker and MUCH heavier.
2. Depending on manufacturer, the foil may be attached directly onto the page, or it may be completely separate.
3. Turning pages is cumbersome, especially if you are flipping the pages in reverse order trying to find something on an earlier page.

My preference for hingeless albums is Lighthouse, but to each his/her own.

KHJ:

Thanks for the great feedback and insight.


Yes! I didn't say that, but I agree completely. I have a Schaubek Hingeless and I can "insert" hundreds of stamps in a fraction of the time it would take to actually mount them.


I agree. And I concur that adding additional stamps to a page (now matter how neatly) upsets the balance and layout and detracts from the appearance. I have been tempted many times to design/print my own pages, but I'm afraid my office would turn into a print shop rather than a stamp shop


Yeah, what's that about? When I think foil, I think Aluminum Foil

Kirk

you all threw a wrench in my decision... I only knew about Schaubek till last week.

"I would chose the conventional mounts on page, such as Schaubek, Lighthouse, Davo, Palo..."

The Palo are nice but even more expensive then the Schaubek.
I love the pre mounted page Idea for a nice cornerstone USA collection, I can always have a secondary Scott National binder for the odd balls on another shelf later.

I still like the Schaubek track record, and mount pages... But I like the Palo binders I doubt they intermix?

I haven't seen the most recent Schaubek albums, but I don't think stamp illustrations are in color. Of course, you already know where I stand on color stamp illustrations. Don't get me wrong, color pages look great; just my stamps usually don't look that good!

No, the Schaubek/Palo pages are not punched the same. The Schaubek hingeless I've seen are 6-hole (not evenly spaced) while the Palo are 5-hole (evenly spaced).

Treat your binders with tender loving care. They are far more beautiful than they are rugged. My observations of hingeless collections over the years is that roughly 20% of the album binders have significant damage (enough to affect operation, even to the point of basically non-functional). Without a doubt, the more rings, the more durable the binder; it's not just for smoother turning of pages. Also, those ridiculously priced dustcases actually serve another function -- they do help support the binder and protect it. I rarely see damaged binders with dustcases (only a couple, and they were all 3-ring binders). Just some food for thought.