If the following applies to you....
You need an album to house the world, or at least a significant number of countries.
You are more in the general collector, rather than specialty collector category.
You want good quality paper with enough space to add more stamps if necessary.
You would rather have a preprinted album, as you would like to keep it simple.
You want the option of collecting up to a certain year.
Then the Scott International album(s) may be for you.
And no, I don't work for them, I found they work best for my situation.
If you are interested up to 1940, then only part I ( one volume) is needed. If you would like to cover WWII and aftermath, then part II goes to 1948+. And so forth.
They are not inexpensive. My 1997 edition for part I ( actually now divided into 4 sub- parts), cost $480. But one does get better paper, and a more spread out format. One should be able to use either hinges or mounts for the stamps. Although Minkus WW might be a good choice also, be aware that there is a little less room for mounting stamps in their album.
Part 1 has 35,000 spaces for the stamp issues of 1840-1940, and tend to favor the less expensive stamps; a good choice for a generalist.
Be aware there were only 90,000 stamps issued prior to 1940, so actually filling those 35,000 spaces is quite an accomplishment.
Is the album perfect? Far from it. But it does free me up to collect stamps, and not worry so much about the rest.
So for the general WW collector, or a significant subset of WW, perhaps keep in mind this fairly simple approach.
Posted 06/29/2011 9:52 pm
