Album Review: United States Albums

I have to check the lighthouse pages count when I will be at home, the regular have a # but the commemorative get the same pages # but with a c added if I'm not wrong and the coil get another letter. One thing I like about Lighthouse Canadian distributor, is their service, if you damage a page they will sell you a new one or in my case they give it too me NC. The only stamp I see missing is the Z grill at few millions $.

Regarding earlier comments by area66 and Hieronymus regarding cost of collections and albums...

We all know there are very wealthy folks who have invested hundreds of thousands in their sterling collections.
I have seen the auction websites as you have. But in this community I am not interested in bragging rights, meeting expectations, or
making assumptions about folks' ability to pay for this nice practice of collecting bits of printed paper.

For the record, my comments and viewpoint come from a more modest perspective. I grew up with no money.
In recent years I have invested in auction purchases of older US albums, album pages, and single stamps since 2011.
I doubt that I have invested more than US$5000 or $6000 in that time. I may invest another $10K in the next 2 years, but I doubt that I will ever invest more than $20K - $25K (one has to live in retirement, and also keep one's mate happy!). Last week I saw an old album for sale and was tempted. Most stamps I would need to sell, but the album included mint and used Columbian $3 and $4 which I would love to grab. Bottom line, it was too much for too few. So if I never land some of the big-ticket issues...too bad!

My budget does not limit my enjoyment. I started with a sparse collection in an 1962 cheapo Scott's American Album. And today I am very please to include approximately 57% of the US issues through SC#330. How much we can afford. Or how much we wish to spend on what most folks consider a hobby is as personal as our individual tastes in beer, wine or food. My appetite for stamps has grown as has my income. Next year when I am retired I may seek some part-time consulting to support my habit :-)

Honestly someday I regret to have purchase a Lighthouse album, not because of the quality, it's one of the best if not the best, but because of the cost to fill it, the coils are by pair. You have Grills , watermarks. US Stamps are very expensive. Sometime I regret to not have stick with the US part in my Scott International Album.( an the US part in SC Int cost also few $ 1000

This is why I said if you ready to invest 25, 100k in stamps, the price of the album is not important.

I may one day redo the first pages, as I have a 11x17 capable laser printer, I will keep only 1 version of a stamp design, with no indication on the watermark or grill, after all I'm after the design of the stamps not it's value, so if I can't see the difference, it's not important for me.

Anyway, I work all the night but tomorrow or Monday, I will scan few pages to make a real good review.

The old saying is, the bitterness of low quality remains long after the sweetness of low price has faded. I have to remind myself of that sometimes when I'm trying to talk myself into being a cheapskate. Which is nearly always. There are limits to anyone's budget, however, and some of the higher-end hingeless albums can, for many collectors, represent several months worth (or more) of their stamp budget.

dbuss

On Safe, coincidentally this week I picked up a Safe album of Sweden that uses the method you describe (plus further blank leaves for varieties). Using both the space on the paper and the plastic holder is certainly creative. The drawback is that the used stamp isn't visible when both mint and used are present. On the other hand, how often do collectors actually look at both after putting them in albums? Choices, choices ... I'll run with this for a while.

Thank for your check-list of album specifications of interest to collectors - excellent.

Geoff

Going direct with my questions to major album manufacturers that offer hingeless US products.
Amazing how little description is available on nearly all the websites I've visited.
If you go on Amazon to buy a camera, flat screen TV, or electronic widget you're likely to uncover numerous photos,
descriptions, spec tables, and owner reviews. Go to the web page for the makers of hingeless albums costing $200 to $2000,
and you have to gues what you're buying. Most share so little info that you would think you're shopping for something nondescript
like a container of milk. Lindner USA, Lighthouse, Amos Advantage, Schaubek, Davo, Mystic, and SAFE provide very little info.
Palo I thought has the most informative website, including full color page PDFs. Palo was also quick to answer my questions and
offer to ship page sample. I have requested answers to questions and page samples from all makers. More to come when they are in hand.

Have you seen this brochure from Lighthouse? Pretty good description of its product range.

With link this time!

http://www.stanleygibbons.com/image...amp-2014.pdf

GeoffHa, Thank you for sharing this info...I did not find the Lighthouse catalog on the company site.
Not sure why, but it isn't easy finding info about stamp albums. Thanks so much for the catalog link!

The danger with the Lighthouse catalogue is that it's rather inviting. Almost starting buying albums for collecting beer bottle tops!

Spoke with SAFE distributor in PA about company's US hingeless. Very helpful answering my questions via email.
But still think it's crazy that nearly all album makers fail to publish detailed descriptions of their online products.
SAFE #2461 holds all US regulars 1847 to 1937 + Special Delivery, Postage Due & Parcel Post arranged to follow Scott layout; pages use page size clear overlay "flap" with pockets for the stamps that is hinged over the printed pages (sounds like Lindner's approach). Dealer is shipping a page sample.

area66, you make a point I hadn't thought of...that US stamps are expensive. Several years ago when I got back into collecting, I decided to sell off my WW pages. Because there are so many different countries, I decided to concentrate on the older US -- through 1930's. That was my introduction to ebay. Some collectors got very good deals on some old Latin America, China & Euro pages.

Of course as I became more familiar with the number of varieties in older US classics I realized I would never be able to acquire many of the most valued stamps. Studying the Scott Catalogue illustrates the amazing numbers of different perfs, grills, secret marks, multiple printings, and diverse color inks used to print many of the same design. I can't get into coil pairs, blocks or stationary which is a whole other direction. In fact I have an album full of embossed envelopes, square cuts, and First Day Covers that I intend to sell or trade.

Today I received a sample US hingeless album page from AMOS Publishing for the new Schaubek Scott National US pages.
Very nice! Not a heavier weight paper stock such as Lindner, but similar to the new Mystic albums.

Maybe everyone has cooled to by overtures on selecting a hingeless US album.
However, I have now received a couple page samples -- one from AMOS for the Schaubek/Scott National and another sample from US maker Palo.

Question for anyone?

Why does Schaubek page design include the huge die-cut openings next to the binder ring holes?
It seems to me removing so much of the page paper stock would weaken the pages and reduce longevity.
If I can figure out how to upload a scan I'll illustrate my point.

Lighthouse use the same die cut too and I trust them more than Amos and Palo, I have not yet see a page tears from a Lighthouse, can't say the same of Scott