Album Review: United States Albums

Kevin504, I just confirmed with the SAFE dealer that the volume 1 SAFE US Hingeless pages for Regular stamps does include the Officials! Makes me happy, but would it kill the album manufacturers from providing greater text descriptions and better, larger photos so we can tell what we're buying?

So, Brian, GeoffHa and dbuss, I guess the positives for folks open to spending the extra $$$ for SAFE and Lindner -- the two albums using clear plastic overlays include:

1. Easiest stamp mounting -- just slide stamp into pocket with tongs (the Schaubek mounts nearly creased my stamp when the split back snapped closed, so I hope the Lighthouse mounts are designed to make stamp insertion easier and with less risk to cause stamp damage

2. Double layer where you may have both Mint and Used of same issue

3. Black printed border on each illustration which nicely frames each mounted stamp and makes them "pop" visually

area66, you have SAFE album so you already know what they are like. Maybe one day after I retire I'll get into designing my own album pages, but right now I'm looking forward to ordering a great hingless album and moving my collection from their old poor quality Scott albums where most of my US collection is hinged on the tissue-thin junky paper pages. How on earth did Scott become the North American stamp pricing authority when the company published so many poor quality albums?

One last point, the SAFE sales manager who answered all my questions and sent a sample page, also says that the paper album pages can be "printed" with the Scott catalog numbers if the collector wants to add this info later, and that this is unique to SAFE because the Lindner clear overleaf is permanently glued to the paper. But I don't think it's too easy to print on pages nearly 11" wide.

I'm waiting to receive the Lighthouse sample page and then I'll place my order.
Thanks to everyone for your shared album experiences!

Dan Carazo
Syosset, NY

I find the websites of album manufacturers to be severely lacking. At a MINIMUM they should have:

1. High res pictures of the pages
2. High res pictures of the binders, including pictures of the rings
3. A detailed write up of the paper type, including weight, color, size, and paper composition (cotton, acid-free wood pulp, etc.)
4. A downloadable PDF that contains 3-5 pages you can zoom in on and look around.
5. The ability to leave questions and have them answered. For example, you know the album has room for officials. And we now know that. No other potential SAFE customer knows that.
6. A YouTube video showing off the album

apastuszak, simple question from the newbie to one of the pillars...

Why doesn't our SCF space establish a Stamp Album Shopper's Store?
An area on this site where members send in photos of their album pages, binders & mechanism
and mounting images. All images submitted with details as to model, manufacturer, type binding, type mounting system, number of pages in album set. Then our editorial team reviews for quality, posts for a peer review to authenticate correctness, and we organize the materials for alpha search by manufacturer / brand / model number? Once begun, project can be expanded by country.

I understand that the Community is maintained by volunteers.
In a few months I expect to have increased time for my stamps and I'd be willing to help out.
I already plan to gather all the comments shared about US Albums into a single white paper article.
Who the heck needs to go through what I've been researching for the past couple months?

Stamp collecting is a mature industry. It is also lacking in the most basic marketing approaches as your list above attests to. Our single most powerful tool to improve the collecting experience is to take advantage of our ability to combine our intellect, experience, passion, and resources ONLINE.

Thoughts?

Dan

https://goscf.com/f/19

Well we do have an entire forum called Philatelic Book, Reference, Supply and Software which contains about a hundred threads about various albums, pages, binders, and stock sheets.

KirkS

And this thread is in that very forum!

Sounds like we need a SCF wiki.

I LOVE this idea!

Point well taken -- of course I recently found this thread on US Album comparisons begun 7-20-2011 by the esteemed rileysan. 3 years and 8 months later we are updating that discussion.

These conversations and shared insights are great fun -- I love what I have learned from all of you. However, what I suggest is needed is more a "Learning Center" for online comparison in an easy reference format such as a table with alpha listings and descriptive text along with decent illustrative images of pages, mounts, binder construction and ring systems.

As enjoyable as I have found these 16 pages on shared comments...this is not a "Quick Buyer's Guide to Hingeless US Stamp Albums". If we hope for younger generations to catch the stamp bug, we need to take note that folks who mature in the Internet/digital ears are accustomed to doing a Google search and finding what they need in a nano second.

I'm suggesting this Community gather its deep and diverse intellectual property. And make it easily accessible. Posting a compact reference tool to help a stamp enthusiast see and compare available albums in one visit like when we log on to Amazon and compare HD TVs, will allow online searchers to discover this Community and its wisdom.

I plan to consolidate my search for a hingeless USA album set into what I hope will be a helpful article that will help future collectors seeking their ideal stamp album.

Surprisingly, my own album preferences have changed several times as I have received detailed info and album page samples from manufacturers.

> I no longer prefer full color stamp illustrations. Several album publishers do a great job printing full color stamp images, but I have decided that Black and white stamp illustrations allows me to to more easily identify missing stamps.

> While I admire the clean easier stamp insertion of the Lindner and SAFE overlay systems, I also find these albums very sterile offering little or no information regarding the various USA stamps.

> Surprisingly I have begun to value the added historical info included in the Mystic Premium Heirloom Hingeless USA Album set. I am waiting for a page sample to evaluate the hingeless mounts.

I am celebrating the purchase of my new album home for my Classic US Stamps!
I thank everyone on this thread for your shared experiences, insights, photos, and critiques.
What an education in Hingeless US Albums!

The fact that it took me approximately 10 weeks to buy a set of album pages and binders is testimony to the poor level of existing online information that is readily available. Our combined comments in this forum could go a long way to simplifying comparing albums for future album shoppers.

AS I have learned about the differences between various album brands, I have been asked if I would distill these comparisons into an article that can be made available online for the future reference by other stamp collectors. I've started my draft and would like to include some of the helpful observations and comments made in this thread. Does anyone have any objections if any quotations are simply attributed to your SCF user name? I will be happy to post the draft article for your review when it's ready.

In the end, I purchased the new Mystic Premium Hingeless American Heirloom Collection, Vol I, as well as the BOB album.
Deciding factors were my preferences for:
1) Mystic's mounts which are open at the top and allow stamp insertion with less stress on the stamps than split-back mounts (I did not see this mount design from other publishers)
2) Mystic's historical details on the pages opposite the stamp mount pages; the 8.5" X 11" trim size pages and 3-ring binder mechanism keep the cost down, but there is nothing cheap about the cream color cover weight paper stock, or heavy hand-stitched binder construction (in the end the Euro designs seemed a bit too sterile to me),
3) Finally, I love having the Scott numbers especially for the older classics where there are multiple variations of "Types", colors, perfs, secrete marks, and watermarks; this may not be important when collecting modern years, but it's an imperative with the US Classics.

Once I move all of my classic US issues into their new Mystic Premium Hingeless American Heirloom home, I'll decide if I'm still happy with my choice. But right now, it's a pleasure as I begin completing each new page. I'll post some completed pages very soon.

Wow, what a step down... ( from the Davo, lighthouse and other find albums you was looking for ) but if you happy..

area66, Someone once said, "Beauty is in the eye the beholder". This goes for stamp albums as well. While I admire features found in SAFE, Lindner, Lighthouse and Davo, none offered what became my three top wants which I described yesterday.

For me key takeaways after 10 weeks of US album research prove:
a) NO album is perfect,
b) Many collectors purchase a wide variety of albums over the course of their collecting years as they seek their ideal solution, or change their tastes
c) And many collectors spend months scanning, designing and printing their own custom album page layouts to suit their specific wants and needs; maybe I'll one day have the patience to attempt this.

Right now, I am anxious to assemble my US classics into my new hingeless albums. The Mystic Premium Hingeless is far nicer than you might assume if you haven't seen it. In my case price had nothing to do with my selection of the Mystic. Until I saw sample pages I thought I was going with the Lindner T system or Lighthouse. I am confused that the Lighthouse page sample I received uses the split-back mounts also found on Schaubek/Scott because the LIghthouse product catalog illustrations depict a top-load mount.
Time will tell if I remain happy with my purchase.

They are 3 ring paper, the hole will eventually tear.





This is very misleading, Lighthouse use Top Open Mounts except for the large block or sheet. You only have a page,with only block or souvenir sheet on it. I and many others have Albums. Credibility is the key to a good review. . Beside you change your mind about what you was looking for at every new post.

If you have experience with the split at the back and Top Mounts, you will know that stamps move all the time in open mounts, they are more stable in G mounts. Get some real experience before write a review, don't mislead peoples.

Sound harsh but when I read this, I'm scare

Congratulations dcaraz1949. It sounds as if you put a lot of personal research including dealer inquiries prior your purchase, you provided your personal observations here, and ultimately you decided on an album that suits you.

Over time, many people expand to include several different albums in their collections, and sometimes change albums altogether. I agree with you that no single album will every satisfy everyones needs or wants.

Anyway...have fun and enjoy putting your stamps in your new album.

area66 ...It sounds harsh because it is harsh. Lighten up or the rest of us will start ignoring all your posts.

He made his choice, he's happy with it and he has his reasons. His reasons aren't your reasons. End of story.