Questions About My New Albums

I'm new to the forum and was wanting some ideas about my new albums that were delivered today. I appreciate any advice you might give me.

I have been using the Minuteman US album that only went through the 80's, so I ordered the Mystic American Heirloom Collection of the United States albums. I would like to transfer my stamps from my old album to my new albums and start collecting again. My question is... would it be better to just re-hinge the ones that were hinged and re-mount the ones mounted, or do you think I should put them all in new mounts? I will need to order a lot of mounts that I'm sure would get kind of expensive. I just wasn't sure if it would be worth my money to mount the ones that will already have hinge marks on them.

I also have another random question along the same line.....this weekend while I was in the Dallas area I went to a Half-Priced book store and found a book of stamps. It's The 2009 Stamp Yearbook USPS. It was in perfect condition and has all of the stamps for $10.00. I didn't know if it was a good buy, but with all of the stamps I thought I probably wasn't getting too ripped off. It also had the dust cover over the hard back album. I looked online and it was $59.95 from the USPS originally. Anyway, I would kind of like to take the stamps out and put them in my new stamp album, but would it be better to just leave them in the original album. They look really nice in the hardback album with all of the information about the different stamps, though. Just not sure what to do or if it even matters.

Thank you for ANY thoughts or advice you might have. I know these may be newbie questions, but I was really wanting to get advice from the knowledgeable people here on the forum.

*** Moved by Staff to a more appropriate forum. ***

Welcome klkd.

I think the answer to both of your questions is to do what you're most happy with. I started out with a Minuteman and used black Showgard mounts for the mint stamps and hinges for the used. It worked fine but I really didn't care for the way the pages looked with the mix of hinged and mounted stamps. When I transitioned to a National album, I dedided that I would mount all of the stamps, regardless of their mint or used condition, in the black Showgard mounts. I'm very pleased with the overall appearance so for me it was the right decision.

Steve

Thank you, Steve......I am leaning towards putting them all in new mounts like you did, since it's a new album and it would make everything look organized and clean. I just ordered an assortment package of black mounts. I already have a ton of hinges, if I decide to use some. I appreciate your help.

Karen

This may sound silly... I put hinges on my mounts.

I've found that it's easier to put the stamp in the mount when it's not attached to the page. Then when I get a better example I can easily exchange it in the mount and then just rehinge it to the page.

I can also adjust the positioning of the mounts if I don't like the spacing or the alignment.

Also when I attached the mounts to the page, no matter how careful I tried to be, I still had a few mishaps while moistening the mounts and then getting some moisture seeping into the side of the mount. It takes such a tiny bit to wick in and cause trouble, especially with mint stamps.

Might be more work than you want to go to, but it works for me.

You're going to have a great time getting reacquainted with your collection!!

Karen

Karen....that doesn't sound silly at all! You have given me something to think about. Wish I would have done that with my old album, sure would make my job of moving all the stamps that are in mounts a lot easier! Thanks for the tip!

Karen

Use glue sticks to put the mounts in the albums. When I moved from the White Ace to the Heirloom, I re-used as many mounts as I could. Now I am using the Minuteman from 2000 on, and the Heirloom only for 1999 and older.

apastuszak......That is a fabulous idea! Thank you! I really am appreciating all of the tips you all are sending!

Karen, your hint adds a step or two to the process but it gives a lot of leeway in correcting mishaps! I like it. Thanks

EasyOne

Big warning about the Heirloom. Most se-tenants are strips, and not blocks of four. A lot of "positional" (self-adhesive) se-tenants, are mounted as individual stamps. I've hacked a bunch of pages to make mounting se-tenants easier (so you don't have to break them up.)

That's why I went Minuteman from 2000 on. There were way too many page modifications needed to get the se-tenants set up the way I wanted them.

If you want to see what I did, feel free to email me.

aspastuszak....I tried to email you, but being a new member it won't let me send emails yet. Thanks for the offer, though!

I appreciate all of the advice and tips you all have given me!

I do have another question. The stamps that have hinges on them already, should I try to remove them or just trim them down and put them in mounts? Unfortunately, when I was young and dumb I hinged my mint unhinged stamps, so I'm kind of scared to try and remove the hinges.

Karen

klkd I too have the American Heirloom Albums. I hinge all my used and Scott mount or Mystic mount all my Mint Stamps in my Album. If you are careful with tongs you can pull the Mounts off the pages of the old album. Go to the Dollar store and in the school supply section buy their tubes of Glue that look like they are in a chap stick tube. You can re-glue the old mounts right back into the new Album. I even use the stick glue on New Mounts. That gives you better control than licking or wetting the new mounts. They even stick better with the glue. I think the package of glue I bought had six sticks in the package for $1. I'm still using the first stick and have glue probably 250 stamps including about 100 plate block mounts. I use the Mystic Mounts with the black background. For my Mint Stamps only. I use the hinges for the used stamps. It really makes the Mint Stamps stand out and it's easy to distinguish Mint from used.


On your second question it's your choice. I had three 1967,68,69 that had been left in the PO yearbook for years because I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. Since the Heirloom Album has the description on the opposite page I decided to mount them in my Heirloom Album. I kept the P.O. Folders but I'm not sorry I moved them into My New Heirloom Album.

You could try to remove the hinges but if they wont go dont keep pulling but if it comes off its worth it

Thanks for the replies! I bought the glue sticks Friday and I received the mounts yesterday. I think I'm going to start moving stamps over to the new albums this afternoon. I think I'm going to play it by ear and see how hard it is to remove the hinges whether I leave them on or not. I'm also starting a world stamp album and will probably use hinges on the used stamps, because it would cost a fortune to use mounts on all of those.

You guys are helping me so much! I really appreciate the different ideas and it is really helping me decide what's best to do.

I'm beginning to think moving everything over to my new albums was a big mistake. I do have advice for new stamp collectors.....never, ever hinge mint stamps! I have a lot of hinged mint and it's a nightmare. I'm seriously thinking about re-buying the stamps. It mostly affects the 1944-1952ish commemorative stamps. I hate to buy all of that over again, but I'm tired of tearing stamps up, too. The ones that I have moved over have thin spots on them. Looks fine in the mount, but I know the truth. Fortunately, my more expensive stamps and sheets are already mounted.

You shouldn't tear any or very few stamps if you CAREFULLY lift the stamps with tongs. Just run the tongs under the stamps very carefully amnd slowly working side to side towards the middle. I moved maybe 3 or 400 stamps and I only tore about six. If you have to.... cut the hinge and leave the rest of the hinge on the stamp. Nobody is going to see the hinge anyway. Like you said NEVER-EVER hinge a Mint stamp!