Old Mounts

Someone on ebay is selling some disgusting cheap Showguard mounts they say are from the 1980s. Since I use glue sticks, I don't care about gum condition, is there any issues you can think of with buying old mounts.

The description says the package has been opened, but the mounts were never used.

Curling of the mounts seem to be the major concern.

Depending on date of manufacture, some have raised concerns in the past that the plastics used in the mounts may not be acid free and ligin free, as most modern mounts adhere to those qualities.

Will the old mounts damage your stamps? Probably not (at least not in our lifetime). But then again, depending on the quality of material involved, you would have to decide if you want to use them for valuable items or relinquish them for use in mounting more of the common/less valuable specimens.

As a practical matter, just think of the tons of pre-1980 mounts already in use in stamp albums around the world. I doubt many collectors update their mounts with new stock unless there is some noticeable deterioration.