Are You A Former Worldwide Collector Who Now Specializes?

[quote].When work is done, I don't (ever) turn on the TV or head to the golf course, my thought immediately goes to "what can I do with stamps today?"[quote]
I'm with you Artfulhinger, even sometimes have to stop myself from doing the same while still at work

I have never specialized in areas other than prexies, I am a WW general used collector and have many low value stamps. But I am into enjoying the hobby and do not expect to reap a large amount of cash from the hobby, it just relaxes me to work on stamps. I do have to be careful about putting too much time into stamps and ignore other areas of my life but I can always go back to stamps when time allows (if I ever retire). I was going to down size but have just bought a few country collections from a friend who is down sizing, she specializes in Japan, US and British commonwealth, I was not going to buy the country collections but could not help myself. What can I say, hooked is hooked.

I too am returning to stamp collecting after a long hiatus. I'm fully immersed in US stamps (20th century), but I'd like to branch out.

My question concerns albums: If I go the generalist route, is Big Blue still the album to have, considering variety and accessibility. If I go to individual countries, what line of albums is the most cost-effective, both with and without mounts included. There are so many to choose from and at such a variety of prices, I'm hesitant to invest in anything without more input.

Thanks.

Personally, I'd avoid printed albums. Keep the incoming stuff in stock-books, then, when you've decided what interests you, mount it on quadrille pages.

Google "Which Album is best for WW collectors" at my bigblue1840-1940.blogspot.com

It will give you an overview and introduction to the possibilities.

All the best!

Jim

Thanks Jim. I've paged through your blog, but I guess I haven't come across that topic yet.

Look along the left column after the country blog posts... you will find a link to the topic.

Excellent discussion and much food for thought.

Getting back to individual countries, however, for a long term collector using printed albums, I see a choice between (e.g.) Scott albums, without mounts, or the more expensive albums (e.g. Lighthouse) which offer mounts. I guess I'm bringing the decision down to whether the mounted albums are worth the extra $$ over the long haul. I expect to be collecting 4-6 countries over the next year and don't want to be penny wise and pound foolish..

As a comparison, I'm using the American Heirloom mounted series from Mystic for my U.S. collection. I guess I'm looking for the comparable product for other countries.

(cont.)

Or would you use Steiner pages as well for individual countries? Part of my concern is presentation quality and I hesitate to use the DIY system. Plus, Steiner is an alternative only to the Scott-type non-mounted album.

Given the philatelic buffet availble to all collectors with just a few clicks of the keyboard, speciizing seems too limiting, like eating only the lobster on the buffet and ignoring the rest.

One question is what you're putting in it. If it's modern - post-war - material, your Lighthouse album is likely to be worth more than your stamps - until you want to sell it, of course! If you have the cash and you like the design, fine, but it's not really necessary. On the other hand, given the silly prices of 19th century US stamps, Lighthouse would doubtless be worth the investment.

It also depends what your "other countries" are. For some areas, there's a wide choice of manufacturers. For others, there may only be one - or just Steiner, which isn't much use for the large part of the world that doesn't use Scott catalogues.I quite like having a countriy's stamps in its "own" albums, so I have British Commonweath in Gibbons, France in Yvert, French Colonies in MOC etc.

Well, here's my 2-cents worth...

Don't forget about Palo albums. They cover the entire world, have excellent customer service, and you can get any combination of pages that you need, including replacement individual pages. They are all illustrated (in color or B&W) on large heavy paper.

Then there is Steiner pages, which are very inexpensive and have the same format as Palo albums (although they are not illustrated). Yes, they follow Scott, but they can be modified to rearrange or add stamps not in Scott or other types of varieties.

Here's an example of one of my modified Steiner pages:

Am I correct that Steiner pages do not include Scott Catalog numbers in their notations?

I can see this as a major hindrance in "collecting to the album," particularly in sorting through large lots. Also, I like to know the Scott No. of a missing stamp on a page without having to go to a catalog. I am presuming that other moderately priced albums, e.g. Scott, include these numbers on the page.

Since I'm leaning now toward the Scott albums, I guess I'll be learning how to size and buy mounts. I'll be adding Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland and Austria, and the premium mounted albums are simply cost-prohibitive.

(Please forgive my rambling but I'm actually learning here.)

Chris,

How much of your example page was already part of the Steiner, and how much did you add?

Were the Scott numbers already on the Steiner?

Tom-

Yes, I think the Scott green albums will work nicely for you for the countries selected.

As far as Steiner - true they do not come with a Scott numbers on the pages, but they tend to follow the Scott catalogue layout very closely, so a glance at the catalogue will usually answer the question quickly regarding which number goes in which space. Also, it is easy to pencil in the numbers in the spaces if you are so inclined.