Buying A New US Album/Transferring Mounts With Stamps

Hi all,

I am looking for advice/thoughts/opinions.

I know that there have been a few lengthy discussions about albums, and I think I have read a lot of them, but I wanted to review.

For published albums, people here seem to really like Mystic Heirloom for US stamps and, I think, Scott International.

I think I may try the Steiner pages for my limited international collections (seems to make sense -just print what I need), but I am going bigger for Canada and US.

I bought a Dominion of Canada - Vol. I in the spring and I am very happy with that (so that gives you an idea of my price range).

I am thinking the Mystic Heirloom fits right in .. what do others think?

ALSO - I have a lot of mounted stamps (black/ split mounts) in an old Liberty album that dated to the 1980s.

Here is the BIG question - do you think I can safely and easily remove the stamps and mounts from that album and remount them in a new one?

I pulled off a couple and they seem to hold up pretty well in the removal process.

What says the stamp crowd?
THANKS!

Removing the mounts will likely wreck the old album, but it doesn't sound like that's a concern. How about hinging the re-used mounts to the new album?

The Steiner pages for the international collection- good idea.

Yes, if I am transferring the mounts from the old album, I would not be interested in saving those pages ... they are nice enough, but crowded - every space used kind of album, not a lot of white space, no real presentation in some cases.
My bigger concern was whether the mounts would hold up in the move.

Thanks for advice so far.

I think the mounts should hold up reasonably well in the move, however I'd buy some Tombo Mono Removable Adhesive (available in most craft stores) to mount the stamps on the new pages. In that way if you ever need to remove or reposition the mounts, you won't damage the album page in the process.

So Tombo Mono would be better than hinges? Is it a liquid? paste? strips like tape?

Thanks

I find the Tombo Mono Removable Adhesive works well for stamp mounts. Others on this site have had favorable results, too, so I understand. The product comes in a little cartridge as shown on their website:

https://tombowusa.com/craft/detail/62203

If you shop the craft store flyers or internet ads, you can usually find a good coupon for 40% to 50% off the price of an item, which makes the stuff very reasonably priced. Just make sure you purchase the REMOVABLE adhesive, as they have several varieties of the adhesive for various applications, some of which are permanent.

Hi

A suggestion for re-mounting that everyone seems to miss. Remove the mount carefully from the old album. If the mount had been applied properly turn the mount top-to-bottom and remove and re-insert the stamp. When I say used properly I mean a small amount of moisture was used at the top of the mount, not "licked" all over the back. I have done this on occasion, when I am too lazy to cut a new mount, and it works fine.

Jerry B

I use the Mystic Heirloom album for my US stamps ... and like it well enough. I also use the Steiner pages for my WW collections, however storage of those pages is becoming an issue (I have 5 deluxe heavy duty binders so far). I also use 16-page stockbooks for specialized collections. I hinge most of my stamps and keep the pages in clear sleeves (which is a major contributor to my binder space issue).

I recommend that you remove the stamp from the mount before attempting to release the mount from the album page.

Thank you, thank you all for that great advice. I appreciate and it helps me think I am making an OK move with this. I considered a hingless album, but they are all so expensive - and as much as I love my stamps, with my budget, I just can't invest that much in an album.

Can't remember for the life of me how I came across this but I was searching for something on the web and the Google results sent me to an ebay page for 5 US Shaubek Hingeless Albums 1847-2008. They even had the years from about 1940-70 filled with the stamps. I picked it up for a little over $500 and felt that was a good deal.

Doug