What Are My International Album Choices For 1-2 Volumes?

Hi,
While I have a fair US collection (Scott National Albums), I've been thinking of getting back into international collecting (which I did as a teen). My interested time frame is from the 1800s thru perhaps 1950, and "every country".

I don't want to have multi volumes of albums, and would like to have only 2 or so. I was looking at ebay offerings of collections, and the Scott Junior International albums looked good, but I suspect they are no longer offered.

Other than the multi book options, is there anything out there today that would encompass my time period for the world?

MOBILMAN -----I have a few sets of the Internationals for that time period.The best is the print your own album pages from the Steiner pages software.Everybody I know likes these self-print ability and had issues with the Internationals.

For 1-2 volumes for WW stamp albums, some good choices are...

( These volumes are available from Amos Advantage)

Scott International album Part I (1840-1940) "Big Blue"
I believe Amos sells these now as IA1, IA2,IB1, IB2
One can also pick up used volumes of Part I, they are fairly common.

Scott International Part II 1940-1949
Again, Amos divides Part II into 2 sections now.
One can also pick up a used Part II for not much.

( The Internationals continue if you want to expand the years- Part III covers 1949-1955 and so forth.)

The second major volume would be the Minkus Global Supreme ( Not Master) which covers in one very large album the years 1840-1952. This is sold by Amos now in two sections. The album can be found used, but not as common as "Big Blue".

There are of course WW album choices that are much greater than 1-2 volumes, such as the "Browns", six volumes covering up to 1940, and sold by Subway Stamps. And then the ultimate- the many many volumes PDF file Steiners that you print out yourself.( www.stampalbums.com )

Good luck and have fun!

Thank you for the replies, it is appreciated. It looks like international albums are either "beginners" based, or very expensive multi volumes. If I decide to pursue the international collecting, it looks like the Scott "big blue" is the way to go, and just get up to part 3.

I realized that the last time I collected international, it was in the late '50s and early '60s. Sooo, there was a lot less album pages needed (duhhhh!). If anyone has additional suggestions, I sure would be glad to read them.

Thanks,
Mobilman44

Bear in mind that just because Scott says "2 parts" or "three" doesn't mean that is what you will end up with. My collection is primarily the blue Scott Internationals Parts 1 through 5 (1840-1965) with a few countries up into the mid-1970s. The collection occupies 12 International binders; 8 jumbo and 4 regular size. Then there are the two binders for sheets and covers; etc. and etc.

I have to agree with floortrader. The Steiner pages are the way to go. You only have to print the pages of the stamps you already have so there will be very few holes in your collection. It's a pretty cheap option that way and they fit in standard 3 ring binders. I have several thousand of the pages now, it's a great way to collect.

Hi,
Some questions on "printing your own"............ What is the cost of the software to cover 1840 to say the 1950s?
What kind of paper do you use? And, assuming you print your own, what kind of printer do you recommend?

Thanks,
Mobilman44

I use 24 lbs paper ,from HAMMERMILL [i purchase it from a copy center ,its a FEDEX store,the office supply stores are more expensive with a lousy choice }.It is not as heavy as others use but its fine if your planing on printing most of the worldwide stamps pages . If you only plan on a few binders than a heavier stock paper feels nicer. The color I like best is the IVORY paper .
I use a HP printer ,it is one of their better models ,which I purchased just for album pages..........BUT NEVER AGAIN ......too many problems ....like too much noise,too many clicking and suffling noises and it sucks ink like crazy .It is junk ,its made just to sell you ink cartiages ,if yellow ink is out it wouldn't print in black ink .It wasn't the cheaper machines on sale thats why Im negative about their printers .

Great questions!

Steiner albums

Obtain a subscription to Stamp Albums Web, get their CD with PDF files, or both. Cost $40 range. Biggest bargain on the planet.

William Steiner has subset files for the "Classic" era, so quite easy to print out. There are ,of course, the full country files up to the present if one wants to collect the country for all the years.

I print one country at a time.

Choices vary for paper weight among collectors, but I use 70 pound cream opaque acid free paper, not card stock. ( I personally find card stock too stiff.)

These are standard 8 1/2 X 11 inch size, and a regular home printer ought to handle the job. (There are printers available for wider paper for ~$200)

I use a heavy duty three hole hand punch, and then use 1 1/2" Avery Heavy Duty one touch EZD ring binders (from Staples).

But be aware that using Steiner versus Big Blue/ Minkus Supreme Global Albums is the difference between swimming in a lake or swimming in an ocean.

I am about half through housing my complete WW classic era collection in Steiner pages, and they consist of....25 albums!

Still, for the ultimate, Steiner is the way to go.

Big Blue/ Minkus Supreme Global albums are "representational" albums, with many - but certainly not all- of the more common stamps with a space. The original question was for a collection in 1-2 albums for WW classic, and I still think Big Blue/ Minkus Global Supreme would work without needing to build another room.

BTW, check out my three and four album shootouts on my blog.

http://bigblue1840-1940.blogspot.co...e-album.html

http://bigblue1840-1940.blogspot.co...t-scott.html

Thanks all, thats some very helpful information.

Question..... Printing my own on heavy stock paper (using the Steiner link), approximately how many pages would it take from 1840 to about 1950?

Oh, while I've been an HP guy since "day one", I definitely agree with the printer comments. I currently use an HP 6310 "all in one", which is my second of the same model. I would have replaced the first with a different one, but the price was too good. They do slurp up ink. I tried various refilled cartridges and they are medicore at best.

Thanks,
Mobilman44

I don't really know, but I could give a very ball park estimate.

Perhaps 120 pages/ binder X ~50 binders = 6000 pages for 1840-1940 (-1952 British Commonwealth)

Then another ~3000 pages for 1940-1950?

Total = ~ 9000 pages (very rough estimate)

Perhaps someone will have a better estimate.

9000 pages --wow let see 500 pages per ream thats 140 reams of 10 reams in a box .14 Cases of paper and one cases for spoilage .........your up to a pallet of paper for a collection !!

One way to decide whether a Scott International or Minkus Supreme Global is right for you is to assess how you react to having stamps for which there are no spaces in your album. This is a major irritation for most collectors who are not interested in relegating new acquisitions to blank pages or stock books. For others, such as myself, the convenience of being able to collect the world within a manageable framework compensates for such limitations.

The Scott Volume One contains spaces for 35 thousand stamps, perhaps 60% of the face-different stamps issued between 1840 and 1940; i.e., perforations, watermarks and similar varieties are largely ignored. This means that a representative worldwide collection can be conveniently housed in a couple of binders, and mirabile dictu, can actually be completed.

Floortrader:

Actually, for the premium quality paper there are only 250 pages in a ream (that's 2,500 sheets in a box). For 9,000 pages, that would only amount to 4 boxes (add another for overhead) I get my paper stock at a local supply distributor for $30-40 per box, but retail could run $50-60 per box.

And, I have been using HP printers for more than 15 years with hardly ever any problems. I do not use the printers that have the separate color ink cartridges. I only use the ones that have one Black & one Tri-color cartridge. I never refill cartridges (that can cause real messed up printers!). The extra capacity black actually last quite awhile (most all my pages are in black anyway.. the color should be from the stamps, not the page design).

Cheers,
Terry.

Hi,
I'm really wrestling with this......... As was pointed out, printing your own pages means you really only have to print the pages for which you have stamps. So one might start out with the first page for each country, and then print those pages for which he/she has stamps.

My US collection is pretty exacting (Scott National pages), and that is great - as it is my primary interest. But for the rest of the world, I don't know that I want or can be that specific (i.e. perfs, watermarks, secret marks, etc.).

And, maybe its the kid in me, but I really like putting the stamps in identified spaces - rather than blank spaces.

Again, I do appreciate all your input, for I need all the help I can get.

Mobilman44, I don't know whether you have money you can "throw away" on this, but one option might be to find a used Scott International or Minkus Supreme Global with a thousand or two stamps, and see what you think. You can probably score one for under $50 although that isn't quite as easy as it used to be. At the very least, you would still have a couple of thousand stamps for whatever album you finally go with.

If that approach seems at all of interest you might read my blog post on choosing an International album: http://globalstamps.blogspot.com/20...is-best.html

And even though I don't use them as album pages, I don't regret the $30 I spent for a year's access to Bill Steiner's site. It supports a worthy project and his pages have helped clear up a few identification issues I was having.

In any event, I hope you let us know what you finally decide.