Suggestions For World Album

Within the next couple of months I want to get a world wide album. I used to have a Harris Statesman back in my early collecting days (80's). I'd like something fairly comprehensive, but still cost effective. While I'd love to have a complete set of Scott Internationals, that's simply not in my budget. The ones I'm currently considering are a new set of the 2 vol Harris Statesman, or printing and making my own with Steiner's pages. The Statesman appeals to me because I can spend my time collecting rather than putting together albums. However I think the Steiner pages may offer more flexibility and more coverage of my favorite countries. Are there others I should consider that wont break the bank?

I do collect worldwide, but the the countries that most interest me are Germany, China, Vietnam & Thailand. Other countries that interest me are Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, Burma (Myanmar), Canada, UK, and New Zealand. I already have a small but growing collection for all of these countries plus many more from S. America, Europe, Australia, Africa, Asia... all over I guess.

I'd love to hear any suggestions or ideas the forum has. Thanks!

The differences between those choices are enormous.

Here is the advantage of the Harris Statesman.

http://www.ihobb.com/c/STATESMAN.html

In a word by leaving out 95%+ of the world stamp production. But at least, you won't get overwhelmed.

The Steiners literally offer a potential stamp space for every major number stamp ever issued based on the Scott catalogue. Comprehensive, but compact it is not. I only collect 1840-1940 worldwide. But the Steiner pages have taken up 25 1 1/2 inch binders so far, and will requite another 25 binders when I'm done. Multiply that X 10 for a WW collection up to the present.

Possible other solutions..
• Collect by country- and you indicated there were certain countries you had a large interest in. Then the Steiners would be feasible, or the Scott Specialized albums.

• Collect by cut-off date WW: 1940, 1952, 1960, 1970 are some of the popular choices. It is do-able. And the Scott Internationals would be back into play. If I may suggest my blog.
http://bigblue1840-1940.blogspot.com/

• Collect by not using albums at all. Stockbooks are a compact elegant solution. Keijo from Finland is the leading advocate of that approach.
http://www.stampcollectingblog.com/

Good luck!

There's collecting the world and then there is REALLY collecting the world. I bought a Statesman when I dove back in and it lasted about 10 minutes before I needed something more comprehensive. I wound up going the Scott International route and buying them used over the past five years. I've also tried Minkus Globals and Harris by getting the supplements. There are advantages and disadvantages to each.

I use the amos online worldwide as a guide but I print out blank quadrilled pages from the Steiner site. At the moment, I dont want to sink alot
of money into an album because sooner or later I'll be moving back to the US and have to carry it all. I've also got a WW collection at home in the US in
2 old Harris Citation binders.

Thanks for the replies. I realize that the Statesman only covers a small portion of all the worlds stamps, but I thought it could be helpful to guide a newbie. My idea was to then print Steiners pages for the few countries that I am most interested in. After giving it some though I may just print Steiner pages as I need them for any given country. I dont intend to print the whole world but I could slowly expand my WW album(s) by printing new pages as I get the stamps to place in them. But then I still feel like I'd need something to guide me....

I did look at the Amos online WW album, too bad there's not a downloadable version. It does look similar to what I was expecting from the Statesman, but their online interface to the album feels clunky to me.

I purchased a never-used one-volume Statesman Deluxe on ebay but have decided to focus on US stamps and just use Vario sheets for the small amount of WW I have. I'm considering offering it up here - basically because I can't really stand the idea of selling on ebay. If you're interested, I can hold on to it for you until you've been around enough for your 50 posts.

You can print from the Amos online WW album, but I haven't messed with it to see about downloading at all.

I use Steiner pages for the main countries I collect and stock books for the rest. If at some point in time I have a greater interest or have accumulated enough of one of the countries in a stock book I can print the appropriate Steiner pages.

Being I just recently jumped into the WW arena, I am taking the Doris Day approach. I picked up a Minkus 2 volume Global album, with pages to about 1960 with about a bazillion spaces, I will never fill this monster. When I first started, I thought man there are a lot of holes in this thing, and I have stamps that have no spots in the album.Maybe I should get some supplements..... wait a minute, no way I went to WW to relax, Que sera sera, what ever will be will be..... Hmmmm I have a Scott National that has a spot for every US stamp issued, I specialize in US used, and it aint no fun any more chasing $100 stamps, to fill a hole. So what I'm saying is I don't think you can get too serious with a WW album, pick one up and start hanging affordable stamps on the pages and travel a bit. I will never go out of my way to fill a hole in this one. Relax, if you have a stamp and the album has no space for it.... give it or trade it away.

NEVER WORK ON YOUR STAMPS.... PLAY WITH THEM
WORK FOR A LIVING ,PLAY FOR FUN

So I picked up a bunch of used stock pages cheap on ebay. I'm going to do like BradS and just keep my WW in those until I have enough of a certain country to print some Steiner pages for. For now I only plan to print Steiner pages I can actually fill for Germany, which is my main WW interest, aside from the US which is my main focus. As a new collector returning for the first time since I was a teen, it's easy to get caught up in the fun and try and collect everything. After looking at some comprehensive WW albums it became clear that that isn't the route for me.

@Zuzu That is a kind offer, but dont hang on to it for my sake. However if you still have it for sale when I reach my post count I may consider it. Thank you though.