Looking For A World Wide Album

Well thank you guys for all the input.
I do appreciate it and you've definitely got me thinking about printing my albums.
Terrance seems pretty specific on the paper and binder.
What paper and binder do you guys recommend?

I have used Steiner's page extensively in the past. One of the major reasons was the lack of images. I love the fact the the stamps you do have stand out - I tend to focus to much on the stamps I'm missing using 'regular' albums with images.

Anyway, welcome back to the world of stamps

Lots of great advice here. I have tried just about everything I think! You can't go wrong anyway you cut it. Experiment and find what works for you. I'm still evolving too. A Used Minkus Supreme Global or Scott International Pt 1 with a couple thousand stamps in them are a good way to start and a pretty good deal too. JKBlue hits the nail on the head that Steiner is the most comprehensive. You could fill 150 3 ring binders in no time :)

This thread is about one of the major difficulties "returnees" to the hobby have. I speak from experience. When I got back in to collecting, I started with USA from 1847-1999, and the Scotts Nationals were the obvious solution (to me) and they are terrific. But when I jumped into worldwide collecting - even though my time frame was "only" 1840-1950, it was a real stumbling block as to which album(s) to go with.

A real factor was "how much money do I want to spend on album(s)". Another was "am I going to do this for the long haul, or is it just a passing fancy". If I had realized then how much I enjoy being back, I would have bought NEW Scott's international pages or had the Steiner's printed out. Maybe I would have started with a few countries, maybe all those I had an interest in.

Instead I found myself buying up several USED Scott's Big Blue albums off of ebay. Of course this worked out great at first, but I soon discovered that they left out a lot of issues, and single volume albums soon get split into two volumes (due to interleaves and added pages).

Don't misunderstand, I truly enjoy the Scott's Big Blue's, but if I knew then what I know now, I would have ordered the new pages and binders and sleeves, and "build my own".

All that being said, I believe a newcomer - unsure of their commitment to the hobby - would do well by buying a used album.

You've given me plenty to think about.
I can see the benefits of printing your own albums, but at the same time, just starting off, I almost think I'd prefer like something "pre-made" of sorts.
But I can see where the pre-made album could become obsolete pretty quick.
Tell me, is there a site with examples of pre-made albums pages on display? Like a Pinterest of Collections?
And again, what is the best paper to use? A stamp collection should be displayed on something other that regular copy paper. I've already seen plenty of binders. How are the Lighthouse Vario Binders?

Hi Phil,

If you want to see how pre printed album pages look after say 10 to 20 years, take a look at some of the old albums on offer on ebay.

Ideally paper for stamp albums should be:

Of archival quality (acid free and/or buffered paper is not archival. Paper needs to be lignin free as well).
Thick enough to resist buckling when mounts are attached (170 gsm to 250 gsm depending on budget and degree of stiffness required). See note below.
Slightly off white or cream to offer some contrast to the stamps.
Have a surface suitable for printed or handwritten details (not too smooth, very slight tooth/surface texture).

NOTE: Paper weight shown in gsm is a better guide than paper weight shown in lbs. The lbs option measures the weight of a ream (500 sheets) of paper whatever the size of sheet, gsm measures the weight of a ream of any paper 1 sq.m in sheet size.

It is reasonable to want to house an expensive collection in the best way possible, and this is not going to be cheap. Good quality albums and leaves (or paper if printing your own) are costly. Some time taken in the early stages to decide on good quality binders and paper types will help avoid expensive mistakes. I can only repeat what I said in an earlier post. Don't be impatient, don't rush this, do the research to find a combination of album binder and paper that fits your needs. And remember, the initial sweetness of the cheap price is long outlasted by the bitter taste of poor quality.

Terry
Edited for omission. TC.

Hi Phil,
First of all, welcome back to collecting! I think a number of us here have been in the same situation: which way to go?

Personally, I opted for Steiner pages for my foreign (non-US) stamps. My specialty areas get custom made pages. If there was an award for the person most responsible for keeping stamp collectors active, Bill would have my vote!

Albums are wonderful but they can be pricey. You also lose the flexibility of collecting the way you want. Inevitably, you will end up with stamps that don't have spaces in the album. Obviously, you can insert blank pages, start a custom album or, as some collectors I know, collect to the album. If it isn't in the album, it doesn't get added to the collection.

Another thing to consider is what to do when you decide to replace/move a stamp. Hinges seem to be "sticker" than they used to be. If you want to remove a hinged stamp or change a messed up mount, you run the risk of skinning or even making a hole in the page. That's a bigger problem for an album than with printed pages. With Steiner pages a quick trip to the computer and poof, you have a new page.

Any way you choose to collect, I'm sure you will find it more fun than before. Your interests may evolve over time so any decision you make now probably won't be final. Enjoy the ride!

Dan

I was in the same predicament when I got back into the hobby a few years ago. After a 20+ year absence from the hobby and wanting to collect worldwide - to date, I had trouble finding an album that would fit my needs.

The best advise I can give is experiment with each if the suggestions that you get from the SCF guys. I wasted a lot of money buying albums that I thought was what I wanted but turned out for what ever reason did not fit my needs/wants. Try putting an issue in a stock page to see how it looks and then mount it on a blank page. Steiner has sample pages that you can download for free to try. If you are worried the Steiner pages will take up to much room you can add page numbers to the file and print only the pages that you have stamps for.

FYI, I use the Steiner pages for worldwide, and add stock sheets to the binders for issues that I want to keep more variations of. I have printed 3 - 5 thousand pages of the 77,000+ pages that are offered. I still use Harris Liberty albums for my U.S collection and keep a Harris Citation album up to date with the annual supplements for reference.

Steiner album page for Malay States


Big Blue album (Scott International 1840-1940) for Maldive Islands

I usually include a pic of a Steiner or Big Blue album page for my country blog posts.

Depends on whom you ask.

Personally, I use standard (American size )11" X 8 1/2" 70 lb paper cream color acid free. And I buy by the box as I use a lot of paper for the WW classical collection for the Steiner pages. I three hole punch the paper after I print out the Steiner country PDF pages.

I find 65 lb card stock too stiff, but others like it.

I don't bother with archival, as archival can be quite expensive for the volume I use.

Also, I do mount the stamps, which provides additional protection.

( If is had a specialized collection with expensive specimens, I might be more picky. )

Binder: Avery 1 1/2" heavy duty view binder with one touch EZD ring- black

As for paper, I ordered very nice quality paper from thepapermillstore.com. They have tons of different types of paper and do custom cutting.

I ordered CLASSIC CREST from Neenah, the Natural White, Smooth. Looks very much like my Scott National pages (but maybe not quite so yellow).

I order two sizes, one for standard size pages and another for wider pages I create on my own for certain countries.

8 1/2 X 11 inch, 80 lb text - for standard binders, suitable for Steiner pages - my son uses this in Martha Stewart brown binders available at Staples. We would have preferred 100lb text, but it was not available in this size paper in the CLASSIC CREST.

9 1/2 x 12 1/4 inch, 100 lb text - for use with Vario Grande binders.
I prefer a larger width page for better presentation when designing my own albums. I am creating my own pages for certain countries of special interest (e.g., Hungary).

I personally don't use Steiner pages as I don't like the narrow presentation that is required for 8 1/2 x 11 inch pages. I have grown spoiled by much wider pages in the commercial albums such as Scott, Schaubek and Davo).

It took me about a year to decide on the pages and binders. In the process I ordered swatch books of paper from thepapermillstore.com and purchased a fairly inexpensive wide format printer. Now, I am raring to go, but don't have any free time at the moment.

If you live in a metro area on the West Coast or in AZ or Las Vegas, there's a paper store that's mostly for the trade but also freely open to the public: Kelly Paper. They have an amazing selection of papers, and have samples you can inspect for most papers, so you don't have to feel like you might be buying a pig in a poke. (Does anybody say this anymore? Why did it float to the surface of my brain? Soon I'll be looking for the icebox and asking for the tinfoil.)

Anyway, well worth making a visit to at least once, if you're at all near one.

Here's their website:

http://kellypaper.com/

and their store locator:

http://kellypaper.com/store

Metro areas include LA/OC/San Diego, SF Bay Area, Sacramento, Portland, Seattle, Phoenix, Tucson, Las Vegas.

I have no affiliation with them, other than as a satisfied customer over the years.

-- Dave

One issue nobody brought up but has been a problem for many collectors over the years. I will try to explain it .
Most collectors who handle their albums over a few years time notice that the binders and pages start to loosen up and oil from your hands start to stain the edges .So my recommendation is start with a printed used album. As you accumulate stamps and fill in your album ,then years later look to purchase a nice album set or use Steiner pages .If you ever seen my 60 + albums on the bookcase you will notice everything is in like new condition ,because I use "feeder albums" and transfer those stamp I need once every two years into my main collection .This gives me a collection which then gets consign to a stamp auction after I transfer out what I need.

Thanks for the links to the paper sites.
I've been looking and didn't even know where to start.

Hi floortrader,

You make a good point about the handling wear on stamp album binders and leaves. Related to this, I read recently that the British Library have abandoned the use of cotton gloves for handling their archived paper documents. They reason that the wearing of gloves causes reduced tactile 'feel' and increases the risk of damage rather than reduces it. Freshly washed and dried hands are now their preferred safeguard. So they now require visitors handling documents to scrub up first using soap and hot water to remove skin oil. And a final rinse in cold water would close the skin pores minimising the passage of skin oils.

Terry