Zen And The Art Of Stamp Collection Maintenance !!

i may ramble a bit..when we start out..its simple..some stamps, an album or stockbook..but then the years go by...i find I am running similar collections in different albums...time to consolidate..figure the best way to do it... oh those practical 3 ring binders that served me so well do not match..i will as time and money dictate switch to lighthouse type binders...eye appeal is important right ? Oh course those of you who have made a lifetime hobby of stamp collecting know what I am talking about !

I know exactly what you mean Phil! Slowly reorganizing my collection for eye appeal Wish it wasn't so expensive though...My Lighthouse binders cost about $27 each and about 45-50 Vario sheets per binder costs about $70 which totals to $97 which means that in some cases the storage costs SIGNIFICANTLY MORE than the stamps are worth.

My opinion is that we all struggle with investing and the trade off of using cash that could feed our addiction (i mean invest wisely in stamps) to buy a binder.

However, having crossed the bridge 15 years ago (I highly recommend Lighthouse system), think of this:

The cost that you put in the collection will be recouped in the future when they are sold. IE, the binders hold value by themselves to a degree. Plus they showcase the beauties so that the Zen harmony of any viewer is enhanced and enchanted. Think of the greatest stamps today from 1900 that were cared for--we benefit from their prior owners doing this. so should we.

Lastly, would you leave a nice picasso tacked to the wall? would you put a davinci sketch in a ziplock? a rare gold goin stacked in a cigar box?

just my opinion though.

I think Tommy nailed it! I too use "the system" and love it! So versatile and looks great and protects everything in a great looking and functional package. I also love the slipcases too!

Philb,

I read your post and it really made me think about many things. I have been working, for a long time, on "maintenance" to my collection. As many know, the items we used, many years ago, to mount our prizes have begun to fail or just don't look as good as they used to. What I have been doing is going through all, or as many as I can find, items that are not mounted for the chosen country mounting the missed ones and remounting and or re-paging much of it.

It is much work and each country can take months to go through to bring up to par. It is a lot of work and the time involved, at times, seems endless. But in the end the result is, to me, worth every bit of the effort. As I go through examining each page I can see the changes the collection has gone through. The original pages are Minkus with some type written, some hand drawn with pencil and ruler, and now computer designed and printed. So I think it goes beyond binders, right to the heart of the issue. The album itself almost has a story of it's own. Created one page at a time, each page tells the story of the time it was conceived.

It not only makes me feel good to see everything looking good again but, at times, brings back "forgotten" memories. The way things used to be...

Don't care too much for stock books!

Don't you find that you constantly reacquaint yourself with old friends and rediscover forgotten purchases?

It is so easy to put something aside. Out of sight is out of mind, as they say. Revamping brings you back into the trenches. That's not a bad thing.

Could it be the mind(memory) is going..i was putting some Guatemala scott 26-30 by denomination in a stock page 25,50,75,100,150 and I am thinking wait a minute..i must have more of these.then I find a full page of them hinged in the back of my Guatemala album !

Hey Philb, I use the Lighthouse vario-F sized binders and vario sheets to organize my collection. The vario-F binders are available at the post office up here, so they are convenient to pick-up, and the pages are a pretty safe bet for storing stamps in the long term. I put 40 pages in each binder, at a cost of about $1.25 (Cad) a page, so $29 for the binder plus the pages comes out about $80 a volume for my collection. Still a little cheaper than alblums, and I like the flexibility of the vario stock pages. I can just arrange things however I want and then I make my own labels to identify things.

All in all I think the Lighthouse binders make a pretty good look presentation on the shelf.

I have 3 stock books. I don't use stock pages. I prefer albums and I printed my pages from Steiner's Stamp Albums Web. For my topical collections I make my pages using AlbumEasy. I house my collections in Uni-Safe binders and slipcases from Unitrade. It's time I buy some more because I start using old regular 3-ring binders. I sold collections before and I got paid only for the stamps. Depending on what he wants to do with your collection the dealer or collector that buy it can agree to leave you the binders. But better looks better and sell better.

They look better for sure !!