Best Worldwide Album

I'm considering making the investment into a worldwide album. Assuming that money is no object ... which album would you choose? Scott seems pretty comprehensive and easy to access. I don't know much about Davo, Minkus, White Ace etc.

Thoughts?

To get you started on WW album education...

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

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

JKBLUE-------Thanks for that link ,makes for a excellent read on album differences.

Hi,
I believe I asked the same question a year ago, and I am sure others have as well. There are many options out there, and as you would guess, cost is a major factor. But, before you spend any of that money, there are a few questions you need to ponder first.

- How much money do you have to spend? You could spend anywhere from a couple hundred, to literally thousands.
- What exactly do you want to collect? In example, what time period, what countries, etc.
- How serious are you about the hobby? Will it be a life long interest, or is it just another "phase"?
- Do you want an album at all? Some folks are quite happy putting their stamps on blank pages or stock sheets.

In my case, I wanted to collect worldwide - from the beginning (1840) thru the 1950s. I was a returnee to the hobby after a 45 year absence, and was not exactly a beginner.

After much review on this Forum, NOLA Stamp Shop (online), ebay, etc., I ended up with two options that would meet my needs. The first was the Scott's International Albums (Big Blue), Parts 1-4. These cover the years 1840-1939, the 1940s, 1950-1955, and 1955-1959. They are available new, but I got all mine on ebay. I was pretty patient, and over the year ended up with the 4 used volumes for about $500 or so.

The other option is to "print your own". There is a website that provides the program at a very reasonable price that will allow you to print pages for "whatever" you want. The end result can be very, very nice, but it is work, and the pages can take up a lot of space. Moneywise, its basically the cost of quality paper, binders, and a good laser printer and cartriges.

Now you can go a lot cheaper. Mystic Stamp company does put out more affordable albums, and if money is a factor, I would definitely consider them.

Whatever you do, get the best album(s) you can afford. You will never regret it. If you go on the cheap, it is very likely that you will regret it.........

ENJOY !!
Mobilman44

The big unknown on your question is whether you are thinking of collecting to date or stopping at an earlier year.

Regardless, I would add another consideration to mobileman44's list, and that is practicality. For example, I don't have a dedicated stamp cave and do the majority of work with my two albums while sitting in a recliner. A collection housed in many albums or stockbooks would not be practical for me. On the other hand, if you do your philateling at a desk with a convenient bookcase, then this is a non-issue.

If you want to use your computer to generate pages for your album . http://www.stampalbums.com/
This link might be worth investigating .

Other good factors are time and experience in collecting. The more experienced the more complicated the album setup you can get. I'd start with the classics through 1940 with whatever album you choose and then slowly work your way up to the 21st century :)

thanks all for the comments and advice. I currently use the Steiner pages and am reasonably happy with them ... but I can't help admiring the look of the pages in some of those older bigger albums. I've looked at the Scott albums on ebay ... you CAN replace the binder right? Just move the pages over? If and when I go that direction, that's probably what I'll do. Although, the OCD completist in me wants ALL the albums! Blue, Brown, Steiner, Minkus etc etc.

Hi clifhiker,

One other thing to consider if you decide on the older type albums, which I agree are nice, is that the stamp spaces are very close together. Good for accommodating a large quantity of stamps, but near impossible to use stamp mounts neatly, as can be seen from the Big Blue Egypt page in the first link. No difficulty arises if using stamp hinges, but something to consider. If I ever go the worldwide route I will use the Steiner pages, which have the "print as required" advantage and a roomier layout.


Terry

Hi,
I definitely see the rationale for the Steiner pages, but I would urge a newcomer or returnee to the Hobby to get the Scotts National albums for USA, and Scott International album(s) for worldwide. Yes, that is what I ended up with but I'm doing my best to be objective here.

On the plus side, the Scott's are readily available on ebay (be patient - whatever you want will be there sooner of later). The USA portion has the Scott's number, and both the USA and International have pictures. And yes, you have plenty of binder choices and the page configurations are your choice as well. Finally, if properly cared for, they make a heck of a presentation.

On the minus side, the Scott's don't have spaces for every stamp (you can add blank pages). And, the Internationals are printed on both sides of the paper. Of course you can add glassine interleaves to keep stamps from hanging up with each other.

The Steiner pages are excellent for country collections, and I love the fact that you can print the pages you want, and "every" stamp has its own space. But if you are collecting world wide, especially going past the Classic Era (1840-1939), you will need a whole lot of albums, space, and enthusiasm to get it put together.