Are Cheap Album Manufacturers Days Numbered?

I love this statement! I really want a collection according to me. Now if only I had the free time ...

I just saw the thread referenced in the OP. It has occurred to me before that Steiner's pages may be eating into Scott's album sales somewhat, but they may help with other things, like catalog sales. Speaking for myself, I wonder if I'd even be collecting right now had I not found Steiner's pages. If I was, it would certainly be in a far different manner than I am now. At any rate, in the past year I have purchased a set of (used) Scott Catalogues that I probably wouldn't have bought had I not found Steiner's site. As my collection matures and specializes, I will definitely look at purchasing new Scott (or Lighthouse, etc) albums for portions of my collection, as well as new Scott Catalogues. I have pretty strong doubts if I would have progressed to that point if my only option at the start was to purchase albums costing hundreds of dollars and more. But now I'm pretty much addicted and like any good addict, if I see something I want badly enough, I'll figure out a (legal) way to get it.

This is an excellent topic and the participation has been good.
Tom

For me I am on a limited budget so anything that would work cheaply. I have a Cannon Laser copier I picked up for 100 bucks. The laser cartridge for it (non brand generic) about $10 -$14. No color just plain black. I have been sort of designing my own pages on Powerpoint. Nothing fancy just trying to squeeze as many stamps as I can onto one 8 1/2 X 11 sheet. I suppose I would eventually go to Steiner pages to save time. If I look I can get some pretty good binders at the resale shop for a buck. I have picked up metal hinge ones in the past.

I made this point in another thread but the Steiner pages, or any like them, scream out for the addition of catalog numbers. This is not rocket science, nor is it necessary for anyone to pay royalties. Every single catalog publisher allows people to use their numbering system for their personal use. This is why we are all allowed to use a Scott or SG number in any listing on ebay or in this forum.

All that Steiner has to do is to build in the capacity for a catalog number in their PDFs as a data source. Each user could then 'plug in' any catalog numbering system they choose to do. Steiner would not have control over this and would not face any legal repercussions. The data source could be a Access database, an XML file, or other similar type file. Steiner could supply the template for this file and it would be up to the user to fill it with whatever catalog numbers they desired (including their own).

Frankly the same thing could be done with images for each stamp. The PDFs simply have to be coded in a way to 'look' for image files in a specific location. In both cases, both images and catalog numbers, when the PDF file was opened it would go out and 'populate' the appropriate areas in the PDF. So when the user printed it out they would be used. If either the images or catalog numbers were not present when the PDF file was opened, it would simply ignore those fields and print just as they do now.

There is nothing stopping anyone from doing this; catalog and album publishers like Amos know this. They WILL have to start competing with this kind of 'self publishing' sooner rather than later. Their only chance at surviving this will be to offer a superior product at a better value.
don

Unlike some others who have posted, I'm pleased with the Scott/Amos Press albums and pages.

Strictly for US, though.

If I was doing worldwide stamps, I'd probably use Steiner pages but probably with an Adobe product that would let me modify the pages. Then I'd add catalog numbers outside the stamp boxes so they can always be seen.

But for US - remember, Scott has added a nice dark green and gold three ring binders to the National series, and the National pages are at least 65# paper. They did also add green vinyl D-ring binders that look better than the Minuteman binders and open flat. That's a big plus when pages have the US mini sheets etc, the big mounts like to lay flat.

I make a lot of extra pages to supplement the Scott pages, and that made it necessary to get a large-format printer, so that was the biggest extra expense other than the set of Nationals (which I bought on sale).

As for recommendations about the best software program for making extra pages, I'd definitely be the wrong guy to ask. I already had Photoshop, and so I use it, even though I don't know what I'm doing and couldn't describe the process except to say that I keep notes to guide myself through the process when I've been away from it for a while.

Oops, timer is going off - gotta go spend money on ebay. I'll post a sample page later.

-Duncan

A couple of thoughts about Scott and albums....

I don't think Scott/Amos actually has the capacity to do much new with albums, other than to add supplements for some (not all) previously published albums. They work hard on their catalogue each year (their bread and butter), and have indeed improved it yearly- specifically the Scott Classic Specialized 1840-1940 catalogue. But they let the rest slide- specifically their legacy albums which have not been updated to reflect their current catalogues!

If one looks closely at the Scott Specialty albums, one will encounter stamp color descriptions for spaces that are no longer in active (catalogue) use.

I am most familiar with the Scott International Part I (1840-1940) album (Big Blue!), and there has been no serious editing/updating (other than cutting country spaces and whole countries out in '69) since the 1940's!

Sure, the spaces have been re-arranged over the years, but that is like re-arranging the chairs on the Titanic.

So a "non-Scott" company has taken over as "de facto" standard for Scott- Steiner!

A Steiner page will have all the current major Scott numbers sequentially arranged on the page (except for a few aesthetic tweeks).

And if one doesn't want to pencil in the Scott numbers (which literally is as easy as 1,2,3..), or prefer larger format pages that can be done for you,or prefer illustrations, there is Palo,which has a Steiner license for layout.

Steiner, of course works best if one is a major numbers collector- Specialists may need to design their own pages,or add supplementary or quadrilled pages. (But Scott rarely offered spaces for minor numbers either.)

Here's part of a page done to blend well when added to a Scott National album...



I got a large quantity of paper in the proper color from a local printer, larger than a National page, and when a page is printed it includes thin layout lines that show me where to trim it down to the correct size.

Scott's pages for the National albums are dual punched, for their three-hole binders and the older two-post binders. I punch mine with just three holes. One accidental benefit of that is, I can quickly see whether a page is home made or an original Scott.

-Duncan

Nice work.

Very nice work Duncan. Hmm you got me thinking which is dangerous.
Tom

Am I the only one who does not like colour album pages? I like the colour to come from my stamps. I find it satisfying to fill in those last few black and white spots with stamps. The reward for doing so is diminished when you can hardly tell the difference between an empty and a full page.

Hi

Just 2 cents worth from someone who has never used a pre-printed album in 60 years.

I, like others, started with a world-wide collection. At the start I used pre-printed albums, Minkus World Wide and Scott Modern for US. A dealer in my town said to use blank quadrille pages instead of pre-printed. For some forgotten reason I started collecting only Israel, Italy and France and quadrille pages were perfect for this. To be consistent any US went to blank pages also.

Ever since then I have always had a "specialized" collection, no world wide, and therefore have used only blank quadrille pages.

Reading the various stamp forums I came to realize that there are a lot of world wide collectors, more than I thought. I also noticed that these same collectors had specialized side collections.

Based on the above I think a modern stamp collection today would consist of BOTH pre-printed and self designed. Pre-printed for the general collection and self made for the specialized.

As far as quality of products I cannot really say since I do not use the products. But, like everything else today, things are not made like they used to be. If not satisfied with the available quality, do your own. Personally, I got fed up with the quality of the quadrille pages in the market place. I found a local printer and had quadrille pages made to my satisfaction.

As I said just my 2 cents worth.

Jerry B

JR1960, I agree with you. I rather regret getting a full colour album, partly because it's harder to tell what is missing at a glance. My coloured pages end at 1989, B/W supplements to 1997. For now I'm just arranging stamps on my own blank pages and pencilling in Scott numbers. It keeps me out of trouble...

I have to admit that my album use is an enormous mixed bag.

Currently, I use Steiner for my used US and my dead countries collections. I'm using Vario pages for my Scouts and Stamps and Haiti collection. And Palo Albums for Israel.

I look from time to time at the various pre-printed albums and think about them for convenience, but I kind of like the flexibility that comes with doing my own thing. But on the other hand, those Palo Albums sure look nice.

Hi,
May I pose some thoughts from a different view..........
I began collecting in the 50s and 60s when I was in my teens and 20s. I used various inexpensive albums at that time, for it was all about money - which I didn't have to spare. So having Scott's and others put out relatively low cost albums made it possible for me to proceed with the hobby. Without them, I would not have gone further.

Flash forward to the present... Two years ago I got back into the hobby, first with USA (ultimately thru 1999). I had no clue as to what was out there, and thru various conversations ended up with the Scotts National Series. For the USA, they definitely meet my needs, and if you buy them "one at a time", very affordable.

The thing is, when I got back into the hobby, I really didn't know if it was an impulse thing or something that would be with me forever. But it didn't take long to realize I got hooked pretty darn good.

Of course my yen for collecting worldwide soon cropped up. I definitely wanted an album(s) for I was still a relative newbie and needed/wanted a guide for the collection. I ended up with the Scotts "big blues" - Parts 1, 2, 3, and 4 - taking me thru 1959. Now in the process of getting my keeper albums, I bought/sold almost 30 albums/collections of different types. While I can criticize Scotts albums as much as anybody, I've not been convinced to go elsewhere.

Ha, I confess that when you have loaded about 20 thousand stamps into albums, its just not an easy decision to alter the course.

Anyway, there needs to be a variety of albums/pages out there to fit the newbie, the casual collector, the folks like me, and the true purists. One size does not fit all - never has, never will.