Storing Large Used World Wide Collections

Hieronymus

The weight of filled Lighthouse binders is worth bearing in mind. I've invested in Grande binders (a little larger than Vario) recently. They look good on the shelf, and frame the contents much better than other binders, but, when filled with Grande leaves, they're not an easy lift for the skinny (i.e. me). Both Grande and Vario also come in "Gigant" form, which is wider still. Anyone used those?

As always, these binders are, of course, often of better qualityand more expensive than their contents!

Geoff

I have been saving space by using 32, 24 or even 20 lb paper for Steiner pagers after 1960. In addition, I only print out the pages I need so my 11 volume Scott International covering through 1960 takes up more space.

GeoffHa, it may be true given the UK market that the Lighthouse G's are sometimes more expensive than the content but here we have an ebay seller in New Jersey (mit_63; Designer Stamp and Coin) who sells them at 1/2 price, about $29.00 when s/h is figured in (this is for binder and slipcase together). The Grande's would cost more and I haven't priced them. Designer S & C prices make the G's more than comparable to the knock-off Scott International or Scott Speciality slipcased binders available from other suppliers or from Amos Advantage.

I don't think I'd want the Grande's precisely because of the weight issue. For Steiner pages, they actually are too large (too wide)--but I can see why anyone using the wider "album" pages would prefer the Vario Grande to the Vario G's. The Vario G's at $30 a pop are not that much more than the better quality office supply binders and they have dustcovers to boot.

How well they will hold up over time, I don't know. I guess I'll find out or someone who comes after me will.

I mainly focus on Canada, US and Philippines, so I have Lighthouse Albums for the first 2 and a Minkus for the Philippines. I really like the Scott International, so I host my world collection and duplicate or used stamp of Canada, US and Philippines in them. I purchase them new, I don't like the cheap old albums on ebay, before 1993 the page was thinner. I was very tempted to use for 1840-1940 the Brown Pages sell by Subway but they have way, way too much expensive stamps and I hate empty pages.
I plan to get my Scott Int. up to 2000, but in the waiting time ( I'm now up to 1980) I place the 1980+ stamps on printed Steiner pages as I need them.

I have the chance to get the PageMaker version of the Steiner up to 1999 at the time he was offering them, I can open them in Pagemaker6.5, but it run only on XP, so I have it running in VM on my Workstation. I also have PDF2ID, an Adobe InDesign plugin that allow me to open the Steiner PDF in InDesign. Both options give me the choice to remove the expensive stamps I don't expect to purchase or add an image of them.

Sorry for my poor English, I do my best.

I bought Vario G's 5 at a time from the seller previously mentioned, which got the price down to about $26 each with shipping - with slipcase. At that price it was a no-brainer. The office binders I had previously were already starting to get warped after only about a year of use, plus I thought they looked chintzy lined up on the shelf. A shelf full of Vario binders looks fantastic by comparison. The first impression they'd make on a prospective buyer is worth the price and then some. I've only had them 18 months and they've held up well so far. No warping whatsoever, the rings still hold nice and tight, nothing separating, etc. I figure they should last a good couple decades, at least, whereas I'd have been replacing the office binders every few years.

I collect the entire German area fairly seriously and I've since moved most that collection into 9 separate 1" Vario F binders. F binders are less efficient, but I like to have the different German areas such as States, Empire, Third Reich, Danzig, Saar, etc divided up neatly in their own binders. The "O" ring allows for easier page turning than the "D" ring on the G's. I still have DDR in two separate G's and BRD to date in three G's. Germany now occupies 2 rows on my bookshelf rather than one, but it's laid out logically and the binders aren't overstuffed.

The Grande binders are my favorite as well. I briefly looked into their 'MAXIMUM' line, but I think they were too big for normal pages.

Hieronymus et al

The best deal I've found on Grande here (which isn't to say there aren't better offers around) is an offer of three binders with slipcases. Each comes with 50 double-sided Grande leaves of the victim's choice. Price is £125, plus £4.95 for postage.

Grande is unnecessarily big for Steiner-type leaves, but, where I use those, I tend to put them in cheap and cheerful Prinz binders. The Grande binders accommodate postcards - 800 on 50 sheets, and they look good - or slightly-larger-than-A4 sheets for covers.

As Artful says, Lighthouse binders look good on the shelf, although I actually like a more chaotic feel, as in a bookcase! So I have a mix of Lighthouse, Schaubek, Lindner, Davo etc - all bought as part of auction purchases, rather than for the alarming retail price.

Regards.

Geoff

I use Vario G, not Grande, because I use Steiner pages. Slipcased Vario G's can be had 5 for $130 ($115 plus about $15 shipping). Which is $26 per binder as someone pointed out upthread, correcting my error of $29 in an earlier comment.

Thanks all!

I am going to make the transition to the Vario G Binders for my main collection. I am using the Domtar Cougar 65lb cover stock and it is beautiful stuff. I will keep the G&Ks for my supplemental collections and Vario pages.

Regards,
Don

So am I.

I will gradually transition from the Avery Binders to the Vario G's over the next several years. They just look....classier.

Btw Jkjblue, I follow your blog very closely.

As a matter of fact, I admire ALL of you all world collectors. I hope to get my accumulation sorted out over the next few years. Maybe I can officially join your ranks.

Don

Don't look now, but you joined a while ago. Perhaps you are only now realizing it! Welcome to the club, glad to have you aboard.

Agreed! You are already a member of the WW club donhearl.

Ha! I'm glad to be a part of it.

I was going to build my collection in the Vario F binders, but they are too narrow for pages in protectors. The G and Nassau accomodate those well. I still like the look and feel of the F, however. The G&K binders are difficult to remove from the slipcases. This is really my only complaint about them.

Regards,
Don

In my experience, the Vario G binders can be difficult to remove from the slipcases if they are too full, that is, let's say you fill a binder with pages so that the rings are full, not crammed, but full. When you mount stamps on the pages, the pages expand outward, not at the rings (they can't because the rings hold them tight) but at the edge opposite the rings. It's that expansion outward that presses the covers of the binders against the slipcase and makes the binder hard to remove. That plus the raised gold strip down the top cover (not found on the back cover). That raised stripe presses even more. If you know that and can maneuver the binder a bit to get it out past the stripe, it will come out more easily. But most of all don't fill them too full. (You also don't want them too full because of the weight issue. And the weight is not just incovenient for pulling the binder off the shelf but really heavily loaded binders will cause more wear and tear on the seams as you take them in and out and shorten their useful life. One almost inevitably skews the two covers up and down as one handles it, raises it to put it into the slipcase etc. and that skewing puts tension on the seams. No problem unless the binder is overloaded and excessively heavy.

I find binders whose covers remain parallel with the width of the spine relatively easy to remove from the slipcase and also easy to keep from skewing during handling.