Storing Large Used World Wide Collections

One benefit that Varios offer is that you can easily pop a page out of a binder and drop it on a scanner bed. Black background already in place, no handling required.

Album pages stored in ring binders might pop out as easily, but many of the traditional albums don't offer that kind of convenience.

Absolutely a valid point Cjd.
Which also points to a great disadvantage of my stock books. I have to use a camera and take photos - or remove the stamps from the album for scanning images Which takes lot's of time

I place the pages I print in plastic protectors, I use 2 post binders to hold them. The one I use are Unitrade Universal bindes, they are advertize as 3½ but they really are 4" and they cost only $16, so it's about the same price as a 3 ring binder.

Speaking of Steiner, it's a very good way to do a WW album; what I like to do is open LibreOffice Draw to mod them, I can first re center the pages as it best for my protectors and I can change the layout or redo a new one like I show in my 2 exemples

ok here I show them in a 3 ring because it's my working binder, I wait to have enough to transfert to the 2 posts. You can see on the second pic, the page open in Draw, and the result of the left page of the first pic


note: it take me 10 years to accept to see stamps in plastic protectors, I still prefer see them on Scott, Lighthouse or other traditionals albums,but those protectors give me way more freedom.

Do your three-ring page protectors fit 2-post binders?

Area66 - This is beautiful! Am I right when thinking this is a self-designed page?
Clever idea with the plastic protectors! Will probably require some more shelfes and binders tough

The protectors don't fit in a 2 posts binders, if you are using a Scott, you have to use an adjustable 3 punch to make 2 new holes, it work great I made thousands of them. With the Unitrade , I simply drill new holes in the binders ( it's easy it'S in plastic ) I will take some pics later to show you.

I use those protectors with my adjustable punch as interleave in my Scott International albums, it cost less than a glassine, more resistant and you can add a page inside with the missing stamps the International is famous for.

Here we go, on the first pic we see the interleave in a Scott Int. someone can actually scan the Scott border to make it more beautifull. On the second pic we see the 2 new holes I made for the protector, it's easy as the black angle is plastic, you can also see the mod I made to the page, I add the Coat Arms and a texte. Steiner give us the foundation, it'S very simple to mod them as we need. All true this page is a brand new one, nothing left of the original Steiner. LibreOffice Draw is free.

Area66
This is probably a silly question, but I'm not too much into inches... (being on the metric side of the Atlantic)
Are the pages you've done for Sweden on A4?

shermae thanks for the compliments. Most of the stamps are hinged, I have no problem with hinged stamps before approx 1960, since that was the most common way to mount stamps until the arrival of the first generation of hingeless mounts, such as the now diabolical crystal mounts. And at least for french colonials there isn't a huge premium for Never Hinged over hinged after 1920 (in Maury that is). Maybe 20-30%, but not the insane levels that separate NH and hinged values of stamps from the USA, the Commonwealth or Germany.

As for the vertical stamps peeking over the edge, it doesn't really bother me. I've not noticed any problem with stamps interlocking with stamps on the opposite page. as long as its only 1-2 mm over I dont think it is major problem, especially if you do not cram stamps in huge numbers. I avoid any overlay which may be a help in keeping the stamps in place.

floortrader...if I ever do get that huge a collection built up (I'm 43 so hey anything is possible still) I think it will be fine to keep with the vario system. It just requires planning ahead to set up your pages (and the excel does a great job for me with that). Sure it will take up a good deal of wall space, but hey that is why I have an extra bedroom in my apartment as my stamp room-study-library-guest room. Nothing wrong with a wall of shelving filled with various stamp albums if you have the space to afford such a luxury (which I have ensured I have).

And since I collect mint (though I do have a soft spot for SoNs as my scans show) in terms of cost varios are probably cheaper than buying albums and stamp mounts. Even for hinged stamps I would really prefer not to re-hinge a mint stamp. It has suffered enough, no need for several more decades of being on a hinge. Plus the flexibility a vario system offers beats printed pages hands down. I can have my Senegal album have spaces for the varieties shown in Maury (the 1914-1933 definitive series comes in three printings with most values showing 2 and sometimes all 3 versions) and post-independence I can include things listed in Michel not in Scott etc.

To each his own, but this is how I like to store my collection, and I thoght it would be nice to show an alternative to the printed/custom printed albums most people use.

yes they are letter size, but with LibreOffice Draw, you can adjust them in few click, when you made a change to the page layout it will change all the others pages in the same PDF.

In your case with your special collection, you will be better to just use Draw and make your own pages. Another option will be to use AlbumGen and Ezstamps, AlbumGen is very simple and efficient and come with nices choices of borders. Here and Exemple

Sorry for the title too close to the border, I changed the border to show you and forget to lower the title, you can make the scott # smaller also, the photo come from EzStamps

DJCMHOH


I like it a lot! Would probably used a similar system myself rather than stock books if I was starting over.
But as you say - I'm (43) 40 so hey anything is possible still! Maybe go for the vario's one day

What you say about the french colonial definitives is interesting. I think Scott is dealing quite lightly on those issues, as there obviously are more to it than what Scott is listing. Yet it get's complicated if having too many different catalogues. Would you personally recommend Yvert for a WW collection, or do you think it is getting too much into details?

Here, way better

I collect worldwide, but I wouldn't rely on SG's Stamps of the World, particulalrly for earlier issues. Always worth picking up specialised catalogues cheaply! I have SG's France/Colonies catalogue, but Yvert would be preferable.

For new readers/collectors ,here are what the Steiner pages look like when punched with the three rings for a binder and also punch to fit the International binders .-----so these two pages can be placed in either .The black page just is a 3 ring stockpage .

You also have "PostmasterGS Stamp Album Page Generator for Scribus " It make very nice pages, espcially if you want to add details, like watermark, perforations.... ( I have an error on this page , let see if someone will see it )