Which Album To Chose? - Would Appreciate Your Help -

hi everyone
im having a hard time choosing which album to put my collection in
scott, davo , linder
the main issue is that I want a real specialized country album ( I collect europein stamps) and i'v heard that Linder is the one for that but the problem with linder is the 18 ring album is not that comfortable and you can put about 100 pages, and then you have scott - 250 pages beutiful albums but not very good for a specilized collectior (correct me if im wrong)

anyway I will much appreciate tips!
thank you
ohad

Hi ohadz. Your problem comes up from time to time and has been covered extensively on this forum. All the pros and cons of the albums you mention have been mentioned so I won't do that again!
However, you said you are a specialized collector. What do you mean exactly by specialized? If you collect all of the varieties of all the stamps of a country for instance, you're not going to find a pre-printed album. The way I house my specialized collection is on pages I make myself. So it all depends on how you define "specialized".

Peter

Only you can answer that question .But you said that you want a highly specialized collection .So you need blank pages or black stock pages where you can insert notes with explanations of what you have .Please make notes and describe the item.

thank you all for your answers,
how can I find posts about this issue in the stampcommunity?

Ohadz, on top of the page you're on is a line with boxes. One of these says "search". Click on it, and search for something appropriate, like album. If you'd like, search for a country's album, like "German album".
We'd love to help more, but an album is such a personal thing!
My own pages are made with help of a free program called "Album Easy". If you Google it, you can download it and make your own changes to it to suit your collection. Of course, there are other programs available!

Peter

thank you so much peter you've been a great help!

A lot of collectors these days use print-your-own pages from stampalbums.com, often referred to as Steiner pages. They are economical and they contain a space for every major number listing as listed in the Scott catalog, plus a few minor varieties as well. However, they're not ideal if you collect by the Michel catalog or some other European catalog, and they don't have spaces for every listed minor variety. They're good if you just want a complete collection of major catalog numbers as listed by the Scott catalog. I use Steiner pages printed on 60-lb paper, housed in Lighthouse binders. They look really nice and the pages have an attractive layout.

If by "specialized" you mean you collect minor varieties, gutter blocks, coil strips, plate flaws, proofs, essays and that sort of thing, you're probably going to be best off either designing your own pages or using stockbooks or stock pages. There's really no comprehensive, pre-printed album that is going to have spaces for an advanced specialized collection containing material like that. Material that doesn't "fit" on a pre-printed album page can always be stored separately on blank pages or on stock pages. Some collectors will do it that way, some prefer stock pages or custom-designed pages for better presentation of those specialty items.

thank you TheArtfulHinger! you have been a great help.
so I guess ill go with scott, their album can house 250 pages and the others are about 100

Hi Ohadz

After my first 2 "kids" albums I have always used quadrille pages exclusively. I only collect 3 countries so it is not a problem.

On one page I have multiple varieties and a cover of a stamp. I was buying the same pre-printed pages for years but, in my opinion, the print quality deteriorated. I then went to a local "mom and pop" shop, not one of the chain printers. With the printer we worked out an agreeable format and I purchased 500 pages for about $60 which included typesetting for the quadrille grid and hole drilling. Also I got a 55 pound off white paper stock. Since the printer saves the typesetting I do not have to pay for that service when I order more pages.

Using Vario pages and/or a stockbook is fine but I prefer the quadrille pages. Especially for a specialized collection.

Jerry B

hi jerry, what are quadrille pages?

Quadrilled pages are blank pages with a faint grid pattern printed on them, similar to graph paper. The gridlines are there to help you line up the stamps when mounting them for a neater overall presentation.

The OP seemed to refer to Lindner binders having capacity of 100 pages- halve that, it is only 50, if that. Binders are over $50. It is a nice system but you will be always buying binders if you use them with a growing collection.

I feel your pain! Recently I have researched US hingeless albums and have found members in this community far more helpful than information on album manufacturer's websites. I think one of the most important points mentioned here is to decide which cataloging system you wish to follow -- Scott is best known here in North America. But in Europe Michal may be most popular choice for stamp identification and pricing. Enjoy!

Actually, most albums don't use catalogue numbers. They broadly follow the chronology of issues. The thing that throws that out is the bizarre separation of surface and air mail by Scott, followed by Steiner, which can leave parts of the same set tens of pages apart. Some European printed albums also now follow this practice, presumably because they want to sell into the US market.

The Scott numbering system actually works fairly well for US issues, but for European stamps it's...how do I say this nicely...less than ideal. The US had no semi-postals at all until 10 or 15 years ago, airmails were infrequently issued and always had different designs than regular stamps, etc. Countries in Europe, on the other hand, will often issue a semipostal and/or airmail in the same set as regular commemoratives, but Scott lists it dozens of pages later. Of course any album that follows Scott does it the same way.