If you want a hingeless album, your options will be expensive. Albums can generally be divided into two groups -- affordable and, let's say, much less affordable. In the latter (expensive) group are Lighthouse, Schaubek, etc. Buying a hingeless Poland album from them will run over $1000, probably a good deal more. The more affordable albums include, mainly, Scott and Davo with Scott being less expensive but also not offering hingeless pages.
I like Scott albums a lot. They have a very classic look and they are affordable. Their pages have a nice fancy border and the pages are cream colored. Binders can be either 2-post or 3-ring using the same pages. Pages and binders for an entire country generally won't cost more than a few (?) hundred dollars, perhaps $400, rarely $500 for big stamp-issuing countries, much less for the less profligate. Slipcases are available at extra cost. Pages will not have mounts, but it's not hard to add mounts one by one as you go.
Davo albums are a bit different in page size, layout, and so on. Pages are bright white. Binders are padded while Scott's are not, and they are only available in 2-post format. Dust cases are also available for Davo albums, and in fact they are included in the somewhat higher price compared to Scott. Davo binders come with pages and dustcase as a set (unlike Scott where you can purchase pages without binders).
Davo album (pages, binder, slipcase together) are more expensive than Scott albums. Entire countries will run about twice the price of Scott, typically $500-1000 for the three or four (or five) volumes you'll need, depending on whether you choose the more expensive hingeless pages or not. Davo albums, unlike Scott, can be purchased either with -- or without -- mounts, the latter being less expensive, of course.
You can buy one set of pages (Scott) or one album (Davo) at a time. No need to buy them all at once.
So your choice is to go very expensive and buy Lighthouse, etc. or less expensive. Among the lower-priced albums, either save some money and add mounts one by one to a Scott album, buy the less expensive Davo pages and add mounts to them, or buy the Davo hingeless pages.
Any of these choices will give you a first-rate, attractive album. I have many Scott albums and many Davo albums, as well, and I like them both. I can't afford Lighthouse, Schaubek, etc., and if I could I'd prefer to spend my money on stamps instead. |
Posted 05/05/2016 4:34 pm
