Subway Nassau Binders Discontinued

Just a heads up to anyone else using these popular, attractive binder/slipcase sets as sold by Subway under the G and K brand, They are being discontinued. I had been noticing fewer color options for ordering, and today saw they only offer them in red. A call there revealed that once the reds are gone there will be no more. They cannot get them made for them any longer due to issues with the manufacturer.

I found a standard 3 ring binder at $15 (slipcase sold separately) at Palo and ordered some f those. I already have some of their pages in the premium size and these will match. Also I can order customized labels.

I am invested in the Nassau binders to the extent I have five of them already. Assume I should be able to sell them on ebay if the Palos work out.

Just felt obliged to pass this on.

I have a few of these binders, and I found that they were not up to my quality expectations. The lining always started to crack at the inside of the hinge after it had flexed relatively few times. On a quality binder like those from Lighthouse, I've never had this problem. I think Subway's manufacturer might not have made a very high quality binder, although they did look good and the price was low. I'll keep the ones I have and use them anyway for stock pages, and so on. I'm not sure they'll be missed much -- at least not by me.

Why is making a really good and very attractive ring binder so difficult? Even Scott has had problems with their album binders, finally going to metal hinges to solve their hinge wear problems. Do the European binder manufacturers have these same problems?

Drew, after reading your post I checked the new Nassau binders I had purchased and sure enough those look like they may be starting to develop the same problems. I have some older ones I purchased some years ago and those don't. I suspect as years passed, Subway's supplier for these was taking some shortcuts on quality.

I am expecting the Palo binders today, per the tracking. I will post a review of them on here over the weekend.

I got the Palo binders yesterday. My first reaction upon taking them out of the shipping box was that they do not have the capacity of the Nassau binders. But they do. The ring mechanism is installed flat against the binder and I think that enables more capacity. I ordered some labels to place on them and they look great. They are smaller of course than the regular Palo binders but they match my Premium binders and blend in well on my bookcase shelves. For $15 they are unbeatable.

Have pics of the Palo albums?

Link to pics on their site:

https://paloalbums.com/collections/...eluxe-binder

Those binder labels look like they would work for Lighthouse Vario G & Vario F binders as well?

At $15 a binder, that's pretty decent, and they look good, too. I like that the ring mechanism is on the inside of the cover as in my experience that seems to hold the pages better, or maybe it's just that they look better that way. Slipcases which I'd want, also cost $15 so it's $30 for the set. Still not too bad especially compared to something like the Scott 3-ring binder and slipcase which runs around twice that much, though that binder is a larger size for Scott's larger sized pages, of course.

The only other 3-ring binder I've seen for 8.5 x 11" pages that I really like is the Lighthouse F binder which comes standard with a slipcase. It has a very attractive padded cover, and it sells for "around" $30 (I think that's right) for the set -- a price equivalent to this Palo binder and slipcase. It's rings are mounted to the inner spine, though, not the inner back cover. It's also available in three or four colors, depending on your taste -- maybe different countries in different colored binders? If I were using 3-ring binder albums for this size page (using Steiner pages, for example), this LH binder is the one I'd probably use. If you don't know it, it's commonly available from various sellers on ebay and Amazon.

Both of these binders, the Palo and the Lighthouse F (with or without slipcases) are far better looking than office supply store binders that some collectors use. I'd also imagine those cheaper binders may end up not lasting very long and have to be replaced. Might as well buy a good binder with a slipcase to begin with, one that will last for decades and not just years.

DrewM wrote: ".....,.even Scott has had problems with their album binders, finally going to metal hinges to solve their hinge wear problems......." Interesting, although I'm not clicking on what is meant by "hinges." I bought a number of Scott Big Blue International binders in the mid-1980s; both jumbo and regular in size; and they're still in good shape 30 years later.

I have taken good care of them. I might go a different route if I was starting out today as the old-style rod through holes in binder "poles" is a bit tedious at times. But, as I noted, I have been careful with them.

Late reply to Climber Steve's question: By the "hinge" of the binder I mean the place where the cover meets the spine, the fabric taht bends back and forth as you open and close the album.

This hinge is usually covered with the material used to cover the binder (cloth, vinyl, or even paper). It flexes back and forth hundreds of times and can rip or crack. This is especially noticeable on vinyl-covered binders on cheaper albums (Scott's American, for example). After opening many times, and after hard use like being dropped, the vinyl cracks and the cover begins to separate from the album. Even on Scott albums, repeated use makes a hinge weaker until the fabric (or whatever it is) starts to separate from the cover/spine or rip. It takes heavy use -- or dropping the album --to do this.

Scott albums were covered with a decently sturdy green (Specialty albums) or dark blue (International albums) vinyl-like wrapping of some kind. It does hold up. My 1968 vintage Scott National album looks almost as good as new. But I'm absolutely meticulous with my albums (Well, not quite -- I don't put on white gloves like 'coin collectors' sometimes do! Sheesh!). But try dropping an enormous Scott International album sometime. The hinge is likely to take a beating. It might even rip.

Over time, the hinge rips or the covering material starts separating because the glue along the spine dries out, or if the album is dropped the metal spine often gets badly bent. Look at used albums and you'll see damaged album hinges and failing glue along the spines from age and bad use -- and that's what Scott was trying to address with their new piano hinges.

The new Scott piano-hinge is metal, a great idea as it toughens up one of the weak spots. I imagine if you dropped one repeatedly, it would even hold up under that test. I don't think I'll try that, though.