Mystic US Hingeless Album

This product has been discussed previously but not recently to my knowledge.

I bought one section of this back about 2012 after it came out and was disappointed. The mounts were apparently attached with a lot of dampness and the pages were wrinkled, markedly so.I returned them and got the same thing back, got a refund. Since then I have just been using the standard albums on the thinner paper but due to that thin paper have to put the pages in protectors. Currently I have 13 volumes and am starting a second shelf. I'd like to give the hingeless another try just to get some compactness.

Has anyone bought any of these albums recently and is the page rippling still an issue?

I suppose moisture could be a factor, but in my experience, thin paper is much more likely to be the cause of wrinkling. It is exactly the reason that most collectors choose a heavier weight of paper.

You say you're using 'thin' paper inside sheet protectors. Do those pages also wrinkle?

The non hingeless Mystic pages are on lightweight paper, people using them will know what I mean. I find it helpful to enclose them in protectors, makes them easier to handle.It does make for a very bulky collection in time. On those pages I have noticed some minor wrinkling on the reverse of the paper but nothing like on the hingeless pages I bought from Mystic a few years ago. I've never seen such rippling on any commercial product. I recall the worst pages were the Washington-Franklin's. Probably because there are more spaces/mounts on those pages. You'd look at the page sideways and it was wavy. Awful.

I suppose I could call Mystic next week, lay out my concern and base a decision on that. Not sure how to ask, I can't very well ask if these pages are still cruddy. I'm sure they will try to make a sale. I posted on here to see if anyone else owning the hingeless pages has noticed any recent issues?

I have seen some thicker paper exhibit the wrinkling so suspect it is not just thickness related. It definitely seems to be the way paper handles moisture since it always seems vertical so maybe related to grain direction.

Someone pointed out on a prior thread that Mystic will sell these albums without the mounts attached. They differ from the regular pages in that they are on card stock and there is not any extra space around the stamp. At that time they were $24.50 per unit. I could go that route and attach mounts myself, using Davo easy mounts or Hawids using a glue stick to avoid any dampness effect. Would prefer to just buy the pages with the mounts installed, however.

I sent an email over the weekend asking among other things about pricing for the pages on card stock but w/o the mounts. Whoever replied thought I was asking about blank pages and quoted. So I called today and spoke with a nice man there who couldn't follow what I wanted. Said he'd get back later today, no such callback. It's like none of them ever heard of such a thing. So will call again tomorrow. Will post what I find on here just for the record.

Update, the premium pages w/o mounts are $48 per section per callback today.This is twice what I was quoted a couple years back. Wonder if they upgraded the paper stock due to the previously mentioned page issues. Anyway I took a chance and ordered hingeless pages for part one. If there's an issue with those can swap them back for a plain set. Pages only with mounts was $74. No brainer..

Pages here today, just fine No issues,no wrinkling from mounts. Will order additional sections.

Post some pics!

Just started placing stamps in it today. Have been laid up with ankle and arm sprains and placing stamps in a hingeless album is a bit more difficult than I thought it would be- with my tender arm muscles. I do six pages or so then have to rest.

One question, not just about this album but other hingeless albums using the open top mounts. Upon inserting the stamp into the mount, many of the mounts stick out on top from the page. Looks sort of unattractive and I'd think not as safe for protection from falling out. I am finding it works better if I do not push the stamp down to the seam at the bottom of the mount. Once I have, I can't seem to get it to lie flt again. I have the pages I have worked on so far sitting under some weight for awhile to see if the mounts flatten out.

I have noticed that Showgard mounts lay flat better than Scott/Prinz especially with self-adhesives on same size mounts.

Update, I put a volume of the Minkus Supreme Global album over the pages overnight. That thing is a behemoth, this morning most of the problem mounts were flat or at least flatter.

Will try to post some pics one I get this project finished.

Here is a message I just sent to Mystic:

'I have an issue with the hingeless US pages I purchased recently. The mounts do not seem to be long enough for the stamps to fit into them without the front of the mount sticking away from the page. This does not happen on all spaces but it is on many= especially on 'regular' stamps. I have tried applying pressure overnight on the pages, that flattens some of them but not all. I could place the pages in sheet protectors but would prefer not to. The spaces on the stamps involved are 30 mm high. That does not seem to take into account the space need to allow for the weld at the bottom of the mount. I may need to purchase the pages with no mounts and apply slightly taller ones myself to address this issue. What would be the cost to purchase heavy pages with no mounts for parts 2-5?'

This is driving me nuts. I have used Lighthouse albums for years and never have had this problem. The front of the mounts stands out from the page, looks ugly. They are allowing 30 mm height on the album spaces. That's ok when sizing a mount, it ought to be 5mm higher to center the stamp properly. It looks like they do not allow for the weld at the bottom. Coil singles fit perfectly into the precut mounts on these pages.

Am I their only customer who's had this issue? It makes me question my sanity or maybe my mounting skills. I there some trick to use when using hngeless albums to insert stamps without the top slanting out?

I've had a set for the past 18 months or so and haven't had these issues on a consistent basis. The few that did stick out flattened out pretty quickly after the album was closed.

Thanks, RK. It may take awhile. I just started this project and am in no hurry so can see if this straightens out in time. Will complete this volume then store them under weight for a couple of days.

If not, for the balance of the album I can buy the heavyweight pages without mounts and attach my own, slightly larger, ones. I can also use lightweight protectors on the problem pages. Just don't want to have to use them on more pages than I have to. I did a comparison using some unused mounts I have. Hawid sells a size 26 mm for US singles. The mounts in the album measure 25 mm. Mystery solved. Unsure why they decided to go with the shorter mount.

Stamps,

I thought your plan was to buy unmounted Mystic hingeless pages and Hawid mounts.

Jack Kelley

Yeah that was the original plan but I succumbed to temptation and decided to see if the hingeless pages had improved from my last encounter with them. They have greatly, but then this issue cropped up. Their pricing on the hingeless cannot be beat, compared to other publishers. I think I will keep the hingeless pages, using protectors on some problem pages then resign myself to sticking on mounts all Winter.

The problem I describe might not bother a lot of other folks. It bothers me, but that's not to say someone else wouldn't be happy with the factory instilled mounts in these albums.I plan to order several sections of this album as plain pages once I her back from them on pricing.