Harris Statesman 2 Vol. Stamp Album

what is the general opinion of this album. I'm a US guy for 60 years but have a lot of foreign stamps. I spent 30 or so minutes on the net and now I'm more confused than ever. What should I do????

I wouldn't use Statesman. The old single volume Statesman was my first album in the 1970s. Even then it was annoying there were limited spaces for many of the stamp sets that should have been adequately covered in that period. I imagine now that Volume 2 is focused on more modern stamps and wonder about the coverage in earlier years.

I would look at Steiner pages, which you would have to print yourself, Scott/Minkus options which others will have to comment on, stock books, or limiting your collection by time period or country/continent.

Bottom line though, you should fully explore options before considering Harris as you are likely to be disappointed in my opinion.

An earlier view.

https://goscf.com/t/25993&SearchTer...,stamp,album

A "lot" meaning what exactly? A shoebox full of glassines with or without duplicates? A closetful of shoeboxes?

And what is the general time period of most of the group?

Do you expect to keep up with newest issues meaning will you be wanting supplements?

Do you just want to plug stamps in spaces or do you you have enough of value (like complete sets) to merit a better display?

I agree with HungaryForStamps and add that the way the Statesman is made nowadays, any addition of blank pages makes it easy for page holes to wear out. Reinforcements works but will be a constant thing. It has 2-sided pages also, so that any quantity of stamps on facing pages requires glassine separators; you end up quickly expanding to another volume.

Steiner pages are an excellent choice where you can print them as you progress. Otherwise, blank quadrille pages are very flexible and provide a wider choice of page sizes but require a little bit of skill and some time to arrange stamps.

If you are limiting it to the "classic era"...that being open to debate....why not read the many threads on Big Blue, versus Big Brown, versus Minkus Global, and pick one of those that best suits you for coverage.

My thoughts are similar to above. For my worldwide collection (got real serious last year), I sort all the stamps by country on Vario pages first in a binder. I then sort by design to make identification later easier (like by monarch). I will identify them and add a small paper tag with the Scott number.

Eventually, I will print out appropriate country Steiner pages and mount them on pages usually in the same binder. The album with both Steiner and Varios is always a work in process as I fold them in. I put spares on another vario sheet and end up in another binder.

I have 1000 of these packets; all from different countries with price ranges from $.50 to $4.00. They are usually from the 60's and are mint stamps.

I also have bags of stamps totaling 10 lbs.

An older man who I volunteered with at a thrift store gave it to me but kept his album, thus the question of what to do. Hopefully this helps a little more.

I recently made the decision to return to the hobby after many years spent focusing too much on my career. I chose to go with the new two volume Statesman Deluxe and to 'collect to the album.' This will be a challenge that I believe is realistic for me at this point in my life/stage in my collecting.

Will there be stamps in my collection with no space in the album? Yes, but this would also be the case with most other album choices. For me, I will happily place all of those stamps into stockbooks until/if I decide to go in a different direction.

I could go with the Steiner pages, but at this point in my life I am not interested in spending that much time at the printer. My work life provides more than enough of that.

In the end, what do you want to do with your collection? We can give advice and opinion until we're all blue in the face, but it is you who must ultimately decide where you want the crazy ride of worldwide collecting to take you.

Have fun and do what makes you happy.

Welcome to the forum!!! Thanks for the marvelous advice.

Bravo for you.

Considering the 600,000+ stamps issued WW, "collecting to the album" turns a storm churning ride on the ocean, with the likelihood of drowning, to a pleasant sail on a blue lake.

Have fun!

Thanks for the information. Will give this some more thought. The stamps won't go anywhere.

I agree with StatesmanStamper, I also collect to the album. I bought a 1962 copyright version of the Statesman in excellent condition. I purchased a new binder for it and I use clear interleaves to protect the stamps on double-sided pages. I have a great deal of fun in collecting to this album. I make sure to find stamps that exactly match the illustration and I do not enter stamps that were issued after 1962 in the blank spaces. The album has space for 25,000. I am now close to 20,000. The album is about to burst. Nevertheless, this is a great way to collect and the Statesman album is perfect for it.
D. Buss

My last stamp album was from the 1970s, so I enjoy the new Statesman with illustrations over the last 40 years. Keep in mind that no stamp album can hold a large collection. I buy the larger 9-1/2" x 12" blank pages from a stamp company like Kenmore when I have more stamps than the pages can hold. Also buy yourself some empty binders for the extra pages and expansion!

good advice