Binder/Slipcase/Paper Size Recommendation For Potential Homemade Pages > 8.5x11

First post, and proud to say I did search first, but couldn't really find what I was specifically going for. I apologize for the verbosity - I like to give my rationale. In my younger years, I had an old H.E. Harris US album (don't remember the title) and a Traveler, and then moved and grew my US collection to a Liberty, and finally, after getting perhaps a little too involved with Mystic, an American Heirloom set.

Now, since marrying my Romanian wife, we've taken to building a Romanian collection. I was pleased to find Palo and quite happily bought the first set of Romania pages from the mid-1800s to 1945 in the Economy series, with one binder and slipcase. Unfortunately, they are now discontinuing their Economy line and the Romania page sets are no longer available on the website, though they've said they'd be able to provide them. They caution, however that once their current inventory of binders and slipcases are exhausted, they won't be reordering, and so I'm left in a quandary as the pages fit their proprietary economy binder.

I'm a big believer in "sets" in the sense that I won't be buying any Fantastic Beasts movies until they're all made and available in one collection, and I refuse to buy the Hobbit films until the extended editions of all of those AND the LOTR are available in one complete set (that doesn't list at $400).

So, either I bite the bullet and buy a bunch of binders and slipcases, not knowing exactly how many I'll need at the end, and get the pages as best I can, or I can switch platforms. Since I'm only one binder/slipcase/page set in at the time, I figure it's best to make a decision sooner rather than later. Their premium pages ARE nice (I'd get them in black and white), but they're a little pricier than I'd like and the same can be said for their premium binders and slipcases. In addition, one of the things I've been doing as I go along is to research the stamps and subjects thereof and create an info page which I've been attaching to the back of the opposing page, similar to what the American Heirloom album pages had printed. None of the Palo pages (that I'm aware of) have this.

So, I'm thinking that it might be worthwhile for me at this point to consider building my own pages. I'd be looking at getting a decent color printer (maybe laser, but maybe inkjet) of appropriate size such that I could print the "info side" in color, and the "stamp side" in monochrome, on pages that would fit a nice binder and slipcase. I DO like the 5-ring format of the Palo album, but most of the suggestions for binders that I've seen on this forum revolve around 3 or 4-ring binders. I can live with 3 rings if that's the only reasonable game in town, but do like the stability that more rings offer. I do very much like the look of the Lighthouse Vario-F, as I prefer O-rings over D or U, and the price seems not unreasonable.

I'm also curious about page sizes. I know the Vario-F looks to be a fit for 8.5x11 pages, but I always thought larger page sizes allowed a better presentation. If that's really the best option given my other tastes, I think I could live with the page size (cheaper printer, too) and ring count.

On the other hand, if there is a somewhat larger page size that would be well-accommodated by a nice O-ring binder (with more rings) and slipcase set, I'd be happy to know about those.

Lighthouse also does larger ring binders - Grande, Maximum and Folio, in ascending size - which would take bigger pages than the Vario.

Geoff,

Thanks. The current Palo album is a little over 12" by a little under 12". It seems like a good size to me. I had looked at the Grande since that's in the same ballpark, but strongly prefer O-ring over the D-ring if possible. The Maximum (and by extension the Folio) I think are probably larger than would feel practical.

Also, having read plenty about the need for more rings with increasing page size I would be cautious about moving to a 3-ring binder (from the 5 rings in the Palo album), O-ring or otherwise, if that is the case. Unless of course people feel that 3 is enough these days.

I think the Grande is a good contender, if there's nothing really out there with more rings, O-shaped.

GLYPHMON welcome to the chat board , many collectors run into the same problem you are posting about . I can only speak for myself and respect what other collectors are doing .

I prefer cheap printed my own pages and nice three binders from a stationary store

If you buy the Lighthouse binders from Europe - eg Nordfrim - they'll come with four rings. Three -ring binders aren't usually sold here. I prefer quadrille pages in springback binders, but I'm old-fashioned!

Doesn't Palo offer blank pages in its Premium line - could be used as the "info page" you mention, if you switched to the premium B&W pages?

Not a fan of 3-ring binders, they don't look good to me. Maybe I relate them to grade school projects :). 4-ring and up are okay.

Geoff,

I love the artistry of the early Romanian (and most countries, for that matter) stamps. Kind of why I stopped collecting US around the turn of the millennium. I looked at Nordfrim's website. I may go that route, though if I end up going Vario F, I may just stick to 3-ring for simplicity in ordering, since the pages won't be huge.

gmot,

Palo does, I believe offer the blank pages. I've been using a tracing paper so far, first, because I like the look of it, and second, to avoid additional thickness in the binder which is already starting to puff up a bit. Also one of the reasons I'm thinking of going custom pages and printing directly on the reverse sides.

She who must be kept happy initially balked at the thought of transferring the stamps from the current binder into a new one. I'm going to try to come up with a proof for what the pages would look like to maybe try to convince her. She's not as stuck on having things in matching sets as I am, but she loves nice books, especially vintage-looking ones. That's the aesthetic I'll be going for.

Welcome GLYPHMON


Your question is what led me to this group recently. Great research and questions you pose.

I have read some great posts on the topic and encouarge you to seach the varous forums for more.

Here are few related ones:

https://goscf.com/t/64501
https://goscf.com/t/64526
https://goscf.com/t/63202

Members rod222 and Blaamand post some great examples.

I use both Vario Lighthouse "F" and "G" binders and like them both.

Jack Kelley

Turtle2900,

Thanks for the suggestions. At this point, given the price point that laser printers come in at that can print on anything greater than 8.5" in width, I decided to stick with the smaller format. For reasons of economy (I expect lots of pages) we also decided to go with the Vario-G which on Amazon right now is almost the same price as the Vario-F. Ordering from the American seller to get the 3-ring so I don't have to buy a special hole punch as well.

We'll see what comes out when the printer and paper get here.

Thanks all for the input. I'll try to post a picture with the first page or so.

Glyphmon - A good choice and great minds think alike (if I don't say so myself). I use standard Vario pages and purchased from Amazon. I have found the best prices there by buying the 25 pack with per page ranging from .99 to .62 cents
And I am just using cheapo 3 ring binders for now as I organize my collection and maybe get ready for my own custom Steiner type pages or "graduate" to a hingeless, pre-printed Lighthouse for mint.

I look forward to seeing your progress.

I use these Vario G binders with Steiner pages. They have decent capacity.

This is the gist of what I'm going for. I plan to change out the coats of arms as the country progresses and will have a few color photos in the info pages. I'm a bit of a history buff and like to have the story behind the stamps and/or the subject matter. And I already warned people about verbosity.

Done with MS Word 2000, a few hours of raiding internet clipart, and a few more hours of stitching them together with Paint Shop Pro. The text of the info page I had done previously, with a few hours research there as well. I think the biggest challenge I'll have going forward will be finding a resource for the dimensions of the stamps once I get past my extant Palo pages (to 1945). I prefer the framing of a black mount, so I figured having the black boxes would alleviate the nuisance of misaligned mounts against a white page.

Amazing. That's a lot of work! If you use a clear mount on top of your design, it retains the look of a black frame whilst enabling you to see the information beneath.

Beautiful work Sir!
Lovely to Romania treated in this fashion.........

I'm confused. Your Classic Vario G binder has those rectangular rings, but the lighthouse website clearly states that Vario G has D rings. Are there 2 types of Vario G?