The Great Manila Stock Page Famine

'
Last week, I bought a small pile of manila stock pages.

Now that I've got mine, I'm ready to chat about The Great Manila Stock Page Famine.

These old standbys of collectors & dealers everywhere are out of stock at:

http://brooklyngallery.com/

http://coinstampsupplies.com/

http://www.ihobb.com/

http://matildascheapsupplies.com/

http://www.subwaystamp.com/

http://www.unitradeassoc.com/

http://www.wizardcoinsupply.com/

It seems that the machine (and, yes, it is The Machine) at the supplier (and, yes, it is The Supplier) has been out of service for some months, and is still waiting for a part.

I bought manila stock pages because I have been experimenting with removing PSA stamps from covers & parcels, and want them to be able to outgas more freely & completely than they might in those lovely stock pages with clear plastic strips.

I bought a small pile so I could corner the market, and put them on ebay for U$D 10 each, postpaid

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

https://www.ebay.com/itm/25-Manila-...AOSwc1Zbs3lT

Don

ikeyPikey -

Thanks for this post. I am a manila user, and I had been noticing that there was not much out on ebay being listed. So I went to my local dealer where he usually has new and used manila in stock, but he was totally out. Not a single manila stock page for sale. I thought that was kind of odd - now I know the reason! I still have plenty in my collection as I am now moving stuff from manila to Varios to free up some, but $10 a page just fits in with the way this stamp hobby is headed. The albums and pages cost way more than the value of the stamps you store in them. And so it goes...

Linus

Sorry, but you won't be "cornering my market." In the past year or so, I've bought what seems like a ton of stock books with manila pages from auctions at the Rocky Mountain Philatelic Library. Also have a supply of separate pages. Wanting to move stamps, mostly duplicates, from envelopes into stock books and manila pages.

@ studebaker ... Don that list of supplies dealers (and any others) would be nice to have on SS if its not already.

For those collectors who may not be aware of the former (and in some cases continuing) popularity of manila stock pages I thought I'd list some pros and cons.

Feel free to add your comments!

PROS:

--Stiffer manila pages hold up better than Vario or Hagner type pages, especially when full of stamps.

--Manila pages provide an all-over writeable surface for penciled notes, catalogues numbers, descriptions etc. (Some heathens use pen and ink, but that's heresy around these parts!) Most notations are easily erased even years later, provided a pencil was originally used!

--Manila pages tend to secure the stamps more snuggly, lessening the chance for stamps to shift, slant, or even fall out. My experience is unwanted stamp movements happen much more often with Vario/Hagner style pages.

CONS:

--Manila pages show only the part of the stamp not inserted into the opaque manila pockets. Half the stamp remains out of view.

--Manila pages are only one-sided. Most Varios and some Hagners are double-sided.

--Albums or binders housing collections mounted on manila pages tend to be thicker compared to other types of stock-page mounted collections.

--A little more care is usually required when inserting stamps into manila pockets, as the perforations can get caught on the edges of the pocket. Although this can happen with other type stock pages, it seems to happen more easily with manila pages.



Any other PROS and CONS I missed? (Prices for manila pages seem to be around the same price as Vario/Hagners last time I checked.)

A disadvantage of using stock sheets, whether manila, Vario, or Hagner is that one has to be aware of what is being stored and the environment of the stock sheets. Storing overlapping mint stamps in tightly packed stock books in an area with temperature and humidity swings will bring unpleasant surprises.

Bookbndrbob brings up good points about storage. Other than traveling, I've lived in two states: first in high humidity Indiana and, for the past 38 years, in low humidity Colorado. Even in a low humidity state, I don't store stamps in the basement; nor in rooms with a southern exposure, except in a closet.

Thanks to Jim Wentzell for his pros and cons of storage examples. I've also gotten a lot of Hagner, and a few Vario, pages from the same bulk auctions at the Rocky Mountain Philatelic Library that I referenced above. I probably lean towards the manila pages due to the stronger likelihood of stamps to shift around in the others.

Excellent list jimwentzell.

I have used manila stock pages for years to store duplicates or to organize stamps before I get around to mounting them in an album. As noted, one does need to be cautious to not damage the perforation when inserting the stamp. Because only part of the stamp is visible they are best suited for temporary or overstock storage IMHO. Also, I don't find them very convenient for large stamps. Sometimes I'll put a large stamp or a plate block into a glassine and insert the glassine in the manila slot.

More recently I've tried Vario pages and they have advantages, including choices for taller row sizes, and the entire stamp is visible …. but … stamps MOVE in the row slot. Also, if I want to include identification or another notation about a stamp I need to insert a slip of paper with the stamp (pencil notations on the manila stock page is quicker and more convenient) and those notes MOVE around, and not necessarily in synchronization with the stamps that are moving around.

I donated 500 to a local stamp club.
I never used them. I use stock books.

I started out with manila pages, many years ago. Then it was Hagner for a few years, but they seem to wear out. So now I buy the Vario sheets, when necessary.

It seems to me that the clear facing on the Vario sheets yellows a bit with age.

Sure, the machine broke down, yeah, that's what happened...............

An alternative is to buy the four-slots-to-a-page manila stock sheets instead of the 10-or-12-slots-to-a-page ...

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

The machine repair is coming along well.

If I had only known. I have been throwing all of mine away as I move the stamps from the manilla pages and sort onto appropriate album pages or into stockbooks. But it looks like the machine repair is going well.

Call now!

Operators are standing by!



"Ed Westcott chronicled the work done at Oak Ridge. Here, in one of his best-known photographs, from 1944, women sat at their stations in the calutron, where uranium isotopes were separated." NYTimes obit

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey