Show/Tell Me The Difference Between Album Brands

I've seen threads on specific albums or pages, and I am truly curious for pros/cons and what is the general preference among these albums.

I have a Minkus, an International Scott, and 2 Stanley Gibbons albums.

1. The Minkus - I love that it is concise and is mostly illustrated. As a newbie trying to organize, it helps.

2. The International Scott - The pages are so thin but it is more comprehensive than the Minkus.

3. Stanley Gibbons - I have one that is laid out very nicely and gives plenty of space for the stamps. Then I have another international SG album that has small basic display pages, with only the name of the country on top.

Are you, as a collector, brand loyal? Or do you have multiple album brands and complete them separately?

*** Moved by Staff to a more appropriate forum. ***

What Country or area are you collecting?

Are those worldwide albums, country or region specific?

Dale

I'm still exploring right now. I am definitely spending more time with the U.S. stamps than I am the international. I think the main reason for that is because I'm fairly new and it was easy to quickly identify/date U.S. stamps out of what was essentially a pile of stamps.

I guess the most straight forward answer - my priority is organizing my U.S. stamp collection and once I build up more confidence and knowledge, I'll start testing the international waters...

Dale, I believe they are country specific in the Minkus Album and the smaller stanley gibbons album has regions. I would have to check when I get home, but I am fairly certain.

The SCF search is a wonderful thing, there have been a number of previous threads covering this topic such as
https://goscf.com/t/48252
https://goscf.com/t/17127
https://goscf.com/t/40120
Don

Thank you for the threads, Don. I did search first, but I guess I wasn't using the right terminology. I've learned a lot from the search page :)

Perhaps you could take pictures of the Gibbons albums.

Broadly, I work on the basis that, if I use printed albums, I prefer to use those produced within the country itself. So my British Empire collection to 1936 is in SG albums, French in Yvert albums, French Colonies on MOC pages (French design, now made by Lighthouse). But I'm just as happy - probably happier - with quadrille pages that I can lay out myself.

Here are pictures of the cover pages of my albums.

Minkus Worldwide Album


Minkus U.S. Album


Stanley Gibbons International Album



International Jr Scott Album


Scott U.S. Stamp Album


U.S. Plate Block Album - about 70-80% full


50 Years of U.S. Commemorative (1938-1988) - This one is complete

The Gibbons album is a worldwide album of the type that most of us will have been familiar with from childhood - all the countries included, with spaces for a representative range of stamps, and scope for adding blank leaves when you get too many of a particular country. Fine for a general collection, but won't really allow for any specialisation.

The Minkus New Worldwide was more a beginner/low intermediate collector album. It was a step up from their bound paperback "My First Stamp Album" which housed about 4000 or so stamps.

Weighing in at around 15000 stamps it was more a "sampler" than a representative album like the Scott International. I have a 1965 edition which is sadly not in usable shape, but it claims to have spaces for 17000 stamps with 9000 illustrations.

I have to admit a liking to the Minkus albums, in spite of them being toward the crammed end of the album soectrum. I also have a Minkus Master and would someday like to purchase the reprinted Supreme Global.

Dale

You got a lot of good information here ,you need to decide what your long term goals are .Any album system can work when your starting out .

It is when you cross certain levels of collecting that pages and binders become a bigger factor .

Exactly the information I was looking for. Thank you very much.

I like the Minkus because I find it easy to use with the pictures, but I was wondering why I had more stamps than spots on a page in some areas.

As far as long term goals, once I get my international stamps organized I'll have a better grasp on what I enjoy.

CJ - A decision also needs to be made as to whether or not a "collection" is worthy of an album. There is no easy way to say that the US stamps in the Minkus album that you showed in another thread are very faulty for the most part with even the most common of stamps missing large pieces and otherwise damaged. It does not make much sense to hinge them into an album. The stamps are in worse shape than the majority of old childhood collections. I am not trying to be cruel but that reality needs to be acknowledged. For all I know however, you have a bunch of sound stamps that you intend to form a collection with and that is great. Before you throw good money at albums though perhaps you want to take stock of what you have and what is actually salvageable?

I would be willing, as are others, to help you replace those damaged stamps with sound copies and also fill in some empty spaces.

Not cruel at all, I'm all for improvement and building something great out of what I was given. Any advice truly helps as I'm still learning :) I know the Minkus album is in fairly rough shape. My dad kept it in a box for years and years unfortunately.

That is very kind of you!

Hi CJ - I think you and I are in a similar place and I really appreciate your questions - at times I want to ask, but I get a little shy lol or maybe intimidated. What I have decided to do for NOW - as I am so new and only in the sorting/stock-book phase, was to purchase a Mystic Heirloom 3 volume US album series. I looked into Hingeless and other more expensive options - but I am so not ready for that until I get more of my bearings. To solve for the hinges (I do not want to hinge my stamps - even if they are used) - I got creative (see picture) and bought inexpensive picture corners and am placing the stamps in that manner so I do not have to do the hinges (for all I know it is very stupid idea - but well that is what I am doing for now). I like this starter album as it provides nice history and also gets into more detail on variations (Coil, Rotary, Imperf, etc.) so I can learn.

My other big interest is Mexico - which is where I have a LARGE variety and some older stamps. I will need to research the best option for Mexico - for now, I have housed my stamps in VARIO sheets to keep them safe and out of their aging boxes and envelopes. Hope this helps.