Illustrated Album Stamp Pages For World Collection

I have collected a wide variety of stamps from old to relatively current and from all over the world. I am in the process of identifying them, placing in holders, and sorting into envelopes.

I have searched the web as well as a number of posts on this forum, looking for suggestions for the "perfect" album(s). I know this question has been asked and answered many times, but so far I haven't identified exactly what would satisfy my needs.

Ideally, I would like:
-Illustrated pages (with images of stamps and header info)
-Scott numbers
-Worldwide
-Printable (although I can purchase pre-printed pages)
-Expandable

I don't want to spend an "enormous" amount. Also, I don't care to have 20 volumes, all partially/minimally filled.

Any/all suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks.

Perhaps you could indicate what albums you have looked at thus far and what about each you found wanting.
And because "relatively current" will mean different things to different people, do you have a cut-off year in mind?

I don't recall all of the albums that I have looked at, but thus far, a Harris album is in the top running. However, I'm not sure which Harris would be best and have found it difficult to find sample pages online. I have considered the Steiner pages to print, but they don't have illustrations (nor Scott numbers). I have looked at other printable sites but haven't found one that meets all of my criteria. I purchased a set of DVDs that you can use to print off pages exactly like I would like. However, the quality of the scanned pages is not great and they are a hodge podge of pages with some having scans of someone's actual collection. I know that's not really answering the question fully, but honestly I don't remember what all I looked at. If I didn't like it, I just moved on.


I don't know yet what year all of my stamps are, but I don't care too much about stamps from the last 30 years, so perhaps 1990.

I think I have seen the pages you mentioned being sold on ebay. Without violating Scott copyrights, I do not believe there is a worldwide product available with Scott that meets your requirements. If you want Scott numbers in a worldwide album, you have just Scott. It gets down to a trade-off.

I went with Steiner pages for completeness (more spaces than Scott International based upon collections purchased), able to print what I want, lay flat format, and more affordable (no odd $ize pages, binder$, and $lip ca$es) that makes it easy to make custom pages. (usual speech)/.

You can buy used Scott binders online.

Steiner pages do not have catalog numbers, you can easily add them using Adobe Reader before here. I do.

It would be nice to get just have worldwide catalogues that are more illustrated.

I will note that years ago Bill Steiner and others created what we call Steiner pages without charging a lot for the results. There is nothing preventing someone to do something similar to address all your requirements although you will never get Scott number.

In property-search TV programmes, there's usually an uncomfortable moment when the need to compromise becomes clear to the prospective buyers. You probably reach that quicker with stamp albums. If you want Scott numbers, but don't want (partially) illustrated Scott National/Specialty pages, if you want selected countries and, perhaps, selected periods, why not make your own? I'm happy with blank or quadrille pages and a fountain pen. But, if you like computer-designed pages, you could make your own illustrated versions, as lots of people on here have done.

As others have already pointed out, if you want to print your own pages, given your requirements, there are only really two choices - Steiner or create your own.

Steiner is definitely the quickest and easiest, but they don't contain illustrations or Scott numbers, how important are these to you?

Creating your own pages give you the ultimate in flexibility, but it can also be a lot of work. But some people, including myself, find it an enjoyable part of the hobby.

As an alternative you could look at the albums on my site (link in the footer), many are illustrated but none include Scott numbers. These albums have been produced by multiple different people so there is not much consistency, however they could provide a great starting point if you decide to go the DIY route.

Clive

Lots of great feedback everyone. Thanks!

I suppose due to copyright and due to cost, I'll have to skip the Scott numbers (unless I edit pages and add them myself).

Illustrations still are desired, something that Steiner doesn't offer. If Steiner did, that would be the obvious choice.

clivel, where can I find that link to your site?

Clive is the creator of Album Easy.
See: https://www.thestampweb.com/
The link "albums" will get you to the shared products he mentions.

I've used it to create my own airmail albums and will use it for a topical collection I'm almost done.
Not too much of a learning curve, especially if you build on an album you like the look of.
But to support a world-wide habit, that might be a lot of work for you.

Perhaps some folks here -- assuming there are some users of the Harris albums -- might share sample pages with you to help. You might have to issue a distinct thread to catch their attention.

@Thurston, I've gone through the same process as you - trying out Scott Intl, Scott Specialty, Lighthouse, Palo, and even old Minkus & Harris, and have ended up with using AlbumEasy to create my own.

Can't recommend it highly enough, quick to pick up and gives you ultimate flexibility. I keep the page layouts simple so it is not very labour intensive to create them. Of course, it all depends on scope - if you're collecting worldwide, it's a much bigger job than just selected countries/periods.

gmot

If someone could create a database was tied to Album Easy, it could change the game. This way you could choose page size, border, etc.

Al

One certainly could @agnore. AlbumEasy uses simple txt files, so a program could create them by merging the appropriate stamp determinants from some kind of database file (in my case, typically dimensions, Scott/Yvert #, value, colour and short description) into a "header" AlbumEasy file with the style settings.

As it is now, I get the dimensions from Steiner pages, and the other things from Scott/other catalogues, manually enter them into the Albumeasy files. I copy the style header stuff from file to file. Perhaps a project to take on sometimes - I used to be a software dev and still remember some of it :)

For Scott numbers, the older black Scott International albums are best, but only have room for one stamp and don't always list full sets. For illustrations, worldwide, and expandable, Harris albums are best. The older Harris Statesmens have years on each page, while the newer ones do not.