Help Selecting A Finland Stamp Album

Always enjoy a good album discussion. In my own experience, it's good to keep in mind how easily expandable an album system is if you choose to go with a brand and not create your own.

As my own interest in classic Canada has increased, I've added to the standard Lighthouse pages I purchased originally by adding in their LB pages in various configurations - to the point that often 1 standard album page is now followed by 2-3 more with pairs, varieties, shades, blocks, etc. It's been a good solution and easily expandable, although not cheap. But I now only collect Canada (and a couple other smaller countries) so sustainable.

When I was collecting classic worldwide, I used Scott, Palo, Vario stock pages, Steiner and also Clive's excellent AlbumEasy program to create my own. All have pros and cons. If I was doing it again, I'd probably stick with Vario & my creating custom pages, as they give the most flexibility for your collection as your interests change.

I see a lot of people posting collections mounted to Steiner pages. I think I need to take a much deeper look into what's offered via that route.

You won't have to go very deep, fortunately. IIRC, his (Bill Steiner's) pages are based on Scott, formatted for 3-hole punched 8/5"x11" or A4 paper. Amazingly comprehensive, you get pretty much the whole world, classic and modern, for $50/year. Steiner pages offer an easy way to collect a country, so long as you're OK with your own limitations re printing, mounting, etc. Downloadable as pdf's, they can be modified by the user (though I'm not clear if that's "officially" allowed) based on your level of computing expertise. Palo uses the pages under license to create their hingeless albums.

Lots of posts on the forum about people leaving Scott/Minkus/White Ace/home-grown for Steiner, and vice-versa. Don't recall seeing anyone go from Lighthouse and the ilk to Steiner, but I suppose it's possible (the reverse seems more likely). A search will give you plenty of results on the subject.

Another BIG advantage with using Steiner pages is page replacement. Sometimes, for whatever reason, a page will get damaged.
With Steiner pages you just print another page. Try getting a single replacement page from a commerical album maker... good luck in that adventure.

More examples: You have two sets of stamps from the same issue; one on standard paper and one on phosphorescent paper.
Your album has spaces for only one set; you simply print another page.

A set of stamps comes in several different perforation but your album has only one type of perforation; you simply print another page.

As you can see, there are a lot of quality albums to choose from but I use Steiner pages.
Why? I've always felt that using commercial albums encourages me to collect TO the album unless I want stamps hanging on the borders like barnacles or adding blank pages. Steiner pages allow me to tailor the pages to how "I" collect. Steiner pages are easy to modify using free programs like LibreOffice. Some people don't like the 8 1/2 X 11 format or the three ring binders. A quick search here will show you some workarounds if that is an issue.
It is really a matter of personal choice. The point is to enjoy collecting.

Dan

This is a great discussion.

For me, the perfect solution would be Steiner coverage in AlbumEasy format.

Easily editable without much effort. Add what you want or subtract what you don't need or want. Any size page (well, within reason). Share with others. Completely free.

A couple of hours learning how to use AlbumEasy is time well spent!

The devil is in the dimensions. You need the stamp dimensions (or an approximation) to do nice pages using AlbumEasy.

John

Thank you Classic, Timm, and Dan for chiming in. Your comments were exactly the type of feedback I was looking for. As I am also looking for a US album it sounds like Steiner is the way to go to get the most bang for my buck, and I don't necessarily need to print 2 full countries worth of pages all at once.

John, as much as I would love to design and lay out my own pages, I know myself well enough that I would fiddle with the details for far too long. Labor of love, sure, but the laws of diminishing returns would apply to me in this case. A couple quick edits to an existing page is a lot more realistic to me.

Bear in mind that you'll have paper and printing costs, and that you'll end up with narrow pages that are drably designed. Steiner pages are functional, but they're never going to be attractive, and, if you have good stamps, their effect will be diminished. You can get 500 blank album leaves here for around £70 - doubtless cheaper in the US. You can then get the layout you want, with the aid of a pen and a ruler.

johnsim03 wrote:
I couldn't agree more, an excellent idea! but then again I am biased :)


Going Postal wrote:
Actually, if your needs are for only the US Classic period then you will find Bill Weston's excellent US Classic and US Classic BOB albums as free downloads here:
https://www.thestampweb.com/albums/free-downloads
You can download as ready to print PDF files or AlbumEasy files for easy customisation.


GeoffHa wrote:
Some good advice here, but in this day and age I think that this can be accomplished far faster using a computer, in place of a pen and ruler - especially if your writing is anything like mine.

I don't create my own pages to save money, but rather because I want pages that serve my needs, I collect both mint and used, so rather than being forced into someone else's mould, I can create pages that look exactly how I want them to look.

For example, using a fairly cheap ($60 used) large format Epson inkjet printer, to print on not so cheap Stanly Gibbons blank album pages in a Stanly Gibbons binder:



Clive

Clive - thank you. Yes, automated is faster than manual, as a Big Mac is faster than dinner at Rule's. . I think people needlessly deprecate their handwriting. It's a learned skill, and a lot easier than plastering or cabinet-making. As grubby eleven-year-olds, we were taught Italic writing - it can be done, and the sense of personal connection and involvement is far greater.

From what I see from SG website, SG paper costs $10.75 for 20 140gsm sheets (leaves).

Actually, the SG RBL-140 pages I use is $10.75 for 25 pages which at about 45 cents a page does seem rather expensive, but it really depends on how one collects.

I mostly collect pre-decimal issues from nine different postal entities as a result my albums are only between 20 to 30 pages each - in dollar terms, that is less than $15 per album.
I only print pages when I have most or all the stamps for the page, which effectively spreads the cost out making it even more affordable.

On the other hand, if I collected modern stamps with dozens of stamps issued per year, with albums running into 100's of pages, then I would probably be looking for a cheaper paper alternative.

Clive

It does feel good, to not have to chase down current issues from dozens (or even several) countries.