Advice Needed About Album With Buckled/Warped Stamps And Mounts

All,

I hope you are well, I return to the forum to ask for your advice since I am not sure how to proceed. I am working on a Germany collection and acquired a Lindner album that has some serious warping/buckling on the first few pages.

The rest of the album looks like the weight of the pages themselves kept the mounts/stamps relatively flat, but these first pages are a mess. Would I be correct to assume that this is the work of moisture in the mount adhesive and/or moisture on the paper? I've not done anything to the album yet, I opened up the box to see the warped pages and some stamps partially falling out of the mounts.

I planned on removing the stamps regardless, but I was wondering if there is a preferred method for (a) removal of the buckled/warped stamps from these mounts (for the ones that I can't just slide out already) and (b) if there is a preferred way on how to flatten them. There is a photo below- it's not the best but it should get the point across.

Apologies if this is a topic that has been discussed before, but my forum searches yielded no results other than people saying that some mounts can warp from the adhesive.

Thank you!

Why can't you slide all of the stamps out of the mounts? Are the mounts actually pockets that are sealed on four sides? I am not understanding the question.

Once removed you should be able to flatten the stamps out by placing them in a drying book or similar and applying some pressure for a short while. You can place a book on top of whatever you place the wavy/distorted stamps in. I am assuming that there is no gum involved and that they are all used?

Some plastics shrink over time.

There exists some mounts that show buckling, even prior to use.
Unsure what brand.
You have to bin them.

Yours look unusual, like little pockets. ?

It is I believe the early type of Lindner falzlos album.

they are pockets and are absolute stamp killers when you put stamps in or take them out.

I would invest in an album which is easier to use.

Tip if you come to a point that you want to take out the stamps, it might be un avoidable to rip open the pocket. It makes it easier to take the stamp out in one piece.

Lindner made an easier type later on, I have a few pages shown on SCF from Danzig, I would like to provide a link, but I am rubbish at links.

Agree with Johan. Lindner T-bar pages are good. This earlier design was horrible. The rippling of pages is, in my experience, characteristic, and it is easy to damage stamps when removing them from the mounts, which are inset between two sheets of paper - do it slowly, with tweezers!

A Lindner-type page (Lindner T system) Johan Buvelot and GeoffHa mention:
The text is printed on a sheet of paper you can slide between the album page and pockets. They, also, have pre-printed pages.

Thank you everyone for your help and replies.

Rogdcam,

When I bought it they said it was a mix of mint and used, I've not had enough time to look through the entire thing to see if that's the case, but I would assume some are mint and have gum. Whether that is affecting/contributing to the warping I have no idea.

Johan,

Thank you for the reply, it appears you are absolutely correct- the album does say "Falz Los Album", there's no "T" in the logo like the one that NSK sent a picture of (thank you NSK for sharing that image). I should have mentioned it said Falzlos before I sent my original question.

GeoffHa, I think I've got a lot of work on my hands trying to safely get them out. Since I don't plan on keeping them, would cutting the plastic down the middle risk damaging the stamps even further? Or should I just try to slowly push/pull the stamp out?

I looked at them again, and because the paper/mount/stamp itself is terribly warped, it's going to be tricky to get it to slide out cleanly. The top and bottom of the mount is open but I think the warped paper makes the plastic terribly taut and there's no give/slack whatsoever.

I may give Johan's idea a try and try to remove them from the back of the paper but that will also be a little messy- they do look encapsulated in the paper as GeoffHa said. I've attached a photo of the back of the page I sent yesterday, as you can tell there's serious warping.

Once I get some of them out and into my desert magic book for flattening I will update and let you all know how it worked out.

Thanks again everybody.

If anyone wonders: 'falzlos' means hingeless, as a 'Falz' is a hinge, literally a 'fold.'

The best way to get stamps out of a Falz Los page is with an Xacto or scalpel and a lot of patience, cutting carefully around the edges of each stamp so as not to damage the stamps.

An exacto near a stamp album seems fraught with risk to me. One slip and your done. I agree cutting the mounts is probably necessary but unless very skilled with the knife, I think scissors might be safer. Obviously, great care is needed with either method.

I've used scissors in the past. From memory, the clear material is quite thin, so cuts/tears easily.

I have stripped out a number of these with the intent of dumping the pages. I use the edge of my stamp tongs, with the tongs as close as possible to parallel with the page and slide them along severing the plastic mount. You should only need to break one side to relieve all of the pressure and extract the stamp.

Try what seems best yourself and see which works for you. I'd take advice from people who've done what they suggest, not from people who think their suggestion "might" work. If the advice you try is bad, you'll find out quickly enough.

Are these mounts black-backed? I've never seen a Linder album, or any other manufactured stamp album, with black-backed mounts. Album mounts in manufactured albums are clear mounts. I've never seen any that aren't. So I don't think these are Lindner mounts. That means someone added these mounts. If so they may be inferior in some way which would explain their buckling -- which good mounts should not do.

I'd just remove the stamps and flatten them out. I put them between two sheets of cardboard and pile a lot of books on top, and it works fine. Problem solved.

How to remove the stamps then? Removing the stamps will require a sharp pen knife which is what I use for old mounts like Crystal Mounts which are hard to get stamps out of. I use my very small Swiss army knife, but an Exacto-like blade will work fine, too. I've done this for years without a single problem and with no stamp ever damaged. I would not start cutting through the pages from the back -- nor would I ever cut a mount down the middle. You can do some real damage that way.

Just find the opening in the mount, insert the blade you'e using, and pull outward along the inside edge of the mount. The mount will slice open easily. I've even managed to do this with the edge of my stamp tongs. I've never damaged a stamp by doing this.

To deal with curling, put the stamps between pieces of cardboard and pile weight (like heavy books) on top for a day or so. A stamp dryng book is fine, but there's nothing magic about it. It's just cardboard. I even dry my soaked stamps between plain sheets of cardboard to flatten them. Been doing it for years.

See what works for you and have fun. Good luck!

Thanks for the advice. Not sure I have the stomach for trying the xacto right away- I may attempt the scissors method or like rogdcam said- tongs on one side. I will attempt one or both methods and share results in the coming days.

DrewM,

I had hit reply before I saw your comment pop up- thank you for the advice! I will give it a try and see what happens and I'll comment again with results.