Pushing 330,000 All Different Worldwide Stamps In One Collection .

Thank you floortrader. I just wondered if it made any difference in paper quality to make your own pages. I very much enjoy seeing your album pages and what is possible. Most of your sets are things I have never seen complete, if at all.

Old Dutch2 ---- The paper makes a difference. The first question needs to be address is what are you planning on doing ?

Each collector does it different. Let me explain , some factors come into play here and not all these factors affect each collector . Let me make a list but remember not everybody will agree or think each item is important .

Color of the page , I don't like white pages ,the hi-bright white paper is terrible .

Type of binders ,Some like the large high quanility binders , I like the cheap white three ring binders ,why because I need 400 of them . Every binder gets beat up with use ,especially if we are talking 20,30,or 50 years .

Size of Binders ,Various sizes don't look appealing on a bookcase ,like every binder the same size .

Weight , both albums and the number of bookcases was a factor in my life for 15 years when my stamp collection was on the second floor . So this factored in the amount of paper going into each binder .

Paper thickness , comes into play if your using a lot of plastic mounts on each page ,since I don't use a lot of mounts I can use 20lb. paper ,use a lot of mounts use 24 or higher weight paper ,then we come to covers and large souvenir sheets in mounts , then your almost up to card stock paper like 60 lb paper .

Thank you for the information. I currently use Scott Internationals and will be moving some to Scott Reproduction Albums.

Here is a white page ,this was done years ago ,so I do have albums with white pages ,but prefer the creme color pages .

I agree. The ivory or cream colors look better than the white.

Paper:
* I like the handling of Scott Specialty vs Scott International so I have used 80lb to be more like Specialty.

Paper Size:
* For USA 8.5 x 11" has many benefits and what many printed pages are designed for but I have chosen to use Scott Specialty size. Steiner pages are designed for 8.5x11. Adjusting margins when printing is one approach. I even resized the border for some but that was work (used InDesign and original Page Maker files). Minkus Specialty binders are a good size. I supplemented a childhood Italy album with Steiner pages.

Binders:
* Cost is a factor. New Scott Specialty with slip cases is more than desired but I have found used ones at a low cost and often come along when buying feeder albums. Managing consistency in wear and style is a challenge. The new Lighthouse Grande G with slip case has been of interest and I have fit International size pages. I did a test with a Germany album and card stock.

* Size - I started with Harris Citation and they were too large and heavy. I tried Scott International and size was ok but not enough left margin for 2-postdesign and the binders varied in durability. Minkus Specialty have a nice size but not the greatest eye appeal unless NM dust jackets from Specialty albums.

* Color - I started with white and now use a cream. At first I thought the white provided a good reference background for colors.

* Consistency. & labels - This is a lesson learned. Similar Scott Specialty binders with the label patches looks better on the shelf. I have other shelves with different binders for different types of collections.

* 2-post vs 3-ring - I have used mostly 2-post and like flipping through the pages but when working on pages and adding pages the benefit of ring binders shines. I use Scott Specialty for both.

* Scott Specialty Pages vs Steiner vs DIY/Free on-line pages - I use Steiner and like the headers and mapping to Scott catalog. There is a free to download Germany set of pages with many topical pictures which I have used in the Lighthouse Grande binder (I think I saw them on this site) and explored a Russian set as well with stamp pictures.

* Page density - the Scott Specialty have more stamps per page than Steiner and they have evolved to adding more space between stamps to enable use of mounts.

* Mounts - black vs clear and top loading vs split back. While black is most popular they can look sloppy if not cut and applied well. I have seen some of my pages with too much black border, stamp not well centered, cuts not perfect, etc. Clear is more forgiving and looks closer to pages with hinges (and mixes with hinges well).

White Greece Steiner Pages.


Steiner vs Specialty


Found these on the Album Easy site


First prototype for Romania...low cost, easy to print and handle, but a bit too much like a office binder

Quanah,

The AlbumEasy example you gave is by Alexander Barthel
(a member here) and his freely available albums are simply oustanding...

There are many of Alexander's albums located at the AlbumEasy
web site:

https://www.thestampweb.com/albums/free-downloads

They are ALL highly recommended by me!

John

QUANAH did mention there is a benefit to ring binders, I would like to add something to that statement . I would add those recent selling "D" ring binder really are nice in keeping your pages flat while working on those albums . Look for those 3 ring binders that have the "D" rings ,well worth the extra price .

Thanks for pointing out Alexander Barthel had more pages...I do appreciate them and they look great printed in my Specialty Binders as shown previously

D-ring binders are certainly great to work with.

Some Scott International size Germany printed pages (I think they have been shown on this site) on card stock in a Lighthouse Grande G binder, also in a Scrap Book binder from Hobby Lobby (I found around the house), and 8.5x11 White Ace pages in Lighthouse as reference.



Below are the International Sized card stock pages of Germany in Lighthouse

A couple more pages from the worldwide collection.

Some times I overload a page ,any more additions will mean starting another page . As you can see my collection goes way beyond just filling spaces .

Nice pages from the WW collection. Also, I do the same floortrader with select countries only. otherwise, I don't bother too much with variations. On avg I would rather pay 50 cents for the original than 100 dollar mark up for some variation. inverted Jenny does not apply

Greendragon --- Agree with you ,I do pick up specialized item but I don't actively go out to buy them . My goal has been to see how far down the path I could go on building a Worldwide collection not to see how much money it will sell for .

A lot has changed in the past 20 years . I went from Scott Internationals to Steiner pages ,It is a different world out there , going from buying a $250.00 or $300.00 album/binder to running over to a supply store and buying a three ring binder for $5.00 and paper and ink for $40.00 results in me have a ready to fill stamp album for any country .
Now I am seeing Steiner page albums showing up at stamp auctions ,which making starting a new country that much easier .

One area that I never collected or had a interest to buy was SPECIMEN stamps . But when I purchase various collections sometimes these come as a "ride" with my purchases .

Here is a nice set that I will keep intact and just add it to my album .