New Scott International Stamp Album

So.... I recently purchased the new Scott International Stamp - Part 1a-1, 1a-2 and Part 1b-1, and 1b-2 from Amos. (I have not received it as of yet)

But.... my question is should I use mounts or hinges when setting up the album.

I do favor clear bottom weld hinges for my albums. So I was thinking of using these for the new set.

I have only ever owned older international albums, and they all have hinges to hold the stamps in place which I am not a fan of. so this will be my first set of new international albums.

Wanted to see what everyone else is using. Thanks

I have a very large set (40 volumes) of the Scott International. They're mounted in Subway Stamp Shop binders which are no longer sold. These look identical to the Scott binders but are narrower -- 2 inches to Scott's 3+ inches. I suppose in "real" Scott binders, they'd add up to more like "only" 30 volumes. At one time Scott sold 2 inch International album binders just like these, but no more, so Subway was just copying this smaller size binder. Subway also once sold a larger-size International binder just like Scott still sells, but this has also been discontinued by Subway.

For what it's worth, the narrower 2-inch binder makes a huge difference to me. Being less thick and not nearly as heavy, they are much easier to pick up and work with. An album in the current standard size 3 inch plus binder allows for more pages, it 's true, but those pages will bulge or curve a great deal more than pages in the smaller album. That makes mounting stamps on the curved pages more of a challenge. Of course, you can simply add fewer pages to each volume to help solve the weight and page-bulging problem.You will need more binders, of course.

I think Scott also sells an even thicker binder wider than 4 inches, but it's absolutely mammoth. An ordinary person will have trouble picking it up without using two hands. And for goodness' sake, do not drop that huge thing or you will badly damage it -- or yourself. And the pages curve or bulge even more, so it's even harder to deal with. I don't understand why anyone buys that binder. Also, why Scott/Amos does not still produce the nicer, smaller 2-inch binder, I have no idea. Their approach is often not my approach.

As for mounts vs. hinges, I use mounts in all my other albums, but not at all in my International. Early on, I looked at a lot of other people's International albums. I also bought a few used ones with stamps mounted in them. Those who used stamp mounts in them ended up with bulging albums that often seemed about to break the binder's hinges. It's not a good look. Some collectors spread the pages out among a larger number of binders to keep the thickness issue under control. Older-style albums like the International with its two-sided pages were not designed for mounts. They were designed for hinges.

That doesn't mean you can't use mounts, if you want to, but you'll need to put fewer pages in each binder -- and buy more binders to do that. I never use mounts in my International albums for the reasons I've given. If I did use mounts, I'd probably end up wit at least 50 volumes! I don't have enough room for that -- and there's just so much I can ask my wife to put up with about this strange collecting habit.

Also, all the pages in my International albums are now alphabetical. That took quite a while to arrange. I couldn't stand the inconvenience of each country having pages in so many separate volumes. It would drive me nuts to keep looking for whichever pages I needed to mounts stamps on in all the different volumes. So I spend more than a few days reorganizing all the pages from A-Z, and I'm glad I did that.

You're also going to probably need to insert protective interleaving between each facing set of pages. Otherwise, facing stamps will catch on each other. The interleaving sold today is glassine which is not my favorite, but I was able to find clear acetate interleaves for the International album from Subway Stamp Shop a few years ago which I'm now using. I think these also may no longer be sold, so you'll have to use glassine which will work fine.

Whatever you do, good luck -- and have fun.

My preference is for top loading clear HAWID mounts. I attach mounts with a glue stick so if I need to remove later it will not damage the page. I apply the glue stick to the page not the mount.

It will be interesting to know how long it takes to get the albums since Scott seems to rarely have much in stock.

In what year did Scott abandon butting stamps together on album pages?

HELLO 123 ---Purchased the same set in 2011 ,I think it is the best set of albums to have .

My own preference would be hinges. Using clear mounts for unmounted mint or more valuable stamps means that the contrast with hinged stamps is less obvious.

I use clear Hawid bottom weld mounts in my Scott Big Blue because I think they look better, plus I have taken too many hinges off stamps to impose that hell on future collecors. I use a long strip for multiple stamps in a row. I have a mix of glassine and acetate interleaving pages because the acetate is too hard to find. I am at about 10,000 stamps in 2 volumes, about to need to expand to 3 binders. I would think that 4 volumes would last you quite a long time before needing to add another binder.

I highly recommend the Limaye spreadsheet, even if you don't use it for inventory, just to help with the Scott #'s of the stamps.

Hi Hello!
All comments here have made sense thus far and here's my take:

I'm over 93% full on my '47 BB right now, and without using mounts, I'm already at 4 volumes, with mixed acetate and glassine page dividers. I only use mounts for stamps that are MNH, and still need 4 volumes.

It might not be an issue using the newer pages, because IIRC, aren't they one-sided? That will alleviate the need for page dividers. So, you may be OK with the 4 binders. If they are 2-sided pages, you're going to need more than 4 binders if you use mounts with any higher level of completion.

So, bottom line, fill those holes any way you want to, and ENJOY!!
Ray

Thank you all, very excited to receive the books, hopefully they arrive soon. I also did not know about the Subway stamp shop (thank you for pointing out)

30 plus scott internationals as well. Subway series to 1940 - This assures me that I have spaces for all the scarce to rare stamps that big blue leaves out. Then big blue pages from 1940 to about 1990. All separated by region with grouped countries. Hinge for cheap stamps and clear mounts for expensive stamps.

Stamp Dragon congratulations on building a 30+ International Big Blue set .

There are two rules ,to get there .

Play for the long game ,years committed

Enjoy what your doing .

I am surprised no one mentioned price regarding the mount vs hinge question. Let's say the OP is planning on placing 30,000 stamps into his albums. Hinges cost about .3 cents per hinge, while mounts might be 5c (or even higher) per stamp. The price to hinge 30,000 stamps would be less than $100 while the mounts $1500. Everyone has their own budget but some collectors would rather hinge the stamps (at least the used or already hinged) and spend the difference on more stamps (or maybe a Caribbean cruise).

GIBBY ---I have been selling hinges for 3 cents not .3 {three tenth of a cent } that is 10X what you have so hinging would be $900.00 .

If you fill those four volumes completely we are looking at $33,000 to 36,000 if it went up for auction , so using better hinges will help support that price . Since no completed pre-1940 Internationals have gone up for sale the price may surprise me and go even higher .

I don't know anybody who would use any thing but the best hinge if your going to spend that kind of money to complete those albums .

Thanks, floortrader. All used and in great shape for being used. All thin pages replaced with All like new thick pages as I consolidate albums.

DrewM is right about the bulky binders. Over time I will be replacing monstrous big binders with smaller big blue binders.

One thing I have been trying out that I saw a collector do was --- ready for this, hinge a mount onto the album. Thus, the album does not get destroyed and you can reuse the mount if you want to. And I am using clear to blur the lines between hinged and mounted.

The last time I checked mounts cost a little over 3 cents for a 25mm mount when cut from strips.

Angore ---True , mounts can be purchased at 3 cents .

My problem is two fold remember I am playing the long game with my collection , sizeing and cutting mounts will slow down my adding stamps to 1/3 the time it takes to use hinges . Second factor is buying enough mount to last a long time just in case the manufactor quits making them . You must understand I have already stocked up over 50,000 hinges for the next ten years ,I can not do that with mounts because I don't know which sizes I will need .

If other collectors are not playing the long game ,it is hard for others to understand what my problems and issues are .