"Big Blue" What The Heck Does This Mean?

Al - Gibbons formerly produced a fast-bound, all-world "New Ideal" album. This provided for a simplified collection (but with some watermark etc varieties). No officials or dues. In the 1930s, SG decided that the rush of new issues meant that the album was no longer viable. It created a "definitive" foreign set in three volumes, covering the period to 1936. This was reprinted in the 1980s - I have a set - but us no longer produced.

SG also produced an "Imperial" album, all-world and fastbound. As with the Ideal, it ended this in 1936 with a two-volume Empire-only edition. The Imperial contains far more varieties than the Ideal, plus officials and dues. This too was reprinted in the 1980s, and I use it for my QV-GV collection. Gibbons now produces a new range of albums covering QV-early-QEII.

Yvert used to produce a comprehensive range of album leaves, but no longer even provides French Colonies pages. Schaubek also used to produce a worldwide album.

I have my father's KA-BE "GANZE WELT" album. It dates to the early 1950s. KA-BE was founded in 1917 by Koch (Ka) and Bein (Be). The former, later, founded Leuchtturm. KaBe, now is a brand carried by Leuchtturm. It is around that time that the world albums ceased to be published. The album is a simplified one. It does not even have spaces for the Penny Black or Twopence Blue.

I am not aware of Leuchtturm, SAFE, or Lindner ever having published worldwide albums.

A good way to get exposure to WW
1) Subway pages to 1940
2) Scott International big blue to 1970 or later
or Palo or Steiner or Big Red or a generalized WW Harris. Those are basically the choices.

DrewM wrote: "...and they will require an awful lot of binders to hold them, a dozen or more."

I was fortunate enough (IMO) to get the Specialty size set of VR albums when they were first offered, and they required 20-binders (3-ring) to hold the pages comfortably.