Stamp album or stock book - which do you prefer?

It looks like you are including Vario pages in the stockbook category, so that's my choice.

I have too many oddballs, pairs/blocks, margins and cancels to be able to go with a preprinted album.

C.

I use Lighthouse Vario pages in binders. My main Canada collection is in the Lighthouse Vario-F size binders that come with a slipcase. Currently I have 4 binders of different colours that make up my main Canada and Provinces collection.

My topical collections are also stored in vario pages, but I just have a few ordinary but high quality binders for this. I usually try to find binders that are decorated to fit the theme.

I would like to keep all my stamps in albums. However both printing and/or purchasing album pages is cost prohibitive for me at the moment, so most of my stamps end on Hagner or Kanga (Vario-like)pages. Also putting stamps in an album once printed is pretty time consuming.

For WW collecting I prefer albums. For topical collecting, I use Vario pages.

I've been putting my WW classical era 1840-1940 collection into Steiner pages. For me, it makes sense for several reasons...

• For a WW collector, all the classical countries- alive and dead- are available for Steiner pages

• The Steiner pages follow quite closely the Scott Classic Specialized catalogue. As A U.S. based collector, using Scott and this catalogue makes sense.

• I can print out the PDF files when I am ready to mount the collection for a specific country

• Since I am a generalist, I am usually only interested in one stamp/one major number anyway

• I use mounts,so I can exchange/improve the stamp quickly if a better example is available

• Once a country is in the album, say with 40% spaces filled, the remaining 60% spaces are there for future acquisitions.
Not necessary to move the existing stamps...

• A glance at pages tells me objectively how complete I am for that country

• Although 80,000+ spaces for the classical era is a LOT, it still is finite, and can be accomplished using album pages. If I was collecting all world all periods, I would give up and use stockbooks.

• Aesthetically, it is hard to beat a well designed full album page of stamps

( Note: Sorry I haven't left a note in the Introduction thread yet, but I will do that soon. )

scb--thanks for creating this poll. Although I keep a couple of hundred stamps on stockpages while I'm deciding what to do with them, I'm a sucker for the printed album. Even after you've narrowed it down to album or stockbook, there are still a lot of personal preferences involved. I'm pretty certain my preference for the Scott International is based on my early stamp albums as a child. Certainly, not defensible logically. I just like the look of the completed pages.

Both for me, too. I'll keep my Big Blues going, but for stamps not therein represented, it will be white stock sheets with clear pockets which I keep in boxes rather than books.

Hi 

I voted neither.

I use only blank quadrille pages. That way I can mount variations, applicable covers, blocks, etc. on a single page as I see fit. My duplicates, or items waiting mounting, are on a HAWID 3 row approval cards or if used in #2 glassine envelopes. Larger items are in glassine bags in an 8-1/2 by 11 set of stackable drawers.

Jerry B

Both, my older issues as you see from my posts end up expanded beyond what is offer by publishers.I buy new supplements fill them then work on getting my used singles and used blocks.As these come in I expand into quadrille pages printed on cardstock.Thinking seriously bout skipping middle step and just starting with quadrilles.

I would love to see what your quadrille pages look like. I have often wanted to make up at least one album in that fashion, but every time I start and do one page I end up scrapping it as unattractive...finally I gave all my quadrilles away...but I can always try again...

Posted by former member @conker

I just voted stockbooks - Vario pages actually, housed in simple 3-ring binders.
It's the flexibility I currently like, just slip in a new sheet as required with acceptable level of rearranging.
The problem I have with albums is the lack of flexibility. You have just created a beautiful page and discover that you want to add another item; what to do?
Actually my collection is more and more in the digital world. I scan every item and can study them much better that way with my aging eyes.