Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Have any Stamporama members used Palo albums? If so, what is your opinion?
Bob
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I purchased a Philippines Palo album for my dad as a Christmas gift.
It was printed on larger and heavier paper with binder/slip cases. I have only seen it a few times and seemed nice. It was a pleasant change from Scott.
They were pricey.
I also purchased matching Palo blank pages with mount strips attached. I liked the concept but from what I saw these have developed a slight waviness. My guess this is due to moisture when applying the long strips. My dad's main comment was that it did not include varieties he collected but do not know album is more specialized. I later learned the layouts are based upon Steiner. I am a big Steiner fan and not against that.
Albums makers charge premium prices but I wish they would also include more than the "standard" listing. That is, if you are paying top dollar for an album, you are likely collecting those varieties.
Steiner Page:
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Thank you for explaining your "Palo experience," Angore.
I was already a bit concerned about the hingeless mounts, which on Palo's web page appear to be long strips covering a row of stamp images rather than individual mounts for single stamps. Since completeness is not my goal, it would save money to buy my own mounts for regular pages.
Long ago I learned several things about proprietary stamp albums:
• They don't necessarily include spaces even for all legally issued stamps or for stamps in the "grey zone" represented by stamps that are listed in some catalogues but not in others.
• They don't include spaces for varieties or space for duplicates that appeal for one reason or another — unlisted shades, great cancellations, blocks, etc.
• They are an excellent way to learn about the basic stamp-issuing policies, scale, and history of a given country, and can serve as a jumping off point for specialization. The first Canadian cover I bought was offered by a dealer I was buying Canadian stamps from. He taught me a lot about cover collecting, and I was soon adding cover collecting to my stamp collecting.
• Proprietary albums are an excellent way to learn that a country may have issued stamps that you wouldn't want in your home, much less in a stamp album! I decided to stop aiming for a complete Canada collection when I realized that I really hated the most recent issue of Canadian postage-due stamps, like this one:
Fortunately, you can often remove pages from an album, if you know you don't care about trying to fill it with stamp. There's a bonus: If you fill the remaining pages, non-collectors will think you have a complete collection!
Since completeness is not my goal with a French Indochina collection, and I mainly want a representative collection, I won't be searching for varieties, multiples, etc. If I do happen to find an item that the album doesn't allot space to, I'll put it on a blank page with an explanation. I already have several covers and postcards which would be placed on blank pages. This is one of them, picturing French troops on maneuvers in French Indochina in 1904:
Bob
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If you want to save alot of money, you will find that Palo album pages and Steiner pages are virtually the same.
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Are the Steiner pages available with printed images of the stamps on them? I would rather spend hours mounting stamps than spending even more hours looking them up in stamp catalogs. I also dislike using sheet protectors, which seem necessary for paper lighter than card stock.
Bob
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The page layouts are the same, but no pictures. They do follow Scott order, mostly.
You can always print out the pages on card stock.
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michael78651 said, "You can always print out the pages on card stock."
I could. I just don't want to!
I've been designing and printing my own album pages ever since computers and printing technology became available. Actually, even before that, using manual and electric typewriters, when you made "bold" letters by shifting the paper ever so slightly and retyping the same words, and underlining to emphasize words. But to print out some 70 pages on card stock (which my printer really doesn't like), then mess around with sheet protectors, then find and buy yet another good ring binder, well, it just seems like more than I want to do. Basically, buying the Palo album would free up some time to work on my other collections, build scale models, read, etc.
Buying the Palo album won't free me from the need for space for covers, multiples, and ephemera, which will have to be identified and possibly described in detail. Here's a French Indochina postcard which I'll be mounting on a blank page with a description, including a quote from the novel Saigon, by Anthony Grey, describing the experience of two young American boys who see a French colon beating a rickshaw driver on their first rickshaw ride in Saigon:
There's also this advantage of an album with stamp images: it sits there on your shelf, constantly criticizing you for not completing it, and telling you what stamps to look for! I do find that a completed pages is a pleasure, like this one:
Full disclosure: I didn't buy my National Liberation Front (Viet Cong) album, but printed it from a PDF. It was free, with stamp illustrations, from Eli Moallem, an Israeli collector.
At this point, an album ready to mount stamps in seems like the best plan for me, despite the cost. Besides, I have no plans or desire for foreign holidays, cruises, expensive restaurants, or the latest computer. Oh, wait, I do have the latest computer. At least it was the latest computer before the latest one came out!
Bob
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I collect French Indochina area too and found the very colorful pages pages too.
There are also pages without images on AlbumEasy website.
https://www.thestampweb.com/albums/free- ...
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One advantage to the Steiner pages is that you can modify them if needed (to add an extra variety etc).
Tim
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Well, to quote from My Fair Lady, “I did it. I did it….” I ordered the Palo French Indochina album yesterday and it’s already been shipped. Should arrive in about a week. Thanks to everyone who offered their opinions and suggestions.
Bob
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Enjoy! Please post pics and comments once you get it.
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And, finally, some five weeks after I ordered it, my Palo Indochina album arrived yesterday. Or, my second Palo Indochina album arrived. The first one, ordered May 7, never did arrive; tracking indicated that the U.S. Postal Service never even picked it up. After more than a month, Palo agreed to ship another album and told me just to refuse the first one if it ever does arrive. A Palo company rep told me in an email that they have constant problems with U.S.P.S., which is understaffed and dealing with employee dissatisfaction.
I like the album. It has an attractive faux-leather binder and the pages, with stamp images in colour, are printed on extremely heavy paper. I ordered two sets of pages with images, one for mint stamps and the other for used stamps, one set of blank pages for covers, multiples, "duplicates" kept because of unusual features or better-than-average cancellations. Now it's time to go shopping for more Indochina stamps! Any Stamporama dealers selling Indochina? Please let me know.
Bob
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A few years ago I bought a large U. S. A. collection, there was six of these albums, I removed the stamps I wanted, and all the albums landed in the dust bin.
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bobstamp. good to hear your feedback.
Images?????
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I use Palo hingeless pages for French Antarctic, Fr. Poly, and had used them for mint new Japan mini-sheets. Main reason
is I don't have to cut mounts and don't want to hinge never-hinged stamps. But one has to buy blank pages for
anything not listed by Scott and still have to fool with mounts. I don't have the patience to cut a bunch of mounts.
Someone said it's really easy with a big paper cutter. Yeah, but still takes time and precision. A dealer member of the
local club said he has about 400 different vols. of Scott Specialized albums and binders. Wow. I started collecting
with my Regent album in the 1960, and moved to Scott International. Up to year 2000 they take up a lot of room.
Yes, I'm a non-serious worldwide collector. Palo are nice---but not cheap. But I guess nothing is cheap anymore.
For just a couple countries or topics, I'd say go for it. Initially I think some were leather bound and I have one but I
can't tell the difference between the leather and the other black material. I guess they moisture on the strip mounts
do give some pages a waviness but doesn't bother me.
Those homemade pages do look nice made with computer printers. But paper and ink are critical over the long
term. They will last for a couple generations but who knows after handing them down to your 10th level great grandkids.
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I have one earlier generation Palo hingeless album for Canada which I bought a couple of years ago. I have started filling in a second Canada collection using the album with most purchases coming through Stamporama initially and now broadening to eBay for the mnh stamps I like for the album.
This particular album does not have stamps pictured at all. I really like the paper used for pages and the layout of pages.
Currently I have 1034 mint stamps in the album with 489 of these as mnh stamps.
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For premium albums, I much prefer Davo hingeless, which it appears Palo now sells. Mainly my preference is for the wider format of Davo and the black and white images. I find the color images are too much in the foreground, whereas the stamps themselves should prevail for my taste. I was able to get some Davo on sale here and there, but mine are limited to Switzerland and Italy, the first two volumes of each.
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I am seriously considering the purchase of Palo Premium Colony Pages for French Indochina (1892 -1954), one set for hinged, used stamps and the other with mounts for mint stamps, plus blank pages for covers and other ephemera, plus a binder and slipcase. Here's a sample page:
Have any Stamporama members used Palo albums? If so, what is your opinion?
Bob
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re: Palo Albums
I purchased a Philippines Palo album for my dad as a Christmas gift.
It was printed on larger and heavier paper with binder/slip cases. I have only seen it a few times and seemed nice. It was a pleasant change from Scott.
They were pricey.
I also purchased matching Palo blank pages with mount strips attached. I liked the concept but from what I saw these have developed a slight waviness. My guess this is due to moisture when applying the long strips. My dad's main comment was that it did not include varieties he collected but do not know album is more specialized. I later learned the layouts are based upon Steiner. I am a big Steiner fan and not against that.
Albums makers charge premium prices but I wish they would also include more than the "standard" listing. That is, if you are paying top dollar for an album, you are likely collecting those varieties.
Steiner Page:
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re: Palo Albums
Thank you for explaining your "Palo experience," Angore.
I was already a bit concerned about the hingeless mounts, which on Palo's web page appear to be long strips covering a row of stamp images rather than individual mounts for single stamps. Since completeness is not my goal, it would save money to buy my own mounts for regular pages.
Long ago I learned several things about proprietary stamp albums:
• They don't necessarily include spaces even for all legally issued stamps or for stamps in the "grey zone" represented by stamps that are listed in some catalogues but not in others.
• They don't include spaces for varieties or space for duplicates that appeal for one reason or another — unlisted shades, great cancellations, blocks, etc.
• They are an excellent way to learn about the basic stamp-issuing policies, scale, and history of a given country, and can serve as a jumping off point for specialization. The first Canadian cover I bought was offered by a dealer I was buying Canadian stamps from. He taught me a lot about cover collecting, and I was soon adding cover collecting to my stamp collecting.
• Proprietary albums are an excellent way to learn that a country may have issued stamps that you wouldn't want in your home, much less in a stamp album! I decided to stop aiming for a complete Canada collection when I realized that I really hated the most recent issue of Canadian postage-due stamps, like this one:
Fortunately, you can often remove pages from an album, if you know you don't care about trying to fill it with stamp. There's a bonus: If you fill the remaining pages, non-collectors will think you have a complete collection!
Since completeness is not my goal with a French Indochina collection, and I mainly want a representative collection, I won't be searching for varieties, multiples, etc. If I do happen to find an item that the album doesn't allot space to, I'll put it on a blank page with an explanation. I already have several covers and postcards which would be placed on blank pages. This is one of them, picturing French troops on maneuvers in French Indochina in 1904:
Bob
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11:35:33pm
re: Palo Albums
If you want to save alot of money, you will find that Palo album pages and Steiner pages are virtually the same.
Login to Like
this post
re: Palo Albums
Are the Steiner pages available with printed images of the stamps on them? I would rather spend hours mounting stamps than spending even more hours looking them up in stamp catalogs. I also dislike using sheet protectors, which seem necessary for paper lighter than card stock.
Bob
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11:56:52am
re: Palo Albums
The page layouts are the same, but no pictures. They do follow Scott order, mostly.
You can always print out the pages on card stock.
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this post
re: Palo Albums
michael78651 said, "You can always print out the pages on card stock."
I could. I just don't want to!
I've been designing and printing my own album pages ever since computers and printing technology became available. Actually, even before that, using manual and electric typewriters, when you made "bold" letters by shifting the paper ever so slightly and retyping the same words, and underlining to emphasize words. But to print out some 70 pages on card stock (which my printer really doesn't like), then mess around with sheet protectors, then find and buy yet another good ring binder, well, it just seems like more than I want to do. Basically, buying the Palo album would free up some time to work on my other collections, build scale models, read, etc.
Buying the Palo album won't free me from the need for space for covers, multiples, and ephemera, which will have to be identified and possibly described in detail. Here's a French Indochina postcard which I'll be mounting on a blank page with a description, including a quote from the novel Saigon, by Anthony Grey, describing the experience of two young American boys who see a French colon beating a rickshaw driver on their first rickshaw ride in Saigon:
There's also this advantage of an album with stamp images: it sits there on your shelf, constantly criticizing you for not completing it, and telling you what stamps to look for! I do find that a completed pages is a pleasure, like this one:
Full disclosure: I didn't buy my National Liberation Front (Viet Cong) album, but printed it from a PDF. It was free, with stamp illustrations, from Eli Moallem, an Israeli collector.
At this point, an album ready to mount stamps in seems like the best plan for me, despite the cost. Besides, I have no plans or desire for foreign holidays, cruises, expensive restaurants, or the latest computer. Oh, wait, I do have the latest computer. At least it was the latest computer before the latest one came out!
Bob
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re: Palo Albums
I collect French Indochina area too and found the very colorful pages pages too.
There are also pages without images on AlbumEasy website.
https://www.thestampweb.com/albums/free- ...
1 Member
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Login to Like.
re: Palo Albums
One advantage to the Steiner pages is that you can modify them if needed (to add an extra variety etc).
Tim
Login to Like
this post
re: Palo Albums
Well, to quote from My Fair Lady, “I did it. I did it….” I ordered the Palo French Indochina album yesterday and it’s already been shipped. Should arrive in about a week. Thanks to everyone who offered their opinions and suggestions.
Bob
6 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
re: Palo Albums
Enjoy! Please post pics and comments once you get it.
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re: Palo Albums
And, finally, some five weeks after I ordered it, my Palo Indochina album arrived yesterday. Or, my second Palo Indochina album arrived. The first one, ordered May 7, never did arrive; tracking indicated that the U.S. Postal Service never even picked it up. After more than a month, Palo agreed to ship another album and told me just to refuse the first one if it ever does arrive. A Palo company rep told me in an email that they have constant problems with U.S.P.S., which is understaffed and dealing with employee dissatisfaction.
I like the album. It has an attractive faux-leather binder and the pages, with stamp images in colour, are printed on extremely heavy paper. I ordered two sets of pages with images, one for mint stamps and the other for used stamps, one set of blank pages for covers, multiples, "duplicates" kept because of unusual features or better-than-average cancellations. Now it's time to go shopping for more Indochina stamps! Any Stamporama dealers selling Indochina? Please let me know.
Bob
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01:49:32pm
re: Palo Albums
A few years ago I bought a large U. S. A. collection, there was six of these albums, I removed the stamps I wanted, and all the albums landed in the dust bin.
Login to Like
this post
re: Palo Albums
bobstamp. good to hear your feedback.
Images?????
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this post
05:25:37pm
re: Palo Albums
I use Palo hingeless pages for French Antarctic, Fr. Poly, and had used them for mint new Japan mini-sheets. Main reason
is I don't have to cut mounts and don't want to hinge never-hinged stamps. But one has to buy blank pages for
anything not listed by Scott and still have to fool with mounts. I don't have the patience to cut a bunch of mounts.
Someone said it's really easy with a big paper cutter. Yeah, but still takes time and precision. A dealer member of the
local club said he has about 400 different vols. of Scott Specialized albums and binders. Wow. I started collecting
with my Regent album in the 1960, and moved to Scott International. Up to year 2000 they take up a lot of room.
Yes, I'm a non-serious worldwide collector. Palo are nice---but not cheap. But I guess nothing is cheap anymore.
For just a couple countries or topics, I'd say go for it. Initially I think some were leather bound and I have one but I
can't tell the difference between the leather and the other black material. I guess they moisture on the strip mounts
do give some pages a waviness but doesn't bother me.
Those homemade pages do look nice made with computer printers. But paper and ink are critical over the long
term. They will last for a couple generations but who knows after handing them down to your 10th level great grandkids.
Login to Like
this post
re: Palo Albums
I have one earlier generation Palo hingeless album for Canada which I bought a couple of years ago. I have started filling in a second Canada collection using the album with most purchases coming through Stamporama initially and now broadening to eBay for the mnh stamps I like for the album.
This particular album does not have stamps pictured at all. I really like the paper used for pages and the layout of pages.
Currently I have 1034 mint stamps in the album with 489 of these as mnh stamps.
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like this post.
Login to Like.
re: Palo Albums
For premium albums, I much prefer Davo hingeless, which it appears Palo now sells. Mainly my preference is for the wider format of Davo and the black and white images. I find the color images are too much in the foreground, whereas the stamps themselves should prevail for my taste. I was able to get some Davo on sale here and there, but mine are limited to Switzerland and Italy, the first two volumes of each.
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