Thanks! In all honesty, looking back, I wish I did just use dealer cards and stamp boxes for my US stock instead of making those huge books. It would have been easier and cheaper to do it that way. Oh well, I will stick with them for now. Luckily I used water based marker to write the scott numbers on the pages intentionally so I could always clean off the numbers and repurpose the pages if I ever wanted too... Take care David!

Fair advice, I do like to put the stamps in the strip first so I don't have to bother measuring how long I need the mount to be. If I ever cut a stamp your comment will echo in my thoughts, haha. Polypropylene being chemically resistant to heptane leaves me with no worries using it, however, it was simply what I came up with while trying to find something suitable to remove self adhesive stamps on. I will say a glass or ceramic plate sounds better to me and I will probably do that instead from now on. Thanks for the input!

Lucky you! That sounds like a score indeed 😁

Since I made this video I have stopped sealing them completely. On my most recent Japan album I stopped using it altogether. I hear ya!

True! Thanks!!

Yup, I have found it extremely useful so far. It turns out the bulk mount strips were not divided back and I've been using the pen to seal them... So handy!

Thank you! It turns out the mounts I recommended buying in bulk were not split back and ended up being the one-sided mounts you mentioned. It felt meant to be that I just found that pen after I ordered huge bulk of those mounts. It has come in handy SO much. It is easier to put the stamps into the open-sided mount than the split back mounts too. I think having to bother painting a small line of adhesive to close them is more than a fair compromise considering just how much cheaper they are!

@@KylesStamps Love stamp-based serendipity! With your confirmation of ease and cheapness, I will for sure purchase Hawid on my next restock. 😁

That's great to hear! I bought most of my stamps from random sellers on eBay(avoiding sellers with bad ratings), Hipstamp & Apfelbauminc.com - Mystic stamp company is another option, I have bought decent US mixes from them but they aren't the cheapest -- In general, I would just kind of shop around on those sites and buy whatever I found to my liking 😊

@@KylesStamps Thanks Kyle. I’ll check out those sites

That is a very good question. Yes, they would unfortunately stick to anything you put them on/in. So, the best thing I have seen done to date is simple. I take the same polypropylene bags I used as a desk cover for the solvent, stick the stamp to it and then cut it out leaving a small margin around the stamp. That way it has a clear protective backing and will no longer stick to anything, plus it's safe in the long run and you can still see the gum if you ever wanted to. Lots of collectors will not even remove self adhesive stamps from the original paper and just cut small margins around the stamp, then they place them in their albums as "on paper" stamps. However, I like the polypropylene backing because is it crystal clear and still allows the perforations to be seen better after placing into a stockbook or album. I have heard of collectors also putting talcom powder on the gum so it won't stick but that seems messy to me and I have never tried it... You could always remove the gum too if you wanted, I think exploring stamps made a video explaining how he does it. But sometimes you can damage the stamp trying to scrape off the adhesive. So, sticking them onto polypropylene and cutting it out will allow you to have a nice clear plastic backing and the gum still intact, this is currently my favorite method. If I happen to find a better method in the future I will definently share it. You know what, your question has sparked my interest in making a short video about it tomorrow so I can show you guys! Thank you for your comment!

I am but I have honestly not been using them much in the last year or so. I just haven't been sorting much US stamps lately...

@@KylesStamps Those are some impressive stock books. I have a big box of U.S. stamps I’m going through now. You were right that I’m more of a U.S. guy. But I do love foreign stamps almost as much. Especially older ones

Thanks! I actually spent a ridiculous amount of time making them, $ too on the pages. If I happen to want duplicates of a certain US stamp I just might have them in those books. US stamps seem to make sense since they hit close to home but worldwide is perhaps more of an adventure!

😅Darn

I haven't used them and had never heard of them until you mentioned it! I will have to try those out at some point as they might be a superior choice to regular gummed mounts!

I've never used them but from what I've read about crystal stamp mounts is that they are a big pain to get the stamps out of, they can give the stamps a yellowish tone, they shrink and wrinkle the stamps and sometimes the stamps stick to them. Basically, they aren't archival safe. Sleeves, on the other hand, if made from OPP or polypropylene are archival safe. They are also very cheap. Although, I haven't used them myself yet either. I did buy a assorted package of them from eBay and they got delivered to the wrong address, so I never got them... Oh well.