Postage Stamp Chat Board and Stamp Bulletin Board Forum

These are kind of legendary. First mentioned in a couple of threads here way back, members started ordering them as they had never heard of this product.

Then brownie started a thread on them saying how good his books had worked for him:

viewtopic.php?t=1687

And so even more books got ordered. And more members posted about them.

So here it is in one thread, in the right forum!

I've sold HUNDREDS of them in the past year.

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They are not listed on my website - Australian retail is $A38 each. I import them direct from overseas, so can offer at a rock bottom price.

The 2 for $A50 was a stampboards only special offer pretty much, from the early days here when someone asked about them. I reduced retail price by 36% for members here.

(Price went up to $A55 for TWO books from May 1 due to big price hike from overseas maker. )

Or FOUR Books for $A100.

Unreg'd postage anywhere within Australia is only $A10 for the 2 or 4 books.

Air Postage to NZ is $A16. I mark them as "Books only" (which is true!) and NZ customs will not bother looking I'd say and hence no GST.

To Asia it is $A20 post, and to Europe or USA $A25, and nice stamps are used as always on packets.

Overseas Registered add $A5 if you need that cover, but I doubt for $A55 or $A100 you need to bother (your risk tho)

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For those who have not seen these Desert Magic books, they are a large A4 sized book (stockbook sized) with thick white Spiro edge binding that as you can see allows them to lay flat. (There is a half sized one which IMHO is useless!)

The pages are of REALLY thick blotting type paper. i.e.thick heavy cardboard thickness. It is some special "fast release" formulation .. no idea what they use, but it really does WORK!

There is then a special smooth plastic coating on one side.

So you wash your stamps, and if you leave them to air dry on tea towels or blotting paper or newspaper, light creases and bends will always stay there.

If they are placed into this book when touch damp (not sopping wet) and left there with the gum side to the plastic side and the front of stamp to the blotter side, they dry perfectly flat, and many light bends and creases vanish. Nearly all of them. It is amazing the difference they make, which is why I sell so many!

Just put your stamps in, pile a few heavy books on top and forget them for a week. Most collectors have two books, as that is the secret ..... do NOT touch them for a week and let them dry slowly under weight. Most important.

The special formulation plastic coated side is super important as otherwise many stamps STICK to blotter if damp and between 2 sheets of blotting paper, with heavy weight on top. These do not. Again it is some special coating they have figured out which works perfectly for this specific job.

Almost any other kind of plastic sheet you may try to experiment with at home will leave a real ugly mirror like "SHEEN" on the gum side if placed in damp, under weight, which looks really stupid, and really shows what you have been doing. These do NOT.

The books last for decades. They really do.

A 10/- C of A Roo used and light creased copy will be $100 retail, and one that is nice and flat $200. So the cost of the book is paid 3 fold with just one stamp that is saved.

Anyway, TWO for $A55 or FOUR for $A100 plus shipping if anyone else here really wants to try these!

And you need at LEAST TWO as leaving stamps for a WEEK to dry flat and perfect is the key -- rushing the process curls up your stamps - like the bad old days.

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Remember, adding another lot of mine here (or on website) for sale in general adds ZERO to your shipping cost, so have a good look at what is on offer here in case something else appeals:

http://www.stampboards.com/viewforum.php?f=27

All payment details are on - http://www.glenstephens.com/payment.html

Call it "Desert Magic Books on stampboards' and please order via:

http://www.glenstephens.com/order.html

- email me with any queries to glen [at] glenstephens.com

And many similar mouth watering NETT price offers are being loaded weekly onto -

http://www.glenstephens.com/rarity.html and http://www.glenstephens.com/specials.html

As per stampboard rules - this lot is offered exclusively to board members - and on no other sales venue.

And remember - I use a PAPER based credit card transaction system as I am too lazy to get a machine. In general, you will almost certainly be charged weeks after you get the goods, as I do such boring things in large batches "when I get time".

For members who make a BANK TRANSFER payment you WILL generally get your goods faster as it saves me some hassle.
.

I've got a lot of soaking to do and I haven't done it for years. These sound a lot better than Mum's old teatowels!!

I'll get you to stick two of these in with the mystery box I can sort through during my Christmas break!

Seriously, if stocks are low, please keep me two. I'm happy to pay for them and you can hold them until I buy something else if that's preferable.

Sherro, as they say .. 'no time like the present"!

All credit cards OK, also PayPal and bank transfer etc.

Call them 'Desert Magic on StampBoards' and please order via:

www.glenstephens.com/order

and all payment details are on:

www.glenstephens.com/payment

Order done, but hang on to them for a week or so. I might find something to buy. If not, I MIGHT still get them before Chrimbo.

Glen, I have an order with you waiting for when you can fill it in some way, from past experience it will be good.

Would you be able to add two of these drying books to the order?

Thanks a lot

Ann Wiggins

Glen, did you get my order? If so, can you please ship (in your normal schedule!!!!), as I need to do some soaking ASAP, and I'm going to need these little beauties.

sherro you DID ask me to 'hold off' on mailing these, and your order has hence worked its way down from the vital and sought after "top inch" pole position of my automated and patented order dispatch system, to the dreaded "buried somewhere in the top metre" morass.

I'd work pretty confidently on Christmas delivery. I am just not committing to WHICH Christmas.

No problem, I'll come over and ferret through the goodies to find the order!

Nice bluff Glen. Do you play poker? Drying books received safe and sound this morning. Thanks for the service!

oooh I just placed an order!! So excited!!

I've always wanted something easy to dry stamps in (I LOVE soaking them!)

Thanks in advance Glen!

Hi Glen,
I purchased 2 of your Desert Magic magic books last month and was sceptical about the claims made but being adventurous I gave them a go.

I have now used the 2 books to dry a 2kg package of kiloware soakers - you get about 25 grams of dried stamps per book. Therefore you can imagine how may time the books have been used - if your not that imaginative then that is around 20 book fulls. Thus each book has been used 10 times.

The results:
1. The books are slightly distorted due to water shrinkage of the pages.
2. the stamps are easy to remove from the special coated pages.
3. These special coated pages are still working as new.
4. Stamps can be closely packed onto the pages.
5. It takes a long time for the stamps to dry - drawback (see my method below).
6. The books hold moisture for a long time - days when left closed (see method below).
7. Some postmark/cancel ink has been absorbed onto the blotting paper. This does not effect the drying of future stamps.
8. As stamps can take up to 3 days to completely dry, some still curl when removed from book.
9. The book will distort (develop bends) as the book and stamps dry.

I now believe that I have a quick method of drying both for the stamps and the books so here is how I have learnt to minimise the drying times:

1. Ensure the soaked stamps are rinsed in clean water.
2. Open the book from the back to the first special coated page.
3. Remove stamp from rinse water and shake off excess water.
4. Place stamp face-up on special coated page.
5. Continue adding stamps until the page is full. Stamps can be closely packed on page.
6. Fold over blotting page and next special coated page. Repeat steps 3 to 6 until all stamps are in book.
7. Place book on flat surface and put a telephone book on top to keep the book flat. Place a piece of plastic between the drying book and telephone book to stop the books sticking together.
8. Wait 2 to 3 hours then remove the stamps from the book by opening to the first page and shaking the stamps off. Repeat for each page.
9. The stamp will still be damp so allow them to sit on a drying surface (ie. the kitchen table) until dry.
10. After emptying the book lay it open to the first page on a flat surface then turn to the next page every hour. This will allow the book to dry and it will dry reasonable flat. It can be reused within a few hours.


The advantages of this method over my previous paper towel drying method are that I can get more stamps into a smaller area so there are no longer paper towels all over the house and, although the stamps do curl, the curl is not as great as total fresh air drying. To sum-up - I like the books!

Thanks
Gazza

I did my first soaking in over 25 years over Christmas, and these books are sensational. I followed Glen's tips, used Palmolive to give them a nice wash, part dried them on a tea towel, loaded from the back, put 10 kilos of books on the Desert Magic book and waited a week. What results! Flat as a tack and looking beautiful. I stuffed up a bit, by not washing all of the gum off a few, but they still refused to stick to the gloss.

If you haven't got any of these books, buy them now!!! Your life will be easier

I can add my recommendation as well, have filled both books 3 times and am continuing with the loads of stamps I have to soak.

I'm so jealous! Im still waiting for my books to arrive.....

Chris .. I am in Burma now for a few more days ... did you order them off me?

Gazza - great primer .. did you read the notes I hope I included with yours?

You MUST add stamps in there touch dry or the books do buckle a bit as I stress in notes.

Most folks using them for kiloware (high volume) buy 4 or 6 books for the reasons you state ... 2 is not near enough.

As Sherro states a week drying time (with 10 kilos books on top! (is the MINIMUM time for older more valuable stamps, you want to come out perfectly flat and 100% dry.

Lightly rubbing better older stamps between your forefinger and thumb to free up old gum and hinges is important, as is the boiling water, AND the final rinse in clean HOT water.

Glen in Burma.

Hi Glen, yes I ordered them mid-Dec from you through your website following the instructions you wrote in this thread.

Have a great time in Burma/Myanmar!

I used the drying books bought from Glen, using the same book three time very sparingly. I do not have kilos to soak off paper, so I put only a few on each page.

They are certainly very useful: no folding of blotting paper; no stamps falling from between sheets of blotting paper; no trying to find a method of placing them between heavy books. And because I do no have a massive number of stamps to soak or clean, the waiting time is not a drawback.

The only problem I encountered with them is that, despite the fact that I followed directions to the letter, the pages tend to buckle a bit. Now with the method of using blotting paper (the same happens to blotting paper after a while), once this happens you just discard the paper and use a new one. This, however, you cannot do with the books.

I was wondering whether one can extend the life of the books by placing a same size sheet of blotting paper between the stamps and the blotting paper of the book. After a short while the introduced blotting paper can be removed.

Len

After a week under ten kilos of books, my blotting paper is flat!

I'll give it a go, sherro. Thanks.

Len

Len, I've got two books and used them both. Now I look at them, they look almost as new.

That weight makes a hell of a difference.

As I posted somewhere just like everyone else, I used to dry on tea towels, stick them in a stock book and hoped for a humid day to flatten stamps out.

I haven't soaked in years because it was such a chore. Not any more.

These things have probably been around for years, but to me, they're simply revolutionary.

I actually enjoyed soaking, and I never thought that would happen!

Hi Glen,

I did not get any "note" with my books but thats OK as the method I outlined above works fine for me.

As to the books not drying flat, that is not a problem either because I place a phone book on them during the drying process and it does not affect the stamps.

Gazza

BOOK USAGE UPDATE

Since my previous post both my books have been used 12 times. (Read my method as I do leave the stamps to dry for a week).

They are still working as new although they definitely look used.

Gazza

This should read "my books have NOW been used 12 times each."

Gazza

Here's a little experiment I did. A 1918 censor cover from Netherlands Indies to Holland. Ratty, tatty and dirty, and worth the $1 I paid for it:



I held it under the hot water tap for about five seconds until it was quite wet, then towelled the surface dry. I didn't use any detergent, nor did I rub the surface at all. After one day in the drying book, voila:



Still probably worth $1, but a far more attractive addition to my collection.

Sherro -- amazing result!

Barry took totally rolled up sheets of MUH Papua (480 sets!) I sold for very little, as I assumed they were not possible to do anything with, and gave them a light mist of water on face, and says they came out perfectly flat as he shows in scan below he took!

viewtopic.php?t=1687

I guess that also would work with covers with a few dingles --a light mist of water?

Glen

I can't see the postage cost to UK? How much would it be to ship 2 books over here?

thanks

Simon

Got my drying books!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!

Will try them out next weekend as in the middle of spring-cleaning here

Hi Glen,

Would like to buy a couple of these excellent sounding drying books please.

Shall contact via email.

Thanks...........Holty

Has anybody tried these books for banknotes?
I have borrowed Glen's idea of using boiling water and Palmolive green ( or equiv.) and inserting between doubled, folded blotting paper then onto the kitchen bench and under the 2 phone books for a week - with excellent results.
I understand the need for the plastic interleave for stamps, which is not necessary for notes, but perhaps the extra flat layer may improve on my method?
p.s. I use a pastry brush to gently work the liquid cleanser over the note.

Remember adding another light lot of mine here (or on website) for sale in general adds ZERO to your shipping cost, so have a good look at what is on offer here in case something else appeals:

http://www.stampboards.com/viewforum.php?f=27

Call it 'Desert Magic on StampBoards' and please order via:

www.glenstephens.com/order

and all payment details are on:

www.glenstephens.com/payment

And many similar mouth watering NETT price offers are being loaded weekly onto -

www.glenstephens.com/rarity and www.glenstephens.com/specials

Jut arrived back from the USA and Europe with 200 more.

Two SEVENTY pound cartons ... so yell out should anyone still needs some!

Wholesale price was up 10% in $A since last order, so price is going up to $A55 for 2.

HOWEVER to celebrate our 1st birthday coming up on April 1, I am holding the $A50 for 2 price to members here until that date.

Glen I would like two more please, have you got any general type collection(s) (as you have previously sold me) so that I can add to these?

Ann, 2 Desert Magics are yours.

I just bought 7 brand new lighthouse stockbooks someone bought off me new before Xmas for $175 and stuffed them full of their world arranged A to Z over Xmas, and now sold it all back to me! Many 1000s here.

Heaps of stuff. On a quick glance saw things like M+U Norfolk Coll inc scarce 1953+1960+1974 Defins etc. Cook Is with MUH $7.20 and $9.60 hi vals sighted. Handy GB, Canada, Australia etc.

If you can use some new stockbooks after you sell off the contents this might suit you? At say $40 a book = $280 they are fair value that's for sure if you or others can use them.

That sounds good will take them, what would you like me to do now?

Many thanks, appreciated

Items all arrived safely thanks Glen.

Should add that the Drying books do a great job - I can certainly recommend them

Gee Tony, you dry posher stamps than I do!

Let me know if you need a cleaner