We understand from the passage that stamp collecting ………

Looking around the stamp dealers showrooms, it is easy to gain the impression that things have not changed very much since today's parents were themselves introduced to philately as youngsters a generation ago. In stamp collecting there is a very strong adherence to tradition. It is, however, possible to pick out some significant changes which have taken place over the last ten to 15 years. For mint stamps, particularly collectors have tended to discard hinges, which can leave a slight mark on the back of the stamp, and go instead for stamp mounts. These are plastic pockets, designed to take either individual stamps or rows of stamps, which are stuck onto the album page. They come with either white or black backgrounds. Some albums have the mounts already in position; they are known in the catalogues as hingeless albums.