Custom Fieldtypes and Forms

Here's my situation... If I use the custom fieldtype "albumlist" in a template then bring up an item to edit in the admin panel the albumlist becomes a "select" field...

But, If I use the same fieldtype and template for lets say a contact form, the albumlist field is rendered as a text field on the form not a select field like in the editor.

What I am wondering is there a way to have a custom fieldtype (select) render as a select in a forms template? I have managed to use str_replace() on a template string then Template->set_from_string() to create a dynamic select field but I am thinking there is a better way.