Weird Stamp of the Day/Week/Month

Here are stamps you are unlikely to see on post
or stamps that make me go, "Eh?"

No, not stamp blocks or miniature sheets but individual stamps that, for some reason or another, the stamp issuing authorities thought would be a good idea (ker-ching!).

I will only post one at a time otherwise this blog would rapidly stop as the stamps in question, thankfully, are not that common.

They are not in any order.  They are just stamps that I have come across at some time or other.

They are just odd stamps.  I do not mean to imply that they are not worth collecting or that the issuing authority has lost the plot, but they just get you thinking, "Is this really a stamp?".

So, the dubious honour of being first falls to this item from Royal Mail:

This is a "3D" stamp. The scientist/mathematician in me screams out, "stop ****** saying that!", but we will move on.

It harks back to some "freebies" dished out by ESSO in the '70s maybe, or free in corn flakes?

Anyway, the stamps celebrate the science fiction of Gerry Anderson. Men of a certain age go all dewey-eyed at the memory of him and all his shows in the '60s. This particular block, issued in early 2011, shows Thunderbirds 1, 2, 3 and 4 on a background showing Thunderbird 5.  If you tilt the card, the image on the stamps changes.

The reason for the "Eh?" is that this is actually 4 stamps, supposedly separable. The total cost of stamps is just under £3.00 - a bit much for your average letter. You would need to be Desperate Dan (another '60s reference sneaks in) to get the stamps out to use them individually.

Nice enough design and probably appeals to those "certain aged" men and any young philatelists caught up in the re-invented Thunderbirds' movie. It is good that it celebrates something a bit more recent than some 300-year old dead king.

Royal Mail is not the only stamp issuing authority to dip their toes into this weird stuff, as you shall see later.

That is it - as always, feel free to comment if you agree, think I should "bile meh heid", or just want to throw in your tuppenceworth.