Stamps I do not like.One little bit.

Some of this stuff may not be mine. Where this is the case, I'll supply a link to an appropriate site.

Time for something different, nothing to do with TV, nothing to do with music. This is a hobby I got into at about the age of twelve. I was able to buy stamps from Boots the Chemist. At that time I liked the look of them even if I'd never come across the term, "Trucial States". The stamps were from; Ajman, Fujairah, Ras Al Khaimah, Sharjah and Umm Al Quwain. Nowadays, they (and a couple of others) are known as the United Arab Emirates. Nowadays they are given short shrift my stamp collectors for whatever reason but they did get me interested in the hobby.

But, less of the history lesson.

What follows is a list of the type of stamp that I do not like for some reason or other. It is not an exhaustive list and it is in no particular order. And it is my choice. I know some will not agree but to each his or her own.

First up is the over-printed stamp. This is just bastardising the original. It adds nothing to the stamp design in any way although it does fulfil the requirement that is is tied to the history of the country.

This is an Austrian stamp from 1919. The original was just a plain, red stamp but as Europe came out of the first world war some things changed.

Next up is a combo - obliteration/over-print.

Another Austrian stamp, this one from 1945. It doesn't matter what you think of Herr Hitler. I understand that at the end of the war money was tight all around and many countries used what they had. Again nothing added to the design by this amendment to the stamp. The original was just his head and the country. This bit of the blog might hit the censors. Some sites won't let you post his head whether you are a rabid Nazi or talking about postage stamps.

Then we have se-tenant stamps, in this case a strip of 5 from Great Britain. This is half of the set from 2016. Can't put my finger on what is wrong, I could easily separate the stamps if I wanted but that is not how they are printed. I possibly could have gone to our local post office and bought 10 individual stamps.

Another philatelic thing I am not keen on is the miniature sheet stamp. These, in this case, are stamps printed together in a sheet format. These are often quite attractive but these stamps are often, but not always, available singly. maybe I'm just being overly picky. Here is an example, again from Great Britain in 2016.

Next up is another from Austria (sorry Austria Post). Talk about pushing the boundaries? In 2004, Austria Post released the following which was a first in combining postage stamps with real crystals. There are two stamps - one is a rock with embedded crystals, the other is a swan with several embedded crystals. Another combo. In this case a miniature sheet with stamps that are very unlikely to ever appear on an envelope. I'll bet you can find used copies on e-bay or somewhere else but I would expect them to be very rare and possibly not with all crystals still attached. I may not like the stamps but Swarovski World in the Austrian Tirol is well worth a visit.

Where to next? You won't be surprised if I say Austria. This next stamp is from 2006 and takes the form of a piece of embroidery. Now before you get the impression that AP are a bunch of weirdos, other postal administrations have had there shot at selling "odd" stamps to the public. Did you know, for example that you can buy stamps printed in colour changing in? Or stamps with writing on that you need a magnifying glass to read? Or stamps made from toilet tissue (unused)? Or stamps made from old post office uniforms?

 Again, it is a nice enough stamp, it just falls into the weird category.

This next one is literally, out of this world. Also out of Austria. This stamp contains 0.03g of meteor dust. Another from 2006. Not sure why AP thought it would be a good idea, unless they are just trying out something new, something not done before. A bit like the scratch-and-sniff stamps of other Postal Authorities. Anyway, here it is.

Next up is a brace of football themed stamps. The first one is of Andi Herzog taking a shot at goal. As you tilt the stamp, you can see an action shot. The right hand of the stamp show the goalkeeper in action. This is what is termed a lenticular stamp. From 1997 or 1998. I might have to video this one to show the effect better.

The second one is from 2008 and is a polyurethane stamp to represent a football. Just odd. BTW, it isn't black and white. My scanner never picked up of the touches of red on the ball.

Another in my longish list of don't likes are labels and ATM "stamps". These really are scraping the barrel. Whatever country issues them. In this case, it's Deutsche Post from Germany. Again, my cheapo scanner picks this up as B&W although it is a pale green. From the 1980s in this case.

Another odd-ball type stamp is that which includes holograms. Not sure whether they are required as part of the design or whether they are added as a security feature. Another from Germany in 1999.

Next on my increasing list are self-adhesives. Now you might think that this is a health and safety issue with SARS-Cov-1. But, no, these type of stamps have been around since the mid 60s when more humid countries tried to find a way to stop their stamps all sticking together. Being self adhesive also led to a load of strangely cut stamps. Things in the shape of bananas and the like. Yeuch! Just in case you think I'm now having a go at Germany. Not at all. Real stamp on the left, the other thing, on the right. From 2010.

And don't get me started on Disney/Hollywood etc. Spurious connections if any. I firmly believe that stamps should be relevant to the country issuing them. In this case from GB in 2015 self-adhesives, miniature sheet and Star Wars.

So that's it. Just some examples of stamps that come into my possession. Bought because they are part of the set, or needed to complete. Doesn't mean I like them.

I haven't posted any stamp on stamp designs yet but I could have. I don't like them either. For many reasons.

As usual, feel free to add your thoughts whether you agree with me or not. It would be helpful to know what you think and if you want this to take any particular direction.

Oddball stamp

Recently received through the post was the following "stamp" - a novelty?

Technically it is a stamp, I suppose, but it is a weird one however you look at it.

Somewhere in this blog, I will get around to showing you the other odd stamps - the embroidered ones, the wooden ones, the ones with bits of rock in them, the ones adorned with real crystal, the scratch and sniff ones, the heat sensitive ones....I'll bet you thought stamps were boring!

Anyway, back to this one.

It was released by Austria Post back on 20th March 2014 (ANK 3156, Mi 3127) and is an unperforated miniature sheet. Unperforated for a reason - the stamp is made from porcelain.

Now that you have recovered from that gem, here are my thoughts:

It is pretty enough - the motif is the "Wiener Rose" but looks to me like a bathroom tile. The perforation is printed onto the tile as is the rose.

Not really sure what to do with it as it is quite thick (for a stamp) and heavier than most. It cannot really be put into an album with other stamps as most mounts would not be able to hold it.

Enough of the babble, here it is;

As usual, feel free to add your own thoughts or comments to this.

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.

My Favourite Stamps

Here I'll post some of my favourite stamps.

This is, in no way, meant to say, "What a great stamp, what a great issuing authority, I must subscribe to these." They are stamps that, for one reason or another, I find attractive.

There is this set of regional definitives on a cover of Scotland from Royal Mail. I've only ever seen the 1st and 2nd class pictorial stamps on postage. I've never seen the Machin designs. That might be because I no longer live up there and/or no-one sends letters with stamps on them anyway.

What's so special about these then?

I'm glad you asked! :)

The Machins I like anyway - simple design, nice choice of colours. They exist in all sorts - different printers, different shades, different security features. You could spend all day with a magnifying glass checking them out. I wouldn't. They are still being issued and most likely won't change until the monarch does. I wonder what will replace them?

The Regional Definitives I like; possibly the Scottish blood in me.

The designs again are simple enough and they all bellow out, "Scotland!" The Saltire, The Lion Rampant, the Thistle, and the Plaid/Tartan. They, too, are still being issued. I also wonder what will happen at the end of the year if the Scots vote "Yes" for independence.

As usual, feel free to pass any comment on these, whether you agree with me or not.

Stamps

I don't know why I started collecting stamps, maybe because tea cards were on the way out? Who knows. But I did and I bought them at Boots, yes back in the day, Boots the chemist sold more than just medicines.

I remember buying sets of stamps from Ajman, Ras al-Khaimah and Fujairah because they were pretty stamps and interesting sets. I've had a browse around the 'net but the stamps I have seen don't ring any bells so I can't really show you what it was that helped plant the seed. I didn't have a clue where these places were apart from probably somewhere in the Middle East. I collected them until I was about 18 when I had the collection well and truly nicked along with my entire book collection. This sort of knocked the collecting bug on the head for quite a bit.

I have come back to it though.

Maybe I am a bit of a snob. I don't mean better than anyone else, I mean I have firm ideas on what should and shouldn't be on a stamp - I think stamps should reflect a country's history and people. I don't think that GB should release stamps celebrating Disney, for example.

What should be on a stamp though? Now that is not an easy question to answer.

Take our (GB that is) Machins - you know the Queen's head only stamps. Some would say that is enough and we don't need anything else. But, she won't live forever and I can guarantee (probably) that the Royal mail are already considering the replacement. Who will be on it is anyone's guess just now but again (I guarantee) not everyone will like it or be happy with it.

I know I'll be happy with it as there will only be a small number to collect. Not like the pile of 1st class stamps that have been released this year already, none of which I've yet to see on a piece of post. I'll fix this later and surprise you all with the number but for now I'll leave you guessing. And I'll bet you're not even close.

So what pleases me?

I'm glad you asked.

I don't collect thematics although I have looked on-line to find U-boat stamps, I do have some Winter Olympic themed stamps but in general, I don't collect them.

I do like Germany be it German States, Reich, Berlin, DDR or West Germany. I also have a soft spot for GB, although I am somewhat hyper-critical of the tripe that is sometimes put out by RM. I also have a liking for Austria, a very strong liking. I have considered a yodel theme but, sadly, I have never seen or heard of a yodel stamp. Time will tell - I've seen cloth stamps, 3D stamps, stamps impregnated with wood, stone, jewels, stamps that change colour, so maybe a stamp that yodels when you rub it might be on the cards.

Anyway, that's the why's and what's, I'll post the things I like and then some of the things you'll be unlikely to see. I'll have a think about posting the crap.

Finally, whether you agree with me or not or just want to say, "Ah, what braw", feel free to leave a comment.