1104. 🇦🇺 And It's A Merry Christmas From Australia Post.

  🇦🇺 Australia Post has released details of its philatelic products associated with Christmas 2017. The "Australia" and "Australia Christmas Island" issues all have a proposed date of issue of 1 November 2017.

  1. A basic set of 5 stamps, cost $6.25c. Gummed. Designed by Andrew Hogg Design and Jo Muré. Lithographed. I like the "Nativity" stamps but the "Secular" stamps are wholly uninteresting. Rating:- *.

  2. A gummed miniature sheet, cost $2.95c. Rating:- ***.

  3. 2 "Embellished" stamps (2 x 20c) sold in 2 sheetlets of 10 for a total cost of $13. Rating:- 0.

  4. 5 self-adhesive stamps sold in booklets or small "sheetlets":-  20 x 65c "Religious" ($13), 20 x 65c "Secular" ($13), 5 x $2 ($10) and 5 x $2.30c ($11.50c). These are also sold in "chequebooks" at a total cost of $950. Rating:- 0.

  5. 2 "stamp packs" each sold for $16:- "Merry Christmas" (Pixar characters) - 2 panes each of 10 "Parcels" stamps with attached labels; "Merry Christmas" (Mickey Mouse) - 2 panes each of 10 "Christmas tree" stamps with attached labels. Total cost:- $32. Rating:- 0.

  6. "Concession" stamp miniature sheet, only available in "2017 Collection of Australian Stamps" book, sold for $109.95c. Rating:- 0.

  There are also 3 "Souvenir stamp sheets" which commemorate Australian sporting prowess, which as we all know is as unrivalled as Australia Post's Philatelic output. Rating:- 0.

  (A) 2017 Brownlow Medallist, Dustin Martin, 8 stamps with attached labels, sold for $15.95c.

  (B) Richmond Australian Football League champions 2017, 8 stamps with attached labels, sold for $15.95c. 

  (C) 2017 NRL Grand Final, 8 stamps with attached labels, sold for $15.95c.

  Australia Post has also issued philatelic items with the inscription, "Australia Christmas Island". These represent further Christmas commemorative items from Australia Post cleverly disguised as special stamps of Christmas Island. The "issue" is made up of 2 basic gummed stamps, 1 gummed miniature sheet (total cost $4.30c), 1 "sheetlet" of 5 x $2 self-adhesive stamps (sold for $10) and 1 "embellished sheetlet" of 10 x 65c self-adhesive stamps (cost $6.50c). There is also a "chequebook" of 20 x 20 x $2 - sold for $200. A cheerful enough design but I can do without the self-adhesive stuff. Rating:- **.

  Completeists beware! According to my calculations, the total cost of the above amounts to $288.30c. For the Ultra Completeists who must have the "Chequebooks" (does any Collector really buy such stuff?) then the total cost would be $1478.30. Merry Christmas, Australia Post!

  🇭🇰 Hong Kong Post issued a set of 6 stamps, 2 miniature sheets, a "mini-pane" of 18 stamps and a HK$60 "Prestige booklet" on 17 October 2017 on the subject of Qipao (Chinese traditional dress for women). The issue was designed by Tony Ho from illustrations by Yolanda YC Law and Mel WL Chan of the Hong Kong Design Institute and lithographed by Enschede and perforated 13.5. Rating:- ****.

  🇮🇲 In Blog 1079 I described the new Christmas issue of 12 stamps released by the Isle Of Man Post Office on 19 October 2017. The issue is available in gummed and self-adhesive format hence increasing the size of the set to 24 stamps and doubling the cost and, not content with that, the gummed stamps are also sold in a "Decorative sheetlet" contained in a folder thus making the overall cost of the basic 24 stamps and what amounts to a miniature sheet to be £16.92p plus, if you're a devoted 1 of everything collector of Manx philatelic products, a presentation pack, postcards and the first day cover. Rating:- *.

  Although this is an attractive issue none of it will find its way into my collection of Manx stamps.