1170. 🇨🇳🇺🇸 IGPC Issues To Exploit Royal Wedding.

  As part of its ongoing publicity the Beijing- and New York-based philatelic agency, IGPC, has previewed a small number of upcoming issues with the names of its client territories printed on them whether they be Commonwealth or non-Commonwealth territories.

  The issues include a miniature sheet containing 4 different stamps which is to be released with the name of Guyana printed on it and which depicts the Jaguarundi, an attractive small cat, a rather highly face valued (20K or about £4.38p) single stamp miniature sheet from Papua New Guinea on the subject of the 250th anniversary of Captain James Cook's first voyage (doubtless part of a larger set) and another miniature sheet inscribed Guyana which seeks to exploit the upcoming British royal wedding of Prince Henry of Wales - otherwise known as Prince Harry - and again doubtlessly part of a bigger and more expensive set. Other than for financial profit, I see no reason why a republic which was keen to give up having Queen Elizabeth II as its Head of State almost 50 years ago is set on commemorating the wedding of one of her grandsons now - cynical exploitation and nothing more. 

  I confess to liking the Guyana Jaguarundi sheet and I am disheartened by the high face value of the PNG Captain Cook item and I have no intention of buying any Royal Wedding issues from countries which chose not to have the Queen as their Head Of State.

  Other promised items are issues inscribed St. Vincent And The Grenadines which commemorate the 75th Birthday of Muhammad Ali and another inscribed Grenada which for some obscure reason commemorates the recent visit of President Trump of The United States to The People's Republic Of China.

  🇮🇳 India Post issued 2 stamps and 1 miniature sheet on 26 January 2018 on the subject of 'The Potter's Wheel'. This issue coincides with Republic Day. Rating:- ***.

  Another stamp was issued on 28 January 2018 by India Post to commemorate the birth centenary of Dr. Talimeren Ao who was a footballer from Nagaland who was flag bearer for the Indian team at the 1948 Olympic Games in London and was captain of the national football team. Rating:- **.

  🇲🇾 Pos Malaysia will issue a set of 3 stamps and 1 miniature sheet on 30 January 2018 on the subject of Ornamental Fish. This is an attractive and colourful set. Rating:- ****.

1169. 🇰🇳🇹🇻 Nevis And Tuvalu - A Trip To The Beach.

   🇨🇳🇺🇸 The Beijing- and New York-based philatelic agency, IGPC, has announced the release of a number of philatelic products with the names of client postal services printed on them:-

  🇦🇬 Antigua And Barbuda - 23 January 2018 - 75th Birthday of Muhammad Ali (American former boxer) - 2 miniature sheets, one containing 3 different stamps and the other containing a single stamp. Rating:- 0.

  🇲🇸 Montserrat - 6 December 2017 - The Coral reef - 2 miniature sheets, one containing 4 different stamps and the other containing a single stamp. Rating:- *.

  🇰🇳 Nevis - 22 December 2017 - Beaches of Nevis - 2 miniature sheets, one containing 4 different stamps and 1 containing 2 different stamps. Rating:- *.

   🇹🇻 Tuvalu - 26 December 2017 - Beaches of Tuvalu - 2 miniature sheets, one containing 4 different stamps and 1 containing 3 different stamps. Rating:- *.

  26 December 2017 - Platinum Wedding anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II (who of course is Queen of Tuvalu) and The Duke of Edinburgh- 1 miniature sheet containing 4 different stamps. Rating:- *.

  26 December 2017 - Commemoration of the late Elvis Presley, American popular singer - 1 miniature sheet containing 6 different stamps. Rating:- 0.

  24 January 2018 - Visit of US President Trump to South Korea - 1 miniature sheet containing 4 different stamps. Rating:- 0.

1168. 🇬🇮 Gibraltar's Europa Issue 2018.

  🇬🇮 News of yet another new issue from The Royal Gibraltar Post Office. There will be a set of 4 stamps released on 6 February 2018 on the subject of 'Bridges' as the Gibraltar PO's contribution to the 2018 Europa omnibus. The set which depicts local bridges was designed by Stephen Perera from illustrations by Leslie Gaduzo and was lithographed by Bpost Security Printers. In itself this is an attractive set but against a background of a large number of other issues pouring out from Gibraltar I shall not be adding it to my collection. Rating:- **.

  🇲🇾. Pos Malaysia will issue a My Stamp sheetlet of 8 stamps (2 x 4 different designs) with attached labels on 2 March 2018 to commemorate the Chinese New Year which as we all know by now will be The Year of The Dog.

  🇨🇦 In Blog 1168 I detailed the issue released on 25 January 2018 by Canada Post which is on the subject of Women in Winter Sports but omitted to mention that a gummed miniature sheet containing all 5 stamps was also issued. This is an attractive item. Rating:- ****.

  🇮🇳 India Post issued 2 stamps and a miniature sheet on 25 January 2018 which formed part of a joint issue with the postal service of Vietnam. The stamps depict Buddhist temples. An attractive enough-looking issue. Rating:- ***. 

  India Post also issued a miniature sheet containing 12 different stamps on 25 January 2018 to commemorate the ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit being held in New Delhi from 25 to 26 January 2018. The meeting is being attended by the leaders of the 10 ASEAN nations and when the meeting finishes the ASEAN leaders will attend the Grand Republic Day parade as chief guests. Rating:- *****.

1167. 🇳🇿 New Zealand In Space.

 🇳🇿 New Zealand Post is very good at reacting to notable events occurring in the country with the issue of a philatelic commemoration of the event soon after it has occurred. The latest such issue is a miniature sheet released on 25 January 2018 which commemorates the launch of the first New Zealand rocket, Rocket Lab's Electron, into space from the Mahia Peninsula. The sheet contains 6 different stamps and was designed by Saint Andrew Matautia and Sam Taylor. The issue was lithographed by Collectables and Solutions Centre in Whanganui and perforated 13.5. 

  New Zealand's entry into the group of nations which have launched space vehicles is a worthy commemoration and proves that, despite what Royal Mail may say, a notable event can be commemorated soon after it has taken place and a new issue does not have to take 1 to 2 years to prepare. True, Royal Mail, laughing all the way to the bank following its enormous profits garnered from its Game Of Thrones and Star War issues, could not really care about such trivialities as commemorating notable national achievements or events (unless they're to do with Pop Culture or weddings of popular young members of the Royal Family, both enormous potential money spinners) but New Zealand Post is miles ahead with its preparedness to note what's happening in the country at that moment and should be praised for doing so.

  Stamp issue rating:- *****.

  🇬🇧 Depicted below are two versions of the Royal Mail Game Of Thrones Post and Go stamps from the IAR kiosk MOO2 kiosk at Mount Pleasant Enquiry Office (lower illustration) and an NCR kiosk (upper illustration) to contrast the two types.

  🇬🇮 Meanwhile the Royal Gibraltar Post Office has announced that it will issue a new Post and Go stamp on 14 February 2018 at Spring Stampex 2018 with a design to commemorate the Chinese New Year - the Year of The Dog. Presumably these stamps will also be sold locally with additional inscriptions for the Main Post Office and Parcel Office in Gibraltar itself.

  Kiosk GI01 at Stampex will also dispense the current Masonic Post and Go issue of 6 different stamps with the added inscription- "Happy Valentine's - Spring Stampex 2018" and a depiction of a Heart. I presume that the sloppy "Happy Valentine's" inscription is referring to St. Valentine's Day.

  Rating:- 0.

  Illustrations are awaited.

  🇨🇦 A number of new issues have been announced by Canada Post. A set of 5 self-adhesive stamps sold in booklets of 10 (2 x 5) was issued on 24 January 2018 on the subject of Winter sports champions. This no doubt is designed to coincide with the upcoming Winter Olympic Games in Korea but by not mentioning the Games on the stamps a lot of money is saved in royalties. As one might expect in this era of Equality, the stamps entirely depict female champions and were designed by Subplot Design Inc. Rating:- ***.

  On 1 February 2018 Canada Post will then issue 2 stamps in its 'Black History' series. Both are self-adhesive and sold in booklets of 10. One stamp commemorates the Centenary of the birth of Kay Livingstone, a radio celebrity also recognised as a humanitarian devoted to the emancipation of black women in Canada. The second stamp commemorates the late Lincoln Alexander who was an important campaigner for Black rights and equality and was such an important figure in modern Canadian history that 21 January is now celebrated throughout Canada as Lincoln Alexander Day.

  Both of the above dignified and restrained stamps were designed by TÉTRO. Rating:- ****.

  🇯🇪 In Blog 1166 I mentioned and illustrated the set of 4 stamps and miniature sheet from Jersey Post on the subject of 'Bridges and Causeways', 2 of which are this year's Europa issue. I illustrated the stamps but did not depict the miniature sheet but I now depict it below:-

  🇱🇹 This week's products from Stamperija which have the name of a Commonwealth country printed on them are inscribed 'Sierra Leone". The 'issue' is made up of the usual 10 'sheetlets' each containing 4 different 'stamps' and 10 accompanying 'miniature sheets' and the featured subjects are:- Bats, the First solar powered train, Killer whales, 'A Tribute to Richard Gordon' (US Astronaut), Kingfishers, Indigo birds, Hippopotami, Hyenas, Dolphins and Cuckoos. The stated date of issue is 29 December 2017. There is little. Point in wasting time and energy in providing illustrations of these paraphilatelic products as they are very similar to those depicted in Blog 1164. Rating:- 0.

1166. 🇯🇪 Europa And Sepac New Issues From Jersey Post.

  🇯🇪 More new issues from Jersey Post including its SEPAC and Europa issues for 2018. 

  A set of 4 stamps and 1 miniature sheet will be issued on 9 March 2018 on the subject of 'Bridges and Causeways'. The 73p and 90p values also bear the inscription 'EUROPA' and are this year's contribution from Jersey Post to the annual Europa omnibus the theme of which is 'Bridges' for 2018. An attractive enough set one of which manages to smuggle in the image of a lighthouse, a popular thematic subject, designed by Andy Le Gresley and lithographed by Southern Colour Print. Rating:- **.

  On 14 February 2018 Jersey Post will issue a set of 8 stamps in its 'Jersey Seasons' series and this time the issue celebrates spring. Another attractive set highlighting beautiful views around Jersey but with so many sets being released by Jersey Post during 2018 we must question why this set has been released. The issue was designed by Andy Le Greeley and lithographed by Enschedé. One value - the 73p - is this year's contribution by Jersey Post to the SEPAC omnibus. Rating:- **.









  I have mentioned and illustrated in previous blogs the set of 6 stamps and 1 single stamp miniature sheet which Jersey Post intends to issue on 26 January 2018 on the subject of the 1960s. Below I now depict the second miniature sheet of the issue which combines all the stamps released in this issue. Colourful but unnecessary. Rating:- *.

  See Blogs 1146, 1157 and 1165.