🇮🇲 Isle Of Man Post Office -
30 December 2024 - Commemoration of Mark Cavandish, Manx Champion cyclist - 1 sheetlet containing 8 different stamps and sold in a pack for £13.18p. Designed by The 572 and lithographed by bpost and perforated 11.5. Rating:-***.
Not content with a vast number of stamp issues during 2024 costing £295.05p up until 9 December (DJCMH, Stampboards), placing it seventh in the list of the most expensive stamp issuing entities of the year, the IOM Post Office continues its 2024 stamp releases right up to the wire on 30 December with yet another one of its special sheetlets, this time to commemorate the accomplished Manx cyclist, Mark Cavendish. A nice item in many ways but it is sad to see IOM Post featuring so high up in what amounts to a list of the most exploitative philatelic entities in the world. And I do hope that we are not going to see a continuing deluge of these expensive ‘Collectors sheets’.
🇲🇹 MaltaPost -
20 December 2024 - Anniversaries of national importance, 60thvv anniversary of Independence, 50th anniversary of the Republic and 20th annual of Malta’s membership of the European Union - 3 miniature sheets, each containing a single stamp and each featuring one of the of the anniversaries. Designed by MaltaPost plc and lithographed by Printex and perforated 14. Rating:-****.
What I dislike about all the Isle of Man sheets is that many are reusing old designs. This means that they don't have to class them as new stamps, even though collectors and catalogues will do so. It appears they also inscribe some of them 'Postage Paid' so they can avoid having Royal approval; and probably claim they are labels and not stamps. It's very similar to how Australia Post seems to deem self-adhesive stamps as the same as gummed stamps - thinking collectors are only after gummed stamps and not self-adhesives (which are primarily produced for the public).
ReplyDelete"... thinking collectors are only after gummed stamps and not self-adhesives (which are primarily produced for the public)."
DeleteAnd therein lies the problem with many philatelic producers: they ignore the fact that many (most?) people got/get into the hobby to collect everyday stamps as used by the masses.
Also, and more broadly than just stamps and philately, nothing produced as a collectible has ever been worth collecting in the first place.