1092. 🇮🇪 Interesting Urban Street Art From Ireland.

  

  🇮🇪 An Post, the postal service of The Irish Republic, issued an excellent set of 4 stamps on 21 September 2017 on the subject of Urban Street Art. It is a colourful and interesting set and was designed by Aad and lithographed by Cartor and perforated 14 x 14.5. The set is accompanied by a €16 Prestige booklet. Rating:- *****.

  The New York-based philatelic agency, IGPC, is releasing more of its products on to the philatelic market with the name of various Commonwealth client territories printed on them.

 🇦🇬 Antigua And Barbuda - 28 July 2017 - Horses. This issue is made up of "stamps" depicting horses in various random scenes which bear little resemblance to Antigua or Barbuda - 2 miniature sheets one made up of 6 different stamps and one made up of 3 different stamps. Rating:- 0.

  🇬🇩 Grenada - 9 August 2017 - Coral reefs - 2 miniature sheets each containing 2 different stamps. Rating:- 0.

  14 September 2017 - Historic posters of the Olympic Games - 2 sheetlets each containing 16 different stamps. Rating:- 0.

  🇻🇨 St. Vincent And The Grenadines - 28 September 2017 - Geckos - 1 miniature sheet made up of 4 different stamps. The Gold Dust Day Gecko, depicted on at least 2 of the stamps, is not found in the Caribbean area but in Madagascar, thousands of miles from St. Vincent. Rating:- 0.

  28 September 2017 - Sea anemones - 2 miniature sheets, 1 containing 3 different stamps and 1 containing a single stamp. Rating:- 0.

  28 October 2017 - 75th anniversary of World War II - 1 miniature sheet containing 6 different stamps and 1 miniature sheet containing a single stamp. Most of the designs in the set depict scenes from the war in the Pacific area which has little relevance to the people of St. Vincent. Why not use designs which depict the role of St. Vincent people in World War II? Too much bother to do the research I suppose. Rating:- 0.

  These latest IGPC products are hopeless. They mostly feature designs and subjects which could be relevant to the various client territories but instead random subjects and designs have been settled for and such items are therefore uninteresting and valueless. What a pity.

  🇭🇰 Hong Kong Post issued a set of 6 stamps and 1 miniature sheet on 19 September 2017 on the subject of Hong Kong shopping streets. This excellent set was designed by Clement Yick and lithographed by Enschedé and perforated 13.5 x 13. Rating:- *****.

1091. 🇧🇿 Rare Event - New Belize Issue.

     🇧🇿 News of a rare event - a new issue from the Belize Postal Service. A pair of stamps was issued on 27 September 2017 to commemorate the 35th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Belize and Mexico. The 25c value depicts the old bridge between Belize and its neighbour which was erected in 1964 and called "The Bridge of Friendship". The 60c depicts the new bridge between the 2 countries which was opened on 15 May 2013. The national flags of Mexico and Belize are depicted on both stamps.

  The issue was designed by Andrew Robinson from original artwork by the Belizean artist, Kirkland Smith, and lithographed by Cartor. Rating:- *****.

  🇯🇪 Belize, which has a population of about 366,000, has issued only 2 stamps during 2017 and issued none last year whereas, in contrast, Jersey Post which serves a population of about 100,000, has issued scores of stamps this year. And still they continue.

  Thus Jersey Post finds it necessary to release 6 stamps and 2 miniature sheets on 3 November 2017 to commemorate the Platinum Wedding Anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II and The Duke of Edinburgh.

The designs depict the usual range of photographs that have been done to death on stamp issues in recent years - no originality at all - and were lithographed by Enschede. This is an eminently boring issue which hardly does justice to the Royal couple. Oh, and the total face value is £11.22. Rating:- 0.

  In the constant search for subjects which might yet attract the elderly who in Britain and its offshore islands make up the bulk of the stamp collecting population a big new area has come to prominence in the last couple of years or so on Royal Mail and offshore islands stamps. This area is NOSTALGIA - stamp designs which help elderly collectors to remember the pleasant days of the 1950s and 60s when they were young, life was altogether more innocent - superficially at least - and every young child had a stamp collection. Royal Mail has already mined the subject in a big way by depicting iconic old toys and "Ladybird" books on issues this year as well previously helping the same group of collectors relive their teenage years by depicting album covers of various now ancient music performers which they would have listened to in their adolescence.

  And now it's Jersey Post's turn to have a crack at Nostalgia as a subject for a stamp issue. Jersey Post turns to the nostalgia of Christmas as it would be remembered by elderly collectors and its new stamps draw on 1950s and 1960s-style images of family Christmases spent by a roaring fire with the snow lying about outside all deep and crisp and even. There's mince pies, Christmas pudding making, carol singing, Christmas tree dressing with not a hint of Auntie getting drunk on sherry and everybody falling out with each other over a Christmas afternoon game of Monopoly.

  In one respect the issue which depicts every Christmas cliche under the sun is rather dire but colourful and harmless and all rather silly. The set was designed from illustrations by Ruth Palmer and lithographed by Cartor. Rating:- ***.

  The total face value is £5.59p.

  🇬🇧 Dealers are now offering Post and Go stamps for sale on E Bay which are the Machin Head types with the additional inscription "Brighton" which as mentioned in Blog 1084 was where the Labour Party held its annual conference and where Royal Mail had a stand at which IAR kiosk M007 was situated and dispensing stamps for party delegates to buy and use on their mail. One imagines it was a slightly uncomfortable spot for Royal Mail to go to since the extreme socialist Labour Party leader has said that if Labour is eventually returned to power then it will renationalise Royal Mail along with numerous other industries. 

  The conference took place from 24 to 27 September 2017. The 1st Class rate stamp has a code of MA14 and the 2nd Class has a MA12 code. Rating:- **** (an interesting historical and Postal historical item).

  🇻🇨 Only the self-proclaimed "World's Most Respected Philatelic Agency", IGPC, could come up with something as distasteful and inappropriate as the item depicted below which exhorts us to honour the "Memory of Hugh Hefner, editor in chief of Playboy Magazine" who died recently. The unpleasant "flyer" publicises a sheetlet issued by the agency in 2003 depicting this grubby man with the name of St. Vincent And The Grenadines printed on it.

  

1090. 🇸🇬 Singapore Post Celebrates Opening Of New Post Office.

  🇸🇬 Singapore Post will issue a set of 4 stamps on 9 October 2017 to commemorate the opening of the new General Post Office at SingPost Centre. The colourful and interesting issue was designed by Wong Wui Kong and lithographed by Secura and perforated 13. Rating:- *****.

  🇲🇹 MaltaPost will issue a set of 3 stamps on 29 September 2017 as the fifth part of its "Maritime Malta" series. The stamps depict models of square-rigged sailing vessels dating back to when the island was ruled by the Order of The Knights of St. John. Photographs were taken by and used for the designs by Sean Cini and the stamps were lithographed by Printex and perforated 14. Not the most exciting of Ship stamp designs, I think, and the face value is rather high. Rating:- **.

  🇨🇦 Canada Post's seemingly interminable series of ice hockey issues continues with the release on 28 September 2017 of a set of 6 self-adhesive stamps issued in a booklet along with a miniature sheet containing all 6 stamps and 6 single stamp miniature sheets contained in individual foil packs similar to those we have seen in previous years. The issue, titled "Canadian Hockey Legends", was designed by Avi Dunkelman and Joseph Gault (MIX Design Group) and printed in lithography. Rating:- **.

  🇸🇧 Stamperija has announced that it has released some more paraphilatelic products with the name of a Commonwealth country printed on them, this time It is Solomon Islands. There are 13 sheetlets each containing 4 different "stamps" and 13 accompanying miniature sheets. The subjects depicted on the stamps are:- Christmas, Hornbills, Turtles, Butterflies, Owls, Prehistoric water animals, Shells, Lighthouses, Minerals, Mushrooms, Dogs, Bats of the world and Reef fishes. Rating:- 0.