🇻🇺 The postal service of Vanuatu which over the years has issued many fine stamps and followed a pleasing generally conservative new issue policy, now seems to have sunk below the waves of philatelic respectability and allowed the US-based manufacturers and purveyors of philatelic items, Philatelic Collector Inc., to take on responsibility for philatelic products released with its name on them. So falls another one of the Pacific area Commonwealth philatelic entities.
Announcing a flood of items produced in the name of its three ‘client’ postal administrations - Tonga, Cook Islands and now Vanuatu - Philatelic Collector Inc has unveiled several items with the name of Vanuatu printed on them, all of which are on subjects with no relevance to Vanuatu itself including ‘Space’ and a depiction of the red panda which is certainly not a native of the Pacific republic.
I will illustrate the various new ‘Vanuatu’ products in this Blog to give collectors the impression of what the postal service has allowed PCI to perpetrate on its behalf. All items are rated 0. I will not illustrate future PCI products released with the name of Vanuatu on them.As far as I can see while all these products are stated to have been ‘issued’ during 2021, no specific date of issue has been provided:-
2021 - Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (in the United States) - 2 miniature sheets each containing 6 different stamps.
2021 - ‘Best of Smithsonian’ - 2 miniature sheets each containing 6 different stamps.
2021 - The Smithsonian Zoo - 4 stamps and 1 miniature sheet containing a single stamp (illustrated above).
🇨🇰🇹🇴 Here is a list of the newly announced numerous new philatelic products from Philatelic Collector Inc produced with the names of Tonga and Cook Islands and various islands printed on the, I have not wasted time by including illustrations of most of them.
Cook Islands -
2021 - Smithsonian Zoo, American bison - 4 stamps and 1 miniature sheet containing a single stamp.
2021 - ‘Best of Smithsonian’, Space - 1 miniature sheet containing 4 different stamps and 2 single stamp miniature sheets.
2021 - Easter - 1 miniature sheet containing 6 different stamps.
2021 - Chinese New Year, Year of the Ox - 1 miniature sheet containing a single stamp.
Cook Islands Aitutaki -
2021 - ‘Best of Smithsonian’ - 6 miniature sheets each containing a single stamp.
2021 - ‘Smithsonian’, Space - 1 miniature sheet containing 4 different stamps.
2021 - Smithsonian Zoo, Elephant - 4 different stamps and 1 miniature sheet containing a single stamp.
2021 - Chinese New Year, Year of The Ox - 1 miniature sheet containing a single stamp.
Cook Islands Penrhyn -
2021 - Chinese New Year, Year of the Ox - 1 miniature sheet containing a single stamp.
2021 - Smithsonian, Space - 3 miniature sheets, two containing a single stamp and the other 4 stamps (2 2 different)
2021 - ‘Best of Smithsonian’ - 2 miniature sheets each containing 6 different stamps.
Tonga -
2021 - ‘Smithsonian’, Space - 5 miniature sheets, 1 containing 4 different stamps, 1 containing 6 different stamps and 3 single stamp miniature sheets.
2021 - ‘Best of Smithsonian’ - 2 miniature sheets each containing 6 different stamps.
2021 - Smithsonian Zoo, Giant panda - 4 stamps and 1 miniature sheet containing a single stamp..
2021 - Surcharges on 3 previously issued WWF stamps (Banded iguana).
2021 - Chinese New Year, Year of the Ox - 1 miniature sheet containing a single stamp.
2021 - International Year of Fruit and Vegetables - 1 miniature sheet containing 6 free-form self-adhesive stamps.
2021 - International Year of Plant Health - 2 self-adhesive stamps.
Tonga Niuafo’ou -
2021 - Chinese New Year, Year of the Ox - 1 miniature sheet containing a single stamp.
2021 - Smithsonian Zoo, Clouded leopard - 4 stamps and 1 miniature sheet containing a single stamp..
2021 - Smithsonian, Space - 1 miniature sheet containing 4 stamps (2 x 2 different) and 1 miniature sheet containing a single stamp..
2021 - ‘Best of Smithsonian’ - 5 miniature sheets each containing a single stamp.
As a new issue stamp collector I have the opinion that when a country loses pride in its postage stamps then it has lost pride in itself. Vanuatu has joined Cook Islands and Tonga in doing just that.
Interesting write up, as far as it is known Vanuatu is not a philatelic collector represented country but has made occasional stamp issues with philatelic collector over the recent years. From what I recall the post office mentioning is they still operate the new issue production but have done special issues for stamp programs every so often. I can only imagine that the post office has had a lull in revenue from the recent global problems and in part why these 3 issues were accepted.
ReplyDeleteAlso, those Tonga fruit stamps are quite interesting, I am curious to see their size as it compares to the past fruit shaped stamps from Tonga.
We blog-journalists have a difficult task when deciding in what detail to report on our area of interest.
ReplyDeleteThe Norphil blog is restricted to UK/GB issues and the task is relatively simple, although embargos mean that you will often write about new issues here before I am allowed to (and I am fine with that of course), and too little technical information from Royal Mail means that what we do write is incomplete.
You have a much more difficult task in trying to keep track of the products of Commonwealth postal administrations, although the most prolific usually provide an excess of information in order to sell their tat.
So I think it is correct to limit what you include about the products of those countries which over-produce or whose 'stamps' are produced by the infamous agencies, because most readers will be more interested in the 'genuine for postal use' stamps from those territories which are not constantly trying to milk the collector for more.
After all, some of these make Royal Mail look positively conservative in comparison!