Embroidered Stamp - Pigeon Orchid definitives

I finally managed to get some sets of the embroidered flower definitives. Here's SingPost's description of this issue. The set was out since early May but I couldn't find time to queue at the post office. The queue during lunch time at the post office could get quite long. So here's how the collector's set looks like.

Here's a closer look at the embroidery where the flowers look 'special'. The face value of the embroidered stamp is $5, but I'm sure no one will really use it for postage purpose. I wonder how many collectors' sets did SingPost issue.

Unlike the earlier beaded stamp issue by SingPost, embroidered stamps have been around for some time. Swiss Post started it in June 2000, and Austria did so too in year 2005 and 2008. Nonetheless I think collectors do welcome such innovative issues from the Philatelic Bureau that add more fun to the collection.

SingPost Returned Mail Sticker

Ever wonder what happens if your mail / letter doesn't reach the addressee or that the address written is wrong? In such cases, the postman can't deliver the letter and the letter is returned. I also know of incidents when recipients would write a 'wrong person' and dumped the mail into the letterbox and it gets returned to the sender if the sender's address is written.

Here's a sticker on the letter (picture below) that couldn't reach the intended addressee. SingPost will tick on the correct box to let the sender know the reason for failing to deliver the letter. I remember that we used to have 'cancellation' type of returned mail instead of a sticker, i.e. it is a stamped mark with reasons. I guess a sticker is easier for the postman handling the returned mail.

2 new additions to the Flora & Fauna Definitives Stamps

SingPost has announced two new additions to the 'Flora & Fauna' definitives that were released in 2007. The two additions will be made available from 6 May onwards. The details of the two additions could be found on SingPost's website.

The additions are two stamps of first local, featuring the Blue Pea Vine and Pigeon Orchid. I suspect that the additions are due to the lack of flora representatives in the 2007 definitives. The descriptions provided at the SingPost website commented that additions were added for variety. Take a look at the 2007 release, and we could see that only the 1st Local and 2nd Local are flora (Frangipanni and the Torch Ginger), so maybe they added another two flora for balance. It is good that they engage the same Designer, Wong Wui Kong, as the 2007 definitive series for consistency in the overall designs.

It will be nice if they can include all definitives together, so that when we read the yearbook, we have a complete picture of the stamps descriptions. Oh well, I guess such additions also add a bit of variations to stamp collecting.

Singapore related stories in the Stamp Magazine

When I read through magazines like 'Stamp Magazine', I realised that there is a considerable amount of interest in Singapore's philately development. Part of the reason is our colonial heritage, where the British and Commonwealth collectors would be interested in each area's philately development.

The interest exhibited by the journalists covered both recent stamps issues as well as old Straits Settlement era items. For example the first beaded stamp issue attracted quite some attention. By the way, the item shown in the picture below is now fetching $68, and it originally cost only $8 (last year)!

Here's another two articles from Stamps Magazine, touching on the Straits Settlement era stories. Frankly I don't see how people of the early nineteen century would have enough money to keep a $500 postage stamp. So the stamp on the bottom left is rare indeed, and likely used more of revenue accounting purpose.

Occasionally one picked up snippets of historical development, e.g. Malayan Postage Union's Postage Due ceased to be in circulation in 1968, 3 years after Singapore gained independence. So one would expect to see these postage due stamps on letters between 1965 to 1968 then. What is also interesting is the story of how there is only 32 mint specimens left. These snippets of philately related development added much colour and fun to stamp collecting.

When you pass by our libraries, take a look at these stamp magazines and you may find other interesting stories inside.

Postcards from Thailand, London, Stockholm, and Berne

I have cultivated a habit such that I will send myself a postcard whenever I travel overseas. Over the years I have collected a number of these cards from Europe and Asia. I guess they served as mementos from the travel, with date and stamp attached.

Here's a few of the postcards from London, Berne, and Stockholm. The Christmas theme postcard (upper right corner) is shiny when under the right light conditions, and the postcard from London (left) depicting a postal activity is actually quite funny.

The back of the postcards, with the cancellations and stamps attached.

One of the countries that I frequent more often is Thailand for both work (mostly) and leisure reasons, and so I have three of the postcards. Sometimes I will use the free postcard available from the hotels, but at other times I simply buy an interesting looking card from the shops.

Postcards are interesting, and I think recent years there seems to be more interests surrounding postcards, e.g. post-crossing and such. I think that is partly due to the casual networking associated with such a postcard, with relevant pictures depicting the cities, that make them interesting.

SingPost's MyStamp - Hello Kitty & The Stars

I was walking past the post office at night and saw these cute displays at the glass windows. It seems SingPost has recently release the Hello Kitty and The Stars MyStamp Collection to celebrate Hello Kitty’s 35th anniversary. These stamps are released from 18 Mar 2009 and here is a picture of the cute looking stamps.

The set is selling at $68.00 with the 12 horoscopes in sheets and encased in a hard album. There is also the pop up effect for the centre page as shown below. The set up is clearly targetting at kids or Hello Kitty fans.

Collectors can also buy the Hello Kitty MyHoroscope MyStamp in a single sheet featuring one horoscope at $5 or a complete set of single sheets of 12 horoscopes at $60. SingPost has also thrown in a special Hello Kitty 4GB USB thumbdrive that I understand is a limited colelction item, and it will only be available from 30 Mar 2009.

I guess it is pretty clear this release is targetted at niche audience, and possibly non-stamps collectors? Personally I think the cuteness of these pictures does not really match with the stamp collecting theme and look somewhat too commercial. It reminded me of the Hello Kitty toys craze some years ago where people queued overnight to buy Hello Kitty soft toys from MacDonald. Oh well, different people collect stamps for different reasons.

Postboxes from London & Stockholm

I was away for a work trip in London and Stockholm, and I took some pictures of their post boxes. The London postbox looks historical, i.e. like those postboxes from the colonial era. I think Singapore no longer has such red tubular postboxes, except for the one outside the Philatelic Museum. Posting personal letters from such historical looking postboxes should be fun. The postboxes from Stockholm look a lot more modern and fancy.

London Postbox with details about posting timing

Stockholm Postbox - Outside the Central Train Station

I didn't have much time for any philatelic related visits, partly because my work meeting timings were pretty tight. There is this Post Museum in Stockholm which looks interesting, and given time I would have pay a visit. Nonetheless I've sent some post cards back home, and once they reached I could post the pictures of them on the blog.