MyStamp - To Fu Set & Competition @ STGCC 09!

I was at the Singapore Toys Games and Comics Convention 2009 when I spotted the SingPost booth. Wondering what could SingPost be doing at the toys / comics convention, I popped by for a look, and surprise surprise - there is a MyStamps To-Fu Competition!

For info: To-Fu Oyako are toys modeled after soy beancurd and thus have cubic heads shaped after the squarish beancurd. They are toys designed by the Japanese designers Devilrobots. Details of the competition can be found here. So the competition is over and we have the different winners' products being displayed at the STGCC 09.

Other than displaying the winners' designs, SingPost has also launched the MyStamps series for To-Fu, complete with the To-Fu toys and also a game board set. The MyStamps is going for $29.90 while the game board set s going for $39.90.

I think this is a good move by SingPost to target the younger generation and promote stamps collecting. It is always good to link stamp collecting with the other hobbies / interests, of the target audience e.g. toys and comics. This is not the first time SingPost tried to link stamps with other toys and comics, and examples of previous attempts include the Hello Kitty collection as well as the DC Superheros MyStamps (2008). Actually SingPost had even launched a MyStamps set for the popular Taiwanese girl band S.H.E. earlier this year.

Guess we will have more of such interesting stamps sets in future from SingPost. :)

Post on Wheels @ Changi Airport

I was at the Changi Airport T3 departure when I saw this nice red eye-catching buggy / van like postal service. Imagine having a postal van in the airport itself!

So yes I snapped a few photos of it. Seems like the postal buggy / van will roam Terminal 1 & 3 of Changi Airport at different timings. Wonder if they have any special cancellations for the stamps purchase at the venue. :)

The funny thing about this whole postal setup is that there is actually a mascot for it. The mascot is a postbox modelled after the old style circular / tubular type, with a name of 'PoWee' I think. I am guessing that PoWee stands for Post on Wheels.

Local Desserts Stamps featured on Lian He Zao Bao

The latest stamps released by SingPost about local desserts were featured by Lian He Zao Bao.

Generally I think there is still a large group of mandarin speaking stamp collectors in Singapore, and it makes business sense to publicise about the stamps in the chinese papers.

Oh, originally I wanted to post this entry much earlier but ran into some ISP caching problems. Luckily blogger's help forum is extremely useful. :)

ZoCard Postcards

There were times in the past when my friends lamented that Singapore has no nice postcards. That became a problem when they want to participate in activities like Postcrossing. I think that has changed quite a fair bit in recent years with ZoCards and such companies.

ZoCard has produced interesting cards, often for marketing purposes of events and public messages, for examples those Public Health messages on Zocards. So it has become a habit where I will take a look at the postcard stand when I walk past locations with those stands.

Recently there was this set of artistic cards. I am not sure if they were commissioned by any organisation, but well they do look good. I've seen some of these postcards being used to decorate the office cubicles of my colleagues. So let me share these pictures with you. :)

Kreta Ayer Stamp Society 30th Anniversary

I read on the Facebook Sgstampers Group about Kreta Ayer Stamp Society's 30th Anniversary. Wow, it is good to know that stamps societies in Singapore continue to receive support from both stamp collectors as well as the authorities.

The actual celebration will be held on 20th June 2009 (Saturday) 6pm at China Square Central Exhibition Hall. The Guest of Honour is Dr Yaacob Ibrahim (Minister) and VIP includes Dr Fatimah Lateef (MP). Two books will also be launched in conjunction with the 30th Anniversary celebrations 1) Thematic Children Series - Stamp (Chinese) by Ms Tai Foong Choo, and 2) Our Heritage - Customs, Traditions, Culture - Stamps & Hong Bao (English) by Mdm Camalapan.

Looks like this week is an exciting week for stamps collectors, we have firstly the 150 Years of Singapore Botanical Garden issue, and then the 30th Anniversary of the KASS. It is somewhat rare to have so many stamps related events in 1 week. Hmm I thinnk we should have more events to drum up the signature and attractiveness of stamps colelcting. :)

Singapore Botanical Gardens 150 Years Issue

Stamps often mark the important dates of a nation's development. So after the recent MRT - Circle Line issue, we have the coming issue of 150 Years of Singapore Botanical Gardens.

Botanical gardens is a wonderful place, really. It's a sea of peace and beauty in the middle of this concrete island. It offers some quiet places while at the same time is accessible easily geographically between Bukit Timah and Orchard Road.

They have done a good job of maintaining the place, and adding in events like concerts that make the place more lively. It is fun strolling along the path during evenings, and just enjoying the scenery. Of course, there are not just trees at the Botanical Gardens but many lakes of fishes and ducks (and tortoises).

So it's not surprising that its 150 years passing will be marked by a stamp issue on 19th June 2009. 150 years is just a short period of time compared to some of the older heritage trees at the Botanical Gardens.

The stamp issues are much nicer than my photographs above, and here's some pictures from the SingPost website. There will be a set of 4 stamps, 2 'Local 1st' and 2 '$1.10', as well as a miniature sheet with a $2 stamp depicting a pair of black swans (or are they ducks?).

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.