The Machin 1st class and 2nd class strips purchased on February 1st, the day of rebranding with the new logo, have the text inset to the right compared with similar strips purchased on 17 February when the new Postal Heritage Transport stamps were issued.
Several people have reported this, and thanks for this image, which shows the original on the right and the realignment on the left:
Several readers also reported that it was not possible to buy anything other than 1st class 100g Postal Heritage Transport stamps from machine A001 at the Postal Museum. Museum staff assured buyers that this was not a mistake.
A Royal Mail spokesman later said that this move was designed to save money for collectors. They were told firmly that collectors are quite capable of making up their own mind what to spend money on and how much!
Collectors of the Transport stamps at Stampex were able to buy
- set of 6 x 1st, price £3.78Few collectors feel the compulsion to buy more than one of these - save perhaps for one of the two more expensive options plus a bureau pack.
- set of 6, one of each value, price £7.68
- set of 36: all values in all designs, price £46.08
Collectors don't need nannying by Royal Mail, especially not at the same time as they are selling an unnecessary miniature sheet at twice the face value of the stamps it contains.
I like the comment from the Royal Mail spokesman saying the move was designed to save money for collectors. Who is he trying to kid. Royal Mail had no problem selling the limited edition miniature sheet presentation pack for £7.95 with stamps worth £3.92. A massive £4.03 for the packaging. No wonder there were still plenty left on the Saturday afternoon.
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ReplyDeleteI think first class on Postal Herital was the best option, it has nothing to do with nannying, Royal Mail did state that only single stamps would have an overprint, this gets around that in a logical way for a Royal Mail themed issue. For once they have kept to their rules and i thank them for it.
I don't know why you think it's the best option? And 'single stamps' doesn't come into it - the stamps were still available in strips of 6, just they were all 1st class.
DeleteAnd it isn't a rule, it was a policy decision which they applied only at one site (we will wait to see what happens at Swindon on Thursday!).
I'm sure they will appreciate your 'thanks' but I don't know what there is to thank them for - are you compelled to buy a collectors set just because it exists? No! If you only wanted a single 1st class, then you would buy that if you had any sense. Several of my customers are getting single 1st class locomotives from Stampex.
Sorry you misunderstood single stamp, my meaning is single illustration, they were supposed to be the only overprinted issue so again this gets around it making it similar to a normal collectors strip, so that is how single stamp comes into it. This is similar to the Lion issue say a strip of 6 only cheaper and what is wrong with that. I never said i was compelled to buy something, I know i can buy what i want and how much, the same with any issue of stamps.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you, Ian. We could have been given a choice - either a 1st Class strip or a multi-value strip. Personally I like collecting multi-value strips (but not sets of 36 with every value on every design) and would have preferred to buy Postal Heritage in the same format.
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