The embargo date for this issue is 18 February, so I would not normally be writing now, but as Royal Mail's February Philatelic Bulletin lists all the products, it seems appropriate to write this now, but there won't be much detail!
In celebration of the 25th James Bond film due for release in April 2020, Royal Mail is delighted to launch the official James Bond stamp issue.
The Bond films are the longest running film series in film history with James Bond known all over the world. The films are renowned for many features, including the musical accompaniment, with the theme songs having received Academy Award nominations on several occasions, and two wins. Other important elements which run through most of the films include Bond's cars, his guns, and the gadgets with which he is supplied by Q Branch.
The summary in the Philatelic Bulletin lists the following elements:
Stamps 3 x 1st class, 3 x £1.60 in two se-tenant strips.
Miniature sheet - 2 x 1st class, 2 x £1.55
Presentation Pack, First Day Covers, Stamp Cards
Retail booklet of two special stamps and 4 x 1st class Machin definitives.
Prestige Stamp Booklet (PSB) which will include all 10 stamps and a definitive pane containing 2 x 2p, 2 x 2nd class Machin, 2 x 2nd class Scotland, 2 x 1st class Union Flag. (These ought to be coded M20L).
13 February - SHOCK UPDATE - the Machin definitives have M19L coding!
Press Sheet (of MS);
Generic (aka Smilers/Collectors) Sheet containing 5 x 1st class and 5 x £1.60 with attached labels.
Limited Edition PSB which contains same stamp panes but possibly a different cover, all in different packaging.
Various framed sets, prints, and other material for Bond fans rather than stamp collectors.
Readers may leave comments but I shall not be confirming any other details of the stamps or what they depict until the due date.
In celebration of the 25th James Bond film due for release in April 2020, Royal Mail is delighted to launch the official James Bond stamp issue.
The Bond films are the longest running film series in film history with James Bond known all over the world. The films are renowned for many features, including the musical accompaniment, with the theme songs having received Academy Award nominations on several occasions, and two wins. Other important elements which run through most of the films include Bond's cars, his guns, and the gadgets with which he is supplied by Q Branch.
The summary in the Philatelic Bulletin lists the following elements:
Stamps 3 x 1st class, 3 x £1.60 in two se-tenant strips.
Miniature sheet - 2 x 1st class, 2 x £1.55
Presentation Pack, First Day Covers, Stamp Cards
Retail booklet of two special stamps and 4 x 1st class Machin definitives.
Prestige Stamp Booklet (PSB) which will include all 10 stamps and a definitive pane containing 2 x 2p, 2 x 2nd class Machin, 2 x 2nd class Scotland, 2 x 1st class Union Flag. (These ought to be coded M20L).
13 February - SHOCK UPDATE - the Machin definitives have M19L coding!
Press Sheet (of MS);
Generic (aka Smilers/Collectors) Sheet containing 5 x 1st class and 5 x £1.60 with attached labels.
Limited Edition PSB which contains same stamp panes but possibly a different cover, all in different packaging.
Various framed sets, prints, and other material for Bond fans rather than stamp collectors.
Readers may leave comments but I shall not be confirming any other details of the stamps or what they depict until the due date.
One of the two definitive panes in the 'Universe' PSB contains 'country' stamps. Now the pane in the 'Bond' PSB does also. Do you think that this could become the norm ?
ReplyDeleteI feel that this pane is just a total hotch potch. Two machins, one country stamp and a stamp that is part of the smilers range. The stamps have nothing in common except their small size. What is to be next? Perhaps, a country stamp, a decimal Wilding, a Machin and a couple of smilers -- all in the same pane?
DeleteI'm not saying that the panes always have to be Machins. I've nothing against a pane of just country stamps or even a pane of smilers. But please let's have some consistent theme to what goes in the pane.
This seems to a case of the muddled thinking that says that if a stamp is issued in the samall size, then that makes it a definitive and that any old "deinitive" whatsoever can be included in a "definitive" pane. That way you end up with a jumbled mess of content like this.
What have the two 2nd class Scottish definitives got to do with this book?
DeleteI have a memory that although Fleming was English, Bond was a Scottish. I may be wrong.
DeleteConnery is Scottish of course.
In the novels - Bond has a Scottish father and a Swiss-French mother. However, Fleming only brought this in after seeing Connery and liking the connection. Successive actors have been Australian, English, Welsh, Irish and English again.
DeleteNot one 1st class stamp per 007 actor, then?
ReplyDeleteStill, I expect to buy some of the stamps...
I quite like the idea of a James Bond set (at least the title role is British even if the franchise isn't) but I'm so fed up with these £1.55 and £1.60 stamps. What about £1.35 for us postcrossers?
ReplyDeleteYou can tell stamp collectors don't put these Prestige booklets together, the mix of stamps in the definitve panes are poorly selected, no imagination whatsoever.
ReplyDeleteMachinmaniac, Thanks for pointing out that the Union Jack stamp is a Smilers not a Country Stamp. I will note this when the pane is mounted in my collection.
ReplyDeleteI have read somewhere that James Bond is the son of a Scottish father, Andrew Bond of Glencoe. However, I really cannot see that this is a reason to have Scottish definitives in this prestige book.
ReplyDeleteThe PSB is very disappointing, the lack of new definitive stamps ( M20L ) means I will pay for the whole book just to get the stamps from the mini sheet that will be listed separately!
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure what petemk means when he says "I will pay for the whole book just to get the stamps from the mini sheet". Surely if only the mini sheets stamps are needed don't buy the book.
DeleteHe won't know it yet, but the perforations on one stamp in the MS is not the same as in the PSB.
DeleteIn reply to BrianM, when the mini sheet stamps are also in the PSB they usually have different perforations & are listed separately, hence why I buy the book.
ReplyDeleteNo more comments on this post - all on the main new post.
ReplyDelete