This year's Christmas stamps on the religious theme will be issued on 3 November and again the issue date is the embargo date. However I have been told that the stamps and booklets are appearing on Royal Mail's shop website - even earlier than I would have accepted given the cover producers' embargo date of 25 October.
UPDATE 26 October: Readers are leaving comments about the fact that this is a religious stamp rather than secular, as if this is a break from the norm. The Christmas stamps for 2019, 2020, and 2021 have all been religious. I raised this with Royal Mail in 2020 and was told:
I wouldn’t say there is a change as such more a practical recognition of the feedback we receive on Christmas stamps.
Check your collections - if you still buy them - or your catalogues or even this blog and you will see that the people have spoken! Maybe not very many of them, but the vocal minority told Royal Mail that they welcomed religious stamps.
I think we would probably agree, though, that we don't want them to follow the lead of other multi-cultural societies (USA, Canada) and produce stamps for Kwanzaa, Diwali, Hannukah, etc
Whilst I would like to see more recognition of this country as a multicultural society, if Royal Mail did follow this path they would not issue a single stamp as these are, but a set of 4-6!
So, to get back to the current Christmas stamps - I'll post the pictures and other details shortly.
I'll put full details of the stamp set, miniature sheet, presentation pack, stamp cards, first day covers, and Generic collector sheet will be shown here in due course.
The Commonwealth Stamps Opinion blog, now has them here.
UPDATE 24 October 2022
No news on Winter Post and Go stamps yet, although Manchester already has Winter Greenery in one machine - see comments on the P&G News post https://blog.norphil.co.uk/2022/01/post-and-go-news-in-2022.html That is the most likely place to see Post and Go News now.
Probably rushing to get them out before the fakes start appearing
ReplyDeleteJust looked on the Royal Mail website they're not there now
ReplyDeleteInterestingly, a dealer was showing the real stamps and I presume for sale at Salisbury Stamp Fair. I did not catch his name but they were on open display for all to see.
ReplyDeleteAny news about Winter Greenery Post & Go stamps this year.
ReplyDeleteAccording to BFDC there are only 6 stamps this year usually there are 8 RM thinking of cost to customer?
ReplyDeleteThere were only 6 different values in 2021 - it's only because there were both barcoded and non-barcoded versions of 1st and 2nd that we ended up with 8 stamps. I think it's more likely to be because RM have rationalised their prices and so £1.85 and £2.55 values cover all foreign letters up to 100g.
DeleteNow on Commonwealth Stamps Opinion
ReplyDeleteNow on Royal Mail site
ReplyDeleteAre there two versions of the Miniature Sheet - one with a selvedge and barcode and one without?
ReplyDeleteThis is the third set in a row setting the theme to religion usually its once every two years, I like to see a traditional set once in a while with children throwing snowballs at each other, sledging etc etc lol looks like they have run out of ideas for Xmas stamps, and sticking to a religion theme every year.
ReplyDeleteGood observation Martin. Not that I mind religious themes, but I thought there was an RM policy to alternate yearly with a secular topic. Perhaps they just forgot this!
DeleteI agree, Martin. I much preferred the alternating sets with the previous years Christian themes being available as an option for those who do celebrate it as a religious holiday. I have correspondents who are most definitely not religious and a few from religions that have never been explicitly featured. Winter Greenery is a good solution - if you can spot it.
DeleteSo you are embargoed, but my copy of "First" arives today (in spite of the fact that I have closed my account) with full illustrations. NONE of this makes any sense, commercial or logical.
ReplyDeleteMike I also received my copy of 1st but unlike yours it had no pictures of the stamp set or miniature sheet, RM at its best NOT!
DeleteFrom Whiteknight - it is bizarre that Royal Mail is embargoing itself. Its website features the Collectors sheet, booklets and numerous forms of First Day Covers (to coincide I assume with the date that FDC-producing companies were able to release details of their products) but not the mint stamps and miniature sheet. The designs are pretty unimpressive. Could it be that an Aardman Classics issue was originally intended to be released this Christmas but instead was moved to the date when an issue to commemorate the BBC Centenary was first intended because the original plans fell through? It hardly seems possible that RM would not have intended to release a BBC commemorative and surely they didn’t originally plan yet another mediocre Christmas series. And if RM isn’t able to reach agreements with the BBC, does that mean that an almost sure 60th anniversary of Dr Who issue next year is out of the question? One thing is for sure - there is an air of inanity about RM’s current approach to philatelity.
ReplyDeleteI still have a couple of Wallace & Gromit Christmas stamps!
DeleteAs for Doctor Who, did I see an advert somewhere when the new series comes out, it'll be on Disney+ as well as the BBC? Would Disney have some sort of say? I still have some Doctor Who stamps, and used one of the 2nd class stamps from the miniature sheet on a letter today.
So when challenged as to why there had been a change from alternating between religious and secular Christmas stamps to consistently religious, in 2020, RM said: "I wouldn’t say there is a change as such..."
ReplyDeleteDoes this smack of "we didn't think anyone would notice (or care)..."?
Or, "oh, I didn't know there was a rule, I've only been working here for six months (and nobody tells anybody anything around here)..."?
Or, "we get such nice e-mails from the public when we have a religious issue - not letters (our customers aren't daft, or rich, enough to use stamps for postage)"?
Or, more likely, "what are you going to do about it, when we have a monopoly? (Look up the word in a dictionary!)"
I suspect your first reply is right; the person concerned had been involved for a good 15 years.
DeleteOr "Some Christians whinge when there is a secular issue but far fewer Athiests, Humanists, Pagans etc. complain about the religious issues so we listen to the former...."
DeleteYou may be right Neil, although if Atheists, Humanists and Pagans don't celebrate Christmas, then they have no need of special stamps then so probably don't complain that they exists.
DeleteHumanists at least recognise the beliefs of others and their rights to worship and celebrate as they wish. Given that Christmas is a religious festival then it makes more sense that Christians will complain if they cannot get the religious stamps that used to be provided sporadically as an alternative in 'secular' years.
So there is a postal strike planned for 3rd Nov the issue date, this will affect the correct day of delivery, Will it affect those who get 1st day covers?
ReplyDeleteThe answer is on the Royal Mail website - In Memoriam issue on 10th is also affected:
Deletehttps://www.royalmail.com/latest-news
According to a very recent news item (for example, see https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-63446176, or https://www.royalmail.com/latest-news) the strikes for the next two weeks have been called off. Whether RM will run exactly as "normal" isn't made clear.
DeleteJust had my order advice note for Tutankhamun issue on 24th Nov £39.66 for stamp set, mini sheet, & PSB at that cost I may have to stop the PSB as most of what I pay for I get in the stamp issue & some unwanted from definitive pane :-(
ReplyDeleteWith the embargo still in force for the Christmas Stamps, RM have now sent advice notes to customers re the Tutankhamun issue. Set of 8 stamps (£12.06), Miniature Sheet (£5.60), Presentation Pack (£18.55), PSB (£21.55) plus no doubt much more.
ReplyDelete