New Royal Mail Stocklist: Reduced memorabilia and End of Sale dates

My thanks to JohnH for alerting me to the availability of a new stock list which can be downloaded from Royal Mail's website here.

Not so long ago we were told that there would be variable 'off-sale' dates depending on an issue's popularity, with more popular issues staying on sale for longer, while less popular issues could be taken off sale in less than 12 months and others might just stay 'While Stocks Last'.

That doesn't seem to have happened after the initial flurry of announcements and now we're told that all these issues will be going off sale on 31 December 2026.  Note that Stamp Souvenirs (= unaddressed FDCs) go off sale at different dates to the stamps, usually a year after the issue date.

Dogs, Dungeons & Dragons, Harry Potter, Peppa Pig, Porridge, Red Arrows, Spice Girls, The Tower of London, The Who, Winston Churchill. 

The last Stocklist I kept a copy of was April 2025.  This one is markedly different, and confusing - although some changes may be deliberate I suspect they are not all deliberate.

1. The issues in each section (mint Stamps, miniature sheets, presentation packs etc.) are listed alphabetically rather than chronologically.  

2. The off-sale dates are shown in the British format, ie 31/12/2026 or 21/05/27 (yes, some have the year in two digits, some in four!)   But the issue dates are shown in the US format, ie 11/27/2025 for Queen Victoria or - more confusingly - 5/1/2025 for the Valor and Victory set which was issued in May.

I would normally be able to write "Everything issued in 2023-24 will be off sale at the end of this year except...."  but finding the exceptions is slightly more difficult because of these changes.  So if you want any of these special issues it might be worth checking - and order well before Christmas to be certain.

3.  The definitives are listed in alphabetical order - which means that they are in no sensible order at all because of the descriptions used.  

King Charles Definitive full sheet £1.00 x 25

King Charles Definitive full sheet 10p x 25 

King Charles Definitive full sheet 1p x 25 

King Charles Definitive full sheet 20p x 25 

... lead on to...

King Charles Low Value definitives - £1.00

King Charles Low Value definitives - 10p

King Charles Low Value definitives - 1p 

Then the October Tariff 2025 trio come before the Tariff 2024 trio, and the Tariff 2025.  The best thing would probably be to list them in product code order which would probably be more useful for collectors.

I know people at Royal Mail look here from time to time, so I hope they take this as constructive criticism - what works for them doesn't always work for the people it's intended for, and why change anyway? 

Sale!

Some of the products issued for going off-sale at the end of the year are now being offered at reduced prices - not the stamps of course!  So the Dogs postcards, listed in the Stocklist at £4.50 are reduced to £2.25 on the website.  The other products are mainly gold replicas, framed products, souvenirs, medal & coin covers etc.

 

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