Norvic Philatelics Security Checklist

A new version of the checklist is in preparation, and I'll make it available just as soon as I have all of the information and all of the stamps.  That should be later this week or early next.

The new version will include all stamps issued or found up to the end of October.

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Mr Men and Little Misses celebrate 45 years on 10 stamp set.

Well the design for this one wasn't difficult, even though it  is attributed to Bath-based Supple Studio.  I suppose they added the Queen's head and the value to the existing book-cover-based artwork.  Mr Tickle first appeared in 1971, followed by 38 other Mr Men created by Roger Hargreaves by 1978.  Thirteen Little Misses appeared in 1981, with Little Miss Princess appearing in 2011 to mark the 40th anniversary of the series, and by 2015 the total of the whole range reached 85 titles - see Wikipedia for the full list including latest 2016 titles.

Royal Mail are marking the 45th anniversary (yes, forty-fifth!) of the creation of the Mr Men by Roger Hargreaves with a set of 10 stamps.

The Mr Men and Little Miss series is one of the most iconic series of children’s characters ever created. Successful series of books and TV cartoons have been enjoyed by generations since the birth in 1971 of Mr Tickle, Mr Happy and the rest. Loved thanks to the bold, colourful designs and universality of personality traits which each character exhibits the Mr. Men and Little Miss books have been absorbing and enchanting children worldwide for 45 years.

Mr. Men and Little Miss books are published in 18 languages, including Hebrew and Icelandic.  Over 250 million books have been sold worldwide.

The set of 10 is slightly off-balance (one might have expected 5 Mr Men and 5 Little Misses) but the mix probably reflects the gender balance of the whole series of stories.   As shown above, they are:

Mr Happy, Little Miss Naughty, Mr Bump, Little Miss Sunshine, Mr Tickle, Mr Grumpy, Little Miss Princess, Mr Strong, Little Miss Christmas, and Mr Messy.

The set of ten 35mm square stamps are printed in strips of 5 (2 sheets) in sheets of 50, by ISP in litho on ordinary gummed paper.

The set is also available in an A4 self-adhesive generic sheet (shown below), although only six of them will be available in Royal Mail's personalised Smilers programme.

Available for personalisation are:

• Little Miss Princess
• Little Miss Sunshine
• Mr Bump
• Mr Grumpy
• Mr Happy, and
• Mr Messy

I can't help thinking that Royal Mail is being a little optimistic, or is maybe relying on unkind parents.  Would it be right to put a picture of your young boy alongside a 'Mr Grumpy' stamp?  Mr Strong or Mr Tickle, maybe, but whose kid is going to be forever remembered as Grumpy.  And again, where's the balance.  Miss Sunshine and Miss Princess are positives.  Mr Happy is a positive, but Grumpy and Messy....?

Maybe I'm overthinking this, but I'm not sure that it has been throught through enough from a marketing and business point of view - not that we will be stocking them, unless there is something interesting on the Machin stamp in the Retail Book.  And surely this is only the first, containing as it does just two Mr Men stamps.  Not only are there 8 more in the set, but once again the Little Misses lose out.

Added: Now that we have the actual booklets we can show the cover, and demonstrate that this is in Royal Mail's new Chevin font, and the actual definitive stamps are in the new deep scarlet shade of Royal Mail red.

The whole thing strikes one as being just a little underthought, maybe too hastily put together, suggesting perhaps that this isn't 'Project Atlas' (the original working title of the October issue) at all.

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Battle of Hastings 950 years: just a pricey commemorative sheet and a pricier coin cover.

Fifty years ago the General Post office marked the 900th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings on 14th October 1966 with a set of 8 stamps printed by Harrison and Sons using the latest technology available, in 9 colours and gold blocking (and phosphor).  The set depicted scenes redrawn from the Bayeux Tapestry, and the 1st class (4d) value was issued in a strip of 6 showing a composite design.


The Battle of Hastings was fought on 14 October 1066 between the Norman-French army of Duke William II of Normandy and an English army under the Anglo-Saxon King Harold II, beginning the Norman conquest of England. It took place approximately 7 miles northwest of Hastings, close to the present-day town of Battle, East Sussex, and was a decisive Norman victory.

Issued on the anniversary of the battle 14 October, this year's offering from Royal Mail is one premium-priced (£14.99) Commemorative Sheet, also showing scenes from the tapestry, and an even more expensive cover containing a 50p coin - price £15.95.

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November slogan postmarks: Remembrance

I suspect I have missed some slogan postmarks in my 10 week absence (although none were on the letters waiting when we got back).   Here's the first of the November slogans, thanks to AB.

Lest we forget / 11.11.16 from Home Counties North on 09-11-2016 2nd class.

More November slogans will be added if found.

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The wanderers return - with a lot of catching up to do!

Greetings readers!  We're back, and floundering under a pile of mail and stamp news.

First, a big thank you for keeping our (e-)mailbox relatively free over the last 11 weeks.  Although I had access to the internet for much of the time, dealing with emails was made easy by the much lower volume than usual. 

From what I knew before our break, and from what I have discovered since, I should soon be in possession of, and able to offer for sale, a number of new Machin definitives.  I've spotted mentions of these on other blogs and news reports:


5p, 2nd class and 1st class sheet with MAIL M16L
Royal Mail Signed For and Special Delivery 100g also with MAIL M16L
A possible new shade of the 2p sheet.

Booklets of 12 and 4, and Business Sheets issued on 20 October have new cover/top-panel designs at least as far as the text is concerned (Royal Mail refer to it as a change of font, but some prefer 'typeface').  The 1st class stamps are also, intentionally, a darker red.  We have noticed over the last year or so that both the booklet covers and stamps have been creeping towards a more orange colour, so this will restore them to proper Royal Mail Red.  So for 1st class and 1st Large there are new stamps, and new booklets; for 2nd class I don't think the stamps are different, so probably only whole booklets will warrant a new listing in catalogues.

Also on the same day the 1st class red MCIL M16L made an appearance in the Mr Men booklet.  Even without a darker colour this is new, because previous mixed booklet Machins this year have been purple.

Most of the Post and Go events were programmed (Stampex) or predictable (Poppy, Trafalgar Day),

but there were also some surprises.  Again, gleaned from other sources I have seen:

Ladybirds - issued at Stampex and available nationwide
Poppy with Battle of Somme (and tank) inscription - available at Stampex

Trafalgar Day inscription in use 23 September - 23 October at Royal Navy (but not Submarine or Marines) locations.

Poppy in use from most PO & Enquiry Office locations, and Museums 24 October - 13 November.  Examples have been seen with the text and museum logo superimposed on the Poppy image.

Machine A009 was installed at the Shakespeare Centre in Stratford-upon-Avon.  Originally supposed to have the Symbolic Flowers stamps it seems Royal Mail discovered that the stocks were too low, and so this machine dispenses Machins and Flags.  Apparently brisk first day sales resulted in reel replenishment and both undated and MA15 Machins were sold.

Machine A011 has been installed at the Royal Corps of Signals Blandford Forum, with the Mercury logo on the Machin stamps.

The BFPO HQ machine M001 includes the additional inscription Lest We Forget on the Poppy stamps. The Headquarters BFPO text overlaps the picture of the Poppy.

Lastly, and not for the first time, a Post and Go machine (M007) was taken to the Party Conferences in September.  In what I think is a change of practice the location was added to the text this year, Birmingham for the Conservatives, Liverpool for Labour, Glasgow for the Scottish Nationalists. I didn't spot any examples from the Liberal Party Conference yet.

UPDATE 14 November.
"Royal Mail is pleased to announce that machine M010 will go live at Norwich Enquiry Office from 17 November. The machine will carry the Hibernating Animals pictorial stamps.
"Machine A003, located at the Fleet Air Arm Museum in Somerset, will carry commemorative inscriptions from 3 December to commemorate the first jet carrier landing. The Vampire jet, which made the landing, is on display at the museum. The Machin stamp will carry ‘LZ551/G 1st Jet Carrier Landing’ and the Union Flag will carry ‘ LZ551/G 03Dec45’. The additional inscription will be available until 3 January 2017."


That's a quick summary of what I think I need to catch up on - you have doubtless read all this news elsewhere.  I've not made commenting available on this post: if you have any news or images that you would like me to add for the benefit of readers please send them by email to ian@norphil.co.uk

Meanwhile, the next post will be a little picture quiz to keep you occupied!

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So where have we been ?

To entertain you while I work through the news and stamps that will be the subject of more blog entries, here are some photographs from our holiday.  The first three people who correctly identify more than 12 locations will get a prize, though I haven't decided what that will be yet!

By the way, the locations are not in chronological order or geographical groups.
(Click on the images to see much larger versions.) 

UPDATE and clues:
#7 has not been identified by anybody - it's in North America.
#8 has only been identified by one (it's also in North America)
#15 has only been identified by two, it's in New Zealand, the whale being a clue but not of course exclusive.
#14 also appears on a stamp! 
Other non-New Zealand locations are 3, 5, 10, and 12.  

(1)	(2)
(3)	(4)
(5)	(6)
(7)	(8)
(9)	(10)
(11)	(12)
(13)	(14)
(15)	(16)
(17)	(18)

Answers by email to ian@norphil.co.uk - no comments revealing locations will be allowed!  If it's too difficult, clues may follow.

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The Last Post - until November.

As mentioned at the beginning of the month....

.... we are taking a break to recharge the batteries.  

The webshop is closed until November, the website is updated as far as the mid-September issues.

There will be no more posts from me on the blog until mid-November. 

Comments made in the meantime may be authorised and added. 

In the same way as he did before, for my enforced absence through injury, John may add some news supplied by our regular contributors if time permits.

Thank you for your patience and understanding, we look forward to serving you again before Christmas, and in 2017.

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New Country Definitive Stamp printing brings more grey heads and no silver

A new printing of the 1st class Scotland and 2nd class England country definitives was made on 19 May 2016.  As with the 2nd class Scotland the silver cylinder for the Queen's head and (in the case of the Scotland stamp) value has been dropped, and these details now appear in grey.

Unlike the 2nd class Scotland, which was printed in all four panes on the sheets, the four panes on the latest printing are shared, with the Scotland 1st being in the left column, and the England 2nd being in the right column, ie two panes each on a master sheet.

The cylinder numbers are once again C1, phosphor, yellow, magenta, cyan and black, reading downwards.  The single phosphor band on the 2nd class stamp is easy to see, but the 2 bands on the 1st class stamp are more difficult to see in normal light.

UPDATE:
I was surprised to find, on checking my reference collection, that the change from silver to grey on the 2nd class England stamp appears to have taken place at least four years ago, when Cartor took over the production of these.  I have a block with a printing date of 10/07/12 and another 12/07/13, with a different master sheet configuration.  And the latest one is yet another new configuration. 

This picture shows the cylinder numbers for the three printings I have with a grey head.  As you can see, the first printing (10/07/12, released by Tallents House on 3 January 2013) has the England 2nd class in just one of the 4 positions on the master sheet.
The second printing (12/07/13) has the same stamp in all 4 positions - either more were needed or the print run was shorter.  This was available from Tallents House from approximately September 2013 to January 2014.
The latest printing (19/05/16) has just two positions for the same stamp.  
These are obviously all new cylinders but ISP/Cartor for some reason see no need to increment the numbers - and Royal Mail apparently see no reason to suggest that they should do so!  As far as I know there have not been any Cartor printings of this stamp other than those shown.

The second picture shows both stamps from the current printing.

The stamps, including date and cylinder blocks, will be added to our webshop for purchase in November when we re-open.

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Plenty to read in new Agatha Christie mystery set from Royal Mail.

The Centenary of publication of Agatha Christie's first story, which introduced Hercule Poirot to the worldwide detective fiction readership, and the 40th anniversary of the author's death, are marked by Royal Mail with a set of 6 stamps with most innovative designs, to be issued on 15 September 2016.   The more you look at them, the more you see.

Each stamp - there are se-tenant pairs of 1st class, £1.33 and £.152 - is fully captioned with the title of the work illustrated, but there is more to read in the small print - microtext and detail only revealed with an ultra-violet lamp.

For the £1.52 stamp illustrating The Body in the Library there appears to be text on the spines of the books lining the shelf beyond the chalk outline of the body.  What that text reads is anybody's guess as we are not privy to the detail!

You can see the rest of the stamps, and read more about the author and the stories, on our new webpage.  But as for the hidden details, you will have to find out for yourself, or wait until we reveal what we have found, (long*) after the stamps are issued.  (* long after, because we are not updating website or blog with these details until we have been able to see the stamps, which will be in November.)

UPDATE 18 August
Incidentally, the Agatha Christie Birthday Celebrations in Torquay, also on 15 September includes a Royal Mail Special Stamps shop, and book signings (and probably first day cover and postcards signiings), and Sutherland (stamp designers) cleverly used the I^ST class Machin stamp on their invitation cards (see right).

Sutherland also designed the Charles Darwin, Royal Society, London Underground, Rescue at Sea, and Royal Shakespeare Company stamp sets.

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Bugs are flavour of the month with Royal Mail and Jersey for Post and Go.

As previously mentioned Royal Mail's new pictorial Faststamps will be available from the Post and Go machines at Autumn Stampex and nationwide from 14 September.

The six designs show the Seven Spot Ladybird, Orange Ladybird, Striped Ladybird; Fourteen Spot Ladybird, Heather Ladybird, and the Water Ladybird.  Two are shown here, the others and more details about these insects and the stamp design can be seen on our new web-page here.

Jersey Post will also be issuing Post and Go stamps showing beetles including 4 Ladybirds.

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