Just What We Don't Need: Another 2012 Forever Stamp!

I've asked that same question many times and the usual answer is "the jury is still out" ... in other words, we don't really know how the stamps will stand up over time.

Beyond that, this is one of the best summaries I have read on the subject of self adhesive stamps and walks you through the history from some of the failed experiments of the USPS to the PSA stamps we use today:

http://cool.conservation-us.org/byo...n23-605.html

I agree, and I thought this was the kind of thing they had been moving away from, so I was surprised to see the announcement.

I also agree that we don't need nearly as many issues as we are getting, and stamps like this could (and should) have replaced any of several other less-worthy issues.

Also, based on the initial pics, it is a good-looking stamp, all things considered.

We're definitely on the same page. I was not disputing the worth of the Louisiana State Stamp as a subject matter. As a matter of fact, the Louisiana Stamp is very attractive and is certainly a good representation of a continuing series of stamps for all of the State bicentennials.

My concern is with the sheer number of stamps that are slated to be issued in 2012 that make the ability to collect all issues to be well beyond the budget of many collectors.

In fact, I cannot understand the reason why the Louisiana State Stamp wasn't in the initial "Beyond the Perf" introduction of 2012 stamps when they were announced a couple of months ago. Why did this one have to be announced separately? Come to think of it, the USPS did the same thing when announcing the Arizona State Stamp. Maybe it has something to do with the slow movement of the State governments in endorsing the subject matter and/or design to appear on the stamp, as opposed to a generic stamp featuring a landmark or historical figure.

In any event, I mentioned in an earlier post that there is yet another Forever stamp slated to be announced in early December, which adds even more cost to the 2012 Stamp Release Schedule.

I seem to recall hearing that one of the goals of the USPS in reversing their financial difficulty, was in retailing more stamps and merchandise to the consumer, so maybe that has something to do with it. Of course, it can also backfire and result in too many collectors walking away from collecting new issues altogether, which will do little for the USPS's bottom line.

I think there is a difference between "what is worthy of commemorating" and "what makes a stamp collectible". There are plenty of things on commemorative stamps that are not significant or just plain silly, but in reality do not detract at all from the collectibility of the stamp.

I would even venture to guess that some of our favorite stamps in our collections probably commemorate things/events that are either not really significant or that few people really care about.

Good point, KHJ.

The Toy Story stamps are popular with kids and adults -- but not quite the same as "worthy of commemorating."

KirkS

I think the problem in the United States is that you have too many
States.


We're lucky here in Canada since we only have 10 provinces and
two (oops forgot we now have) three territories.

Therefore there isn't that much emphasis put in representing
regionalism in the number issued as long as Quebec and/or
Francophones are allocated their share.

Absolutely, great example.

the Pixar issue was nothing more than a gimmick to increase stamp interest and stamp retention.

From a commemorative point of view, pretty insignificant. But there are other things that a stamp can bring out. For instance, as a selvage collector, I found the Pixar stamp selvage quite interesting and fun -- notice the gutters between stamps...



Sorry for taking the thread off-topic...

I've pretty much expect USPS to commemorate mostly trivial things. Despite all my griping about USPS, they do come up with new and interesting stamp design/production every once in a while!

While I no longer actively collect every US new issue, I'm still hoping that the 2012 stamp program will have a few things to catch my eye.