Earthscapes (All 15 Designs) - 2012 Issue

As of 09/12/2012, Beyond the Perf has changed the first day of issue city from Washington, DC to Greenbelt, MD 20770. The issue date of October 1, 2012 remains unchanged:

http://beyondtheperf.com/stamp-rele.../earthscapes

[09/19/2012 edit] Here's the official announcement of the change in first day of issue location as it appears in the 09/20/2012 edition of the Postal Bulletin:

Didn't the issue the cloudscapes one 9 years ago? It's about time, isn't it!

The US Postal Bulletin of 09/20/2012 has an extensive promotional package tying in the issue of the Earthscapes stamps on October 1, 2012 to the month of October being National Stamp Collecting Month.

(I'm glad the USPS is finally recognizing the value in promoting National Stamp Collecting Month, as it hasn't been given much attention in recent years.)

The salt evaporation ponds are probably the ones at the south end of the San Francisco Bay - I've seen them from a plane. They really are that color in places.

In addition to the "official" First Day of Issue Ceremony for the Earthscape Stamps at Greenbelt, MD, according to this link there will also be an "official dedication ceremony", also on October 1, 2012, in Channelview, Texas, specifically in connection with the "Barge Fleeting" stamp. I'm not sure if there is any special cancellation or if just a local postmark is involved, but it is being promoted by the US Postal Service:

http://www.maritime-executive.com/a...rge-fleeting

Has anyone else noticed that all earthscape issues show as "unavailable" or "discontinued" on the usps website right now.? Have they had production or copyright issues?

It may have something to do with the fact that the stamps are being issued on Monday and pre-orders are no longer available. On or after Monday, October 1, they should be available for regular ordering.

A similar occurrence happened with the recently issued ATM Pane of the Four Flag Stamps. A day or two before its issue date is was also listed as "discontinued" and then became immediately available for purchase the day of issue.

I doubt there's any copyright issues, as that would have been resolved months ago, as the printing and promotion of the stamps have been given high media attention both with USPS and philatelic circles, as well as in local and national media.

Thanks for the clarification!
I'm in for one sheet and an uncut press sheet as it's such a pretty issue. I've been looking forward to this for some time now.

The stamps and press sheets and first day covers are back on line with the USPS as being available for order now. Apparently it was just a website update that produced the earlier error.

Here's the link:

https://store.usps.com/store/browse...tId=S_470140

Anybody pickup their Earthscapes stamps at the post office today? Very nice looking and will be attractive to use on mail.

Two observations:

First, I cannot understand the reasoning behind them putting four (4) plate numbers at each corner of the sheet when it is impossible to collect a plate block of 4 stamps at all four corners because of its configuration. Either you collect the upper left or right positions or the lower left or right positions, but not both. Further, if you collect the upper plate blocks there is no perforations between the plate number and the title of the pane "Earthscapes" so you'd have to collect a portion of the entire title selvage. (Although for true "plate block" collectors, you'd have to collect the entire pane of 15 stamps anyway, as that is the only way all of the different stamps are represented).

Second, as I usually do, I purchased two panes of these stamps, one for my collection and one to use as postage. When I began to separate the rows of stamps intended for postage use, I find that they separate VERY POORLY with very rough edges. They are scored with a sewing-machine type perforation on the backing paper, but either the perforations didn't fully penetrate the backing paper or I just got a bad pane of stamps in my example. Fortunately, since my stamps are being used as postage, it's not a big deal, but for someone intent on separating the individual stamps to place in a collection, you may be very disappointed with the results.

Has anyone else experienced this problem?

Has anyone checked out today's USPS/Facebook page that shows the following image from Times Square in New York City?

I doubt that advertising is a free plug for the US Postal Service, yet with their financial situation, I just wonder how much they paid for such an advertising stunt: