2013 USPS Issues... News? Thoughts? Opinions?

That's good news, I need another sheet for my collection; I used a muscle car stamp to renew my car registration. :)

Back on page 8 (?) I believe, was reference and a link to a 2013 Stamp entitled "Just Move" as shown here:



A few weeks ago it was relegated to a "TO BE ANNOUNCED" status as to the date of issue; as of this evening (04/08/2013) the stamp has been quietly removed in its entirety from Beyond the Perf and from the 2013 list of new stamps slated to be issued this year.

I know the stamp when first posted on USPS Facebook was ridiculed as a rather nonsensical issue considering all of the more worthy stamp subjects that could be commemorated on a stamp. I wonder if this was the deciding factor for cancelling its issuance (or if it's really being cancelled or just taken off-line for the time being)?

That's too bad. I didn't much care for the design of this set of stamps, but I had already made several plans for how to use it with kids. I think they would have really liked these stamps and had fun using them for various activities.

Maybe they ran out of blue ink...? :)

I had to go to CanadaPost to get an image of the Lydia Mendoza pane:



The uncut press sheets are now available for pre-order:
https://store.usps.com/store/browse...tPressSheets

USPS Beyond the Perf is now announcing August 16, 2013 in Independence, Ohio as yet another First Day of Issue Ceremony for the Flags for All Seasons Stamps. I believe this is for the Convertible Booklet of 10 variety:

http://beyondtheperf.com/stamp-rele...-all-seasons

Has anyone taken notice that the USPS Shopping Website has listed the Patriotic Star Coil Stamp in two (2) Strips of 10 (Stock No. 789723) at $9.20, with no guarantee of a plate number?

https://store.usps.com/store/browse..._S_NewStamps




Apparently, you can still order a Strip of 25 as listed in USA Philatelic (Stock No. 789703) and presumably get a plate number that way (always subject to change, though).

I'm not sure of the reason for the change, unless the Patriotic Star stamp is so popular with non-collectors who are accustomed to buying 20 stamps at a time without regard for plate numbers.

I believe this is the first time that high volume (3K and 10K) coil stamps were ever available in quantities of less than 25 stamps.

ADDITIONAL INFO.: I should have mentioned earlier that the USPS Shopping website is now doing the same thing with the 46-cent Kaleidoscope Flower stamps, too. Apparently, the Strips of 25 (with plate number) are still available and are now being referred to as "collector strips with plate number". The new ordering option of two (2) Strips of 10 is apparently being offered for those who want to use the stamps for postage and therefore don't care about plate number collecting.

That is interesting, I recently bought a strip of 25 in my online order last month and it has served me fine. how are they doing '2 strips of 10' versus just giving a strip of 20?
Is 25 an off putting quantity when most normal issues are 16-20 panes?

I'm really surprised that the Kaleidoscope Flower or Patriotic Star aren't available in coils of 100. I'm glad I can order some more Kaleidoscope Flower stamps in strips of 25 because 3,000 is just WAY too many for me... maybe if they were Forever stamps, but because they're 46c, I'd have to add make-up postage down the road when the rate increases again. :P

By the way, the "strip" of 25 I ordered a few weeks ago came as two strips - one long (18 stamps, maybe?) and one shorter. There was one plate number at least.

ETA: I wonder if I order four strips of 25, if I'd be lucky enough to get a plate number of each design - or does the plate number only appear on one design??

Well, if you do the math and the plate number is every...
- 28 stamps for Kaleidoscope Flowers (4 designs)
- 20 or 32 stamps for Four Flags (4 designs)
- 30 stamps for Spectrum Eagle (6 designs)
- 32 or 40 for Lady Liberty and US Flag (2 designs)
...then technically speaking only one design should have a plate number as the designs repeat themselves.

Thanks omxfl, that's what I was wondering about. =)

Just a heads-up:
The Civil War: 1863 stamp issue has been announced in the new bulletin: http://about.usps.com/postal-bullet...info_010.htm
There will be uncut press sheets again (2,500 print quantity), each containing 6 sheets of 12 stamps with 2 designs each; i.e. there will be 15,000 imperf sheets (or 90k of each stamp design) available. Not as low as the Modern Art in America issue (10k sheets), but I guess this imperf. press sheet will sell out quickly as well.
The press sheets are not yet available for pre-order online.

Another item of significant note about the Civil War Stamps to be issued in 2013, is that they are being heavily reduced in overall print quantity!

In 2012, the Civil War Stamps were issued in a quantity of 30 million stamps; in 2013 the Civil War Stamps will be issued in a quantity of ONLY 10.8 million stamps. That's a 64% reduction in the overall print quantity!

While that still may be more than an adequate printing for the average collector demands, it seems that such a significant reduction in the stamp quantity may be indicative of their being an over-supply of inventory of past years' stamps so the USPS is trying to better match the quantity issued with anticipated sales.

In fact, it is worth noting that this will be the SMALLEST print run of any commemorative stamp issued by the USPS in the past two years ... even below that of the Lady Bird Johnson souvenir sheet of 2012 (which had a print run of 12 million stamps).

While the 2013 Issue of the Civil War Souvenir Sheet (depicting Battles of Vicksburg and Gettysburg) have been illustrated in various publications and on the USPS web site, I don't recall seeing the entire sheet layout until now, so I thought I'd post it:

For whatever it is worth, my Modern Art stamps came in, used a few on bills and such, and they really are HUGE. While I only personally like a few as art, I thought that was really neat. So if anyone wants stamps that barely fit on smaller envelopes, I recommend them.

The latest Postal Bulletin has announced that the quantity of Johnny Cash (Music Icons Series) stamps will be 60 million. Contrast that to the Lydia Mendoza (Music Icons Series) stamps at only 30 million. I suppose it's not that surprising given that Johnny Cash is more well known ... but double the print quantity is still interesting for a new issue from the same series.

It may have been mentioned before, but both of the Music Icons stamp issues (Lydia Mendoza and Johnny Cash) are only available in panes of 16. No single stamp purchases will be allowed.