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

Any indication that any of these stamps will have press sheets without die cuts?

At this time, I can only confirm that Press Sheets w/o die cuts will be available for the Global Forever Wreath Stamp. It is item no. 5870008 priced at $66.00, but is not yet available to purchase on-line. (I assume you can phone in an order though, since it is listed in the latest USA Philatelic.)

The new Postal Bulletin (http://about.usps.com/postal-bullet...welcome.htm) has some more detail about the Harry Potter stamp issue:

Harry Potter (46¢ Forever)
Nov TBD
TBD
PSA Souvenir Booklet of 20 (C)

We still don't know how many different designs there will be, but the fact that it will be a SOUVENIR booklet should mean increased sales figures, shouldn't it? I'm looking forward to it...

A previous post by Rideronthetrain asked about Press Sheets (without die cuts) being available for the Holiday Issues.

We have previously confirmed Press Sheets for the Virgin and Child, Poinsettia, Global Forever Wreath and Holy Family issues.

As published in the Postal Bulletin of 10-17-2013, we now have indication that the Gingerbread Houses Stamps will also be available in Press Sheets without die cuts at $73.60. USPS Order No. 688908. Print Quantity is limited to 2500 Press Sheets without die cuts.

There is also online information at the USPS Store indicating that Press Sheets (without die cuts) will also be available for the Hanukkah Issue at $73.60. USPS Order No. 583008 and is available at this link:

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

Thanks wt1 for the info. I note that only the Kwanzaa stamp still does not have any press sheet info. But perhaps it's inevitable that it will be announced in due course.

As a side note, I've been so disgusted with receiving damaged sheets all the time that I fired off any email to complain. I got an apologetic reply from USPS which recommends that I go with flat shipping. I suppose from now on I'll have to do just that. The extra few bucks are worth it--if only just to avoid the frustration.

The Medal of Honor stamps are now available for pre-order at usps.com. It appears that this issue consists of a folded pane - two stamps on one side, the remaining 18 on the other. I wonder if the side with two stamps will be classified as a souvenir sheet...? Headaches again for collectors...

The uncut press sheets give an idea on how this issue will look like:




Worth noting about the press sheets is that there will be only 7500 individual imperf (double) panes or prestige folios as USPS call them.

Also available are the Gingerbread Houses stamp issues.

I knew about the Medal of Honor stamps being a FOLDED "prestige folio" as that was previously announced in the Postal Bulletin. What is also perplexing is that while the USPS will encourage the collecting of the entire "prestige folio", there are two plate numbers, but only in the LL and LR positions. For those who collect a "plate block" the stamps will always start with the Navy MOH stamp; if you collect the pair on the front of the "prestige folio" the stamps will always start with the Army MOH stamp. While those combinations are probably meaningless, it will be interesting to see just how they are catalog listed.

I didn't see any previous reference to these newly released dimensions for the Medal of Honor Prestige Folio until now:




http://uspsstamps.com/blog/2013/10/25

Some interesting information is now posted in today's (10/31/2013) Postal Bulletin about the remaining 2013 stamp issues.

First, the Harry Potter stamp is on the schedule for November 19, 2013 in Orlando, FL. Little further information is provided and no designs have been released yet either, other than the fact that it will be in a booklet pane format of 20 (and can only be sold as full booklets).

What is a bit unique is that the stamps will be released in "multiple waves". The first "wave" being in time for the First Day of Issue will ONLY be available through Stamp Fulfillment Services who will release a "special automatic distribution to a select group of approx. 3100 "premier" post offices for the first day of issue." The other "wave" will be sometime in December 2013 and no post offices can place orders for the stamp issue until January 2014. (Sounds like a messy distribution plan.)

Previous posts had requested information about the Press Sheet availability for Hanukkah and Kwanzaa Stamps. Confirmed in the 10/31/2013 Postal Bulletin is the fact that Press Sheets will be available for both issues BUT...only in "without die cut" format...and with a reduced Press Sheet printing of only 1000 for each issue. It will be in a 4x2 format ($73.60 per Press Sheet) and the Order Nos. are Hanukkah (583008) and Kwanzaa (585008).

Since both Hanukkah and Kwanzaa stamp issues are limited to only 7 million stamps (350,000 panes), the fact that only 1000 Press Sheets (8000 panes) will be available without die cuts should make these varieties much scarcer than for most new issues.

They look like 'scarce' imperf stamps, but it's actually 160k of each stamp (1k press sheets x 8 panes/press sheet x 20 stamps/pane). Considering individual panes, yes, it's only 8k. But the 2012 Purple Heart Medal had only 6k panes. The next lowest are 10k panes - Modern Art in America and, believe it or not, the Global Forever stamp (issued in Jan). Not much demand for the latter though...

I was able to buy the Medal of Honor stamps today (I could have bought them yesterday) from my local post office. Isn't the first day of issue this Monday? Did I get them earlier than I should or are other post offices selling them early?

Yes, the MOH stamps First Day of Issue is Monday, November 11, 2013 (Veteran's Day) but since post offices are closed that day, it may be that some post offices pulled their inventory out early.

Given what just occurred with the early release of the Hanukkah stamp, I suppose it doesn't much matter anymore. It would, however, be interesting to mail a couple of covers out today in anticipation that it would get a postmark before November 11th, which would make it something of a collectible.

I just noticed that the Arlington Green Bridge stamp isn't on the USPS store anymore.

But you can still buy them on USPS ebay:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/USPS-New-5-...em4ac69edbce

The reason for the "early release" of the 2013 Hanukkah stamp was because in 2013 we celebrated Hanukkah on the evening of November 27th (25th day of Kislev). For some reason,the powers that be, did not realize the Jewish calendar uses a 12-month lunar-solar calendar with an extra month occasionally added in, making holidays fluctuate from year to year. Secular dates follow the Gregorian calendar. It would have been impossible for us to purchase a single stamp had the release date stayed on November 25th. While it caused stamp collectors problems it allowed us to actually purchase and use the stamp on our greeting cards. As a side note, it was first time since 1888, Thanksgiving and Hanukkah converged, marking the first joint celebration of the two holidays aptly named "Thanksgivukkah." Ha-ha. Last year Thanksgiving Day marked the first day of Hanukkah – the eight-day festival that celebrates the rededication during the second century B.C. of the Second Temple in Jerusalem, when Jews revolted against their Greek-Syrian oppressors called the Maccabean Revolt. Since Hanukkah starts on Wednesday at sundown, the second candle will be lit on Turkey Day. The "once-in-a-lifetime" holiday was marked by Jews across America by decorating their homes with turkey menorahs known as "menurkies" and "dreidels" decorated with birds known as "turkels" to commemorate the special event. It was a nice fun way to integrate the two holidays since we're not going to see this happen again for 79,000 years, it's kind of an exciting way for the kids to realize that it's a special occasion for them. The two holidays are similar because we all get together with our families and we're thankful for what we have.