2014 USPS Issues... News? Thoughts? Opinions?

"Completers will need to buy two different sheets"

If you look at the picture of the pane posted by omxfl, and on the USPS web site, you'll see how the 8 designs are arranged and that there's only one arrangement of the stamps within the pane. Why would you presume two pane layouts anyway? There have been previous USPS multiple design issues where not all designs are represented equally within the pane. I can't recall any previous issue that had more than one arrangement of the stamps within the pane, except for the 1993 Christmas contemporary booklet issue where there were two different booklet panes. If there are others, I'd be glad to have my memory jogged.

Linn's Stamp News has just posted the images of the new Wilt Chamberlain "extra tall" stamps to be issued in a pane of 20 on December 5, 2014. The stamps will each be slightly more than 2" tall and one stamp will depict Wilt in his Philadelphia jersey and the other in his LA Lakers jersey.

http://linns.com/news/breaking-stam...ain-unveiled

The Philadelphia Tribune has also posted an in-depth article on the upcoming Wilt Chamberlain stamps, too:

http://www.phillytrib.com/sports/ar...7d893ec.html

Here's an updated list of 2014 Stamps as it appears in the October 2, 2014 issue of the Postal Bulletin. Note in particular the third to the last entry suggesting there will be a (previously unannounced) souvenir mini-sheet of two designs for the Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Stamps:

http://about.usps.com/postal-bullet...info_009.htm

Specs of the USPS Forever re-issue of the new Purple Heart Medal with 2014 date stamp being issued on October 11, 2014:

http://about.usps.com/postal-bullet...info_007.htm

Surprised no one else has picked up about the Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer two design souvenir mini-sheet being issued sometime in November. Odd issue but should be interesting.

Here's an idea of how the oversized Wilt Chamberlain stamp will look on a cover:

I noticed something pretty strange about the marginal markings specs of this issue.

In each of the 9 previous issues, there is a header on the front of the pane. Here, no mention is made of any header; rather, there is to be promotional text on the back. Is this an error?

Did anyone notice this comment contained in the 10/2/2014 Postal Bulletin about the "Stamps By Mail" brochure for the Holiday Season?




http://about.usps.com/postal-bullet...info_005.htm

Another "Oops" for the US Postal Service!

It certainly helps to explain why the Rudolph block of 4 stamps as released in that brochure has prematurely made it to posting here and on other stamp-related sites.

The USPS apparently "goofed again" in releasing the designs early that were "supposed to be" a surprise!

Ironically, the USPS unveiled to Linn's Stamp News a better illustration of all four images of the Rudolph stamps along with the comment that they were unveiled by the USPS "in late September" (accidentally, or so it would seem based on the previous post.):

http://linns.com/news/breaking-stam...udolph-issue

It goes on to suggest that the upcoming Rudolph "souvenir sheet" is "still in development" so no image is available yet.

Seems kind of strange to me that the image of the "souvenir sheet" isn't locked up by now in a product slated for release in little more than a month.

Back to the Wilt Chamberlain stamps, it seems the Postal Bulletin of 10/02/2014 has it wrong. It is NOT going to be a pane of 20 stamps, but rather a pane of 18 stamps, probably necessitated by the "extra tall" dimensions of the stamps.

It has been documented as a pane of 18 in the USPS Stamp Preview website at the link below:

http://uspsstamps.com/stamps/wilt-chamberlain

Was there a 2014 Holiday Baubles booklet reprint issued today (10/03/2014)? Only the USPS knows for sure, as it wasn't announced, but if you read the description at this link it certainly sounds like it is (was):

https://store.usps.com/store/browse...liday-stamps

Why does the USPS have to make it so difficult for collectors to find out about such reprints?

It appears USPS just changed the Holiday Baubles booklet item # from 679604 to 679644. It still shows the 2011 date. Is this truly a reissue or reprint(does not indicate) or a recycle of older stamps quietly taken off sale and brought back?

The Wilt stamps are interesting, but since most people only use stamps on bills these days, if even, and the envelopes included with bills tend to be smaller with windows, the extra-tall stamps may not work well. Still, interesting idea, if a little gimmicky. As for Rudolph, anyone who grew up with that special should enjoy them!

I agree the extra-tall Wilt Chamberlain stamps may not work well for bill paying, etc. Although it would be a disgrace for collectors, I can see those who absolutely insist on using them to use any and all methods to affix them to a smaller-than-usual bill paying envelope, even if that means folding part of the stamp over to the reverse side!

After all, the USPS created them, so they have to be willing to accept them no matter how they are affixed to envelopes.

On the positive end of things, the Wilt Chamberlain stamp is creating quite a bit of media blitz in the sports community. In fact, here's a headline page from the 10/03/2014 Philadelphia Tribune. Although the image is too small to read, the point is when did you ever see a pair of US Stamps make front page headlines before? It makes for good publicity for both sports fans and stamp collectors.