The Return Of The Imperf Press Sheets

The Garden Beauty and Colorado Hairstreak Butterfly are not expected to appear imperf, not sure about the Espresso Drinks.

Has anyone heard anything about upcoming imperf press sheets? I can't find any mention in the current Postal Bulletin.

The Postal Bulletin used to list the order numbers and quantities of both die cut and imperf press sheets when available but stopped doing that a few years ago. IMHO this should not be allowed as artificial rarity is being created by the USPS and/or assumed by buyers in the information vacuum.

I've heard that the way to tell if there will be a press sheet for a given issue is to see if they list press sheet dimensions in the technical specifications grid, but there have been a couple of occasions where that didn't hold true. And that also doesn't tell you if both types will be available.

I have heard that there will be press sheets for commemorative issues only. I think there is also a possibility that the complete lack of information about the WU imperf issue and instant sellout, might make the USPS reconsider not issuing them any longer. Looking forward to a new Philatelic Catalogue or some information in the postal bulletin or Linn's.

Well USPS said they were resuming the program, resumed it, then 4 issues are gone in a blink, and now the program is uncertain again! One would have hoped the collector gripes about the first round would have been resolved. I placed my order upon receiving the printed catalog and said even damaged/returned sheets would be accepted if sold out.

USPS sent me a form saying the sheets are "ALL ITEMS OFF SALE" dated 3/2/21. Is this standard terminology for sold out items, or were they really again removed from sale? I'm aware they were gone within a day or two again and the Wu sheet was not even offered online, but is listed in the printed catalog.

Here are two related articles of interest.

https://www.linns.com/news/us-stamp...out-die-cuts

https://www.linns.com/news/us-stamp...days-or-less

My guess is they will all end up with Mystic, Gitner, Nalbandian, Malack, etc.

USPS really should have put a purchase limit on these.

i agree completely that they should limit the sale of these to 2 or 3 per person and keep track that no additional orders for a period of time. If say, after 3 weeks there are still sheets available, then they can allow additional purchases.

It really is amazing that the USPS would dive in to the press sheets again without considering all the problems with press sheets between 2012 and 2015. Obviously the people in charge of this program have no clue as to the fiasco they again created.

Money....some exec looking to boost their metrics.

new USA Philatelic catalog dated April 15 is now listed on the USPS site. The next press sheet without die cuts looks like the star wars May 4th issue with no pre-orders of the No Die Cut press sheets and also a limit of 5 per order. I wonder how many they printed?

That Star Wars sheet looks really nice from a layout and design perspective. Do they typically go on sale at midnight if there is no preorder? I like the Sun sheet too.

Do people typically just leave them in the rolls, and is coiling/uncoiling a long term concern?

most in rolls. not sure when they go on sale as I missed out on the Chien-shen Wu sheet. depending on the print quantity, when they limit the sale quantities they usually are well distributed and not so HOT! depends on a lot of factors.

IF the USPS is not selling 'em through post offices, I will view them as Cinderellas even though they can be used as postage.

Uhh.... what? That stipulation makes no sense.

There are a lot of stamps that don't get sold through post offices. Additionally, it can vary greatly by PO branch or city. For example, the lenticular bunny/magic sheet was never sold in my area at post offices. It could only be gotten online.

One of the reasons that the 10 cent coil Prexie is so scarce on cover is that practically no post offices carried it. That is just one example of an old story.

In the case of press sheets, there would be a very limited audience, They are high face value so security is a factor despite it likely does not cost much to produce and difficult to store. They are a pure collectible in the same way as commutative proof coins.