US Circus Themed Sheetlet Only Available In Stamp Yearbook

Many countries in the past have handled some of their Souvenir sheetlets in the same manner without being affixed to an envelope- may affect the value in a positive manner - a used stamp with a "First Day of Issue" cancel with full adhesive on back- no need to soak and possibly ruin sheetlet. I am sure they did not think it thru calling it a FDC, as you state wt1, instead of FDI. Personally I like this better for this particular souvenir sheetlet and would consider putting this in my Scott National Album and saving $60

I know you're right, but to pay the USPS $4.50 for one ($2 in postage + $2.50 extra for the FDOI postmark) is what I question.

Think of it this way: You can buy a Press Sheet containing 12 "Souvenir Sheets" for $24, break them apart and submit them for FDOI cancels for "free". So why pay an extra $2.50 apiece for the privilege of having the USPS provide one from their stock?

Of course, if a private collector only wants one example of a FDOI cancel versus a dozen, it will affect the bottom line costs, as will postage and handling charges, etc., so I guess there's reason enough for the USPS to offer it the way they are intending to do.

It still seems a bit "weird", but then this entire Souvenir Sheet offering is a bit "weird" as there is really no valid reason to offer the stamps in the denominations shown on the Souvenir Sheet to begin with.

We are just stamp collectors.

Just got off the phone with the USPS after ordering my press sheets, preordered for Dec. 10 delivery (the stamp's release date). I bought them to use on outgoing philatelic parcels. I figure people will like to receive these souvenir sheets on legitimate mail.

Where do I find the order information? Is on-line ordering available?

Order information is found under "Philatelic Products" at this link:

http://about.usps.com/postal-bullet...info_008.htm

It is not yet posted for pre-order sales via the Postal Store, allegedly because all uploads to USPS computer systems were suspended over the past weekend because of the publicized security breach and since today (11/11/2014) was Veteran's Day and the USPS was closed, presumably the posting has been further delayed.

However, you should be able to place a telephone order in the morning (11/12/2014) for the items via 1-800-STAMP-24 using the order numbers recited in the above link.

Thanks wt1

Although the Press Sheet is not (yet) offered online, the Postal Store has just posted the link for online orders of the first day cover for the Circus Souvenir Sheet at $4.50. Note the incredibly large oversized cover it will be mounted on ... 6" x 9.5"!

https://store.usps.com/store/browse...t-day-covers

The Circus Poster Souvenir Sheet Press Sheet is now posted on the USPS Postal Store for purchase:

https://store.usps.com/store/browse...press-sheets

It appears from the above USPS site, the Circus press sheet image, the stamps are die cut and the frame is NOT die cut. I understood it was suppose to be to the opposite. If this is so, it seems USPS actually wants the press sheet stamps to be used or they are trying somewhat to appease us or both?

I believe the USPS has just poorly applied a stock image for these products. The description included in the Press Sheet link clearly states:

According to Linn's today:

http://www.linns.com/news/us-stamps...-press-sheet

"Banknote Corporation of America, for Sennett Security Products, produced a total of 900,000 stamps, or 300,000 souvenir sheets.

A large part of that production quantity includes the souvenir sheets produced as press sheets."

That's not a real big press run, is it? I'm not sure how that compares with other releases, but 300K seems like a low number. Also, the same article mentioned 10,000 press sheets, for a total of 120K mini-sheets, which would imply 180K for the fully die-cut one in the yearbook. 180K and 120K doesn't seem like much, especially when you start thinking about a global market for these things. Isn't it fairly likely that this sheet goes up in value over the next few years? I know it'll never be worth hundreds of dollars, but I would think that with a quantity that low that these will at least sell at a multiple over face before too long. No, I'm not suggesting buying 1000 of them in the hopes of getting rich quick, just that it's unlikely these things will ever get any cheaper than right now.

I think your numbers might be a bit skewed, as one must consider that the USPS is offering a FDC (without die cuts around stamps, just around the souvenir sheet) that will take a chunk out of the numbers you recited.

I also find it hard to believe that 180K of the fully die cut souvenir sheets will wind up sold through the Yearbook. I don't think the USPS sales will hit anything near that figure since the Yearbook costs $64.95 which may be out of reach for most casual collectors.

Of course, that's only my opinion.

I'm sure you're right, WT1. I really have no idea how many FDCs they'll sell, but that does reduce the number of mint copies that will be available. Plus I'm sure some will get used as postage - I fully intend on buying a press sheet to use on mail.