2017 USPS Issues... News? Thoughts? Opinions?

I wonder if the new Flag stamp will be considered a definitive. They certainly seem to be issued on a regular basis.

We'll have to wait and see if the rates for Priority Mail, Priority Express Mail, and/or Global 1st Class change in 2017. If so, there will be new stamps issued for these. To date, USPS had yet not announced their plans for any such increases.

So far, the sharks and WPA posters are the only ones I really like. I collect WPA posters reprinted on postcards, so that's a personal interest.

The rest are pretty blah, although the Chinese New Year stamp is nice.

I agree, the new flag stamp is basically the same old thing. Why do we need it?

Uncle Sam's hat is dumb.

yes, it will

I look forward to the lunar new year stamps every year.
I also am a fan of art, those flower ones may come out good.

New announcement
http://about.usps.com/news/national...pr16_094.htm

Other than as a philatelic revenue stream for the USPS, why do we need or have more than one stamp for each postal rate?

TOO MANY CHOICES. Yes, I'll admit a single design for each rate can be boring, but think of the time and money that could be saved designing, approving, printing, and distributing the stamps. Think of the reduced number of items that local POs would have to carry, inventory, and constantly re-order; more time and money saved. Make all stamps FOREVER stamps; no need to constantly issue new ones unless a completely new rate class appears,

It's no wonder so many collectors have stopped collecting US commemoratives.

Happy Thanksgiving!

For 2017, I am not finding too many stamp designs I really like.

The contemporary Christmas ones look especially dull.

would sure make collecting us easier

I thought those "Have a Ball" stamps were Forever International stamps and about freaked.

(Or... are they really? That's excessive.) Not to mention that's about the strangest view of a football I've ever seen.

A collector can only take so much before he/she starts to feel 'taken'. It's about gotten to that point now. But I guess no one's forcing us to collect what we don't want.

rather ugly isn't it?

Well, Linn's reports 40 more very necessary designs added to the line-up. Most of it looks like true wallpaper, especially since we do not have denominations printed on these stickers.

Peter

I always thought the idea behind forever stamps was that they could reduce the number of issues since "older" ones never age out. The clerks would sell whatever commemoratives were on hand, and when the general supply got low, it would be time to issue new ones. Boy was I wrong

I think the reason behind forever stamps is to reduce the usage of "make up" stamps (1 cent, 2 cent.. etc.). I believe USPS the cost of printing / processing / selling the 1 cent stamp is higher than the face value.

Stamp Announcement 17-01: Year of the Rooster Stamp



On January 5, 2017, in Seattle, WA, the U.S. Postal Service® will issue the Year of the Rooster First-Class Mail® stamp (Forever® priced at 47 cents), in one design, in a pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) pane of 12 stamps (Item 552000). The Year of the Rooster $5.64 pane of 12 stamps may not be split, and the stamps may not be sold individually.

The stamp will go on sale nationwide January 5, 2017.
The Year of the Rooster stamp is the tenth of 12 stamps in the Celebrating Lunar New Year series. The Year of the Rooster begins on January 28, 2017, and ends on February 15, 2018. The stamp art depicts a rooster emblazoned on a red envelope (hongbao). Parents present red envelopes containing money to children and loved ones during Lunar New Year celebrations. The color red symbolizes luck in Chinese culture, while rooster imagery is often used to ward off evil spirits. The characters at the top of the envelope form a common Chinese greeting of celebration and wish for prosperity and good fortune, used most frequently during Lunar New Year. Artist Kam Mak created this original painting. Art director and stamp designer Ethel Kessler incorporated elements from the previous series of Lunar New Year stamps — Clarence Lee's intricate cut-paper design of a rooster and the Chinese character for "rooster," drawn in grass-style calligraphy by Lau Bun — to create continuity between the stamps in the series.

Initial Supply to Post Offices: Item 552000, $5.64 Lunar New Year: Year of the Rooster (Forever priced at 47 cents) Commemorative PSA Pane of 12 Stamps

Stamp Fulfillment Services will make an automatic push distribution to Post Offices™ of a quantity to cover approximately 30 days of sales. Distribution quantities for the automatic push distribution are available by logging on to SFS Web at https://sfsweb.usps.gov. Post Offices may begin ordering stamps on the FDOI through SFS Web. However, offices should check the website noted above to determine the amount they will receive on their automatic push distribution.

Special Dedication Postmarks

Only the following pictorial postmark is permitted for the Year of the Rooster stamp. The word "Station" or the abbreviation "STA" is required somewhere in the design, because it will be a temporary station.
Guidelines for Finalizing Year of the Rooster Stamp Pictorial Postmark Art






To finalize the Year of the Rooster stamp pictorial postmark art, insert the date, city, state, and ZIP Code™ of the physical location of your event adjacent to the stamp image. Overall dimensions of the pictorial postmark must not exceed 4 inches horizontally by 2 inches vertically. Collectors prefer the dimensions 3-1/2 inches by 1.
The Postal Service™ must make all special postmarks known to collectors through advance publicity in the Postal Bulletin. Therefore, all special dedication cancellations must be reported to Stamp Services four weeks before the event using PS Form 413, Pictorial Postmark Announcement/Report. To get a copy of the form, go to http://blue.usps.gov/formmgmt/forms/ps413.pdf.

How to Order the First-Day-of-Issue Postmark

Customers have 60 days to obtain the first-day-of-issue postmark by mail. They may purchase new stamps at their local Post Office, at The Postal Store® website at http://usps.com/shop, or by calling 800-782-6724. They should affix the stamps to envelopes of their choice, address the envelopes (to themselves or others), and place them in a larger envelope addressed to:

Year of the Rooster
Stamp Fulfillment Services
Cancellation Services
8300 NE Underground Drive, Pillar 210
Kansas City, MO 64144-9998

After applying the first-day-of-issue postmark, the Postal Service will return the envelopes through the mail. There is no charge for the postmark up to a quantity of 50. There is a 5-cent charge for each additional postmark over 50. All orders must be postmarked by March 5, 2017.

How to Order First-Day Covers

The Postal Service also offers first-day covers for new stamp issues and Postal Service stationery items postmarked with the official first-day-of-issue cancellation. Each item has an individual catalog number and is offered in the quarterly USA Philatelic catalog, online at http://usps.com/shop, or by calling 800-782-6724. Customers may request a free catalog by calling 800-782-6724 or writing to:

U.S. Postal Service
Catalog Request
PO Box 219014
Kansas City, MO 64121-9014
Philatelic Products

There are eight philatelic products for this stamp issue:
552006, Press Sheet with Die-cut, $33.84.
552010*, Digital Color Postmark Keepsake (2 panes), $12.95.
552016*, First-Day Cover, $0.91.
552018*, First-Day Cover Full Pane, $8.14.
552019*, Cancelled Full Pane, $8.14.
552021*, Digital Color Postmark, $1.62.
552024*, Framed Art, $39.95.
552030*, Ceremony Program, $6.95.

Items with an asterisk (*) will use the 128 barcode from Stamp Fulfillment Services. All other philatelic products will continue to use barcode series A, with the exception of the Yearbook and the Guide Book.

Issue: Year of the Rooster Stamp
Item Number: 552000
Denomination & Type of Issue: First-Class Mail Forever
Format: Pane of 12 (1 design)
Series: Celebrating Lunar New Year
Issue Date & City: January 5, 2017, Seattle, WA 98134
Designer: Ethel Kessler, Bethesda, MD
Art Director: Ethel Kessler, Bethesda, MD
Typographer: Ethel Kessler, Bethesda, MD
Artist: Kam Mak, Brooklyn, NY
Modeler: Sandra Lane/Michelle Finn
Manufacturing Process: Offset, Microprint
Printer: Banknote Corporation of America
Printed at: Browns Summit, NC
Press Type: Alprinta 74
Stamps per Pane: 12
Print Quantity: 15 million stamps
Paper Type: Phosphor Tagged Paper, Block
Adhesive Type: Pressure-sensitive
Processed at: Banknote Corporation of America, Browns Summit SC
Colors: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black, PMS 872/Gold
Stamp Orientation: Horizontal
Image Area (w x h): 1.42 x 0.84 in./36.07 x 21.34 mm
Overall Size (w x h): 1.56 x 0.98 in./39.62 x 24.89 mm
Full Pane Size (w x h): 7.24 x 5.92 in./183.90 x 150.37 mm
Press Sheets Size (w x h): 21.97 x 11.97 in./ 558.04 x 303.91 mm
Plate Size: 144 stamps per revolution
Plate Numbers: N/A
Marginal Markings:
Back: © 2016 USPS • USPS logo • Barcode (552000) • Promotional text • Verso: Celebrating Lunar New Year text

It seems the press sheet w/o die cut will disappear for a while.