Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
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I'm at least looking forward to the USPS Star Wars Droids stamps. I don't get the point of the Mystery Message stamp.
Josh
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The USPS Board of Governors is populated by political appointees who wish to destroy the agency and give its business to campaign donors. Intentional or not, stupid stamp issues are one more step in that direction.
Because Trump was too lazy to appoint new governors, President Biden has the chance to fill the Board with enough non-corporate people to tilt the balance and get rid of PMG DeJoyless.
Meanwhile, we're left to ignore Star Wars, Expresso Drink, Mystery Message and Western Wear!
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I do not think anything related to the Board of Governors and Postmaster General will affect the stamp subject policies. Nor will sales from stamps to collectors solve the USPS's fiscal challenges.
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I'll say it again -
Unless a postal rate changes, there is no need for a new stamp.
That was the logic behind the FOREVER stamps. The postal rate (and therefore the purchase cost) could increase as needed, but the existing stamp(s) would still be good irregardless.
Yes, I'll admit - "Logic" and "USPS" often appear to be mutually exclusive.
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Ya know times are a changing!
There was a time when our stamps were issued to important standards, subjects that would stand the test of time. Patriotic themes, American History and propaganda for the world to see! And in retrospect, quite a bit stodgy.
In the same way we no longer wear a suit and tie to fly on a plane or walk on the boardwalk down the shore, people are a lot less formal today. And a lot less educated on history! And most just plain don't notice much!
A few years ago we thought it would be fun to send out our Christmas cards from a town that had the same name as ours! We drove 40 minutes, watched the clerk carefully handstamp each card and waited... nothing! Nobody noticed! In the end not a single recipient even looked at the envelope! We didn't make it an annual tradition!
I do notice that the current brand of irrelevant stamps are accepted and even liked by people in general. I was on line at the post office once and the lady in front of me chose to buy the book of stamps with ice cream on them because she thought they looked nice.
As a car fan, I see a lot of the mail I get from fellow car guys have the car theme stamps that have been issued lately. One guy I know even bought $100 worth of the Hot Wheels stamps so he wouldn't run out. And several of them admitted to putting away a few examples. That's how people start collecting stamps.
So I'm willing to accept that I'm just an ancient relic of a time that's past.
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Yogi Berra!
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Joe,
for the record, Trump appointed all the Board's Governors to which he was entitled.
It was Obama who didn't appoint any; he nominated 7; and 7 were approved out of committee; and there they sat, none of the 7 were ever brought to the floor of the Senate for a vote.
David
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For the record as of January 29,2021 there are 11 members of the Citizen's Stamp Advisory
Committee. 1. Gail Anderson (appointed:2013); 2. Peter Argentine (appointed:2014); 3.
B.J. Bueno-chairman (appointed:2012); 4. Dr. Cheryl R. Ganz (appointed:2014); 5. Donna D. Verona (appointed:2007); 6. Harry Rinker (appointed: 2012); 7.Maruchi Santana (appointed:2012); 8. Katherine C. Tobin, Ph.D.(appointed:2013); 9. Janet Klug (appointed:2010); 10. Carolyn Lewis (appointed:2014); 11. Justin Bua (appointed: 2014).1 appointment by President George W. Bush and 10 appointments by President Obama.
source for this message: Wikipedia.
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The USPS web site says the following are members. Janet Klug is not a member now.
https://about.usps.com/who/csac/#members
Gail Anderson
Peter Argentine
B. J. Bueno, Chair
Dr. Kevin Butterfield
Ivan Cash
Spencer Crew
Dr. Cheryl R. Ganz
Mike Harrity
Dr. Joseph L. Kelley
Roger R. Ream
Harry Rinker
Maruchi Santana
Katherine C. Tobin, Ph.D.
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Apparently, I'm not the only one that hates him.
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actually, I went to U.S.P.S first. however, I couldn't find anywhere that Dr. Kevin Butterfield,Dr. Joseph L. Kelley and Roger R. Ream are members of the CSAC; so I went to Wikipedia. Further investigation shows that Ivan Cash, Spencer Crew & Mike Harrity were appointed to the CSAC in 2018. Janet Klug retired from the committee in 2019. also further searching
found the Wikipedia had the name "Donna D. Verona" wrong . It is actually Donna de Varona
and as far as I can determine she is still on the committee (BTW: she is a former Olympic swimming star).
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Crappy stamps are not a U.S. specialty, far from. It is a world pandemia! That's why beyond 1990ish stamps are of no interest for me.
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Just read an interesting academic review of what the author called “stamp pandering” to explain sovereign nations issuing stamps unrelated to their country’s history, ideals, etc. Three most popular worldwide are Elvis, Princess Diana, Disney.
Interestingly this was correlated with other specious revenue generators: money laundering (high correlation) and tax havens (statistically significant high correlation). Not surprised to see Equatorial Guinea, et al - but gob-smacked at the inclusion of USA.
Read another article pointing to USA as increasingly a tax haven, which is odd to me with all the companies going offshore to avoid US taxes.
So maybe this discussion adds anecdotal “evidence” to the academic treatises.
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I started collecting coins and stamps in 1948. I quit stamps in 2002 when it got to the point that USPS was generating wallpaper rather than postage stamps. I have recently quit coins for a similar reason. The US Mint was manufacturing ballast. Too many new coins and new stamps. Most stamps can't be sold for 50 cents on the dollar. Most sets of any coins from the mint are not worth what a person paid the mint when they were issued. I'm not done with my collecting, but, I am done with USPS and the US Mint.
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I kind of like the new $1 stamp.
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....although, not that new - 2018.
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Well I see that all of these crappy stamps are going up in price. Effective on August 29, the first class rate will go from 55 cents to 58 cents. Other rates such as post cards and international will also increase.
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The last straw. That's it. I'm done. Crappy "Day of the Dead" stamps & crappy "message monster" stamps that look like they were designed by a 5 year old. I'm quitting U.S. collecting at 2020. And yes, there are few other crappy stamps from other countries, generally GB & Canada have nice issues. 
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Don't forget the Happy Birthday stamp.
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My interest starting dropping with all issues being self-adhesive and lost complete interest 3 years ago although my Dad was giving me new US issues as my Christmas gift.
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I do not know - I really like the Star Wars Droids and Heritage Breeds stamps.
Josh
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I checked the new issues and I found a couple I liked:
1. I actually think the message monsters are cute and I'm going to go get a set and frame them. I did this with the "Stamping for the Future" set a number of years back and I think it will make a nice addition to the wall.
2. The Sun Science Forever stamps are striking images of the sun.
3. The Star Wars Droid stamps were well done.
4. The Castillo de San Marcos Priority stamp is interesting.
Big misses for me:
--I thought backyard games was a great idea with really crappy artwork.
--Western wear the same--interesting colors but crappy artwork except the boots (I kind of like those).
--I wanted to like the Heritage breeds stamps, I wish there was something that would have tied the stamps together to make a well designed sheet.
--Tapdancing--again just some crappy artwork/photos that could have been so much better.
I don't even want to comment on the holiday stamps, they were all horrible in my opinion. The others were just meh.
It's frustrating because this is 2021 and we have so many talented artists, awesome technology, even some interesting concepts--and this is the dreck they come up with. I know nothing about art and even I can see it's a load of crap.
Jackie
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I looked for the "Heritage Breeds" several weeks ago, and the USPS had discontinued
them. So soon!
Guess a lot of people thought they were "crappy." I loved many of them.
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It's like everything else... we're all old and like traditional things!
Back in the mid 1960s, I remember old collectors (now long dead) complaining that the 1966 stamp designs were a travesty and looked like sticker book seals! They preferred the finely engraved one color 3 cent commemoratives of the 1940s and 1950s.
Now as a kid, I thought the stamps like the #1307 Humane Society stamp (with the dog) and the 1309 Circus stamp (with the clown) were just dandy... in fact I still do! That was the art style of that era.
Moving forward as I became one of the complaining old guys, I thought the modern stamp issues were silly. Then I got a dose of the general public... who stamps are designed to appeal to... for instance the booklet of ice cream cones... I was behind a lady on line at the post office who was happy to take those. She liked them!
I had a problem with the Jimmy Hendrix and Janis Joplin stamps.. I called it the "Overdose Series", people who died young because they irresponsibly ODed on drugs. I would have discounted their appearance on stamps because of just that. But noncollector friends of mine think those stamps are absolutely cool!
And when I get mail from my model car friends, many of them have bought the recent car issues, and I saw a lot of those Hot Wheels car stamps on my last show vendor returns!
And so it goes!
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re: More crappy stamps issued for 2021.
I'm at least looking forward to the USPS Star Wars Droids stamps. I don't get the point of the Mystery Message stamp.
Josh
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Well, at least I got to have a haircut in the Penny Lane barber shop.
11 Feb 2021
11:42:43am
re: More crappy stamps issued for 2021.
The USPS Board of Governors is populated by political appointees who wish to destroy the agency and give its business to campaign donors. Intentional or not, stupid stamp issues are one more step in that direction.
Because Trump was too lazy to appoint new governors, President Biden has the chance to fill the Board with enough non-corporate people to tilt the balance and get rid of PMG DeJoyless.
Meanwhile, we're left to ignore Star Wars, Expresso Drink, Mystery Message and Western Wear!
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re: More crappy stamps issued for 2021.
I do not think anything related to the Board of Governors and Postmaster General will affect the stamp subject policies. Nor will sales from stamps to collectors solve the USPS's fiscal challenges.
Login to Like
this post
12:17:34pm
re: More crappy stamps issued for 2021.
I'll say it again -
Unless a postal rate changes, there is no need for a new stamp.
That was the logic behind the FOREVER stamps. The postal rate (and therefore the purchase cost) could increase as needed, but the existing stamp(s) would still be good irregardless.
Yes, I'll admit - "Logic" and "USPS" often appear to be mutually exclusive.
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re: More crappy stamps issued for 2021.
Ya know times are a changing!
There was a time when our stamps were issued to important standards, subjects that would stand the test of time. Patriotic themes, American History and propaganda for the world to see! And in retrospect, quite a bit stodgy.
In the same way we no longer wear a suit and tie to fly on a plane or walk on the boardwalk down the shore, people are a lot less formal today. And a lot less educated on history! And most just plain don't notice much!
A few years ago we thought it would be fun to send out our Christmas cards from a town that had the same name as ours! We drove 40 minutes, watched the clerk carefully handstamp each card and waited... nothing! Nobody noticed! In the end not a single recipient even looked at the envelope! We didn't make it an annual tradition!
I do notice that the current brand of irrelevant stamps are accepted and even liked by people in general. I was on line at the post office once and the lady in front of me chose to buy the book of stamps with ice cream on them because she thought they looked nice.
As a car fan, I see a lot of the mail I get from fellow car guys have the car theme stamps that have been issued lately. One guy I know even bought $100 worth of the Hot Wheels stamps so he wouldn't run out. And several of them admitted to putting away a few examples. That's how people start collecting stamps.
So I'm willing to accept that I'm just an ancient relic of a time that's past.
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02:23:40pm
re: More crappy stamps issued for 2021.
Yogi Berra!
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re: More crappy stamps issued for 2021.
Joe,
for the record, Trump appointed all the Board's Governors to which he was entitled.
It was Obama who didn't appoint any; he nominated 7; and 7 were approved out of committee; and there they sat, none of the 7 were ever brought to the floor of the Senate for a vote.
David
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Auctions - Approvals
re: More crappy stamps issued for 2021.
For the record as of January 29,2021 there are 11 members of the Citizen's Stamp Advisory
Committee. 1. Gail Anderson (appointed:2013); 2. Peter Argentine (appointed:2014); 3.
B.J. Bueno-chairman (appointed:2012); 4. Dr. Cheryl R. Ganz (appointed:2014); 5. Donna D. Verona (appointed:2007); 6. Harry Rinker (appointed: 2012); 7.Maruchi Santana (appointed:2012); 8. Katherine C. Tobin, Ph.D.(appointed:2013); 9. Janet Klug (appointed:2010); 10. Carolyn Lewis (appointed:2014); 11. Justin Bua (appointed: 2014).1 appointment by President George W. Bush and 10 appointments by President Obama.
source for this message: Wikipedia.
Login to Like
this post
re: More crappy stamps issued for 2021.
The USPS web site says the following are members. Janet Klug is not a member now.
https://about.usps.com/who/csac/#members
Gail Anderson
Peter Argentine
B. J. Bueno, Chair
Dr. Kevin Butterfield
Ivan Cash
Spencer Crew
Dr. Cheryl R. Ganz
Mike Harrity
Dr. Joseph L. Kelley
Roger R. Ream
Harry Rinker
Maruchi Santana
Katherine C. Tobin, Ph.D.
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this post
re: More crappy stamps issued for 2021.
Apparently, I'm not the only one that hates him.
3 Members
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Auctions - Approvals
re: More crappy stamps issued for 2021.
actually, I went to U.S.P.S first. however, I couldn't find anywhere that Dr. Kevin Butterfield,Dr. Joseph L. Kelley and Roger R. Ream are members of the CSAC; so I went to Wikipedia. Further investigation shows that Ivan Cash, Spencer Crew & Mike Harrity were appointed to the CSAC in 2018. Janet Klug retired from the committee in 2019. also further searching
found the Wikipedia had the name "Donna D. Verona" wrong . It is actually Donna de Varona
and as far as I can determine she is still on the committee (BTW: she is a former Olympic swimming star).
Login to Like
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08:39:10am
re: More crappy stamps issued for 2021.
Crappy stamps are not a U.S. specialty, far from. It is a world pandemia! That's why beyond 1990ish stamps are of no interest for me.
3 Members
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Login to Like.
10:01:59am
re: More crappy stamps issued for 2021.
Just read an interesting academic review of what the author called “stamp pandering” to explain sovereign nations issuing stamps unrelated to their country’s history, ideals, etc. Three most popular worldwide are Elvis, Princess Diana, Disney.
Interestingly this was correlated with other specious revenue generators: money laundering (high correlation) and tax havens (statistically significant high correlation). Not surprised to see Equatorial Guinea, et al - but gob-smacked at the inclusion of USA.
Read another article pointing to USA as increasingly a tax haven, which is odd to me with all the companies going offshore to avoid US taxes.
So maybe this discussion adds anecdotal “evidence” to the academic treatises.
2 Members
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Login to Like.
07:34:25pm
re: More crappy stamps issued for 2021.
I started collecting coins and stamps in 1948. I quit stamps in 2002 when it got to the point that USPS was generating wallpaper rather than postage stamps. I have recently quit coins for a similar reason. The US Mint was manufacturing ballast. Too many new coins and new stamps. Most stamps can't be sold for 50 cents on the dollar. Most sets of any coins from the mint are not worth what a person paid the mint when they were issued. I'm not done with my collecting, but, I am done with USPS and the US Mint.
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re: More crappy stamps issued for 2021.
I kind of like the new $1 stamp.
4 Members
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re: More crappy stamps issued for 2021.
....although, not that new - 2018.
Login to Like
this post
re: More crappy stamps issued for 2021.
Well I see that all of these crappy stamps are going up in price. Effective on August 29, the first class rate will go from 55 cents to 58 cents. Other rates such as post cards and international will also increase.
Login to Like
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Auctions - Approvals
re: More crappy stamps issued for 2021.
The last straw. That's it. I'm done. Crappy "Day of the Dead" stamps & crappy "message monster" stamps that look like they were designed by a 5 year old. I'm quitting U.S. collecting at 2020. And yes, there are few other crappy stamps from other countries, generally GB & Canada have nice issues.
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09:31:58pm
re: More crappy stamps issued for 2021.
Don't forget the Happy Birthday stamp.
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re: More crappy stamps issued for 2021.
My interest starting dropping with all issues being self-adhesive and lost complete interest 3 years ago although my Dad was giving me new US issues as my Christmas gift.
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re: More crappy stamps issued for 2021.
I do not know - I really like the Star Wars Droids and Heritage Breeds stamps.
Josh
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03:17:11pm
re: More crappy stamps issued for 2021.
I checked the new issues and I found a couple I liked:
1. I actually think the message monsters are cute and I'm going to go get a set and frame them. I did this with the "Stamping for the Future" set a number of years back and I think it will make a nice addition to the wall.
2. The Sun Science Forever stamps are striking images of the sun.
3. The Star Wars Droid stamps were well done.
4. The Castillo de San Marcos Priority stamp is interesting.
Big misses for me:
--I thought backyard games was a great idea with really crappy artwork.
--Western wear the same--interesting colors but crappy artwork except the boots (I kind of like those).
--I wanted to like the Heritage breeds stamps, I wish there was something that would have tied the stamps together to make a well designed sheet.
--Tapdancing--again just some crappy artwork/photos that could have been so much better.
I don't even want to comment on the holiday stamps, they were all horrible in my opinion. The others were just meh.
It's frustrating because this is 2021 and we have so many talented artists, awesome technology, even some interesting concepts--and this is the dreck they come up with. I know nothing about art and even I can see it's a load of crap.
Jackie
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02:47:32pm
re: More crappy stamps issued for 2021.
I looked for the "Heritage Breeds" several weeks ago, and the USPS had discontinued
them. So soon!
Guess a lot of people thought they were "crappy." I loved many of them.
Login to Like
this post
re: More crappy stamps issued for 2021.
It's like everything else... we're all old and like traditional things!
Back in the mid 1960s, I remember old collectors (now long dead) complaining that the 1966 stamp designs were a travesty and looked like sticker book seals! They preferred the finely engraved one color 3 cent commemoratives of the 1940s and 1950s.
Now as a kid, I thought the stamps like the #1307 Humane Society stamp (with the dog) and the 1309 Circus stamp (with the clown) were just dandy... in fact I still do! That was the art style of that era.
Moving forward as I became one of the complaining old guys, I thought the modern stamp issues were silly. Then I got a dose of the general public... who stamps are designed to appeal to... for instance the booklet of ice cream cones... I was behind a lady on line at the post office who was happy to take those. She liked them!
I had a problem with the Jimmy Hendrix and Janis Joplin stamps.. I called it the "Overdose Series", people who died young because they irresponsibly ODed on drugs. I would have discounted their appearance on stamps because of just that. But noncollector friends of mine think those stamps are absolutely cool!
And when I get mail from my model car friends, many of them have bought the recent car issues, and I saw a lot of those Hot Wheels car stamps on my last show vendor returns!
And so it goes!
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