APS StampShow 2012

The APS StampShow was in Sacramento this past weekend, and I was there for both Saturday and Sunday.  On Saturday, I arrived at 8am for the SIP General meeting.  I was disappointed with the lack of attendees.  Off hand, I think there were fewer than a dozen people  in the room.  It was nice meeting witht he few people who attended, but I think only one of the other attendees would be considered a local (from Davis), the others all flew in for the show.  I did suggest we try and meet using some of the online meeting tools that are so prevalent now, so let's see if that happens.  After the meeting ended, i went downstairs and registered for the show.  The lines were long, and the volunteers were not very efficient, so it took about 30 minutes to drop off my registration form and get a badge (not sure why it took so long).

After that, I took a quick trip home to pick up the kids.  They both wanted to attend the stamp show, and were driving Mindy crazy asking when they could go.  We got back to the show around 1:30, and spent the next 3 hours in the youth area, the buckets of stamps area, and walking around seeing what else was at the show.  We visited the cachet makers bourse, where I tried to convince Julie to see what it takes to put her artistic talents to use making cachets.  After purchasing a few special covers for the girls, we wandered around the show a bit, but I couldn't really look at much since the kids were there.  I did manage to see the 3 auctions that were at the show, and was able to inspect the lots I was interested in.

We left the show around 4:30, and headed home.  The kids had bags of stamps (and other goodies) that they got at the show.  I needed to go back on Sunday to look by myself.

I got a late start on Sunday, showing up around 1pm.  I was able to find 1 special cancel I needed in a box of Israel covers at a random booth.  I spent some time chatting with Ed Rosen at his House of Zion booth, and was able to actually sell him some stuff.  I stopped at the IGPC booth to see the Israel items they were selling.  Unfortunately, the Israel sales booth was staffed by a guy selling Norway stuff, and he didn't know anything about Israel stamps, but I was able to look through the stock they had sent with him to find a sheet I needed.

I went tot he Harmer auction and found that I had won a lot of about 700 Israel first flight covers in the auction the night before, so I was able to pick that up instead of paying for shipping on it.  I now have a bunch of work to do to figure out what I have in the box, and more importantly, what is missing.  Most dealers were packing up by 3pm, so I bid the show good bye and headed back home.

Not sure when the next big show I will get to is.  Maybe AmeriStamp expo in NY?  That is in 2016, so it is a bit far away, but who knows.

Stampshow anyone?

This year, the annual APS Stampshow happens to be in Sacramento, CA.  Since this is about a 30 minute ride from my house, I plan on attending.  Saturday, there is a general membership meeting of the SIP at the show as well.  Anyone else planning on attending?

New low for press sheet

With the third press sheet from Israel just starting to show up on E-bay, I was surprised to see the 2nd sheet (Children's Games) show up on E-bay with a buy it now price of only $93 with shipping of $4.  The price direct from the philatelic service was $88 including shipping, so this listing represents less than a 10% premium over the new issue price.  The previous low price for this sheet I had seen advertised was $125.  Lets hope the philatelic service sees the writing on the wall, and stops releasing these.

Early start for 2013?

In the June 2012 bulletin distributed to subscribers, the philatelic service is offering a 24 page prestige booklet for the upcoming Tel Aviv 2013 International Stamp Exhibition.  This features the birds of Israel.  The price is shown as 49 NIS (about $12).  I placed an order for one, but it is unclear to me if they will be sent soon, or only after the show.  Time will tell.

New press sheet

This month, Israel will release its third uncut press sheet.  this one is for the "Renaissance of Jewish Seamanship" issue from April.  The announcement indicates a limited edition of 1,500 sheets, with the sheet available direct from the philatelic service for $88 (including $6 in postage).  This is 501 more than were offered for the first press sheet.  I don't recall how many of the second sheet were offered, but while the first press sheet sold out quickly and the price sky rocketed on the secondary market, the second sheet fizzled, with sheets being offered at less than 50% over the new issue price just a few weeks after distribution.  The bulletin makes no mention of whether this sheet will be imperf like the first two.  The picture seems to show perforations, so perhaps it will come with perforations this time.

Trip to House of Zion

I had to travel to Santa Clara California for 4 days of meetings last week. I have been going to Santa Clara pretty regularly for work, but usually it is a quick day trip on the company shuttle. This is the first time that I have had to spend overnight, let alone 3 nights. Knowing that Ed Rosen's House of Zion is based out of Redwood City, about 20 minutes up 101 from Santa Clara, I decided to see if he would have some time to meet. After a few e-mails, we agreed to meet at his office on Tuesday night.

When I got to his office, I was surprised at what I saw. It was a small warehouse filled with boxes and boxes of stamps. He had pulled a few collections of plateblocks out for me to look at, so I started with those when I got there. I didn't find much of what I needed, but managed to fill in a half dozen or so. Then I started going through boxes. I found a box of Israel flight covers that I thought looked interesting. It must have had 300 covers, although many were duplicates. Unfortunately, Ed priced it at $750 dollars, which was a lot more than I was expecting. I guess E-bay has distorted my view of the stamp market, because I would expect a large lot like this to fetch under $300 on E-bay.

Next up was a bunch of Artist signed FDC's. These he priced at $9 each, which is about triple what I would have expected to pay. Just this week, I picked up about 50 artist signed presentation folders on E-bay for less than $5 each, and I tend to think these are much more interesting than just the normal FDC signed by the artist, since each is designed by the artist and expands on the theme of the stamp. Is my sense of the market distorted due to the low prices I can pay for items on E-bay, or is it that the retail prices that I was being charged haven't adjusted to the new reality of the stamp market?

The last box I looked at was a large box that Ed had labelled postage. It was basically just random sheets and part sheets that were sold at face value. I picked up a bunch of plate blocks I needed for my collection here, and probably would have found more had it not been so late. I called it a night after about 3 hours of looking through the warehouse. We will see if I make it back there anytime soon.

More on the press sheet

In today's Linns stamp news, there was an add by Marlen Stamps offering the entire uncut press sheet for the Children's Games issue for $159. So, if you missed out on the offer to get it from the Philatelic Service (although, I am not sure if it is sold out or not, so you might have a chance to still get it from them), and don't want to chance an e-bay auction (where the lowest start price I have seen is $150), you can get it for just about double the new issue price from Marlen.

And the market comes crashing down

Last year, when Israel released the first uncut press sheet, lots of dealers on E-bay were asking for ridiculous prices for imperf singles, tabs, plate blocks, and sheets. With the release of the second sheet, the same thing was seen for the first few weeks. Now, I am seeing the complete press sheet listed for a buy it now price of $200, and auctions with a starting price as low as $150. While this is still more than 2x the issue price, it is a far cry from the 20x price on the first sheet. When the speculators find that the crazy prices aren't going to materialize, I expect that we will see next years sheet fail to sell out.

Year of Chemistry stamp plate variety

It was brought to my attention today that the 6.10 NIS Chemistry stamp from January 2011 has a plate variety. It is in the tab and not the stamp itself. If you look at the blue block with the C in it, you can see that the year 2011 is printed there. On some of the stamps, the top part of the blue wasn't printed completely, so the year is missing. This is a constant plate variety, and I am not sure how many of the tabs have it, but it is at least 1 on every sheet. Take a look at your stamps and see which variety you have.

While we are talking about plate varieties, the 5.90 NIS New Years stamp also has one. On the bottom row of stamps, the Arabic is different than it is on the other rows of stamps. It appears to be partially cut. All of the tab stamps have the incorrect Arabic, while all the other stamps have it correct. Luckily, I collect both tabs and plate blocks, so I have both varieties covered.

Coming in 2012

I just received my final order of 2011 from the philatelic service. I was surprised to see the inclusion of a sheet with the 2012 stamp program included. I don't recall seeing this in prior years. There are 5 scheduled releases of stamps in 2012:

February:

1. Pioneering Israeli Women
2. Technion - Cornerstone Centennial
3. In Memory - definitive
4. Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi
5. Justice in Jerusalem, 1961
6. High Priest Breastplate

April:

1. Memorial Day
2. Joint Issue Israel-China
3. The Generations Center, the Western Wall, Jerusalem
4. The Renaissance of Hebrew Seamanship
5. High Priest Breastplate (2)
6. Children's Books

June:

1. Joint Issue Israel-Nepal
2. Teddy Kollek, Mayor of Jerusalem
3. Olympic Games, London 2012
4. High Priest Breastplate (3)

September:

1. Festivals 2012
2. International Police Association
3. Contribution of Veteran Citizens to Israel
4. 100-Hadassah, THe Women's Zionist Organization in America
5. High Priest Breastplate Souvenir Sheet
6. Tourism - Visit Israel 2012

December:

1. Joint Issue with India
2. Philately Day
3. Electric Car in Israel
4. Saving Wild Animals
5. Koren Bible Jerusalem - 50 Years

In addition, there will be a thematic series of postage labels (I assume they are talking about SIMA stamps) featuring endangered sea creatures. I assume this will be similar to the issue of birds in 2010 and deer in 2011,w here they will have a different label at each machine, and they will be issued throughout the year.

The High Priest Breastplate stamps are called out as a unique multi-part special issue, issued in 3 parts and culminating with a souvenir sheet.

The memorial stamp will be issued as a "My Own Stamp" sheet. This is what I call generic sheets. The flyer calls it an opportunity to memorialize a photo of a loved one alongside an appropriately themed State of Israel stamp.

New uncut press sheet coming

I have heard from several sources that there will be a new uncut press sheet released this year from the philatelic service. I have had it confirmed from the philatelic service that it will be for the Children's Games mini sheets, and details will be released "very soon". As soon as I hear more, I will let you know. The first sheet sold out quickly, and people were selling pieces of the sheet on E-bay for astronomical prices. I don't think many of these sold, and my offer to trade my full sheet for a set of 7-9 with tabs has had no takers (but, is still open if anyone should want to trade). It will be interesting to see what happens with this sheet.

Scott catalog anomolies

In today's Linn's the Scott catalog numbers for some Israel stamps were finally updated. The last time catalog numbers were updated for Israel was in March, so there have been lots of new stamps issued, but the new update only covers stamps issued through February.

The first entry has been given Scott number 1472a. The description is Hakhel Le Yisrael type of 2002 and shows an issue date of 11/21/10. I had no idea what this stamp was referring to. I looked at Scott 1472 to try and figure out what this was referring to. 1472 is pictured here on the left. Was there a reprint in 2010 I missed? Nope. Looking through my FDC's, I found what this entry is referring to. It is from the Jerusalem prestige booklet. There are 11 different stamps in the booklet, and they are now listed in Scott as separate stamps. 4 of them have minor numbers (1472a, 1610a, 1827a, and 1830a) and 7 are given major numbers (1861-7). Why the difference? According to the new issues editor at the Scott catalog, the ones given new major numbers are different in size from the originals, while the ones with minor numbers just have perf differences. In checking the prior prestige booklets, I found this is the only one listed in Scott at all. The reason? Previous booklets sold for more than 50% above face value, while this one carried only a 35% premium, so it merits inclusion. How is it listed in my database? As Prestige Booklet #8.

In another head-scratcher, the animation sheet is listed as 1845, with the individual stamps each getting a letter (a-o), So, you would assume the animation booklet would be treated the same, right? Apparently not. The booklet panes are each given their own number, from 1846-1860. Why? I think the booklet should be counted as a whole, so it is Prestige Booklet #7 for me. Why a prestige booklet and not a normal booklet? It was sold at a premium over face, and while valid for postage, was not really intended to be used.

E-bay success

Well, all of my E-bay lots from last week sold. I was pleasantly surprised. The Mejujaim lots went for a lot more than I had hoped for. As a result of my initial success, I posted another 23 lots. Included in this batch are a bunch of souvenir leafs, as well as a few of the special souvenir sheets Israel has issued in the past few years. I had managed to acquire duplicates of both the Israel 98 imperf sheets (mint and FDC) as well as the Parting of the Red Sea issue form this past year (again, Mint and FDC). Hopefully, my success continues.

What next?

After doing the in-depth series on the generic sheets of Israel, I was wondering what topic would interest people next? I have the material to do in depth studies of the following:

1. Tete-Beche Stamps
2. Showcards
3. Vending stamps
4. Computer Vended postage

Do any of these interest anyone out there? Are there other topics you would like to see me talk about?

Been a long time

Wow, it has been over 2 months since my last post. In that time, I haven't really done much with my collection. E-bay has been slow, I think I purchased a total of 3 items in the last 2 months, and those were mostly to use the E-bay bucks that I had earned over the summer. I used to track 40-50 items on E-bay, my list is down to 20, with almost all of these being store items rather than auction listings. I did receive my 2010 white ace supplement finally, although I never did get the corrected pages for the 2009 supplement that they promised. I had hoped they would be included in the 2010 supplement, but no such luck. I also listed 8 separate items on E-bay this week for sale. If you are interested, take a look here. So far, 4 of the 8 have bidders.

Definitive Plate blocks needed

It has been 18 months since I blogged about the plate blocks I was missing. Since then, I have had a fair amount of success in filling in my want list. I am down to 84 dates (from 237). Of course, some of the remaining ones are the most expensive of all, but most are reasonably priced in the catalogs, but I have just not been able to find them.

1. Provisionals-3 needed of 42. I am missing PR16, 24, and 26.
2. Zodiac - COMPLETE!
3. Town Emblems - 2 needed of 161. Just missing TE35 and TE125.
4. Landscapes - 4 needed of 169. Missing LS6, 7, 27, and 113a.
5. Town Airmails - 4 needed of 22. Unchanged, these don't seem to be listed on E-bay often at all.
6. Bird Airmails - 5 needed of 18. All 5 from the January, 1967 printings
7. Shekels - COMPLETE!
8. Standby (Star of David)- COMPLETE!
9. Olive branch - 1 needed of 27. Looking for ND21
10. Herzl - 5 needed of 47
11. Archaeology - 7 needed of 37
12. Sunflower - 2 needed of 6
13. Good Wishes - 19 needed of 41
14. Architecture - 2 needed of 14
15. Anemone - 7 needed of 23
16. Songbirds - 4 needed of 34
17. Sports - 10 needed of 37
18. Shrulik - 1 needed of 9
19. Hyacinth - 1 needed of 11
20. Historic Buildings - 1 needed of 15
21. Menorah - 1 needed of 13
22. Greetings - 4 needed of 10
23. Gagea Commutate - 1 needed of 9

Another new generic sheet

I have recently seen this on E-bay. This is a July 18th, 2011 printing date of the Happy Holidays stamp. It is being issued for the high holidays. I have not yet seen a day of issue for this.

Bulletin 876, where are you?

I just got the most recent shipment in from Israel's Philatelic Service. It includes the June issues. There are 4 sets of stamps, Israeli Achievements (Agriculture), Rabbi Shlomo Goren, Clown Care, and Beaches in Israel. The achievements issue is accompanied by bulletin 873, which meshes nicely with the last bulletin from the April issues (Memorial day issue was bulletin 872). The rabbi is bulletin 874, followed by Clown Care at bulletin 875. Now, one would expect that the Beaches issue would be bulletin 876, but it is number 877 instead. So, what happened to bulletin 876? Was a stamp prepared and not sold? Will it be in the next shipment? Or did it just get skipped?

2 New Generic Sheets

Well, while I was on vacation, apparently the Israel Post was busy adding new generic sheet printing dates.

The first new sheet is apparently for sale from the Philatelic service on the new Winnie the Pooh sheet. This sheet is the same Love stamp that was used on the last few Disney sheets, and this time the sheet has a May 24th, 2011 printing date. If this seller can be trusted, it was first sold on June 19th.

The second new sheet is a new printing of the Flag generic sheet. This has a June 5th, 2011 printing date, and so far I have only seen it on the sheet pictured here. The E-bay seller claims a limited printing of 2500 sheets. It is listed at a rather high $94 right now, and I am hoping that more sheets of this printing date become available at some point.

New offering from the philatelic service

I just received the June bulletin from the Israel Philatelic Service (#50), and there is an interesting new class of item being offered. You can now get a subscription to Public Souvenir Leaves. According to the bulletin, these are leaves issued to honor public events, government ministries, municipalities, organizations, and institutions, as opposed to the national souvenir leaves that are issued for national events, philatelic events, and joint issues. Each public leaf is numbered (minimum quantity is 1000). There is no set number of these issued each year. Hopefully, this spells the end of the huge ripoff that some people try to perpetuate on collectors by selling these public leaves at hugely inflated prices. Now, collectors interested in these can get them at the new issue price (which is 17 to 30 NIS, according to the bulletin). Not that I will subscribe.