The Star Wars Saga Stamp Sheet

The United States Star Wars souvenir stamp sheet was issued on May 25, 2007. It features some of the most popular characters and vehicles in the saga. The fifteen first class stamps feature: Darth Vader, Yoda, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Han Solo and Chewbacca, Anakin Skywalker who is fighting Obi-Wan Kenobi, Queen Padme Amidala, Luke Skywalker, Princess leia Organa with the cute R2-D2, Emperor Palpatine, Darth Maul, Imperial Stormtroopers, Boba Fett, C-3PO
and The Millennium Falcon and X-wing fighter.

Due to the popularity of the movies, these stamps are sure to be some of the best selling stamps of all time from both collectors and non-collectors worldwide. Before the stamps release date, the United States Postal Service decorated 400 mailboxes perfectly to look like one of the most popular characters, R2-D2.

The images on the stamps were painted by Star Wars poster artist Drew Struzan. The stamp sheet was designed to include the Star Wars logo. The background comprises a space battle scene which includes a Star Destroyer, TIE Fighters, X-Wing fighters. There is a light saber wielding form of Darth Vader. The background also depicts the second Death Star, under construction, as it was seen in Return of the Jedi. The Darth Vader helmet is the largest
of all of the 15 stamps.

On the back of the sheet, there is extensive wording describing the roles that each vehicle or character had in the six movies.

If you are interested in purchasing these or other Star Wars stamps; visit http://www.stampcenter.com/ for more information.

Ian Fleming James Bond 007 Stamps - New Issue

“Would you like that shaken or stirred?” is one of the most famous lines in cinematic history. Great Britain has released a series of stamps to honor the life of the great writer Ian Fleming. Fleming published 14 James Bond books in his lifetime. He is best know for his James Bond 007 series, but has authored articles, other mystery books and one children’s novel about a magical car, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, that has been enjoyed the world over.

On January 8, 2008 the Royal Mail released a set of six stamps showing a selection of different James Bond book covers. The covers represented are: Casino Royal, Dr. No, From Russia With Love, For Your Eyes Only, Goldfinger and Diamonds Are Forever. The set of stamps were made extra-long marking the centenary of the birth Fleming.

On July 1, 2008, the Ian Fleming Publications will be releasing their very own First Day Cover that will incorporate all six of the special stamps that have already been launched.

Fleming worked for the Director of Naval Intelligence in the Royal Navy during World War II. His spy work provided much of his background for developing the James Bond series of books. Ian Lancaster Fleming was born on May 28, 1908 and died on August 12, 1964.

Harriet Ross Tubman Stamp

Harriet Tubman (birth name Araminta Ross) was born sometime in 1820. She was born into slavery near the Blackwater River in Dorchester County, Maryland. She was one of nine children born to Ben Ross and Harriet Green. During the years of slavery, birthdates and places of birth were not recorded for slaves.

She spent her early childhood being rented out to other nearby farmers. As a young child she was beaten repeatedly by her various owners. One such attack yielded her a traumatic head wound when she was hit by a metal weight that was intended for another slave. She suffered from headaches and seizures for the remainder of her life. She is also known to have visions that she proclaimed were messages from God.

In 1849, tired of being a slave, Harriet Tubman escaped to Philadelphia. She then immediately returned to Maryland to rescue her family. Traveling only at night, and in complete secrecy, she managed to bring groups of relatives out of the state. In total, she made thirteen rescue missions and rescued over three hundred slaves. They used the network of safe houses known as the Underground Railroad for their escape route.

After the Fugitive Slave Law was passed in 1850, she helped guide newly freed slaves into Canada and helped the remaining slaves find work so they could support their family.

Harriet Tubman was a Union Spy during the Civil War. She was an abolitionist and a humanitarian who fought for the rights of all people. She died on March 10, 1913 at her home in Auburn, New York.

The Harriet Ross Tubman stamp commemorates her life.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Was The Most Amazing Philatelist Of All Time Part II of II

In continuation from the post on Wednesday.

In the late summer of 1921, Roosevelt contracted infantile paralysis (polio), after visiting Boy Scout Camp. This debilitating disease struck him very hard. He was in constant pain and he was told that he would likely never be able to walk again. In an effort to keep his mind stimulated and provide mental diversion, he turned his attention to his vast stamp collection. Franklin Roosevelt has stated many times when asked about his favorite hobby, “I owe my life to my hobbies, especially stamp collecting.” Roosevelt felt that his love of stamp collecting helped him
return to a normal life.

FDR served as a New York State Senator and then Undersecretary of the Navy before his illness. By 1928 he was elected Governor of the state of New York. It was at this time that he became a life member of the American Philatelic Society. A mere four years later he was elected President of the United States. FDR’s fame as a stamp collector was known throughout the world. During his presidency, stamp collecting became the most popular hobby worldwide.

Amazingly enough, while President, Roosevelt either held influence or designed every stamp issued by the United States.

On the morning of April 12, 1945, Roosevelt approved the design for the new “Toward United Nations” commemorative stamp while visiting his retreat at the Little White House in Georgia. He then went and spent some time with his stamp collection. A short time later, Roosevelt collapsed and died of a massive cerebral hemorrhage while posing for a portrait.

By all accounts Franklin Delano Roosevelt was an amazing American Philatelist!

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Was The Most Amazing Philatelist Of All Time Part I of II

The great President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was an avid stamp collector. Sometime in 1890, when he was eight years old, his parents introduced him to the art of philately. This curious young boy began his great journey of stamp collecting and immersed himself completely in the hobby. He built such an enormous collection that by the time that he became President of the United States, he had albums for practically every country in the world.

In the 1800’s, the Roosevelt family was involved in trading and shipping with countries around the world. This young boy begged family members to send him mail and bring him his beloved stamps from around the world. He was not picky about the stamps he received. Nothing was eliminated from his collection; he wanted every stamp that he could lay his hands on.

He loved his stamps so much that later when he went away to prep school and then onto Harvard University, he took his entire stamp collection with him. For the remainder of his life, no matter the places he traveled to, his beloved collection traveled along with him in a wooden trunk. He is known to have spent hours each night with his stamp collection.

Please come back on Friday for the conclusion to this post.

An Easy Way For Beginners To Store Their Stamp Collection

Storing and sorting stamps can be very time consuming, especially when you are just starting your collection and learning important details about your new stamps. Here is an idea for beginners that might make the task at hand a bit easier. It is probably the easiest and most cost effective method to use.

You will need to have two shoe boxes or other types of boxes that will hold legal size envelopes. Purchase a box or two of legal size envelopes for sorting purposes.

In box number one, label the envelopes for each country or grouping type for the stamps that you obtain. When you receive new stamps from trading or purchasing, place them into the appropriate envelope that coincides with the categories that you have already set up. Keep them in the envelopes until such time as you decide to mount them. At mounting time, bring out one envelope at a time. Compare the contents of the new stamps to those that you have
mounted already. Mount the new ones and make a pile of any duplicates that you might have.

Use the second shoe box as a way of sorting the duplicates that you have. Label each envelope by country or other sorting method that you prefer. At a later date, you might want to compare those stamps that you have already mounted to the duplicates you have in stock. By having the duplicates already sorted, you will save yourself time.

Recalled Legends Of The West Series

The most infamous stamp error in United States history was unveiled in December 1993. The Legends of the West stamps was sure to be an extremely popular issuance, but nobody expected them to be as popular as they became.

One of the stamps in the series honored a celebrated African-American cowboy, Bill Pickett. He was credited with the invention of steer wrestling which is otherwise known as bulldogging.

Stamp artist Mark Hess designed the stamp using a famous photograph that had been published in several magazines. The problem was that the picture was not actually of Bill Pickett, but was instead of his brother Ben Pickett. The Pickett family informed the USPS that they had made a serious error in January 1994, after the stamps were released.

The stunned USPS announced a recall and destruction of all of the stamps. The second problem that arose was that five million stamps had already been shipped out to hundreds of post offices around the United States.

Once the error had become national news, the USPS discovered that there were 183 panes of the incorrect stamps that had already been sold to the public. In an attempt to off-set the price of reprinting the series, the USPS decided to sell, by lottery, 150,000 of the faulty panes.

If you are interested in buying this very collectible recalled sheet of 20 set, visit http://www.stampcenter.com/ for more information. They are even offering, for a limited time, a $25 discount on any of their US Classic stamps.

Juliette Low Stamp Part II Of II

In continuation from Monday’s post. In 1911, Juliette Gordon Low met Sir Robert Baden-Powell who was the founder of the Boy Scouts and Girl Guides. She was so impressed with the organization and the new youth movement; that she decided to bring her new found passion
back to the United States. On March 12, 1912 she gathered 18 girls and registered the first American Girl Guides. The name was changed a year later to Girl Scouts.

Her family home was purchased and restored by Girl Scouts United States of America in 1953. Currently the site is called the Juliette Gordon Low Girl Scout National Center. This National Historic Landmark is a well visited site by many current and former Girl Scouts. Her birthday is celebrated by Girl Scouts across America each year. Juliette Low’s vision of helping develop girls into powerful, self thinking, kind and generous women still continues today. There are thousands of troops nationwide who are dedicated to the “Girl Scout Promise” and “Girl Scout Law”. Both vows are the tenets of the Girl Scout tradition.

After her death, Juliette Low received many awards for her efforts. The Liberty Ship, 2 schools, a federal government building, and a medallion on the Extra Mile Points of Light Volunteer Pathway in Washington, DC were all named after her. Many of these awards were rarely, if ever, awarded to women. In 1948, Harry Truman authorized a stamp made in her honor. Juliette Gordon Low died of breast cancer on January 17, 1927 in Savannah Georgia.

Juliette Low Stamp Part I of II

The founder of Girl Scouts of America is Juliette Gordon Low. She was born on October 31, 1860 in Savannah, Georgia. Nicknamed “Daisy”, by her loving family and friends, the sensitive and talented youngster did not know what great things lay ahead for her in her lifetime. A witty girl, she was well known for her love of animals and of many different types of art.

Following her school years, Juliette traveled throughout Europe and the United States. She married a wealthy Englishman named William Mackay Low on December 21, 1886. On her wedding day, a grain of rice; that was thrown by well wishers, lodged in her ear causing a puncture to her eardrum. She lost her hearing completely in that ear. This situation was even more unfortunate because since childhood, she was almost totally deaf in her other ear.

She continued to travel between the British Isles and America after she was married. During the Spanish-American war, Juliette returned to the US to help organize a convalescent hospital for wounded soldiers. After the war, she returned to her husband in England only to find that their marriage was disintegrating. Juliette Low was legally separated from her husband when he died in 1905.

Check back on Wednesday for the conclusion to this post.

The Graf Zeppelin Stamp Set

This stamp set pays respect to the first round trip flight of the Graf Zeppelin airmail carrier on May 18, 1930. All mail on the voyage bore the famous “Zeps” stamp which would serve as documentation for eternity of this giant aircraft.

The stamp design shows the giant airship on its journey over the Atlantic Ocean from Europe to America as well as its return flight east into Friedrichshafen, Germany. The Graf Zeppelin was the only known airship to fly completely around the world. The Graf Zeppelin was only taken out of service after the crash of the German airship Hindenburg.

The early years of flight were daring and dangerous. Most of the flights were in unstable planes with very brave pilots. These flight hero’s took a giant leap into the future as they flew their respective birds throughout the sky.

Stamp collectors have been intrigued by both the covers and the stamps since these stamps were issued. The stamps were only available to the public for a mere five weeks and two days, over 70 years ago. They are very scarce and obtaining them would make a true stamp collectors dream come true.

The three stamps featured at http://www.stampcenter.com/ are an amazing find. They are valued at $2,600 but you can purchase them for $1560. You will find the stamps in very nice condition, mint and never hinged. Like all postage stamps, these tell of the wonderful history of our nation’s past. Come and take a peak, you might not be able to resist yourself!

The Jackie Robinson Stamp Part II of II

In continuation from Monday’s post.

Jackie Robinson was drafted in the Army in 1942, but did not see combat. He became part of the 761st “Black Panthers” Tank Battalion. His unit eventually became the first black tank unit to see combat. Robinson had some trouble while in the Army. A white bus driver had ordered him to the back of the bus, but when he refused, he was arrested by the MP’s and transferred to another battalion. His charges were eventually reduced to insubordination and shortly thereafter, he received an honorable discharge.

Robinson joined the Dodgers Triple A farm team in Daytona Beach, Florida. He was debuted on March 17, 1946 in an exhibition game against the Brooklyn Dodgers. Robinson became the first African American player in the Major League in 1947. Jackie’s appearance in the major league ended 80 years of racial segregation in baseball, known as the Baseball Color Line.

Robinson was the first Rookie of the Year and earned six consecutive All Star Game nominations of which he won several. He also played in the World Series six times. In 1982, Robinson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Robinson died on October 24, 1972. He was a civil rights leader and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and Congressional Gold Medal posthumously. On the 50 year anniversary of his debut in baseball, his number, “42”, was retired by Major League Baseball.

Without a doubt, Jackie Robinson’s accomplishments, both on and off the field, helped bridge the gap of the racial divide in America.

Jackie Robinson Stamp Part I of II

Born on January 31, 1919, Jack Roosevelt “Jackie” Robinson became the first African American major league baseball player. He was born in Cairo, Georgia and was the youngest of five children. Jackie received his middle name in honor of President Theodore Roosevelt who died 25 days before his birth. Jackie’s family moved to California in 1920 after his father abandoned them. His family, who were sharecroppers, lived in poverty for his entire childhood.

Robinson excelled in several different sports in high school. He played several positions on the baseball team, quarterback on the football team, and guard on the basketball team. He was also on the tennis team and won awards for the broad jump in track and field. He went on to Pasadena Junior College where his athletic prowess continued. He played various sports for the college and in 1939 he received a gold pin and was named to the school’s “Order of the Mast and Dagger”, a very prestigious acknowledgement that awarded his athletic abilities.

His next stop on his career path was attending the University of California, Los Angeles. He became the first athlete to win varsity letters in four different sports; baseball, track and field, football and basketball. In 1941, with his degree nearly in site, Jackie had to withdraw from the UCLA for financial reasons.

Please check back on Wednesday for the conclusion to this post.

Harry Houdini Stamp

Ehrich Weiss was born on March 24, 1874 in Budapest, Hungary. He immigrated with his family to the United States when he was four years old. Living in Appleton, Wisconsin, he began appearing as a contortionist and a trapeze performer at a five-cent circus at the age of 9. He went on to perform escape tricks and magic in medicine shows, circuses, dime museums, and small performance venues. He officially changed his name in the early 1890’s as a tribute to Jean-Eugene Robert-Houdin, a famous French illusionist.

Harry Houdini was the greatest magician and performer of the early 20th century. In 1899 he began performing escape tricks on vaudeville stages. By the following year, he was well known as the “King of Handcuffs”. He astonished audiences with his extreme escapes from ropes, jail cells, straitjackets, chains, water filled milk cans and trunks that were submerged in water. For many years he was the highest paid performer in American vaudeville.

In 1912, Houdini performed in the suspended upside-down locked glass and steel cabinet that was overflowing with water. He called this contraption the “Chinese Water Torture Cell”. Houdini had to hold his breath for more than three minutes in order to escape. He also challenged members of his audience to hold their breath while he was doing his trick. He performed this escape for the rest of his career.

After days of pain and the refusal of medical treatment, Harry Houdini died of Peritonitis from a ruptured Appendix on October 31, 1926.

In October of 2001, the United States Postal Service announced that a stamp honoring this great illusionist would be released. The Harry Houdini stamp was dedicated at a ceremony in New York City, at the 2002 Centennial Convention of the Society of American Magicians. David Copperfield, who is hailed as the “greatest illusionist of our time”, was on hand for the dedication ceremony.